Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles you guys have gone and done it, frothing at the bit over the stainless featherweight

just when i thought id have some cash for another loopy or two there is a rifle i just cant live without, wich happens to be the stainless featherweight.

ive been fondleing my 270wsm featherweight this evening and its sure not makeing me want stainless model any less..

i plan to have one orderd in the next few weeks. only problem is i cant decide a use for the rifle.. but i have narroed it down to two calibers, possibly 3.

243 or 300wsm. the 243 weighs 6lbs 8oz this would be perfect for semi light weight varmit deer rig. topped with a 3-9 or 4-12 glass.

300wsm would make a perfect rifle dureing that time of season when the hunts run together, deer elk and bear all at the same time. and at 7lbs 4oz's it does it in moderate package.

these two are top on my list, with i think the 300wsm edgeing ahead due my high country hunting and big mullies and elk on the menu.

but i noticed its also chamberd in 22/250, wich i for some reason have thing for. this rifle would make a cool varmit to deer rig in light weight light recoiling rig. this option is last on the list because i already have two 22/250s

i think the 300wsm is ahead of the pack, we can just forget that i just picked up rugewr 300win because this a semi heavy rifle. it weighs 8.25 unglassed. i sure wouldnt want to do much hikn with that rifle.

did quite alot of hiking this year with my 270wsm feather in hand and enjoyed it quite alot.

so yeah i think ive talked myself into the 300 shorty even without you guys.

unless you wanna talk me into the 243 because my 22/250s and 25.06 all weigh over 8.5lbs. and this 243 would be my only light weight varmiter/deer rifles.

man am i long winded tonight.

any caliber sugestions are greatly apreciated,

im headed back to winchesters site to take another look

thanks
Evan

also i just noticed something, is it just me or do i see difent barrel contour on the stainless model????????? i surely hope not

http://www.winchesterguns.com/prodi...535&type_id=966&cat=001C

You won't go wrong with the 300 WSM. I'm actually going to get one in the boring 30-06!

And I was pretty much settled on one of the 308 Rem Classics,but now... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The WSM's are "featherweight" in name only... what makes an M70 a featherweight is not the stock per se but the barrel contour. The WSM's have a standard barrel contour as it's not safe to chamber them in the fwt contour. Also, I wouldn't get too caught up in USRAC's weight claims... I've had a pile of them and their catalog weight's are always optimisitc. The 243 scoped with sling and five rounds will go 8.25-8.5 lbs (plus) depending on your sling, scope and mount choices. I wouldn't hesitate to own another, but for me they'd go in a Bansner stock...

Good info to have Brad. I just picked up a 30-06 fwt (not new but one of the newer CRF) that weighs 6lb 9oz without a scope.(nice fiddleback wood to boot) I'd be happy to find another one that weighs the same, or less, in many other calibers as they fit me well and look good to my 50 year old eyes.

USRAC offered the stainless & walnut rifles a few years back in both the featherweight and the sporter. I had several of each. For a while, I bought everyone I could find. they really look great. as mentioned in this post, the featherweight barrels vary by cartridge. I would like to add a 22-250 to my safe. my "luckiest" rifle was a 270 stainless/walnut/featherwieght. it has since been converted to another project.

8.5 scoped is pretty good if you ask me, ive got 3-9 loopy on my wsm featherweight and its an absolute gem to pack around in the high country.

i also think the 300wsm will be the way to go, that way i have my hunting elk rig and i can set my heavier 300win up for longer range rd hunting or something of the sort. but then again i realy would like a low recoiling deer rifle to pack around that doesnt weigh as much as my otheres.

grrrrrrrr gota grab my featherweight and hold it alittle , i realy just cant get enough of them.

i realy hope winchester got the bugs worked outa the wsm chambers.

i was thrown a bad card from the start but ive since been growing truly fond of the featherweights chamberd in the wsm's

i think the loopy 3-9x40 is about as perfect as it gets on these rifles.

they just seem to take to being set up like this very well.

Evan

I had my mind made up finally on a Rem 700 Mountain Rifle in Stainless/Laminate but now after seeing the featherweight may have changed my mind. The biggest problem I have is deciding caliber and have been considering the 25 WSSM. Anyone have any experience with this cartridge?

I wonder why they decided on the 22" barrels on the standard cartridges instead of a 24" barrel. Any ideas?

Actually, yes. I think the reason that we see the Featherweight in stainless is to answer Remington's LSS Mountain Rifle. Probably also the reason for the lower list weights as compared to last year. Remington's got a 22" barrel on the Mountain Rifle, so Winchester followed... keeps weight down... Hopefully, they still balance nicely, but I think they will. I'm also looking at a 300wsm in this gun, but if they offered the '06 with a 24" tube I'd go for it over the 300wsm. What a sweet lookin deal though. Stainless leupie + stainless featherweight = stainless smiles.

I did it! Bought a Kimber 84M Montana in .308 this summer. First under moa rifle I've ever owned (I always thought it was me being a bad shot). The stainless shows up in the woods when close hunting under 40 yards which I seem to wind up doing a lot. For a few coins more, my gunsmith can blue stainless. Seems to make a double protective finish and worked well for 77/44 and Mk II in .270..

Winchester followed nobody's lead regarding it's fwt barrel. If anything, the reverse is true! The featherweight pattern has been used on M70's since the 1950's. The barrel is what makes it a featherweight. This barrel contour is unique with its tiny 3/8" shank dropping off to a radius and tapering to .555" at 22"... if it went to 24" it would taper to .535" and become too thin for 30 cal's. The WSM's are not featherweight's... that's just a bit O' trickery by USRAC. The ugly stock (my opinion) with its schnabel forend and ribbon checkering does not a featherweight make...

Heh, well... checkmate I s'pose. They're just sticking with the featherweight formula then. Duh, I didn't even think to look back on how long the standard cartridge barrels have always been. Thanks for the post. I still think the reason they brought back the stainless was the 700 lss mtn.

WR, no way to know what the motivation was for USRAC. However, as a diehard M70 Featherweight fan, I know USRAC has gotten a lot of mail from folks like me clamoring to bring back the LA and SA stainless featherweight's!

well I'll be. Didn't see that coming. It's been a while since I've sen a stainless & walnut featherweight. Very nice, I have a couple of regular blued & walnut, missed out on a stainless walnut up for sale used a couple of years ago. Wow, I can't wait to get my hands on one, I'm real curious about the quality of the checkering. I handled a new one last summer in a short magnum & the checkering looked real bad, cut real fast on a machine, chattery, ugly. Hopefully these have better checkering.

Well, I went to see about ordering one today, and was told the shop had just placed a big order this week with Winchester, and they were told not to expect the SS FWT until May at the earliest. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I wanted one before I move from MT to avoid the taxes. The store is trying to get in touch to see how long until the Sporter III is available. If not by March, I;m going with the Ruger.

Hudge

I'm not suprised. When the ultimate shadow camo model came out in the WSM cartridges, it took me a year to get my 270 WSM. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> To the unlucky folks, we're probably looking at a six month (at least) waiting period on these stainless featherweights. The 270 WSM & 300 WSM will probably sale like crazy.