Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters I have never owned a 7mm or a Winchester deer rifle!

Would you believe that in 45 years of hunting deer, I have never owned a 7mm or a Winchester deer rifle!

Why? I do not know. I have seen some nice pre-64�s but they were over priced and / or in a caliber that was of no interest to me. Most of the post-64�s have no appeal to me. I do like the lines of the Featherweight stocks but they feel heavy and chunky in my hand.

So, what I�m thinking is maybe building 7x57 on a Winchester action in Featherweight style stock (but maybe lighter and slimmer).

Please, let me know what you think of this idea. And do you think I can keep the cost under $2,000?

Yes, it can be done for much less than $2,000.

Cole K: Unless you just gotta-start-it0now, why not take the next couple of months and look at gun auction sites such as GunsAmerica.com and GunBrooker.com and buy a Model 70 Winchester Featherweight XTR in 7x57mm. There was one there just about three weeks ago. A good friend of mine owns one and loves the thing. I am a CZ 550 fanatic and a nut for the 7x57mm. For me it has been my go-to rifle for elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, antelope, black bear, wild hogs, javelina and even wild turkey in Texas. Like Oregon, I am certain you can build one for $2,000 or less on a Model 70 action. Your choice of caliber is right on the mark, though you really need to be a handloader to take full advantage of the cartridge. My friend's CZ has a 1x10 twist barrel and it does a fantastic job on 150 grain bullets, 145 and 140 grain bullets, 139 grain bullets, but I have not seen him shoot any other grain weight. My rifle has a 1x8.66 inch Euro twist. I load 162 grain Hornady SSTs and 160 grain Nosler Partitions with it exclusively. Absolutely fantastic cartridge. Good luck with it. Tom Purdom

Unless you really want the Featherweight "style" of stock, order a Hunter's Edge for the Winchester 70 with featherweight contour barrel...a nearly perfect blend with the right optics.

If I were you, I would contact a good stockmaker and see about making an ADL pattern Model 70 stock; that is, a stock for a pre-64 action without a floorplate. That would save you a great deal of weight and look very attractive. There is an issue of Sports Afield that covers custom rifles and has a picture of a Model 70 with that type of stock. Combine that with a featherweight contour barrel and you will have a light, well balanced gun. The pre-64 action is no lightweight, so balance is likely to be more important than overall weight.

You can be forgiven.

But you have to repent.

If you want a really sweet 7x57, there is a Ruger 77 RSI for sale on GB for $1,500, auction # 83184310. This is the tang safety 77 and is a non-cataloged limited edition. If I could have only 1 7x57, this would be it.

Jeff

The 7 X 57 is a great choice. I love mine. Find a chrome moly donor action (cheaper than stainless)and send it out for re-barrel to that caliber with a chrome moly bbl.
Cerakote the metal for the same finish throughout and also for protection from the elements. McMillan or Bansner stock bedded. Have the trigger worked over. Mount the scope of your choice in Talley liteweights and go kill stuff.

You'll like it!

Mr. Howell, if I get this rifle built have I repented enough?

Thanks for the help guys.

My original thought was wood stock, blued action and barrel. But what I really want is light weight woods rifle.

I like the looks of the McMillan Hunters Edge Featherweight stock and if later I don�t like it I can always re-stock it with wood.

Instead of blue I�m how thing a Cerakote finish would be better.

I think I would like a 21 inch barrel with a 1-10 twist.

Now the big question, which M70 action, short or long?

What do ya�ll think guys, am I on the right track?

On this board Cole is not the heretic, I am, for I have never owned a Remington bolt gun.

Nor am I repentant. Grin

Idaho_Shooter,
I have also never owned but 2 Remington rifles. I still have both of them. One is a Fieldmaster 22 that was my Dad's and years and 5 'smiths to get it to shoot right.
I have a 700 30-06 I bought 20 years ago that has never shoot better than 2 inch groups. But I have killed alot of deer with it.
May God keep from another one.

Cole K - go with the standard action. You will limit yourself with the short action and there is no sense in doing that from the very beginning of your project. Tom Purdom

A 7-57 in a long action will be short in the magazine and will not work true CRF all the time. The COL of a 7-57 is 3.065" and a long action may have a magazine length of 3.4".

Now a 7-57's bullet can be seated further out but its not easy to fill the magazine length wise to get reliablility. I know as I have such a ill designed rig, a 21h Brno.

If you do find a long action you might as well chamber it for a long action cartridge.

Someone mentioned a M70 XTR which to me was a push feed. Now those rifles were made as Featherweights and the stocks are much slimmer than the original pre-64's. The ones I know of are not CRF but they are not a bad gun at all. I bet you can find one for under $1000 before a custom gets finished at $2000.

On the other hand they may be making new ones again by then.

A 7x57 on a pre-64 Win M70 action with a 22-inch barrel would be fantastic. Go for it!

I, too, love the 7x57. It is a wonderfully balanced round capable of great performance with bullets of sufficient weight. By "balanced" I mean it is chambered in rifles of moderate size and weight, the recoil is tolerable, and the terminal performance is at least sufficient, if not fantastic. The recoil is noticably lighter than a 30-06 with 180 grain bullets. I currently own 2 rifles so chambered, with another on layaway (a Ruger #1A), and I have owned others. My go-to bullet has been the 160 grain Speer Hot-Cor driven to around 2700 fips with H4350. It is in the middle of the middle of the road.

_

Mauser made commercial actions for the 7X57 in an intermediate size. You can find them around too, for example I have one made in the 60s by Heym.

jim

I would get a short action M70 in 7mm08 caliber. The 7x57 is too long for short actions and the 7/08 is it's ballistic twin except with more choices available for factory ammo etc.

+1 "I have never owned a 7mm or a Winchester deer rifle!"


Came close to a Winchester once...

A 7-57 may fit in a M70 short action. I am not going to measure mine but the max COL of the 7-57 is just over 3" and the magazine of the rifle is about that. One could make it fit is my take on it.

A 7mm-08 is a very nice round but in terms of perfection is a little small for the M70. A 284 Win would fit a M70 full up however. The 7-08 goes real nice in a Kimber.

You un-American heathen! Seriously, watch the local pawn shops. If you're patient you can get a decient deal on a 7X57 or a Model 70 Winchester.