Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors XTR Featherweight Roberts

I’ve been on the hunt for a featherweight 257 Robert’s, and finally found a nice one. I tried looking up the date of manufacture, and best I could come up with was 1981. I’m hoping that’s correct. Also, would that make it a rifle that was produced by Winchester before usraco took over? Serial # is G1504xxx. It also has an aftermarket trigger on it, of which I’ve never seen. No markings or anything, but based on some pics I posted in the gunsmith forum, might be a Karl Kenyon. Would anyone happen to have any input on that. Here’s a few pics...

LOL we have been discussing the trigger on another forum. I just last week departed company with a similar 70 Fwt XTR in 257 Roberts, a 1980 model, G1506xxx serial number, that is in fact the last of the WRA guns. The recoil pad is the ID of un-catalogged WRA vs USRA guns. Mine had a standard M70 Trigger.

Regardless of year and trigger, you hit the walnut jackpot. What a beauty.

What a piece of wood!

That’s a looker! Congrats

Wow nice rifle!
I have a 223, 30-06 and a 35 Whelen in early Featherweights. Great rifles to say the least. I am looking for a 257R, 6.5 Swede, 7x57 and 243. I ran across a 243 with a nice piece wood a while back, not as nice as your Roberts, but, do to shortness of funds at the time I had to pass. The smaller calibers are few and far between up here.

Very nice !

My dad just gave my daughter one like this. Her's doesn't have such a stunning piece of wood though. Nice find.

Wow what a beauty!

Gorgeous, may I ask what you paid?

That stock is spectacular! A man could look a lifetime and never find one as nice. I would have to replace that trigger with an original factory version.

Thanks fellas. She’s a beauty for sure! I’m looking forward to getting it to the range and seeing how it shoots. It didn’t run me anymore than any other xtr of that vintage and condition. Can anyone confirm the 1981 DOM? The next order will be picking a scope to put on it 🤔

Not possible. The Featherweight XTR wasn't introduced until 1981. The first five or six months of 1981 were Olin-produced before USRA took over.

Apparently they only made these in 1981 and only until Jul 20, 1981 at that, more rare than I thought. 1981 serials for WRA guns go 1,493,464 - 1,525,323 a total of 31,860, and those are actual factory figures. Winchester told me this was a uncatalogged 1980 model but most other sources say otherwise???

According the SN Winchester has available, my daughters xtr featherweight was made in 1980 last model 70 made in 1979 ended with sn 144700 last model 70 made in 1980 ended with SN 1490709. Im not trying to get into a pissing match with bricktop uh I mean Jackietreehorn. But I have seen this repeated before the xtr featherweights were not made until 1981. When in fact I have one according to sn was made in 1980.

Sn puts a DOM in 1981.

Oh ok...

We've been through this before on here; Winchester catalogs and literature, magazine articles, etc. have been shared that clearly identified the date of introduction as 1981.

Your database is incorrect.

Nope. They were made until around '85 or '86. Not uncatalogued, you're just using flawed sources.