Just a little over a month ago I got a wild idea. And I posted that idea in the �Free Classified� section of this forum. The idea was that I needed to somehow exchange my perfectly fine Winchester M70 Featherweight chambered in .280 Remington for the exact same rifle chambered in 7x57 Mauser.

Why?

Well, that�s not easy to explain. The .280 Remington is one of my favorite cartridges. It�s superb for deer and antelope and it works well for elk. In my post-64 Model 70 Featherweight, the .280 chambering seemed just about perfect and the setup had performed very well for me in the field.



But I wanted a 7x57 Mauser. And I wanted it in that same rifle. It�s odd, funny and more than just a bit crazy how gun nuts change directions.

The main obstacle in my scheme was that Winchester offered it classy modern-era M70 Featherweight in 7x57 Mauser only from 1981 to 1985. Still, the 7x57 Mauser is often referred to as one of the best balanced cartridges ever designed, balancing powder consumed with real world stopping power. In other words, to exceed its performance you have to burn a lot more powder and suffer significantly for recoil to achieve relatively small increases in actual killing power. The 7x57�s reputation, particularly in places like Africa, is that of a light-recoiling round that kills medium-sized game with surprising dispatch. I�d had several 7x57s, for some reason had traded them away, and I now wanted another.

Of course the craziest part of the idea was that to justify the new 7x57 Winchester M70 Featherweight, I�d sell my old .280-chambered Winchester M70 Featherweight. The expected blow would be softened by the fact that I do have another superb hunting rifle chambered in .280 Remington � a wonderfully svelte Remington M700 Alaskan Ti.

Anyway, this turned into quite possibly the fastest gun switch I�ve ever made.

On Saturday April 3rd I posted, �Wanted Win 70 Featherweight in 7x57� in the Classifieds section of this forum. In that post I explained what I was looking for and I also detailed and showed my .280 M70 Featherweight.

The very next day, Sunday, I sold my .280 Featherweight on the strength of that post to a gentleman in Washington State. Step one of the switch was complete. No turning back now!

Fortunately, on Monday morning (before reservations over selling the .280 set in) I was contacted by the Fire�s own Campfire Kahuna Redneck with news that he had the exact 7x57 Winchester M70 Featherweight I was looking for and would sell it. After a quick exchange of questions and answers and a review of his clear and detailed photographs of the rifle, I committed to buy Redneck�s 7x57. That same afternoon I gathered up the necessary FFL paperwork, a money order and FedExed everything to Redneck in his beloved taxhellWisconsin. That was late in the day on Monday.

On Friday (!) the rifle arrived at my FFL agent in Colorado. Kudos to Redneck for a silky smooth transaction that included great communication, superb photos, fast-as-the-wind shipping and a received rifle that was precisely as described.

Things happened so fast that I actually received the 7x57 Featherweight before I shipped out the .280 Featherweight. In fact, here are the two rifles just minutes before I packed up the .280. The .280 is on the left, the 7x57 on the right.



I always find it interesting how rifles of the same basic model can vary, particularly if they are stocked in wood and separated by about ten years in manufacture date.

The 7x57 Featherweight was made in the early-1980s. The .280 Featherweight dates from the early 1990s. Both have identical 22-inch tapered barrels. The 1990s rifle featured controlled-round-feed (CRF). The 1980s model has a push feed (PF) bolt. Both feed and eject their respective cartridges flawlessly. The 1990s .280 sports a much glossier stock finish than the earlier 7x57. The finish on the 7x57�s stock feels and looks almost like an oil finish.

Maybe the biggest difference between the two rifles is weight. The early-1990s .280 Featherweight weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces (rifle alone). The early-1980s 7x57 Featherweight weighs just 6 pounds 13 ounces (rifle alone). Equipped with Talley Lightweight Mounts and a Leupold VX-III 2.5-8 scope, the 7x57 setup ended up weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces, clearly putting the �feather� in Featherweight. That�s wonderfully light for a Winchester Model 70 with a factory wood stock.

Bolt weight accounts for some of the weight difference between the two rifles. The bolt of the CRF .280 weighs 14.8 ounces. The bolt of the PF 7x57 weighs 13.6 ounces. Note the sleek push-feed nature of the bolt on the 7x57.



The remaining weight difference seems to rest in the actions and stocks of the rifles. The wood on the 7x57 Featherweight (below) is straighter grained and not as highly figured as on the .280 Featherweight.


The next step in my .280-for-7x57 switcharoo was to head to the range to figure out what bullets and loads the 7x57 preferred.

When I actually did strike out for the range, there were four rifles in my truck. Here�s a photo of those four rifles. Left to right are a classy Kimber .22 rifle with a new scope that needed sighting-in, a vintage Savage 99 in .300 Savage that I simply wanted to shoot some more, a new Remington 700 Alaskan Ti in .280 Remington that needed its barrel broken-in and the recently acquired early-1980s Winchester M70 Featherweight in 7x57 Mauser that was crying to be tested with a variety of ammunition. Tough, dirty, dangerous work! But someone had to do it. I volunteered.



The .22 sight-in proved routine, although an ideal way to start the day. Ping-pong-ball-sized groups at 50 yards were the result. But maybe even more important was getting the feel of slow and steady trigger work without the distraction of recoil, which is exactly what a good .22 rifle does so well.

Next up was my Savage 99. This particular gun left the Savage factory in 1949. What a great hunting rifle, classy and classic all at the same time.. If you happen to be a student of the history of hunting rifles, as I am, that old Savage conjures up visions of red-plaid wool shirts and ramshackle hunting camps east and west. Thirty or forty enjoyable rounds later I�d gotten my vintage fix, and punched the center out of several targets from 50 to 100 yards. This classic 61-year-old hunting rifle handles and shoots remarkably well.

Now for the main event � testing the Winchester Featherweight 7x57 and breaking in the barrel on the new Remington Alaskan Ti.

There is much debate over both the procedure for and the necessity of breaking in a barrel on a new hunting rifle. Some riflemen swear by it. Others swear at it. Some claim proper and thorough barrel break-in improves accuracy and helps reduce fowling. Other says it�s a complete waste of time. Me, I tend to tip toward the side that feels it may help somewhat, and so I generally do it with any new rifle that I believe holds special promise. At the very least, I feel it does contribute to reduced barrel fowling down the road.

My barrel break-in procedure is nothing new nor is it magic. I simply and very slowly shoot twenty shots through the new barrel, carefully cleaning the barrel between each shot. For that cleaning, I use Shooters Choice Firearms Bore Cleaner. My cleaning routine begins with three wet patches pushed through the just-fired barrel with a coated Dewey cleaning rod. I then let the barrel sit for several minutes, followed by 10 scrubbing passes with a proper bronze brush. Then three more wet patches followed by a dry patch. I�ll be the first to admit that the procedure is both monotonous and time consuming, easily soaking up nearly three hours if done right.



To relieve that monotony, I�ve come to prefer to break-in a new barrel while working with a second rifle at the same time. On this day I would break-in the barrel on the new Remington Alaskan Ti while testing ammo in the early-1980s Winchester Featherweight.

By mid-morning I�d fallen into a routine. I�d fire a shot with the .280 Remington and start its cleaning process. That rifle was set up on one shooting bench. Then I�d jump to the neighboring bench where I had things hopping for the Winchester Featherweight 7x57. Since both rifles sported a 7mm bore diameter, I was able to use the same cleaning-rod jag, 7mm brush and patches. That helped.

By mid-afternoon I was still happily at it. Slow and steady, enjoying each shot, taking notes on ammo selection for the 7x57, swabbing the barrels on both guns, squeezing triggers and thoroughly enjoying my day at the range.

The most fun and the most questions came from the Winchester Model 70 Featherweight. It is always something of a crap shoot when one acquires any new or used rifle. Big questions loom. How will the rifle feel in your hands and at your shoulder? What will the trigger be like? Will the rifle feed its cartridges properly? What sort of recoil will it deliver? And the biggest question of all, how accurately will the new rifle shoot?

While I broke-in the barrel of the Remington, I worked on all of those questions with the Winchester.

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/TimberlineX/DayattheRange-April2010013.jpg[/img]

The Winchester M70 Featherweights have always looked and felt good to me. This used 7x57 was no exception.

However, the trigger - as the rifle came to me - was something of a surprise. Vintage factory Winchester M70 triggers, in my experience, are often far from ideal. Too often they are heavy as sin and gritty. And adjusting an old Winchester trigger, even with the right tools, is troublesome and time consuming. Someone, somewhere along the line, though, had worked on this trigger and they had clearly known what they were doing. It broke at exactly 3 pounds, crisp and clean, which is perfect to my way of thinking. No adjustment needed.

Likewise, cartridges fed with the rifle�s trim push-feed action with a well-timed, almost boring slickness. Just for kicks, I turned the rifle completely upside down and tried cycling the bolt that way. Not surprisingly, the cartridges still feed and ejected flawlessly, one after another until the magazine ran dry. This used rifle, with but the right ammunition, was ready to go hunting. Grab a good backpack and head out!

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/TimberlineX/WinFwt7x57A027.jpg[/img]

One of the real advantages on the 7x57 Mauser cartridge is that the recoil it generates is relatively mild for the power it delivers. Even with its 22-inch, tapered featherweight barrel my newly acquired 7x57 proved a pussycat in the recoil department. What a treat compared to the fire-breathing magnums I so often shoot and use for hunting.

And right from the get-go, the rifle�s accuracy proved first-rate. Whew! Big sigh of relief there.

I�d come equipped to the range with a range bag full of 7x57 factory ammunition from the likes of Federal, Remington, Winchester and Hornady. The task of the day would be to very carefully shoot each factory load to get a feel for what this rifle liked.

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/TimberlineX/DayattheRange-April2010060.jpg[/img]

By the end of the afternoon, when the dusted had settled and all the targets had been measured, I�d come up with the following results on average group size per load. Each average is derived from a series of four to five strings of three shots fired at 100 yards from the bench. I settled on three-shot groups as I felt that number more closely approximated hunting situations, my test-ammo supply was limited and the relatively thin barrel on the Featherweight tends to heat up substantially after about three reasonably quick shots. Here�s how things worked out for this rifle on this day:

Hornady Light Magnum 139-grain SST ���...2.6-inch average group at 100 yards.
Winchester 140-grain Power-Point�����....1.9 inch average group at 100 yards
Federal 140-grain Speer Hot Core������.1.5-inch average group at 100 yards
Federal 175-grain Soft Point��������..1.3-inch average group at 100 yards
Remington 140-grain Core-Lokt�������1.2-inch average group at 100 yards
Federal 140-grain Nolser Partition������.1.1-inch average group at 100 yards

The most startling group of all was the very first one I shot with the Federal 140-grain Nolser Partitions. Those three miraculous shots found the orange aiming spot 100 yards away with a group that measured just one-half inch!

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/TimberlineX/DayattheRange-April2010049.jpg[/img]

I wish I could do that all the time. I must admit that I was tempted to call it quits right there, appoint the Partitions as the perfect load and call this a half-inch rifle! Some might have done that, I suppose. But that group was a gift. I never could quite manage it again, no matter how carefully I tried. Something just over an inch seemed more like this round�s true potential when I did everything right (and threw out that lone, heavenly half-inch group).

Still, groups that ran from about 1 inch to 1.5 inches or so at 100 yards with factory ammo was almost more than I could have hoped for with a 30-year-old, wood-stocked rifle with a lightweight barrel. Thanks Redneck for the superb rifle! The deer and antelope better watch out. Elk too.

Before leaving the range at the end of the day, I cleaned all four rifles thoroughly and policed the grounds.

Days spent hunting are very near of top of the time pyramid for me. Good days just shooting at the range or in the mountains rank up there as well. I imagine you feel much the same way.

Comments or thoughts on my craziness?

very nice post !
you should try your hand at writing for magazines.
nice rifles as well.

............So, you're a Leupold fan!

Excellent post and great rifles all.

Love the 7x57 too!!!

Looks to me like you need to do some load workup with the 140 partitions...Even if around 1 inch is the best that rifle will do, it is still a classy hunting rifle. I have always liked that schnabled FW stock pattern.

Thanks for the thorough write up. Its good when a plan comes together, even when it is born of loonyism!

Great read and great colection of irons you got there.

Nice writeup and nice rifles. I really like the overall package that those fwts are. I would have been hardpressed to sell that 280 though! (trust me, I've done way worse!)

Well done. I would be curious as to the differences in velocity that you saw between the 280 and the 7x57.

Nice rifles & Nice buck!

Nice write up, nice rifles. I can understand it but can't explain it. Sold my 280, found a 7x57 I love and haven't looked back.

Very nice on all counts. It's always nice when something like this works out. BTW I had a FWT in 7x57 and it's accuracy was horrendous. I worked with that rifle until I had three hairs left on my pate and had to sell it to preserve the remaining crop. Took quite a while for me to come to that realization--saw it at a local shop about 9 months later. Apparently the second user felt the same way.

Not an indictment of Winchester at all, it was just not a good one. Got a bunch of them now, wish one was a 7mm Mouser.

Thank you for the fine post - but how did the Ti shoot?

Timberline, your posts are always a pleasure to read and this was no exception.

I still remember your write-up for the Ruger #1 in 9.3x74R and the hunt it accompanied you on. Another fine article. Even though you sold that rifle too.

"Comments or thoughts on my craziness?"

Well, I'd have kept the .280 and bought the 7x57 too.
Seriously, I curently have three rifle in 7x57 including the Winchester featherweight. One is a J.C. Higgins M50 FN Mauser rebarreled to 7x57, the next a Ruger #1A that I had to send back to Ruger because of a very bad barrel. They did fix it though. Then there is the featherweight.
Well, the Ruger with the new barrel is one I haven't done much with other that test fire it. Accuracy was in the 1.25" ramge with Winchester 145 gr. Power Points. I reserve that ammo for testing a new rifle or for the mauser which is a .75" gun with that ammo. It's even better with my handloads, but since I got the Featherweight, well the other two seem to be in semi-retirement. There is something about that rifle that that is almost like a marriage between man and rifle. When I got it, it didn't shoot worth a damn regardles of what I ran through it. The barrel fouled badly which didn't help. After spending the money for a professional glass bedding and trigger job it still shot lousy. About the only thing I hadnt tried was changing the scope. After all, brand new scopes should work, right? Well, this one didn't as I found out after changing it to another. I sent it back to leupold and it was replaced within a week. Damn fine service.
Well, now with the test ammo, the 145 gr. Power points, groups ran right at one inch. That was more like it. I worked up a fairly stiff load with 140 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips that consistantly shoot into .75" when I do my part. The long discontinued Sierra 170 gr. round nose bullets were the eal surprise. I was getting goups in the .375" to .50" range. I sure wish Sierra would at least make a few more. I'd buy at least 500 for myself. I recently made a buy of 160 gr. Speer Grand Slams to try in the rifle but haven't gotten around to loading any yet. The only bullet that has not shot worth a damn in the Featherweight, or the other two rifles plus my .280 Rem. are some 150 gr. Winchester Power Point bulk bullets I bought. There is such a radical difference in weight from bullet to bullet that I can't see accuracy ever being decent with them. The variation is something like plus or minus 1.5 gr. from the nominal value.
So what do I think of the Featherweight? Well, I bought another one in .257 Roberts that is a decent shooter and I picked up a long action Featherweight stock that I mounted a 1968 era M70 in .243 Win. that gives that rifle a whole new feel. It shows promise but I do belive it's going to need a bit a bedding work before it shoots to it's full potential.
Now if I can find one in .280 Rem.????????????????
Paul B.

you write very well! another vote to write for one of the rags. pics are good also.

I've made so many moves like this that I would be the last to criticize it....it sounds like you are delighted with the swap and the desire for a new rifle to play with is irresistible sometimes...and I'm happy the deal worked out for you and Redneck...enjoy your 7x57!

That said,for a variety of reasons,I would not have done it....IIRC 45-47 gr 4064 gives a 140 gr bullet about 2700-2800 from a 280,which by any definition is a 7x57 in every essential way...second, the 280 was a proven field performer,not to be trifled with...

Here's a quote I frequently remember when I am overcome by fits of "Rifle Tradeitis".....in speaking of the 270,280,7x57,and 284 a wise gunwriter from another generation said....."if a man owns one of these rifles-any one of them-I certainly don't recommend he spend a plugged nickel getting one of the other calibers.....the differences are infintesimal.....".Further,he states you could use these 4 the rest of your life,and .."have the devils own time telling the difference".Bob Chatfield -Taylor; "Reflections on the 7mm Calibers";Handloader's Digest.

I agree!

But enjoy the 7x57

That right there gives me chills. Sacrilege my friend, sacrilege.

Very enjoyable, Thanks.

Timberline,

Very nice post. It would not surprise me in the least to find out that Redneck worked the kinks out of the trigger before selling it to you...

Now please try loading up some 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips or some 120 TSX's and see if that classic rifle will shoot itty bitty groups with one of those!

Ingwe gets all weird about using Ballistic Tips in the 7x57. I can assure you the rifle don't care

Nice rifles

I've seen a couple of 7x57's that really liked the 120 grain Ballistic Tip.

The 140s with Win 760 flat work in the 7x57 in the family and deer die from it

Yeah, I would have had a hard time parting with the .280.

Super write-up.. And, mega kudos for the 7X57 affinity! I am likewise plagued. I can't wait to get my newest custom 7X57 to the range.

Bill,

Please rest easy knowing the 700 Mtn Rifle you sold me is being lovingly cared-for, and regularly hunted with. It's now all dressed-up with a 4x32 Conquest in Talley Lows, and feasts on S&B 173 SPCE ammo.

I loaned this rifle to a buddy for a hog hunt, & I had to pry it out of his hands afterward. He later found his own 7x57 MR online, & he's now as happy as pig in _________.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw your post asking to trade, because I'd recently had a M70 fwt 7x57, too! I never could like it as much as the 700, and I sent it down the road, just a few months before your query.

I loved reading your post, & seeing your pics. Do send some game pix when you bloody your latest 7x57.

FC

Nice read and pics, thanks and congrats.

All I can say is WOW, what a write-up!! I agree; you should be hired by several shooting rags...

But in any case, I'm very happy to hear the rifle is working well for you and is in the condition you wanted.. I usually do not keep any firearm that's less than 95% - yours was rated at 98% and I just did a little trigger work on it, not a full job..

I love the 7X57 - still have two rifles in that chambering and will probably keep 'em.. I think they'd make very good northern Wisconsin deer hunting rifles..

Thank you for the kind words, the excellent write-up and your purchase... I hope it gives you decades of pleasure and use..

Another success story for the "blue and wood" rifles...well done!

Timberline: Excellent read with great pictures. You did good on your rifle swap; you still have both cartridges! The pictures of the shooting range; is that your own range? Like the set-up. Again, nicely done. Tom

I thoroughly enjoyed your post and the great pics!! I own an M700 in .280 Remington and an M77 in 7x57. In reading through the responses to this post, I now realize I need to acquire an M77 Featherweight in something 7mm... perhaps a Featherweight in 7mm08 and a NULA in .284!!

Ah the joy of splitting hairs!!

With respect, love of the 7x57 is not about velocity. It's about a wholly adequate hunting cartridge. It's about a cartridge with a longer [successful] history than most. It's about low recoil. It's about balance, versatility, and performance. It's about perfection.

Many calibers tout higher velocity. None are "better" than the 7x57.

Timberline, congratulations on your success, and your new rifle. Welcome to the ranks of 7x57 lovers. You are going to like the way it works.

My utility load in 7x57 shoots a 175 grain Hornady spire point at something like 2400 fps. This load will put a fist-sized hole through any deer, from any angle, every time. No questions, no bullet blow-up, no excuses, no worries, just solid predictable performance. All I have to do is put the bullet in the right place, and the deer is mine.

Very well said, and right on the money..

Oh, I fully understand and appreciate that. Clearly, it's not about max velocity, or there would not have been a swap from the 280 to the 7X57. And obviously, Timberline could have simply loaded his 280 to 7x57 velocity levels. It was a move that only loonies, like us, could understand. Doesn't stop my curiosity as to what velocity levels are being achieved, however.

It seems to me, too, that Big Redhead�s 7x57 assessment is pretty much spot on. Well, maybe the use of the word �perfection� is a wee bit over the top and sends us sloshing around in the 7x57 Kool-Aid bowl. But Big Redhead�s overall point is quite valid. At its recoil level (which is surprisingly mild), little else seems to be able to touch the 7x57 in terms of actual performance on game.

I�ve done a lot of hunting with magnum cartridges, especially in the .300 WM to .375 H&H arena, and believe me it�s a pleasure to pick up and shoot something like a 7x57 when appropriate.

I remember the last time I used the cartridge. It was a cold, blustery Wyoming day.

An hour before dark, I found an excellent antelope buck running 15 does all over a wide basin below a tall rim. I circle and closed to within 500 yards, and then simply set up in a clump on sagebrush on the rim. The only chance I would have would occur if one of the does would break out of the harem, run my way and the buck would follow to round her up. After 20 minutes of watching and waiting, one old doe did just that. The buck raced out after her and they both finally stopped broadside at 254 lasered yards. I was lying prone and shooting over my pack. I held right on his backline and 2 inches into the ever-present Wyoming wind and dropped him with a centered lung shot. The Remington M700 Mountain Rifle seemed barely to jump at the shot. No fuss, no muss, one dead antelope.



And that�s what the 7x57 Mauser in a good rifle seems to do so well.

Southtexas, I do find that chronographing various loads, cartridges and rifles is often fascinating. It does tend to put things in the proper performance perspective. With the 7x57, given its case capacity, a stout load is indeed capable of surprising speed. Of course, recoil climbs with that speed. I never did chronograph that .280 Featherweight. But I may with this 7x57. Like you, I�m curious. But I think I�ll first shoot something, or a number of somethings, with this rifle so as not to mess up my thinking.....if you know what I mean.

"But I think I�ll first shoot something, or a number of somethings, with this rifle so as not to mess up my thinking.....if you know what I mean."

I understand completely.

Gems like this are why I keep roaming around the 'Fire, looking.


Now, myself, I would never have sold the first rifle until the second had proven itself worthy. Glad it worked out for you.

I have a Model 70 Classic Sporter that is begging to get rebarreled with a featherweight contour barrel chambered in 7x57 and put into a featherweight stock. A Leupold FX-II 4x33 would fit nicely on it as well

Nice write up..

I've hunted with a Featherweight chambered in "7 mm Mauser" as it is marked on the barrel..

I won't part with it at all... I love both the rifle and the cartridge..

I handload all of my ammo.. I ended up getting the rifle for cheap after someone spent a good amount of cash on it, with a new recoil pad, glass bedding it, trigger job etc..

He sold it for $300.00 because ammo was hard to find for it.. and most locals wouldn't touch it because it was chambered in something "oddball"....

That also included Leupold Rings and Bases...

I wouldn't sell it for 2 grand.. that is how much I am attached to it.. it would be hard to find a replacement for it..

I have 4 rifles chambered in 7x57, and another in the works, all Rugers. I would love to see FNH make the M70 featherweight in the caliber with the latest CRF action.

Did New Haven ever make the classic featherweight in 7x57? I have seen the XTR pushfeeders but I don't think I've ever seen a classic. I had a classic FW in 6.5x55 but (stupidly) traded it away.

In preparing for this switch I took the time to study all of the Winchester catalogs from 1965 to present. What that revealed about the modern-era M70 Featherweights is:

� The modern-era M70 Featherweight was introduced by Winchester in 1981
� Winchester cataloged the M70 Featherweight in 7x57 (7mm Mauser) only from 1981 through 1985
� All Featherweights from 1981 through 1990 were push-feed models.
� The controlled-round-feed bolt was re-introduced in the M70 Featherweight in 1991-92.

So, no CRF post-64 M70 Featherweights were ever cataloged in 7x57. Whether any were ever made, such as through a custom order by an individual or a distributor, is anyone�s guess.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for sharing your journey and acquisition with us - great photos, too! You mentioned that some of the weight difference was due to the actions themselves; is the 7x57 on Winchester's short (really it's an intermediate) action? Second, if not, and it's a full-length action, why didn't you just have the .280 rebarrelled?

The actions seem to be the same length - long. However, other action dimensions may have changed somewhat over the ten years or so that separated the two rifles.

Re-barreling the .280 to 7x57 was a viable option. To be honest, though, I sort of hate to mess with these older rifles, altering them to fit my passing whims when so many others would prefer to have them in their original state. I guess I feel somehow more comfortable passing that .280 Featherweight on to someone who will love it as it was made, rather than chopping it up and making it into something that it was not. From time to time we all come across older rifles that were dramatically altered by their owners with recoil pads, garish stock carvings, inlays, muzzle breaks and just about anything else one can think of. In so many of those cases the original flavor of the gun was forever lost. I try hard not to commit such flagrant offenses. While re-barreling may not quite be in that category, I can�t help but think it may be close. If I wanted a 7x57 in CRF, I believe I�d have been much better served � and so would the rifle world - by re-barreling a brand new FN Winchester M70 Featherweight and not an older, somewhat vintage, somewhat rare-chambering rifle. Re-barrel the old junkers. Re-barrel new rifles. But leave the hard-to-find vintage shooters pretty much alone. We are, after all, merely temporary custodians of these older rifles. At least that�s my view of the subject. Others are certainly free to do whatever they want.

Does that make any sense?

Timberline,

I was trying to find the words, but you nailed it! Well done.

I always pass on rifles who's barrels are not factory original. Who knows what kind of barrel is on there, who put it on there, if the headspace is right, if it's threaded right or assembled correctly. I just don't trust them.

I particularly like the part about "sloshing around in the 7x57 Kool-Aid bowl." LOL! That's classic.

But please allow me to use the superlative, "perfect." I have spent a lot of money and a lifetime of buying, loading, shooting, and selling rifles in pursuit of the 'perfect' deer rifle. Now that I've found it, please don't deny me the pleasure. And I still like Kool-Aid too - for chasing cheap whiskey.

Timberline,
Well written and interesting, but I'm sorry I read your posts. I was content with the rifles I currently own, but now feel the need to start looking for a lightweight 7x57.

I'd love a 7X57, but as Bob in NH stated earlier it's hard to justify when one (or more) of the other middles in the stable. Nice write up though. Did I mention I'd love a 7X57?

Awesome write up. Seems like your 7x57 is really a great hunting rifle. Might have to keep my eyes open for one. Scotty

Nice to see this post surface again, I sure miss Bill and his write-ups.

Many may not know, but Bill passed away this past January.

I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't know. Great writer. Just did some searching on the 7x57 in a M70 and his article kept popping up. Scotty