With Winchester ending production I find it interesting to consider the future of one of their more interesting models...the Winchester Stainless Featherweights in WSSM calibers.
Not only do these models feature the classic appeal of the featherweights, they also have a slightly higher end stock, are stainless steel, and of course feature the shortest action available.
All of these featuresmight normally make the gun somewhat more collectable. However the fact that they were only produced for approximately one year, topped bythe relatively low demand for these calibers when compared to otherstandardactions/models,should leave them in a somewhat unique position amongst the remaining Winchester models.
I am not suggesting that they will ever be highly desirable collectables, only that they are in a unique position compared with many other Winchester M70 models.
In order to get a reasonable sense of the validity of my thought I spent some time looking for M70's from various sources. The best source of remaining M70's I could find still had every caliber of the Stainless Featherweights available when Winchester announced the plant closing a week ago. After checking againthe past few nightsit is clear...they still have stainless featherweights in almost all standard calibers however they no longer have any stainless featherweights available in WSSM calibers.
The point of this all is that I would simply like to hear others thoughts on the topic...all I ask is that this doesn't turn into a ballistics discusion concerning WWSM cartridges.
So what do you guys think about the "uniqueness" of the Winchester Stainless Featherweights in WSSM?
Regarless of whether the brand is "reborn", I would not expect this model to be reborn for some time if at all. The simple principles of the gun industry suggest that such a low demand item would be very hard to produce profitably.
I fully expect some version of the M70 to be produced by someone, at some time, however I expect they would only produce the basic models in standard calibers until they can ensure a profitable business model.
Just as a folow up to my previous posts, all calibers of theWinchester Stainless Featherweights are now sold at the dealer I previously references with the exception of one....the 6.5x55mm Swed.
Winchester Stainless Featherweights in WSSM
