Wife only has one rifle and been thinking of picking her up a "spare" for close range whitetail hunting. These rifles have the perfect length of pull for her and combined with the 20 inch barrel would be easy to get in and out of our tree stand.
Any first hand experience with these rifles would be appreciated.

One of my shooting buddies has a Featherweight in 6.5X55 which he swears by. I don't have a 6.5X55 myself, but I have several 6.5X57's, and they are terrific deer rifles. I would think one in that caliber or 7X57 would be ideal for a woman.

"My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her they cost."

The opposite can cause problems, too. I have a friend who was killed in a car accident two years ago, and left me with the task of liquidating his very large accumulation. He had told his wife how much he thought they were worth as a justification for them as an investment. Unfortunately, the actual value was considerably less.

Yes, but I've been reading:

"My biggest fear is when I die my wife will sell my guns for what I told her they cost"

for many years, and I laugh every time I see it. And I mention it to other gun lovers and they laugh. I see how the opposite could also cause problems, but hope Snowwolfe doesn't change it.

Don't worry about me changing my signature quote I happen to like it and it usually gets a chuckle from others.
And my wife also has a notebook that lists all my firearms, serial #'s, and approximate value "just in case"

I see that the Featherweight Compact is available in neither if the calibers I mentioned, but the 7mm-08 would make a reasonable substitute for the 7X57.

Found one in a pawn shop years ago that looked new. 7mm08

Great rifle all my kids used.

Shot mine today. Love that rifle. First two shots in a group were 1/4 MOA, 3rd was an inch out. Barrels heat up fast (and it was over 100 at the time) and start walking. But they are superb rifles overall for hunting. Not a gun to shoot bench rest. but they feel much better to me than almost any other rifle. I looked for one for 20 years, and kinda stumbled into one at D.SC. Great purchase.

I picked up a Featherweight Compact in .308 for the kids to use a year or two ago and it has been pretty good, although maybe it could use some smoothing on the feeding. I also have a pre-64 Featherweight in .243 that has given many years of good service. Picked up a Featherweight in .30-06 for the girls as well but haven't wrung it out yet.

If you find one that fits her well she should be happy with it.

For a long time after they were catalogued it was just about impossible to actually find one. Like you I was thinking of buying one for my wife. Her .270 Remington 700 has always been a little heavy for her.

A year ago I stumbled into a very nice Remington 660 .308 in almost new condition that I really wanted. Love those little carbines. As soon as I walked in the door with "my" new gun my wife took one look and said thanks for finally buying me a rifle.

Not more then a month later at a gunshop there on the rack were several m70 featherweight compacts. The first I've ever had the chance to touch. I'm sure she would have liked one but since shooting the m660 she's more than happy with what she has.

I have no experience with the newer Winchesters made in South Carolina.
How are the triggers and the general build quality?

I have a couple of Winchester Featherweights and love them.

In answer to the new Winchester question I have a recent .375 H&H safari express and a .300WM sporter and I think they are pretty darn good. I like the improvements. By far the nicest feeling trigger on any of the rifles I've had.

We ordered one for her. Caliber 7mm/08, most likely will wear a 2x7 on Tally lightweights.

I used to own 2

Once was a regular compact 250-3000 with a 20 inch barrel and not a popular combination. I trade it in for another rifle and it sat on the shop shelf for over a year!

The other rifle was a "youth" model 243 with a plain hardwood stock. I rebarrelled it to 358 Win and added an extension to the stock and came up with a great bush rifle with 20 inch barrel.

A Winchester compact in 7mm08 would be perfect for a small woman or a youngster. Load it with 120 gr TSX / TTSX or 140 gr Accubonds and you have a great rifle out to 300 meters.

I have owned and used one of these in .308 for years and years. If I had to give up all of my guns that would probably be the last to go. Nice and light to carry, easy to maneuver in the woods, plenty powerful enough for deer and even elk, and as accurate as I can shoot. About the only thing I don't like is that it doesn't have a cheekpiece. Really a wonderful little gun. I only use one bullet in mine, which is the 180 Nosler Partition. Never found a need for anything else.

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
I have no experience with the newer Winchesters made in South Carolina.
How are the triggers and the general build quality?

I have a Win mod 70 375HH from the South Carina plant. It is excellent. The action is very well finished. Trigger is excellent. Best modern rifle in the price range for fit and finish of metal parts. Near custom level in my opinion.
I always work on the action and trigger of a new rifle. The Win. from the SC plant was perfect already and needed nothing. I glass bedded the action for a project because I had some Devcon languishing in the drawer, but it didn't need it. Brian

Picked the rifle up yesterday. Very impressed. Trigger is crisp and breaks between 3.5 - 4 pounds. Bolt is buttery smooth. Fit and finish is superb. Barrel is free floated. Fits the wife like a glove (she is 5'6). Ordered some Talley lightweights for it and plan on adding something along the lines of a small 2x7 on it.

I don't know why that rifle in any reasonable caliber wouldn't work, barrel length is one of the least concerns IMO..At worst you could loose 100 FPS and I can toss a rock that fast..

BTW, for clarification,

The mod 70 Compact and the Featherweight are two different rifles...The compact is the newer rifle with Winchesters first short action, 20" barrel, regular stock..

The Featherweight is the mod 70 schnable forend stocked rifle on a std. length mod. 70 action with a filler in the magazine for short rounds, and it has a 22 inch barrel and is IMO the better rifle. I think they weigh about the same.

I'm pretty sure the Featherweight made by "FN" comes in short and standard /long action length.

AOL of the rifles with same LOP and barrel length differs by 1/2" between short and long action calibres.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
BTW, for clarification,

The mod 70 Compact and the Featherweight are two different rifles...The compact is the newer rifle with Winchesters first short action, 20" barrel, regular stock..

The Featherweight is the mod 70 schnable forend stocked rifle on a std. length mod. 70 action with a filler in the magazine for short rounds, and it has a 22 inch barrel and is IMO the better rifle. I think they weigh about the same.

Not anymore, there is a featherweight compact has the same stock as the regular featherweight rifle but with a 12.5" LOP. It also has the 20" barrel and only comes in short action cartridges. The Classic compact M70 you are thinking of hasn't been produced since Winchester left New Haven Connecticut.

Actually, the new Featherweight Compact has a 13" LOP,
and you are correct about being restricted to short cartridges:
22-250
243
7-08
308.

That's not a bad spread for cartridge choice, and one suspects that they might do a special run of 338-Fed or 260-Rem one of these days if the main calibers do well.

My grandkids have a 243 waiting for them, though I wish that it really was 12.5" LOP.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
BTW, for clarification,

The mod 70 Compact and the Featherweight are two different rifles...The compact is the newer rifle with Winchesters first short action, 20" barrel, regular stock..

The Featherweight is the mod 70 schnable forend stocked rifle on a std. length mod. 70 action with a filler in the magazine for short rounds, and it has a 22 inch barrel and is IMO the better rifle. I think they weigh about the same.

Was Winchesters first short action not introduced in 1985?

quote:

Was Winchesters first short action not introduced in 1985?

I don't believe so. I bought a Win M70 Lightweight Carbine in .243 short action for my future ex wife to be at the time and that had to be 1982 or 1983.
My oldest boy still has the rifle.

Thank you. I've got an interest in the Model 70s and own a few. I always saw it written that the short action was 1985.

That confirms my idea that the Com0act is not the first short action. Unless I misunderstood the previous post.

My FN FW is a short action 308.

quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
Actually, the new Featherweight Compact has a 13" LOP,
and you are correct about being restricted to short cartridges:
22-250
243
7-08
308.

What he said. The 13 inch LOP is one of the main reasons the wife went with this rifle. Most of the other "compacts" we looked at came in at 12.5 inches.

I just wish I could find one--been looking for years

quote:

Originally posted by Sean Russell:
I just wish I could find one--been looking for years

Not difficult to find. Ordered the one for the wife from Buds but there are roughly 30-40 in various calibers on Gunbrokers as I typed this.

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:

quote:

Originally posted by Sean Russell:
I just wish I could find one--been looking for years

Not difficult to find. Ordered the one for the wife from Buds but there are roughly 30-40 in various calibers on Gunbrokers as I typed this.

My apologies--i should have said i was looking for a Classic compact from New Haven, not a fan of the new trigger.