Got a question I hope ya'll can answer...couple years ago I traded into a M 70 Fwt in 7x57. The dealer is an old friend from back in the days when I was a Wholesaler's rep. I needed to trade out of a stiff kicker 'cause I was still nursing a wrecked shoulder and could not tolerate the recoil of a 270 or bigger that was all I owned at the time and into a "soft kicker". My old friend laid this M70 Fwt 7x57 on the counter and agreed to the swap deal and I went home happy. With my health issues not improving back then I put the rifle way in the closet and never shot it. Today I'm going to hunt it weather allowing. The shoulder issues are not the problem it was thanks to the local VA doc's insight on addressing my problem with out any more reconstruction surgeries.
The wholesaler I had worked for had been started in the late 1870's and sold everything from sporting goods - gun's & train car loads of ammo, farm implements, lawn care stuff to TV's and furniture, and had sold out to a "Bain Capital" kinda holding company in Chicago. Same company did the same thing with Ellett Brothers in South Carolina, Bern's Wholesale in Denver and an outfit in Seattle with 3 warehouse's as I recall. They had also bought the Milwaukee Braves and sold the team to the guy in Atlanta.
Long story short...we got 5 cases of 5 rifles per case in 5 calibers of the New Featherweight rifles from Winchester after they got back in production....so I knew what my old friend had just offered me...but with no history on this particular rifle except to say it had been "slicked up by the original owner" ..ie ..the safety is super smooth, the bolt is the same way, even the folding leaf rear sight works easily ...all things that I felt should have been done in the factory on the 257 Roberts I scored, 'cause nobody else wanted that caliber out of that original delivery and I had to "wear it in" to get close to where the 7x57 I now have, has already been done.. the 7x57's bore is crisp, the muzzle is clean and not worn, and the safety is very smooth. No dent's, dings or scratch's. Only flaw is a small blueing loss on the barrel near the rear sight.
My question is, what is the year of production it was built in?? and current approx value?, without the scope it is wearing now. The SR # is G 1570xxx . Any other info or insight on this rifle would be appreciated. Weather allowing I'll use this rifle 1st on a TP&W Axis Hunt in February that's taken 25 years to win a Permit again.
Ron
Last edited by sakoron; 11/27/21. Reason: clarity
