Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Anybody build a rifle on an XTR featherweight push feed action?

I have an older Winchester XTR festherweight in .270 that's a push feed and have thought about moving it but given the market for them I think it's worth more to keep it. I've heard good things about them but wanted to seek opinions of the experts here...

Thanks guys

Drummond

Great rifles. I have one in .280 and a Winlite .270. Both are accurate and fairly light at around 6.5 lbs empty. I would like to drop the .280 in one of the sub 16 oz. MPI stocks and make it a true featherweight.

Drummond, what makes the XTR featherweights worth money is keeping them in nice original condition. I bought one for $600.00 a couple years ago, but it was a first year post 64 WRA featherweight and NIB, so that made it desirable. Once you start messing with them, the value slips away. For a pushfeed rifle, they are nice, but not any different than any other pushfeed Winchester model 70 if you change the stock, barrel or finish.

Thanks guys! I've been told that my XTR featherweight was only worth $500-$550 or so and for that I'll keep it. I'll get some pictures up later but I thought about dropping it in another stock and putting the original in the safe and have a lightweight 270 to shoot

Here's a few pictures...

I'd leave it as is, or sell it...You also won't hurt the value if you drop it in another stock and hang on to the original. Nice looking rifle. Your rifle was made in '82, after USRAC took over WRA.

It would be considered a transition I bet it has a WRA recoil pad. The cut off for the last made WRA model 70's 1525323. Your rifle is one of the early USRACo made model 70's. As my bud BSA said keep it as is.

Yep, mount a Leupold 3.5-10 and hunt it. I'd try to find a beat up classic to build on. That's a dang good .270 right there.

I have to be honest. If there was ever such a thing as a sexy rifle, it's the early XTR featherweights and the older Remington BDL mountain rifles. To each his own though...

They are very accurate as well stuff that case full of h4831 I think Lawrence likes to use imr 4350 anyhow stuff a 140gr or 150 in the case and you are ready fro deer,elk and moose 😁

I use what I can find.... . At one time, that's all that was available locally. Thank god, I've been seeing some H4350 and H4831 around here. I thought I was going to have to try H335 in all of my rifles... I'd actually like to try some H4350 or RL26 in my 270 with some good 150gr. Nosler partitions..

What changes are you thinking about?

Rebarrel? Restock? Both rebarrel and restock?

I bought a Winchester Mod. 70 XTR Featherweight stock - Scannable design from big whoop on here this year and it was made for the rifle. Thought about dropping it in that. Pics to follow...

When I bought it bigwhoop mentioned these were hard to find...

A few months ago, CDNN was selling them for around $60. While it has an attractive schnable, it is, to me, just another injection molded stock, no more and no less.

Nice looking Featherweight there, Drummond ! That's a keeper!

I've got one just like yours in 7x57. Mine is extremly accurate and a joy to lug around in the pasture. It would be the last of all my hunting rifles that I would ever sell. Mine has an old model Leupold VX-III 2.5 X 8 mounted on it.

If it was mine and shot well I'd look into a synthetic that dropped some weight. IIRC most of the wood schnabel fwt stocks I have weighed come in at 29-30 ounces so dropping 6-7 ounces is a reasonable goal. Only you can decide if the results would be worth the cost. For myself, I like the fwt stocks. They fit me well and I like the looks!
My current favorite rifle is a pushfeed fwt Winlite (mcmillan fwt stock) in 270. It suits me very well and is a good shooter.
Had a buddy say that it is the rifle the 700 mtn rifle should have been!

I'd back that up. I really dig my sons XTR 7x57. Great shooter.

Two of some of the best all around standard production hunting rifles put out in the '80s and '90s.

My wood stock weighs less than my Winlite. The wood weighs 26 oz, I think the Winlite goes around 29 oz. They are about equal when you add the trigger guard to the Winlite and the bottom metal on the wood stock. I bought a set of PTG aluminum metal and plan to get the ultra light MPI stock- should drop almost a pound from the finished weight.