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When a person returned a model 70 in 358 to winchester for the purpose of having the headspace checked, did Winchester mark the rifle after inspection?
Thanks, Tim
Not that I am aware of. The problem was not with the rifle, but with handloads. If the shoulder is pushed back to much the rifle simply will not fire. This was not a safety issue. I don’t believe that Winchester resold the .358s that returned. What did they do with them. Well, I am not sure. How many were returned? I don’t think that alot were. If you just used factory ammo you would not have a problem. If you handloaded properly you would not have a problem. This will be found in any .358 bolt action rifle. Being that they made 2000 .358 Win. Model 70 Featherwieghts, and Today they do bring a premium. However, they a often found for sell. That is why I don’t beleive that many were returned to the factory. Why Winchester had this return policy is up for debate. I think they should of just informed the shooting public of what the problem was, and left it at that.
Like Bo said all bottle neck cartridges head space off the base to shoulder measurement. When resizing you can adjust the base to shoulder length as needed. Now that is not exactly the same for magnum belted cases. You can do some fine tuning with the shoulder. Factory brass is usually head spaced on the shorter side of the SAAMI specs. So reloaders will fire form the brass to match their chambers so the shoulder is all the way out touching the inside of the chamber. Then re size it with about .002″ to .003″ of head space.
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Chuck said
Like Bo said all bottle neck cartridges head space off the base to shoulder measurement. When resizing you can adjust the base to shoulder length as needed. Now that is not exactly the same for magnum belted cases. You can do some fine tuning with the shoulder. Factory brass is usually head spaced on the shorter side of the SAAMI specs. So reloaders will fire form the brass to match their chambers so the shoulder is all the way out touching the inside of the chamber. Then re size it with about .002″ to .003″ of head space.
Seems simpler to me to seat bullet far enough out that bolt won’t close, then seat deeper until bolt closes with very slight pressure, & you know there can’t be excess headspace.
Thanks for the replies.
I have never had any difficulty reloading for the 358.
But was wondering if there was some particular problem with the model 70’s chambered in the 358, I have heard that Winchester offered to rebarrel returned rifles. If the owner decided to keep the 358 chambering i was curious if Winchester marked the rifles indicating that it was looked at.
clarence said
Chuck said
Like Bo said all bottle neck cartridges head space off the base to shoulder measurement. When resizing you can adjust the base to shoulder length as needed. Now that is not exactly the same for magnum belted cases. You can do some fine tuning with the shoulder. Factory brass is usually head spaced on the shorter side of the SAAMI specs. So reloaders will fire form the brass to match their chambers so the shoulder is all the way out touching the inside of the chamber. Then re size it with about .002″ to .003″ of head space.
Seems simpler to me to seat bullet far enough out that bolt won’t close, then seat deeper until bolt closes with very slight pressure, & you know there can’t be excess headspace.
Clarence the bullet seating depth has nothing to do with head space. Different depths do effect the group size though. Headspace is set by the difference between the shoulder and the inside of the chamber. Just like rimmed cases size off the thickness of the rim. Too much head space is a bad thing and if not controlled can lead to case head separation.
Sorry, you have to go to page 140 and look at the bottom part and it will show the head space. circled X.
Chuck said
Clarence the bullet seating depth has nothing to do with head space. Different depths do effect the group size though. Headspace is set by the difference between the shoulder and the inside of the chamber. Just like rimmed cases size off the thickness of the rim. Too much head space is a bad thing and if not controlled can lead to case head separation.
But if the bullet seated into the rifling forces the case head back against the bolt, because the case can’t move any further into the chamber, doesn’t that mean zero, or very minimal, headspace?
November 5, 2014
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Hi ADKTIN-
I think BoRich summed this up very nicely… 
I am not even aware (at present) of any FACTORY documents indicating that there was a recall of 358 WIN Featherweights, but since it is has been claimed to have happened (in Rule’s book) let’s assume there was… IMHO… It’s very unlikely that there was a quality control issue specifically with Winchester 358 WIN Feathers, it’s just that with such a shallow shoulder there’s not a lot of tolerance for “aggressively sized/resized” brass. I’d wager they worked perfectly in pre-production testing that would doubtless have been done with W-W factory ammo. So Winchester wouldn’t know there was an “issue” until customer feedback started coming in… Rumor has it that the same sort of issue contributed to the unpopularity (and quick discontinuation) of the 35 REM chambeirng in the Model 70. 
What I’ve heard/read is that Winchester offered to exchange any return 358 WIN Featherweight for a new Featherweight in one of the other chamberings. As far as “re-work” markings, I am not aware of anything specific to this recall. They would/did stamp 4-5 digit number/letter combos under the barrel of rifles returned for repair or modification (to keep stock and barreled action together on re-assembly) and later on sometimes stamped a single digit into the left lug raceway of the receiver to indicate year of re-work. But none of that is specific to the 358 WIN recall as far as I know…
Best,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
clarence said
Chuck said
Clarence the bullet seating depth has nothing to do with head space. Different depths do effect the group size though. Headspace is set by the difference between the shoulder and the inside of the chamber. Just like rimmed cases size off the thickness of the rim. Too much head space is a bad thing and if not controlled can lead to case head separation.
But if the bullet seated into the rifling forces the case head back against the bolt, because the case can’t move any further into the chamber, doesn’t that mean zero, or very minimal, headspace?
It will force the case against the bolt face but when fired the shoulder will still move forward. If you aren’t going to use the brass for a lot of firings you may not need to do what I do. I usually get 20+ firings with my brass. What finally happens is a neck will crack or the primer pockets get loose.
I seat the bullet into the lands and remove my ejector when fire forming. My ejector pushes the brass forward. It usually will take about 3 firings to get the shoulder all the way out. You neck size during this process. Once done I full length size and move the shoulder back .002″. I now have a maximum case volume and a case that won’t stick in the chamber with .002″ of headspace. If you don’t control the expansion new brass may stretch at the .200″ line. This is where case head separation can occur. It starts as a thin line and eventually it will turn into a crack. The extra case volume also allows for more powder at the same pressure. Same pressure and more speed can be a good thing.
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