Thoughts on the current Winchester M70 featherweight.

I’ve always wanted but never had. About the time I was in my full swing gun buying years Winchester rifles were of sub par quality and were far behind Remington and others. I’m seeing some good things said about the current M70 and it’s a CRF that supposed to be pretty smooth. I’m itching for a featherweight in ‘06.

I don't know anything about the Portuguese M70
but I do know the old New Haven push feeds and classic M70s were still very good rifles just people never liked the idea of the push feed and said they were junk but a very nice up graded push feed style rifle and as good as or better then Remington. I have 3 push feeds that came in the plastic stock which I replaced and they are great shooters with the old style M70 trigger not the MOA trigger they have now.

I have several of the current production Model 70 Featherweights (270 WSM, 7X57, 300 WSM, 30-06 and an 8X68S built on a Featherweight action). Each is a delight to work with. They have never given me a moment's trouble. Wouldn't hesitate to pick up others, if such was offered.

I know that Dr Mike likes his!
They shoot very well for him.
The wood they put on the first FN produced M70's made in the US was very nice!

While I have previously owned a push feed Model 70 in the 270 Wby, it was not a featherweight.
I shot my smallest group ever with a centerfire rifle, with that rifle and a friend's handload with the 90 gr Sierra hp bullet (0.180"). Too bad it wasn't left handed or might still have it today.

I have a 308 and an '06 (converted to 35 Whelen AI), both from the SC plant. Both have nice fit and finish, are accurate, and have met all my expectations.

I’ve shot my Uncles old Sears M70 270 Win. And it’s a very nice rifle considering it was a budget rifle in it’s day. I owned a M70 push feed in 223 WSSM and couldn’t pedal it fast enough.
I find the lines and feel of the featherweight to be about ideal for a classic rifle. I know they’re built in Portugal but that’s not a deal breaker as long as it’s quality.

3yr old M70 Extreme weather edition in 300 WM.

Love the zero creep trigger, love the feed.

One of my weatherby buddies is annoyed my action is so smooth.


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My wife has one in 270 that is a top notch rifle in every way, it was made in South Carolina though.

I'd say the "assembled in Portugal" ones are fine too, but haven't owned one to say for sure.

The Featherweights are one of my favorite Winchesters rifles. Have two right now,a 7x57 and a .270 Win.

I have a Featherweight .280 from the SC plant and a Portugal made all weather 30-06. They both are beautifully made guns but the SC gun required a new bedding job and some sanding of the barrel channel to shoot well. They both shoot great. They are my favorite rifles.

Good to hear. I’ve always liked the Scnabel fore end and feel of the featherweights when I’ve fondled them. They look nice and seem appropriately priced. I seem to have many irons in the fire right now with many rifles I want but this will be on my short list.

I'll add my .02 FWIW. I love my Pre-64 M 70's. A plain ole 30-06 and 2 Supergrades, a .220 Swift and another '06. I also have other Winchesters so I guess I'm a big fan. In 2006 during Winchester New Haven's troubled times, I bought a M70 7mm WSM new at a good sale price. I didn't get around to shooting it until 2 years ago. I shot not quite 2 boxes of Federal Factory loads, the Fusion 150 and 160 Trophy Bonded tip. Accuracy with the 160 grain was exceptional except for a few "hard openings" of the bolt. I've read that some factory loads are HOT. The 150 grain gave no such problems but wasn't as accurate. As you may or may not know, 7mm WSM brass for at least the past few years has just about unobtainable but I latched unto 100 cases a couple of weeks ago and am starting to reload for it. While experimenting cartridge OAL, I noticed my cases weren't ejecting. The bolt pulled the case out about 1" and then the bolt came all the way back with the case dropping onto the magazine. I called Winchester tech and told them of the problem. I asked a question about the extractor (it has what they called the Controlled round Push feed) because it just flopped around and had no tension on it whatsoever. It looked to me as the source of the problem. The Winchester tech guy said that it should have some tension on it and he asked me if I could see the pin underneath it. I said I could and he said there is a spring under the pin that controls tension on the extractor. The extractor looks like a 1/4 claw piece from the well know claw of the pre-64 70's. It's about 1/8" x 1/8". Not a very substancial piece by any means. He asked me when I bought it and then said the serial # probably started with a "G" to which I said yes. He said that would then be serviced by an outside company called Midwest and he gave me the number and said nothing else. Well I called Midwest and they said the gun had a 1 year warranty and the repair wouldn't be free. I was kind of surprised with her response and was kind of annoyed at the pathetic warranty from Winchester especially since I fired less than 40 rounds thru it. To make a longer story short, I then looked up that the spring was a $4 part and the extractor piece, which looked OK on my gun was $28. I then started trying to get the extractor piece off to take a look at the spring which I thought damaged. So I then stick a paper clip through the hole in the extractor, push and feel nothing. I try again and immediately notice the paper clip pushing into the bolt, I had just freed whatever was jammed up. It works now but certainly don't feel comfortable that it won't happen again. My buddy jokingly said to carry the paper clip with me at all times I'm shooting the gun. My point in this long dissertation is that I though it pretty pathetic the Winchester tech person didn't talk me thru this. I guarantee I'm not the first person this has happened to and if he had any qualifications, he should have known this and had me at least try to free the spring up. All he wanted to do was shuffle me off and get to his next phone call. A minor incident maybe but one that has given me a bad taste of the current Winchester policy. Again, FWIW

I love my 7mm-08 featherweight. It's about 3 years old if I remember correctly. I think the chamber is a little sloppy and it isn't my best shooting rifle so far. It will do 1"-3 shot groups with loads that it likes. I'd say that's good enough for it's intended use within 300 yards. I have just gotten spoiled thinking that I can get 1 hole groups out of any rifle. I'm still looking for that magic load.