Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors pre 64 featherweight

Friend of mines husband died a couple years a go, she found several guns in the crawlspace. She gave them to me, most interesting is a pre 64 featherweight in 308. Action/stock are in very good condition, but barrel has severe rust on exterior. Curious as to how difficult it would be to convert magazine/re-barrel to 30 06. A 308 on a long action doesn't interest me. If not feasible might re-barrel to 358win.
Also received a Winchester mod50 12 gauge in good condition,
Remington copy of browning A5 light rust on all metal
nicely done Springfield sporter in 30 06 good condition
Winchester 12 gauge single shot good condition

Pre64win.com

Call those guys. They do excellent work on all things Pre 64 Winchester. They will have a barrel for you as well.

It's up to you, but I would not f it up, by trying to turn it into something it isn't.

Your M70, your choice...but to butcher one of the best sporting arms ever made over a half inch of action length? Not me.

Agree with not changing it to 06, just looked closer and can see it would be a major project. Was able to remove rust from barrel, surprised to see no pitting. Now considering replacing barrel with a used pre 64 barrel from pre64winchester.com or just refinishing existing barrel. ultimate would be to find a 358win original barrel but doubt that would be feasible. Could re-barrel to 358 or 338fed but would prefer to keep it original.

Pictures would help. Bad rust means different things to different people.

I know the whereabouts of an original 358 Win. Fwt barrel

Needle in a haystack.

Now I’d follow up on that.

I have a JESS bored .358 Win. Started out as a shot out Pre-64 FWT .243.

Fitting an original .358 FWT barrel would be about as good as one could do with this gun, IMO.

Price an original .358 Win FWT in good condition.

DF

Very expensive, they only made roughly 2,000 of them. From 1955-1957.

BSA,

If the OP could snag that .358 Win barrel without taking out a mortgage, that would be a very interesting option. If the gun’s in good shape, just the barrel rusted, that combo could get pretty valuable. It wouldn’t be as pricy as one correctly numbered to a collector, but what a hunting piece it would be.

I’m a .358 Win fan, have seen it in action as many here have. It Whacks’em way above its weight class, is easy to load for and brass can be easily made from .308, even .243.

Yeah, I necked up a bunch of .243 used brass, split only 3 cases. Virgin brass usually does better, but this is what I had when my .358 Win was still a .243.

And as reported before, I really like the 178 gr. Shock Hammer. Deadly and accurate over a max load of RL-7.

DF

Very good, very expensive.

Better have your checkbook handy.

DF

I agree. It would be cool. I know you've had good luck with yours. More than likely, that barrel would screw right on and be good. My smith used to tell me that if the barrel came from the same decade (50's barrel on a 50's receiver, 60's barrel on a 60's receiver) they would headspace without much issue.

To me it would depend on price of that barrel and what the finished product would be worth. Gotta make dollars and sense.

DF

Very true. Personally, I'd shoot and see first. I'm cheap and would also cold blue it and just use it, if it shoots well. I've seen some ragged rifles shoot damn well.

Agree, BSA.

And if it didn’t shoot well enough and if that original .358 Win barrel was too pricy, JESS will bore it to .338 or .358 for around $300. It was $250 when he did mine. And it shoots great.

DF

Thanks for all the suggestions, lots of options to consider.

I always wanted to change by shooter grade 270 FW to a 35 Whelen or 338-06.

It's a shame to mess with any 270 fwt, because they didn't make as many of them. 30-06, mess with it until your hearts content. Also, "shooter grade" could mean anything. A guy cutting the stock to put on a pachmayr decelerator turns said rifle into a "shooter grade". I'd break someone's arm, if they messed with my "shooter grade" 270 fwt. You just don't run across them often enough IMHO..

Yeah, agree. Gotta be careful knowing what Pre-64’s to mess with, which ones to leave along.

And if in doubt, ask.

DF