Winchester Model 70 Featherweight

S

Stephen Perry

New member
I worked in a gunshop as a second job for 25 years from about 1975 till 2000. Good shop in Pomona. I did it all. Started a $1.50/hr ended at $2.00/hr. Obviously I wasn't there for the money but to be part of a shop. I had first pick of any used gun that came through the door that I could afford. In 25 years I saw almost any gun made. I was careful and tried to get one rifle of each major caliber. I didn't care much for custom calibers as I didn't understand them and knew the boss could get more for them. Shotguns I got all the Model 12's I could handle and several choice Perrazzi and Browning shotguns. Pistols I cared for the least but I got my Gold Cup, Ruger target .357, and Colt Targetsman. Like I said I took care of myself these guys were my Hunting, Trapshooting, and Poker playing buddies for 25 years.

This Model 70 was something I got into maybe in haste. In 25 years I saw 2 Featherweights. I had handled at least 3-4 Model 70's a year for 25 years looking for the one I wanted. My first consideration was that the shop make a good profit so I let most of them be sold for more than I could afford. My boss a Winchester guy from before WW11 told me he would find me the one best for me. He was really looking for another .264 Win Mag to match the one he had. He had all the Model 70's at one time or another and said he would never sell his .264. We never saw another .264 come through the shop. When the .270 featherwright came through the shop he told me this was as close to his .264 as I was going to get. This was back in 1987 so now my Featherweight is 52 years old.

I shot it a couple months ago and endured the pain. Off the bench it blasts me harder than my .338 Winchester. Part of the reason is the shotgun pad the previous owner had on it, like a rock by now. Like shooting with a steel plate on wood. I decided to make this .270 as my next project. The barreled action is solid. I am going to bed the whole thing in acra glass, done this before many times, put on a Pachmayer Presentation Pad, and Tru Oil the stock. The gun has a Lyman All American 3x scope. I have plenty of Leupolds to choice from but I am a Lyman/Weaver scope guy on Hunting rifles.

I will try to take pics of this rifle as work goes on. Don't claim to be a smith but I know what they are supposed to look like when they are done.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
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Interesting personal account. I have been fooling with old M70s since about 1959, both as a shooter and collector. For shooting, the 270, 257 Roberts and 220 Swift have been my favorite cartridges.

I prefer the Standard rifles in 270 over the Featherweights. The short barrels, aluminum parts and lighter weight (higher recoil) of Featherweights were all negatives for me. Plus, a lot of the available Featherweights were made after 1960 when wood quality, checkering, and overall quality declined greatly.

I have owned Standard M70 270s that were 1-1.5 MOA rifles just as they came from the factory. Others were not but could be improved with some bedding work, at times as simple as business card shims under the barrel ahead of the recoil lug or at the forend tip.

Old M70 triggers needed adjustment as they came from the factory at 5 lbs+ but could quickly be set at 2.5 lbs with a little tinkering. The trigger spring could be shortened by one coil if necessary. Some of them had too much trigger side play and needed some additional work fitting a new trigger pin.

The Pre-64 M70s were arguably the best USA factory production rifles ever. For my money, there was nothing to compare. It's really too bad that prices for the rare ones are now astronomical.

Good luck with your project to restore your Featherweight. Have you considered replacing the aluminum parts with steel? Show us some pictures along the way.
 
Vic

I too like the standard M70. Sometimes I wish I bought one instead of the Featherweight but I'm goin to work with what I have. Today I tried to take off the Pachmayer pad ripped it down to the base spacer. The pad was glued on I hate when that's done. Now I am going have to cut the spacer and grind the excess off. I seal the butt stock with tru-oil but I don't glue my pads on.

I have 2 Winchester XTR's one in 30-06 and one in .338 Win Mag. The 06 is average wood the .338 is presentation factory wood. Great triggers on both. Like I said the .264 would have been what I would have gone after if another one came by. My boss died with his. He turned down $1200 for his in the 80's.

Vic I saw a choice pre-64 30-06 sold at my home Range then Inland this year. My friend asked $800 took $650. Prices are steady on M70's supply is waning.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
$650 for a Pre-64 30-06 in decent shape is a real bargain. Where I live even the beaters are priced at $850 and up. I've seen standard actions sell for $700+.

Super Grades, Carbines, Bull Guns, etc. are out of my price range even in common calibers.

Standard 264s used to be common and priced accordingly. Featherweight 264s were always scarce. I like the 264 Standards with the "frosted" stainless barrels (like the 220 Swift). The blued stainless barrels were sometimes a little green and not very attractive.

All things being equal, I'd rather have a 270 (for hunting) than a 264. Seems to me the 264 was louder and had a bigger muzzle flash (ever see one fired at night?) but not much better ballistically.
 
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If you glass the whole thing I think it will not shoot near as well. It should have a small flat spot in front of the sling stud. This is to dampen the barrel The soda straw barrels need this to slow them down. I tried an aftermarket stock that free floated the barrel and ended up having to shim to where it took aprox 8#'s of pressure to see light under the shim. The 8# figure was not a scaled weight just the best I could figure when I applied the same pressure to a scale. One thing of note with the 130 ballistic tip, 60 grns of H4831 over a 215 in winchester brass has been lights out for everything it was pointed at. Even at some tv type ranges.
 
I have owned about 8/10 different pre-64 Model 70s. I've only kept the Featherweight 270 for hunting. Old timers will remember it as being Jack O'Connor's favorite rifle. Mine will consistently shoot 3/4" 4 shot groups with Sierra's 130 Flatbase bullet fired by 57 grains of IMR 4831. I have killed too many deer to count with this rifle/load. It is scoped with an old aluminum Swarovski 4X. It is accurate and LIGHTWEIGHT. To me the standard weight pre-64s are too heavy for carrying very far. They have a medium weight 24" barrel, a steel floorplate and butt plate and what feels like a concrete infused stock. Make mine a featherweight. After all, you carry them far more than you shoot them. Flame suit is on.
 
I have and have owned more model 70's pre 64's than memory allows me to recall. I got my first pre-64 in .264 Winchester mag in 1962-63. Of all the M-70's I've had, this barrel went out the fastest, the throat was long gone by five hundred rounds, I re barreled this rifle back to .264 Winchester more times than I care to remember. It took me allot of fooling around for me to come to the conclusion that the 6.5X55 and the 6.5X55AI was better than all the others 6.5 I played around with.


I've had a .270 featherweight for about 30 years now and I like it so much because of the recoil that this barrel is safe from wear, I never shoot it at all any more.

My suggestion is to buy a good McMillan stock, save your wood, don't mess with the bedding of your original wood (it has value) even with a pad on it. Bed only the receiver and not the barrel and find a good one piece bottom metal. I like after market barrels a lot more than factory barrels, but that is up to you.
 
R, OK, and Big Al

All three of you are saying about the same. I appreciate what you say and will go ahead and bed the action only.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
I have a mod 70 featherweight 30-06 made in 1957 I think, that my dad had, shoots very good the way it is.
 
Pad Removal

I have chopped the old Pachmayer pad down to the white spacer at least most of it. The pad was glued on so I want to get the butt down to wood before I grind the new Pachmayer Presentation pad. I will use my belt sander to do this. With original pad the pull length was 13 3/4" this is comfortable for me so it will be close to the same after I square off the wood and mount the new pad. I use a belt/disc sander for this type work. Will try and get the pad mounted next week.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
Several years ago at a gun show I bought 6 original Winchester pads that were never on rifles. These were the solid red pads, not the ventilated ones Winchester went to toward the end of the Pre-64 production. The solid originals are scarce as hen's teeth. Of course, there are a ton of reproductions.

The Pre-64 M70 stocks varied enough that some of the pads were a hair too small and did not fit one or two of the stocks I tried them on, but most of the time the pads fit. Same thing with most of the pads you see that were taken off Winchesters--they seldom fit another gun.

To a true-blue Pre-64 fan, those original Winchester pads can't be beat. Plus, they don't get hard over time like the repros. The brown "Old English" pads are a close second.
 
Winchester Pads

Vic
I have 2 Winchester XTR's both 1980's manufacturer. Both pads are black ventilated. The are still in great shape a credit to the Winchester supplier. Actually makes my .338 reasonable to shoot off the bench.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
The advice Big Al..............

gave on the McMillan is good, because you'll never get an organic material to stop movin' around, no matter how many cards,:eek: fan belts, or hubcaps:D you put under that barrel. Also, you might try the 1" Pachmayr Decelerator as a pad, they are VERY good for hunters, if you put it on a new stock. You can get thinner ones, but they may not produce the reduction you want, and I know you don't want to shorten the factory stock. If you HAVE to use acraglas, I'd use the Gel, otherwise, Gray Marine-Tex. ;) HTH
 
Not Convinced I Need To Bed

I gave up shooting my Featherweight .270 off the bench until I put the new pad on. If the gun will shoot 3 shot groups under 3/4" with same POI say 6 or 7 groups I will leave good enough alone. I will give the factory bed job a chance. I don't consider my M 70 having collector value - no butt plate no rear sight- so I want to give it a shootable pad, tru oil finish, and re-cut the checkering. I still consider my 2 Model 70 XTR's in 30-06 and .338 are better guns.

New Model 70's made by FN Herstal might give a guy a chance to buy a classic design without paying collector prices. Hard not to like any Model 70 no matter what decade it was made.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR
 
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