M70 Safari Express .375 - Load 3+1 or 3?

[curtism1234]

I find this thread very interesting regarding the model 70. My late 90's New Haven sort-of-controlfeed model must have a shell placed into the magazine. If you just drop a shell in the barrel and close the bolt, the bolt will not close and the shell gets stuck in the chamber where you have to slam the rifle on the ground to get it to come out...

 

[Muskox]

In a Blaser/Sauer 404/Krieghoff I keep a round in the chamber on decock.

In any other rifle I do not keep a round in the chamber.

 

[TOBY458]

I find this thread very interesting regarding the model 70. My late 90's New Haven sort-of-controlfeed model must have a shell placed into the magazine. If you just drop a shell in the barrel and close the bolt, the bolt will not close and the shell gets stuck in the chamber where you have to slam the rifle on the ground to get it to come out...

The front of your extractor wasn't beveled enough for it to snap over the rim like most Win 70s will. All of mine will do it. But as someone mentioned before, it's simple to push the fourth round in the magazine slightly at the back of the cartridge and push the bolt forward which allows the cartridge rim to ride up under the extractor.

 

[baxterb]

I do the “push the round down a little and push the bolt forward” method. Also, whether the extractor will go over the rim also depends on whether there is enough room in the inside of the action to allow the extractor to move outward, and on mausers, how tight the undercut is where the foot of the extractor engages. The Winchester does not have this angled undercut so you don’t have to worry about it so much.

one word of caution is to be careful if you think about beveling the blade yourself. If you take any off the thin end of the blade, you will affect the amount of side tension against the case, possibly to the point it no longer holds the round properly to the bolt face. With the Mauser there is always more than one thing at play. It’s a deceivingly complex system that should be understood fully before altering it.

 

[Longwalker]

some will fully load there rifle to include chambering a round. But, as they close the bolt on the chambered round they depress the trigger and slowly close the bolt. The theory is that cocking the bolt on a chambered round is faster and quieter that chambering a round.

This is dangerous and very unsafe. They are carrying a rifle with the firing pin resting against the primer. And the rear of the bolt is exposed to bumps and therefore at risk of accidental discharges. I'd rather carry a rifle fully cocked with the safety off. It is less likely to be fired accidentally. But I carry with an empty chamber, or if the situation permits, locked "on safe' and fully loaded.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

This is dangerous and very unsafe. They are carrying a rifle with the firing pin resting against the primer. And the rear of the bolt is exposed to bumps and therefore at risk of accidental discharges. I'd rather carry a rifle fully cocked with the safety off. It is less likely to be fired accidentally. But I carry with an empty chamber, or if the situation permits, locked "on safe' and fully loaded.

Agree 100%. It’s like carrying a colt SAA with the hammer on a loaded round.

 

[bruce moulds]

I read a thread this week where some will fully load there rifle to include chambering a round. But, as they close the bolt on the chambered round they depress the trigger and slowly close the bolt. The theory is that cocking the bolt on a chambered round is faster and quieter that chambering a round.

well that is a good way to kill someone.
bruce.

 

[Muskox]

An empty chamber saves lives, not really any reason to hunt with a round in the chamber on a traditional rifle.

On a rifle with a decocker it is save, but still feels weird. I hunted elk this past year with my R8 in the Gila and kept an empty chamber for 5 days.

 

[Professor Mawla]

Without going into the argument of whether or not four rounds are necessary in a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum , the Winchester Model 70 Safari Express in .375 Holland & Holland Magnum can hold three rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber . By directly loading the top round into the magazine and snapping the extractor over the rim . The production team at Winchester themselves do not discourage this practice at all ( going so far as to even casually mention it in their catalogs ) .

On a related subject , the pre War Winchester Model 70 in .375 Holland & Holland Magnum used to hold four rounds in the magazine and a fifth one in the chamber .