Thread: Winchester Model 70 XTR Featherweight

So I have the opportunity to purchase the above in 7mm08. As far as I can tell, this is a pretty rare combo! Just trying to get a hold of the serial number to find out a bit more of the history of this particular rifle, age etc...

Firstly wondering - am I right? Is this a rare model, and sought after? It looks mega cool to me and comes up to the shoulder beautifully. The woodwork and checkering is immaculate and it's been looked after well. I've not really heard of them until recently though when I saw one at the gunsmiths and just had to play with it

Secondly - does anyone know of a year where they started making this in 7mm08? I thought this was a 50s gun and wouldn't have though that 7mm08 was popular/around back then. Not sure if this makes it cooler or not.

I'm humming and hawing a bit about this rifle, I really like the look and feel of it. Bit of a lame factor though is that I will definitely need to suppress a 7mm08 no matter what flavour. At the end of the day, it's just a thread cut into the end of the barrel but I'm trying to figure out a way to make this rifle usable (for me) but still keep some class. I'm thinking a hardy can as they are a bit more understated and colour matched the bluing!

Thoughts? Anybody have one of these?