I think I have finally decided to go with .300 WSM for my caliber as I have had great experiences with this round and I want a short action. I will be hunting most commonly whitetail with elk, boar, and possibly black bear in the future at about any given range. I live in east TN and although I do alot of close quarters hunting(usually carry my Marlin guide gun) I hunt alot of plots and farmland as well and have chances for long range shots. I also tend to cover *alot* of ground. Heck, I usually walk 4-5 miles squirrel hunting and I love still hunting. I heard a few people say the BARs weigh a metric ton. So now I'm questioning that idea and I just saw Winchester is re-releasing the M70, particularly this http://www.winchesterguns.com/prodinfo/catalog/detail.asp?cat_id=535&type_id=103&cat=001CBoth look like they will run just a hair over $1000 and I do like the Winchester for certain. So for my usage what do you guys think would be the better rifle. Either way I'll probably put a VX-II Leupold on and if the winchester I'll probably put a McMillan stock on it.

Used to have a BAR in 30-06 and it was very accurate and reliable. Could do about 1.5 at 100yds or at least I could with 165 NBT.It also had the CR BOSS feature and If I played with it maybe it would have done even better.Only problem was cleaning the thing which I simply don't have the time for. Compared to a Bolt it was a nightmare which I ended up just spraying the thing with a cleaner half the time and hoping for the best. Still never jammed and it cut recoil down toa big pushat the bench either due to weight alone or the gas action. Just hated the whole cleaning hassle. Really consider the cleaning aspect before buying unless you just plan on using it huntingthen Icould seeit being okay if you only had to give it a breakdown cleaning once a year. (I'm a bore snake and wipe it down guy 99% of the time which is why I favor certain actions over others). Hope it helps.

I would take the 70 over the BAR, or most any other auto loader,any day.

I also wouldn't change the stock to a McMillan. The B&C with the full length bedding block isjust as good asthe McMillan.

If I were to buy a new Model 70 I don't think I would have it chambered in a short mag. I would definitely go 300 win mag, 7 win mag ,270 or something along those lines . A model 70 300 WSM was the first short mag I ever purchased and I didn't care for the way the thing fed ammo.You will not have that problem with a cartridge that has a a less abrupt shoulder. If your set on a 300 wsm then the only gun out of all that I have found(excluding Tikka,Savages) that will feed them slicker then grease is the Sako 75 SM action and I am sure the 85 will be the same.Bear in mind that prior to 2005 sako made a lot of 300 wsms on long actions. NOthing wrong with a BAR either in 300 wsm I haven't had one yet that didn't shoot extremely well. In your application I would look for a BAR lightweight stalker..leave the shorttrac and longtracs on the dealers shelves. They are an economy move by Browning nothing more or less and are not 1/2 the rifle. They are lighter then a Stell receiver BAR but that is it. Thus the reasoning behind suggesting the lightweight stalker BAR if you choose that route. I would take the Model 70 over the BAR personally .. BTW I think the Mcmillan stock is a nice stock but will weigh more then the Bell and Carlson stock which is a laid up stock as well. The Bell and Carlson also has better lines and handles better then any Mcmillan version they currently produce with the exception of the Echols custom stock which costs over 400 dollars from Echols and has to be bedded and painted for addtl expense..

a BAR is over $1000 now? mine is heavy, though I assumed it was just standard rifle weight....one reason I'm getting a lightweight .243.....compare weights, I'm not sure what each weighs, I have come to love bolt actions....

The win mod 70 will be a controlled feed action, the bar a semi automatic......and say a rem action.....a push feed......I tend to associate push feed with accuracy, and controlled feed with reliability, something you may consider.....as to what the real purpose of this rifle is. Though I'm sure a quality gun can be made using either action, I just know a few custom rifle makers have said the rem action is easier to get to shoot well.....but a .300wsm can be used on some dangerous game or at least in dangerous game country, though I think most relaly wouldnt consider reliability a crucial factor in a .300wsm, ie its not a .458 lott for cap buffalo.....where making sure the rifle goes off is more important than splitting hairs at 50yds.

So I may say consider another bolt action......i love my browning abolt.....shoots great in .300 win mag, about 1 MOA. my browning bar in .270 though shooots amazing, far sub MOA. But ive come to love bolt actions, so all o mfy new rifles will most likely be some type of bolt....mostly push feeds, with the africa rifle being a controlled feed most likely.

I went to do some shoppin around today. They didn't have that model 70 yet and apparently wont till next month. but i shouldered a few model 70s, checked out the BARs and then i picked up a Browning A-bolt and fell in love with the feel of it. The action worked (to me)smoother than the winchester and with less travel of the bolt it seemed. And I saw they have a mountain titanium model which is like 5lb and 8oz in the 300WSM, it has adjustable trigger, and a B&C stock. it's about $600 more unfortunatelybut they have the regular stainless hunter which is about a lb more. So the search continues now.

I would go with a browning a-bolt/x-bolt in either 7mm wsm or 300 wsm. You already fell in love with em when you handled the very first 1 so get 1 for life and not look back.

I use a BAR .30-06 for my stalking gun around swamps and thick country.
Easy to shoulder and carry all day and very accurate.

I shot my buddy's Winch and I will stick with my Rem 700 Mtn. rifle!