I'm looking at a used Model 70 Featherweight in .270 wsm. The owner is wanting $600 and claims it has less then 2 boxes through it. Is $525-$600 a good deal for this rifle? It is the walnut stock, 7lbs, 24" barrel. I figure if I pick this up it would fill my need for a .25-06/.257 Weatherby for a solid week or two.

Intentions for this rifle would be Whitetail/Muleys/Aoudad/Pronghorn.

Any info on the caliber or opinion on rifle/price is appreciated

This cartridge is way overbore.You can see the rifling disappear with every firing.I bought one by mistake and thought it would be somewhat like a 270 win I once owned.IMO,these cartridges are for shooting things at long range were pinpoint scope accuracy is required.IMO,best to practice with a scoped 308 and keep one of the overbores with a new bore ready for a hunt.A 300WM is a smarter choice,IMO.You can take the game you mention at extended ranges easily with a well placed shot.The 270WSM I own is just sitting there no longer able to shoot a round accurately at 100yds with only a couple of boxes through it.If anyone needed a WSM it would have been invented 100yrs ago.A WSM is a round for people who have some money to burn,IMO-it is not an intelligent choice.

No idea if the price is good or not. That said, 270 WSM would fit your stated use very well. The 270 Weatherby is a higher performing cartridge due to its greater case capacity; it is also Weatherby’s best-selling cartridge and has been almost since its inception. There’s zero reason the barrel should burn out quickly with the powders available to today reloader...

Ill give my 2 cents......


I have the same featherweight but in a .270 Win and I held out for a long time and handled many before I bought mine.

I am not a rush up and buy whats the latest and greatest kind of guy and never fell for the short mags.

They are indeed in every caliber a step above of thier standard calibers that they were chambered in.

I dont think you will ever shoot the rifle out to the point that it is shot out. Thats mostly due to neglect.


The price is good and if you desire the rifle buy it. I do feel that the short mags are on the way out and myself would hold out for a more standard caliber, they are cheaper to buy in the store.



Everything else aside that is a fair price on a featherweight in good shape.


Dont worry about the overbore comment above,
the .2506 .243 .7mm mag and a Ton of others are overbore. and thts not even touching the ones that are truly overbore.




Cal30

Well I don't see the short mags "on the way out" anytime soon. I'm sure the same was said for the bulk of rounds we shoot today when they were up and coming.
My brother has several short mags and i'm impressed, all are exceptionnaly accurate and I'm not seeing them wash out barrels either.
Buy it play with it and have fun.
My brother has killed a mess of deer, elk, antelope and such with his 270 WSM, very effective.

The 7mmRemMag is another barrel burner.I went through two barrels firing about a hundred rounds back when I only fired a few rounds a session and did not know about JB.These are rifles you get a good group from the very beginning,adjust your zero,then put aside to fire only a round or so when hunting-you don`t play with these at all.

Those magnums are awesome barrel chewers aren't they? Except the .300WM of course.
Factory loads too I'm guessing when you wore out those 2 x 7mm barrels in 100 rounds?
You should try a .220 Swift. I wore out 3 barrels in mine just sighting it in.

quote:

Originally posted by Bushchook:
You should try a .220 Swift. I wore out 3 barrels in mine just sighting it in.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

quote:

Originally posted by Bushchook:
Those magnums are awesome barrel chewers aren't they? Except the .300WM of course.
Factory loads too I'm guessing when you wore out those 2 x 7mm barrels in 100 rounds?
You should try a .220 Swift. I wore out 3 barrels in mine just sighting it in.

I didn`t say the 300 isn`t.It`s just a little easier.Why in the world would anyone buy a 220 swift? How can you make such a mistake three times?

Buy it Bugle if you like it. The price is pretty fair in my opinion. I don't think you will regret it. I have one just like it in SS. For what ever reason mine has a "slow" barrel. I don't get the velocities like others say they get. I'm getting around mid-3000 MV with 150 gr. bullets but there are a lot of members here that claim a lot better. I need to work with mine some more but I do like the rifle. It's light enough and packs plenty punch.

Buglemintoday ----- Contrary to some of the posters here that don't have a clue what they are talking about, the .270 WSM is an awesome chambering. I own and shoot extensively four, two of which are Model 70's from New Haven and two are the same Model 70 featherweights you refer to. My son and grandsons consider it ideal for Deer sized game and I have taken Elk with it and will again. With good reloading you can get amazing speed with a vast selection of good bullets. We have shot many hundreds of rounds perfecting loads with no worn out barrels and one hole accuracy for all four rifles (three shots touching each other at 100 yards) when the shooter does his part. Those that knock this round have not had the same experience that I have had shooting the .270 WSM. Buy the rifle and you will see it's many strong points if you shoot it enough to really see what it can do. Good shooting.

I have a 270 and a 270 Weatherby, and like them both. I have heard that the 270 WSM is the best of the WSMs, and I believe it.

I'd say if it includes a decent scope & mounts the price is great. Even without scope price is good.

I have a late new haven one in SS and after a bedding tweak its sub moa. I really like what it does on whitetail (longest track job was five feet.. downhill) using fed fusion factory loads. I'd recommend in a heartbeat.

No clue on barrel life as I'm still on my fourth box and unless I monkey with it that box should last through 2013.

quote:

Originally posted by phurley5:
Buglemintoday ----- Contrary to some of the posters here that don't have a clue what they are talking about, the .270 WSM is an awesome chambering. I own and shoot extensively four, two of which are Model 70's from New Haven and two are the same Model 70 featherweights you refer to. My son and grandsons consider it ideal for Deer sized game and I have taken Elk with it and will again. With good reloading you can get amazing speed with a vast selection of good bullets. We have shot many hundreds of rounds perfecting loads with no worn out barrels and one hole accuracy for all four rifles (three shots touching each other at 100 yards) when the shooter does his part. Those that knock this round have not had the same experience that I have had shooting the .270 WSM. Buy the rifle and you will see it's many strong points if you shoot it enough to really see what it can do. Good shooting.

Why does it take you many hundred rounds to perfect a load? Doesn't it shoot well enough with little work?

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
This cartridge is way overbore.You can see the rifling disappear with every firing.I bought one by mistake and thought it would be somewhat like a 270 win I once owned.IMO,these cartridges are for shooting things at long range were pinpoint scope accuracy is required.IMO,best to practice with a scoped 308 and keep one of the overbores with a new bore ready for a hunt.A 300WM is a smarter choice,IMO.You can take the game you mention at extended ranges easily with a well placed shot.The 270WSM I own is just sitting there no longer able to shoot a round accurately at 100yds with only a couple of boxes through it.If anyone needed a WSM it would have been invented 100yrs ago.A WSM is a round for people who have some money to burn,IMO-it is not an intelligent choice.

Want to sell it cheap? Me thinks a good cleaning is all it needs.

I love my .270WSM and like Phurly get amazing accuracy out of mine.

My ultralight rifle is chambered in 270WSM. IMHO I think that this cartridge makes for the perfect mountain rifle. my bore must be made out of adamantium, I have several hundred rounds through it and it still cloverleaf's at 200yds.

What is te significance of the New Haven, Ct? This one says it on the barrel

quote:

Originally posted by thecanadian:
My ultralight rifle is chambered in 270WSM. IMHO I think that this cartridge makes for the perfect mountain rifle. my bore must be made out of adamantium, I have several hundred rounds through it and it still cloverleaf's at 200yds.

Sounds like a good price to me. I just sold mine for $650 with rings and bases on it, a set of RCBS dies and a few rounds of brass. I shot 200-300 rounds thru it and it shot just like it did when new. I have heard about feed problems and barrels to be shot out, etc. I have three Mod70's in 300WSM, 1 in 7mmWSM, 1 in 325WSM and had the 1 in 270WSM. I never had any of the problems written about WSM's.

If the OP has a 270WSM FW M70 with a 24" barrel he has "one of one". WSMs, RSMs, SAUMs are all just marketing gimmicks. None feed as well as those preceeding them (270 WCF, 300 H&H, 300 WinMag, 338 WinMag) nor offer any performance difference. You haven't laughed until you've watched a WSM spout all the rounds out of the magazine when the bolt is opened or taken money off a 300 WSM 22" barrel guy when he bets he's faster than your 26" 300 H&H. (Obviously not a subscriber to Handloader).
WSSMs are fast fading away, SAUMs are about dead, RSMs count on Ruger lovers and WSMs will hang around as long as shooters believe the short action and case shape myths peddled by the paid off touts of some gun presses. (Anyone old enough to remember the Olin farms payoffs will know there is nothing new under the sun) Heck I can even remember when the Models 50 and 100 were "the greatest semiautos made" althogh neither could hold a candle to their Remington counterparts (which far, far, far outlasted either of them.)
Barnum is still out there, he just changed his name.
Hope the boys keep buying the latest thing as then I can continue to buy up all those guns chambered for "obsolete" cartridges at bargain prices. It's a shame that some makers have started chambering for the Hornet, 222 Rem, 6.5x55, 7x57, 300 H&H, 35 Whelen, 9.3x62, etc. as some of the utes are getting educated, further reducing the supply.
Happily they still think Pacific rim optics are superior to Unertl, Kollmorgen, Bausch & Lomb and Lyman. Hope they never look through a Super Targetspot or Unertl Vulture.

I went ahead and made the 2hr drive to pick it up this morning. It didn't come with rings or bases, but did come with almost 2 full boxes of Winchester 150gr Power Point ammo. I'd like to end up shooting something like a 130gr Accubond out of the rifle, but I wasn't going to turn down freebies.



Upper rifle is my '59/'60 CRF .300 H&H with 3-9 Weaver from '59/'60.











I'm trying to decide what scope to put on the .270 WSM. I have a Leupold VX-III 6,5-20x40mm as well as a Nikon 3-9x40 BDC that aren't on anything at the moment.

From what I can tell the man that owned it before put 24 rounds through it in the past 10 or so years.

I have a .270 WSM in a Browning A-Bolt and after ten years and several hundred rounds I can't and won't complain it is a great short action rifle and a great round

It has no feeding problems and is one of my best shooting rifles

It sends 140 grn Accubonds at just over 3k into about 1" groups at 100

No doubt a keeper

Congrats on the new rifle!

Ted, I'm hoping to get 3250 fps out of my 270 Weatherby when the 150g Long Range Accubonds come out ...

Chuck,
I don't doubt it one second....your going to love those new bullets

Thanks Chuck

I have a lefty Featherweight in 270WSM, it's a fantastic round. I have a load that duplicates a 270Win (130 gr Sierra at 3000 fps) that I use most of the time, so don't worry about shooting the barrel out. Very accurate gun.

You did good Bugle!
Don't worry about the barrel burning stuff (BS) and I would be quite surprised if it has any feeding issues since it is a CRF Winchester.
I own 2 WSMs and they both feed and extract perfectly as they are both Winchesters.
Your 300 is nice. I'm jealous.
Great combo.

shootaway ----- I got MOA from all four of my rifles out of the box, I then refined each one from that point with several different bullet-powder combos. Each rifle has a personality all it's own. With time and many shooting sessions I found the best load for each one. Some like one bullet size, others something else. You just have to shoot them enough to let the barrel tell you what it likes. With time you can come up with each rifles preferences. A one hole group with a 130 grain Northfork bullet is awesome at 3450fps. A 160 grain Nosler Partition is also awesome at 3100 fps and excellent Elk medicine. Yes, if you do it right it takes time and many shots. If you shoot slowly and take several rifles, you don't burn out any barrel if you properly clean it. Good shooting.

Merry Christmas Phurley.

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
What is te significance of the New Haven, Ct? This one says it on the barrel

The New Haven stamp signifies the beginning period when the Olin Corp. sold off the Winchester manufacturing facility and licensed the "Winchester" trademark. (I believe) I am not sure who bought it first but the rifles with the red butt pad, like your WSM are U.S. Repeating Arms. The stocks with a decellorator pad are FN Herstal ownership/New Haven stamp. Later around 1998 (?) The New Haven plant was closed due labor cost and a new plant was opened in South Carolina.
In theory...Some day if we all live long enough and we still have firearms in our posession, the "New Haven" stamp with the red stock pad will be worth a teeny bit more for that history.

quote:

Originally posted by phurley5:
shootaway ----- I got MOA from all four of my rifles out of the box, I then refined each one from that point with several different bullet-powder combos. Each rifle has a personality all it's own. With time and many shooting sessions I found the best load for each one. Some like one bullet size, others something else. You just have to shoot them enough to let the barrel tell you what it likes. With time you can come up with each rifles preferences. A one hole group with a 130 grain Northfork bullet is awesome at 3450fps. A 160 grain Nosler Partition is also awesome at 3100 fps and excellent Elk medicine. Yes, if you do it right it takes time and many shots. If you shoot slowly and take several rifles, you don't burn out any barrel if you properly clean it. Good shooting.

All these high powered cartridges are easily capable of half inch three shot groups at 200yds with little or no effort within the first six shots fired from a new,clean barrel.Most of those loads found for a particular quality bullet from a manual or the internet are capable of shooting small groups out to 500yds let alone 100 and 200.With any new barrel I have never gone past six rounds before the smallest group out to 200yds.In the past when I did not know how to clean my rifle that was another story.If you cannot clean your barrel for tight groups,you will never get consistant groups and you will be blaming your loads,powders and everything else.

You did good! I have the same rifle (New Haven) in 300WSM. I had a little trouble with feeding problems with mine. Turns out, it was a burr on the extractor. I polished the extractor hook and removed the little burr. Feeds slick now, as a CRF M70 should. I pillar bedded the rifle and now it's one of my most accurate rifles.

I have a 270WSM in Browning A-Bolt SS. The 270WSM is a great round. It should fill your need nicely. If you are looking at the 130 Accubonds and you reload, don't overlook the Barnes TTSX 130 gr. That bullet is very accurate in my 270 WSM and my 270 Win.

quote:

Originally posted by chuck375:
Congrats on the new rifle!

Ted, I'm hoping to get 3250 fps out of my 270 Weatherby when the 150g Long Range Accubonds come out ...

Don´t think you are the only one waiting to feed the .270Bee with the new lrab.

Merry Christmas

shootaway ----- Obviously you are the expert on all rifles and a very skilled shooter who needs no advice from the rest of the neophytes on AR. Good luck with your skills. Good shooting.

Buddy has a 270 wsm that thing with 130tsx is a moose killing machine.. Is it overbore yes, so is the 264win mag... My next rifle will be a 270wsm, but I need to get me another 325wsm I will run that againdt 300h&h any day.

quote:

Originally posted by phurley5:
shootaway ----- Obviously you are the expert on all rifles and a very skilled shooter who needs no advice from the rest of the neophytes on AR. Good luck with your skills. Good shooting.

I am just stating my experience.I wish my barrels would stay accurate and last as long as you claim yours do.If someone gives me advice on something I have not tried I will listen.Shooting out of a cool barrel is not something I have yet to try.Why don`t you or anyone else take my advice for once? What if I was an expert? I have been shooting every week,sometimes more than once for years.

shootaway ----- It doesn't take long for experienced shooters to figure out a computor keyboard shooter as opposed to those that actually pull triggers. Maybe when you actually shoot and report your honest results we will respect what you say. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by phurley5:
shootaway ----- It doesn't take long for experienced shooters to figure out a computor keyboard shooter as opposed to those that actually pull triggers. Maybe when you actually shoot and report your honest results we will respect what you say. Good luck.

I wonder how my barrels can burn through a keyboard? phurley5,you don't make any sense!

It says on Pac nor`s website ``loss of accuracy can be linked to a dirt or fouled barrel 98% of the time`` IMO,loss of accuracy can happen from one or two groups to the next!

We used to shoot crows all day from my friend's father's porch with my 270 out to 300 yards. We'd run a brush and few patches through every 50 rounds. If you can hit a crow center mass at 300 yards, it's still shooting Ok