How short is still practical for a 35 Whelen? I'd like to do an 18" barreled carbine. The chambering is already chosen, so no other suggestions in that area (like use a 358 Win instead...) will help. With the minimal bottleneck on this cartridge, I'm hoping that real world performance loss will be minimal as well. Any thoughts or true life stories for this configuration?

Since I always ere on the side of caution & you can always take more off but you can't put it back I would start with 20". See how that length works for you then go from there.

I had one once, with a 19" barrel, and liked it.

I tried several handloads, and liked W748 since it is relatively fast.

I also think 20" is short enough, for the 35 Whelen.

But I did contemplate a really light and short carbine once, in either 338 Fed or 358, with 18" barrel

KB

At the ranges one typically uses a carbine at, I doubt if any game animal will ever notice the difference in performance; especially between 18" and 20".

I put 7600 Rem. together for a guy a couple of years ago , with a 16 1/2" barrel . One of the faster powders is the way to go . We came up with a load of IMR-4895 and the Speer 200 Gr. RN . He calls me every time he shoots a deer with it , it seems to work fine !

If you want a fast handling thumper for MN brush country, 18" barrel of medium contour should work just fine. It a guy lived in bear country and you expected to carry it alot, it would be pretty handy.

I will let you know this weekend. I have both a customized Ruger M77 in the Whelen w/ a 22" barrel(still factory) and a 7600 custom carbine w/ an 18" barrel. I will shoot some factory loaded Federal 225gr TBBC thru the chrony and post the results. Besides, it will give me a reason to get them out of the safe as I have not shot the Ruger in 15 years and have never shot the 7600 carbine.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodrow S:
I will let you know this weekend. I have both a customized Ruger M77 in the Whelen w/ a 22" barrel(still factory) and a 7600 custom carbine w/ an 18" barrel. I will shoot some factory loaded Federal 225gr TBBC thru the chrony and post the results. Besides, it will give me a reason to get them out of the safe as I have not shot the Ruger in 15 years and have never shot the 7600 carbine.

I would very much like to see the results of that shoot. A neighbor who'd older than me can no longer hunt or shoot gave me 4 boxes of those Federal TBBC loads. I was thinking of mayber using them on my elk hunt come this December.
Paul B.

Paul, I handload for just about everything I shoot...which is quite a lot of different cartridges but I have no need to handload for the Whelen since the TBBC shoot so well in the M77 I doubt I could match it even with my handloads. I have all of the necessary components and dies..just no need. Perhaps the 7600 might be a different story. That bugger is going to BARK with that short barrel. I hope my shoulder is up to it....it is still tender from shooting my 505 Gibbs last Friday

Would be no different than a 9.3x62 18.5-20 inch carbine the Euros are sharing.

Here is a 35 Whelen with a 20.5" barrel.



It's a killer on hogs and whitetail.





I'm not a hotrodder so 225 grain Sierra Spitzers over 54.5 gr RL 15 give a MV of +/- 2,400 fps.

225 Grain Ballistic tips over 55 Gr Varget, +/- 2,430 FPS, MV.

Best


GWB

quote:

Originally posted by Woodrow S:
I will let you know this weekend. I have both a customized Ruger M77 in the Whelen w/ a 22" barrel(still factory) and a 7600 custom carbine w/ an 18" barrel. I will shoot some factory loaded Federal 225gr TBBC thru the chrony and post the results. Besides, it will give me a reason to get them out of the safe as I have not shot the Ruger in 15 years and have never shot the 7600 carbine.

I'd like to see those results as well! That's just the kind of info I was hoping to see.

Woodrow. I handload for everything.
Currently, my pet load for the .35 Whelen is 60.4 gr. of RL16. (CAUTION! over max in every book I've looked in.) with the 225 gr. barnes TSX. Velocity is 2710 FPS and when I do my part groups run right in the .50" range. On a bad day they run .75 to .80". They smack elk like the hammer of Thor. Seriously though, I think the .35 Whelen would probably work just fine with standard cup and core bullets as velocity just isn't all that high. One thing is for sure, the SAAMI soecs for the round are deliberately kept low, probably because of all the old Springfields that were converted to the round plus Remington did the same thing as they did with the .280 and put it in a pump and semi-auto.
I'll stick with my 225 gr. TSX load for my Mauser but will play with some 250 gr. bullets in a Remington 700 Classic. My Ruger M77 has to go back to the factory as it will separate case heads with fresh factory ammo. I have a separate batch of brass for that rifle foreformed using cast bullets seated hard into the rifling and a separate FL die adjusted to handle the problem. The last time I sent a gun back to Ruger it took 7 months to get it back.
Paul B.

quote:

How short is still practical for a 35 Whelen?

IMO 20" is a fine length for a .35 Whelen.

A short barreled .358 Win would be the shizzle!

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Lou:
A short barreled .358 Win would be the shizzle!

I'm inclined to agree. I've always wanted a Ruger M77 RSI (Mannlicher stocked model) with it's 18.5" barrel chambered to the .358 Win. Back in, IIRC 1982, I went to the NRA convention in Phoenix and asked the Ruger erep if that would ever be a possibility? he man blew up with a foul mouthed rant. You'd have tought I'd just asked him if I could invite his mother to the next gang bang or something. Oer the years, I have accumulated three of those RSI rifles, all in .308 Win. I got all three on the cheap as theeir owners said they couldn'y get decent accuracy from them. I t took two years to get the first one to groups anything usuable and it.ss been a favorite with me ever since and has the scars to prove it. My wife liked the rifle so I had to chase down number two. The stock on this one is a bit thcker and the gun doen't feel quite as lively but it's a nice gun. The load that worked in number one also works in this one. Found number three at the range where a guy was so frustrated in trying to make the gun group that I literally bought it for pocket change. Good thing he didn't know I had the other two with me to check the scopes jusr prior to a hunt. My load worked in number three as well so I never messed much with loads after that. The 165 gr. Speer Hot Core over a stiff charge of W760 give 2550 FPS and 1.25 to 1.50" groups and I'm happy with that. Take deer just fine out to 250 yards which is as far as I had to shoot game with that rifle.
Now I don't need 3 RSI rifles in .308 Win. and I have two Ruger M77R's in .358 Win. I have beem giving serious thought to pulling the barreled acton out of that thick stocked RSI (gun number two) and putting one of the .358s into the stock and shortening the barrel to 18.5" Just might make me the the stutzen I've always wanted. Got a few bills that need to be paid off so it's be a couple of months before I can even sit down with my friendly gunsmith but the more I think on this project, the more I like it.
For the record, at least one Ruger M77 RSI has left the plant. I've seen pictures. Someone over on the Ruger forum owns it. I know that at one time, Ruger employees could have "special" guns made up to their order so it's probably one of those. Just wish it was mine.
Paul B.

I have a custom Rem. 760 in .358 Win. with a 20" barrel . It may not be the perfect deep woods whitetail rig , but it's close enough for me . It'll take them down , no matter which way they're headed ! My bullet of choice is the Speer 220 Gr. SPFP over 50 Gr. of W-748 .

Just a handling and noise thing with me but 20" is about as short as I can enjoy. Shorter does not buy anything other than poor balance and noise. I would guess you would lose 25 to 50 FPS per inch below 22" barrel. Nothing a bear or deer will notice.
dmw

I have two Whelens, one with a 24" barrel, and one with a 19". I can't tell any appreciable difference in noise and as far as handling goes, it's all in the barrel contour and weight distribution. Both shoot equally well at the bench or offhand.

If you simply lop 5" off a 24" barrel and expect it to handle the same, you will be disappointed. If however, you contour it correctly to begin with, well......

Z1R,
Good point on the handling about barrel countour as that does change the game a bit. Not all of the game but does change balance between the hands.
Noise is a perceptional as well as factual kind of thing for me. I have two 30-06's one with a 24 and one with a 20" barrel. No difference with hearing protection at the range but in the field without, it is different to me. I also find that shooting the heavy bullets at slower speeds easier on the "Crack" factor than pushing the lighter ones very fast. Maybe its just the frequency that my ears don't like sort of thing.
Plus I just like the longer barrels...
best regards,
dmw

quote:

Originally posted by Fury01:
Just a handling and noise thing with me but 20" is about as short as I can enjoy. Shorter does not buy anything other than poor balance and noise. I would guess you would lose 25 to 50 FPS per inch below 22" barrel. Nothing a bear or deer will notice.
dmw

Dunno about that. One of the handiest rifles I own is my Ruger M77 RSI .308 Win. with it's 18.5" barrel. It's taken deer from 35 feet to 250 yards, no sweat, no strain. I never seem to hear the shot or feel the kick when I'm shooting at game. At the range I wear the appropriate hearing protection. Try one. You just might like it.
Paul B.