M70 FWT 257 Roberts

Eagleye

Eagleye

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A person I know just showed me a very minty [15?] year old 257 Roberts in a Winchester M70 Featherweight. He offered to sell it to me, but said he has no idea what it is actually worth. Any ideas? The bluing is basically perfect, and I could not find a mark on the stock. Thanks in advance, Eagleye.
 
Eagle, I recently acquired the gun that I too "ever" wanted, a .257 Roberts in Featherweight. I received an exceptional immaculate rifle from an esteemed trader here on CGN. It was gorgeous, but it failed miserably at the range. I couldn't get that puppy to shoot under 1.5" no matter what. Easy to explain considering the pencil thin barrel and Winchester's production in the 80's. I parted with it, and realize that a good old 25-06 would smoke it anytime and came in an assortement of very accurate rifles. Yes, it is a nostalgic piece to say the least, but if they can't shoot straight......well then, they gotta go ;)
 
Myself, I would ask him what he wants for it. Might only want a few hundred for it. Before I make an offer I always ask and quite often I am surprised. Got some good deals that way and the seller was happy he got his price. If it is fair then Im going for it.
 
I had one like it, but it was not very accurate despite considerable tweaking and load development. I finally found a couple of loads it liked, but it required a lot of work. I used it to kill numerous deer and one bear. Perfect deer rifle. But when I had an offer for a trade on a Sako AV 25-06 I took it, and I have not been sorry. But they are beautiful hunting rifles.
 
I really like the FWT , especially in 257, I just bought a 308FWT for a friend , paid $600, but haven't shot it yet.
Silverado has a 30'06 FWT and got it to shoot very well, BUT withlonly ONE
LOAD!!
That's a lot of messin' around, but the things have the most gorgeous stock design and checkering a person can find on a production rifle!
I'd pay $700 and take my chances - a 257BOB in a FWT would almost get me to hunt steady with a bolt action!!:D
Cat
 
gitrdun said:
Eagle, I recently acquired the gun that I too "ever" wanted, a .257 Roberts in Featherweight. I received an exceptional immaculate rifle from an esteemed trader here on CGN. It was gorgeous, but it failed miserably at the range. I couldn't get that puppy to shoot under 1.5" no matter what. Easy to explain considering the pencil thin barrel and Winchester's production in the 80's. I parted with it, and realize that a good old 25-06 would smoke it anytime and came in an assortement of very accurate rifles. Yes, it is a nostalgic piece to say the least, but if they can't shoot straight......well then, they gotta go ;)
Click to expand...

I had one in 223 with similar results. I could not get it to group worth a darn. Down the road she went. But had one in a 30-06 that was a bit better.
 
Winchester Featherweights

I like them, have one in 30-06 thats very accurate with 165gr handloads for 3 shots.
I'm not sure about the caliber you have there, good deer caliber. A bit light for moose though. On the other hand a rare caliber for the featherweight.
Bill.
 
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If it is in the condition you describe it is worth 750-850. There are not a lot of them around--the 257 bob and the 7x57 were only chambered for a few years. I recently paid 800+ for a 7x57 of similar vintage in as new condition.

Both were throated quite long from the factory and take considerable load tweaking to get them to shoot well. I have a couple of 308 fwt's that both shoot really well. Had a 270 fwt and it also shot really well.

44Bore
 
Had a 257 fwt. It was Ackley improved. Would shoot tight groups if I was patient enough to let the barrel cool completely between shots. Other than that it would shoot hunting acceptable 1.5 moa groups with a hot barrel.
 
I had an M70 Featherweight in 257 Roberts. It wouldn't stabilise any bullets over 100grains and they needed to be flat based. With 87grn Remington hollow points it was a tack driver. It had a 1-14 twist rate. That rifle took a lot of coyotes and more than its fair share of matches.

It did need to be glass bedded though, just like most Winchesters. I finally shot out the barrel and replaced it with a 1-12 twist Gaillard. It's still one of my favorites, mainly because it was rebarreled by my late good friend Albert Forsland, with a tight match reamer. Unfortunately it is long throated but still shoots well because of the tight chamber and care with which it was put together.

If it's minty and the fellow is a friend, pay him what it's worth. If it comes with rings, bases and a scope give him $800-$1000 you won't be sorry.

Check the twist rate first though. If you want to shoot bullets heavier than 100 grains, a 1-10 or even a 1-9 twist is preferable.
 
Did we confirm that it was a PF M70 or is it a CLassic with the CRF. Remember (I'm looking at you 'Boo - I know time passes slowly up there in McLeese Lake! :D), 15 years ago was 1994 and they were CRF again at that point.
 
I had a somewhat worn push-feed (they were made 1985 for only one year, IIRC) and sold it for $675 with a Burris scope, dies and brass. Would have bought it back, too, but the new buyer sold it away.
It was a bit finnicky, but had bouts of good accuracy and I believe it just needed some more bedding work.
 
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