I am thinking about building a medium weight 35 Whelen and would like to use a 20-21 inch barrel, any reason why not? I don't think I would lose much speed especially with the heavier bullets.

You wouldn't loose much speed with a 21 inch tube. I have a 35 that weighs about 7.5 lbs, it is a kicker, espically with 250's.

A 21" whelen would be just fine.....and I'd build it using the lightest contour you can find.

After it's built you can always add weight in the form of lead shot and epoxy it in under the barrel channel to achieve more weight and balence.

It's a helluva lot easier to add weight than to remove it.

I would mostly use the rifle for hunting and recoil does not bother me when shooting at game animals. 8 pounds is what I am shooting for in rifle weight including scope.

I had a rem 7600 in 35 whelen and had the bbl chopped to 18". I never felt a hinderance with a short bbl. wacked a nice black bear at about 211yards. he didnt argue about the short bbl either <grins>

My new whelen has a 22" tube and kinda wishing I woulda gone with a 20"er.

I think you will be fine with a shorter tube.
Its a good round and likes fast powders like rL-15. It thumps a we bit but not bad.
...tj3006

The Remington 600 in 350 mag had 20" bbl's and worked fine. It should be just fine for the whelan too.

Stock design is the key. My only Whelen weighed 8 1/2 pounds scope, sling, and all, but was more pleasant to shoot than .270s I have owned. More a push than a blow, and comfortable to shoot prone for 50 rounds using a max charge of 4320 and 250 grain bullets.

Unfortunately, I have not the slightest clue how I did it. Used a pretty standard American Classic walnut stock and an inexpensive solid pad.

quote:

Originally posted by rickt300:
I am thinking about building a medium weight 35 Whelen and would like to use a 20-21 inch barrel, any reason why not? ....

Hey Rick, If you are already DEAF, it will be fine. Or..., you will absolutely positively need to wear some form of Hearing Protection while Hunting.

My 350RemMag has a 20" barrel and the Report is brutal. Since they use the same amount of Powder, the comparison is valid. I have a set of Sonic Ear Valves chained to the Trigger Guard in the Safe. When the rifle gets loaded, the Sonics go in the ears.

If I ever rebarrel, I'll go with a 22"-24" one. This one is 5.25# without a scope, but the Recoil is fine.

Best of luck to you.

I agree with HotCore, If you want a short barreled gun, better go with the .358Win. You just can't fix damaged hearing.

Alright then what about barrel twist. I have heard this ranges from 1 turn in 12 to 1 turn in 16 inches. I don't plan on using any bullets heavier than 250 grains but might use some cast bullets for fun.

quote:

Alright then what about barrel twist.

Go with the faster twist....it don't hurt anything and you can always shoot longer bullets if you wish.....You may not care now.....but things can change.....it just don't make any sense to go a slow twist here.

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:

quote:

Originally posted by rickt300:
I am thinking about building a medium weight 35 Whelen and would like to use a 20-21 inch barrel, any reason why not? ....

Hey Rick, If you are already DEAF, it will be fine. Or..., you will absolutely positively need to wear some form of Hearing Protection while Hunting.

My 350RemMag has a 20" barrel and the Report is brutal. Since they use the same amount of Powder, the comparison is valid. I have a set of Sonic Ear Valves chained to the Trigger Guard in the Safe. When the rifle gets loaded, the Sonics go in the ears.

If I ever rebarrel, I'll go with a 22"-24" one. This one is 5.25# without a scope, but the Recoil is fine.

Best of luck to you.

Hot Core,
How do you like that 350 Rem Mag? I am thinking about rebarreling my 300 SAUm to a 350Rem Mag.

I have a 35 Whelen with a 24" tube, but it used to wear a 26" tube. I lost 75fps with 250gr. Partitions. I was going to go yo 22", but the 24 balanced well.

quote:

Originally posted by Dwight:
...Hot Core, How do you like that 350 Rem Mag? I am thinking about rebarreling my 300 SAUm to a 350Rem Mag.

Hey Dwight, I'm really happy with it.

Back in the mid `60s when the cartridge was first introduced there were four of my Elders that got them from a Mr Frank Hale(Gun Smith, Wildcatter) and they all "agreed" about how effective they were on local Game. Two had M600s and two had M660s, but getting them to ALL AGREE on ANYTHING at one time certainly caught my attention. (All were darn near DEAF back then from years of unprotected shooting prior to getting their 350RemMags.)

Other thngs kept me from getting one until they were reintroduced 15-18 years ago from the Remington Custom Shop. Had a Carolina Gun Shop that knew me a bit too well and got a call from him one day. He just said, "Gather up some of your Trade Bait, along with your Checkbook, and come see me." Wouldn't even tell me what it was.

Turned out to be a 20" 350RemMag M7KS out of the Custom Shop. Only problem was it had the Shiney High Luster Blue finish. So off it went to "Z-Coat" for a Matte Black Teflon Finish. No problems at all with their coating and it only has a couple of "burnish" marks on the Bolt where it rides atop the cartridges in the magazine. The Kevlar Stock could use a bit of a touch-up to the factory paint job though.

Today you can order one with their "Propritary Black Oxide Finish"(aka Black Parkerizing) and it would be the way to go, on a factory rifle with a Blue Barrel.

It is amazingly accurate for me with a number of Bullets. I prefer the 200gr SP Hornady for the majority of my Hunting. It is a tough Bullet and works well when stuck through both shoulders of Game.

Only real problem is the Report from that 20" barrel with a 35cal hole in it. I have a number of 20" barrel rifles which are not bad to hunt with, but this one ABSOLUTELY requires ear protection. I would go on and rebarrel to a longer barrel, but it shoots so well and carrys so well, the aggravation of wearing the ear plugs has not out-weighed the benefits. But, if you do build one, 22"-24" would be a LOT better.

If a person wants to use "primarily" the 225gr and 250gr Bulloets, I do believe the 35Whe is the way to go. The extra length of the action allows a person to Seat those Bullets so they can get outstanding performance without as much Shank inside the Case.

Two great cartridges.

8# would be pretty easy to do w/ laminated wood or composite & a 21"bbl. I don't like them much shorter in any caliber. It would be a nice timber rifle.

Hey Hot Core,
Thanks for the info and I will look at a 22' barrel. Since I was thinking of coverting the 300SAUM short action it would have to be a 350Rem Mag. They are offering it 07 in a Model 7. That little rifle may be hard to handle in that caliber.
I could pick up a used 3006 and build a 35 whelen though.

quote:

Originally posted by Bent Fossdal:
I agree with HotCore, If you want a short barreled gun, better go with the .358Win. You just can't fix damaged hearing.

are you guys suggesting that if I were to shoot a 20" 35 Whelen in hunting situations without ear protection, I will damage my hearing, and if I do the same with a 20" 358 Win I will not ?

FWIW...I started out with a 22" barreled Springfield and after about 15 years of use I went to a 24" barrel and prefer the balance of the longer barrel.

I don't know about the noise factor, but I see no big problem to a 20" Whelen if that is what you truely want. Rem made 350 RM for a few years and they are still greatly desired by folks in big bear country. The European gunsmiths have been making 9.3x62 carbines for a century now. So this is not new territory we are delving into here.

Both my rifles weigh in at about 8 1/2 lbs with a scope. Bullet weights of 250 and over do begin to hit back some. Lets put it this way, my 22" barreled rifle has a Pachmyer Decelerator pad on it and it begins to bottom out when the bullets get to 250 grains.

IMO, stick with 225 Barnes TSX and this bullet will do everything you need it to do on African plains game and anything in North America.

With that in mind, barrel twist really doesn't come in to play, though if you want to shoot the heavier bullets, just start with the 1:12 twist and be done with it.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r45/hoonah_photos/CIMG0345.jpg


This was a long term project that started with the idea of making a light weight thumper. I really like it. Actually I don't know its weight, but it's one of the lightest rifles I have. It carries easy, and handles quick with a 20" Shilen stainless barrel, 14" twist, Mauser action. It shoots 200 and 250 gr bullets equally well. I haven't tried 225 gr., but plan to this summer.

It is very slick feeding/ejecting - and I'm talking as close to perfection as I have ever seen in any action - Mauser or not. The safety is Dakota three position, rings are Warne, and the trigger is Blackburn. The whole action, bases, rings (not the barrel) is Black T. Initially I had iron sights, but had them removed at the last visit to the Smith, because I never used the rifle without the scope, and the sights just hung up on stuff, and they were a distraction looking through the low power scope.

I never cronographed the loads. Maybe I will some day, but whatever the speed, it's enough. If I wanted speed I would have chosen another cartridge/rifle combo. What I wanted was a light, fast 35 Whelen. Now I have one that I'm not afraid to take out on the boat, expose to salt water, rain, mud, snow, blood, guts, whatever. If it gets too nasty, I can wash it off in the creek or hose it down when I get home - dry it off, clean the bore, oil it down, and be ready for the next trip.

KB

Kabluewy,
Now THAT is a hunting rifle!

quote:

Originally posted by free_miner:

quote:

Originally posted by Bent Fossdal:
I agree with HotCore, If you want a short barreled gun, better go with the .358Win. You just can't fix damaged hearing.

are you guys suggesting that if I were to shoot a 20" 35 Whelen in hunting situations without ear protection, I will damage my hearing, and if I do the same with a 20" 358 Win I will not ?

Depends on how you load them as to the way it "feels" to my ears. I realize that is a subjective thing and difficult to grasp the difference.

With the EDIT to 35Rem, I believe I was normally loading about 40gr of Powder and with the 350RemMag about 65gr which is a 62.5% Increase in the amount of Powder. Soooo..., yes it is LOUDER with the same barrel length.

And if a 20" 358Win is loaded with the same amount of Powder as a 20" 308Win, the 358Win is louder.

But (as usual), you sure don't have to take my word for it. Just load a couple up and Fire away. And I'd still encourage you to wear Hearing Protection during this Testing. If you do not hear the difference then you are already DEAF!

rickt300 That sounds like a fine rifle you've got in mind and it would right at home in Alaska as well. You could always AI it to have the final say in Whelen arguments.

Rick I don,t have a 35 whelan but I do have and shoot a 20" barrel 9.3x62 mauser and I get good velocities and not enough muzzel blast to worry me ...Compared to the 350 Rem mag that I had ..I can,t tell any difference and I had bucked that barrel off to 20 " I agree that the AI chamber would be even better but I would make it a Gibbs and I think that would trump all.........Kabluey,s rifle has one problem from what I can see...........................He hasn,t let me shoot it yet.....

Hey Free_Miner, I got the above post wrong by relying on "memory". I'd actually remembered Loads close to the old 35Rem I used to hunt with.

The 358Win was closer to 48gr and my 350RemMag is actually 66gr with the same bullet, or a 37.5% increase.

Sure didn't mean to mislead you with the inflated numbers.

I tired of the blast from a 20" Rugerultralight308win 7lb all up,it was a handy rig,but Eventually I went back to 24" 8lb.270 rig with delight. for any 06 capacity based round, 21.5" would be minimum for me and only if reallynecessary, 23" even better.

I own several rifles with tubes of 20 inches and less, 19 inches long being a favorite length. My BLR 358 has a 20 inch tube and as to recoil and blast I consider it more than reasonable. I have 270's with 22 and 24 inch barrels and can't really tell one is louder than the other as I use hearing protection at the range and barely hear the rifles go off when I am shooting at game. The truth is the larger the bore diameter the better the expansion ratio so generally a 35 Whelen shouldn't have more muzzle blast than a 270 in a barrel of the same length. Add to this the Whelen would use faster burning powders than the 270 and it is easy to see why the 270 would burn more powder outside the barrel than the Whelen. I had a friend years ago that bought both a 6.5 Remington magnum and a 350 Remington magnum in the rifle they came out in originally. The 6.5 was far noisier and the 350 kicked a lot more.