Hey everyone, I have a savage 116 in 30-06, and I was wondering if anyone might be able to give me an estimation 0f of how much it might cost on the average to rechamber and rebarrel it to 35 whelen, and would it be worth doing it to a rifle that is probably 30 yrs old, any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks alot

All ya need is a new barrel and there's a few prechambered savage barrels available.

It's easy but does need to be properly headspaced. See a smith for a price.

go to midway, they have kits for everything you need. the whelen is a great round.
...tj3006

Hey duikerman what twist rate do you think would be good for 250 gr bullets 1 in 10 or 1 in 12

quote:

All ya need is a new barrel and there's a few prechambered savage barrels available

As an example Midway lists a 35 Whelen barrel for the 110 series for $129. That barrel is chambered so it is a take off the nut unscrew old barrel screw on the new "HEADSPACE" install nut and then reblue. You can get basic bluing for $75-100. I would thing a barrel install would be $30-50. So $250-$275 as a guess. If it were me I would sell and ad that to what I've would have spent and buy one.

as an example
http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976502825.htm

quote:

Originally posted by bill23:
Hey duikerman what twist rate do you think would be good for 250 gr bullets 1 in 10 or 1 in 12

I'd choose a 1-12" twist but you do it your way.

I really don't understand the 1-16" that some seem to prefer!

Regarding barrel twist ... nothing but a 1:12" to let you use everything the Whelen can use. At 250gr the 1:16" will work but why handicap the rifle? I've tested the 310gr Woodleigh in a 1:16" 35Whelen on the range and got suspect bullet holes at 200m. Today I ran the same projectile in a 1:14" barrelled 358Win, again odd shaped holes at 100m. The .35s need the 1:12" twist as per their original design and intention.
Cheers...
Con

Yup, 1:12" is the way to go. Confusion over twist rates has hampered the Whelen for years and is the reason the 338-06 took of like a scalded dog. With the 1:12" twist and bullets heavier than 250 grains, the Whelen is every bit the equal of its metric cousin the 9.3X62.

I'd go the do it yourself route. You can buy or borrow the wrench and headspace gauge. After you are through, if you don't think you'll be doing more, sell the wrench and gauge and get almost all of your money back.

I have blued those A&B barrels from midway with oxpho blue from brownells and it looks superior to the factory blue on most savage 110's.

Do some reading over on the savage shooters forum first for all the tips.

http://www.savageshooters.net/SavageForum/index.php

Good luck,
Weagle

I whole heartedly agree with the 1 in 12" twist. That's what Whelen and Howe decided was the way to go. Why in bloody hell remington and Ruger decided to go with the 1 in 16" twist is beyond me. Somebody had their head up their ass!
I have three rifles chambered to the .35 Whelen and the Remington 700 and Ruger 77 have 1 in 16" twists. The custom Oberndorf mauser I picked up at an estate sale has a 1 in14" twist which I think could be a fair compromise. I say that only because I think those barrels from Midway come with a 1 in 14" twist rate. At least it's better than the 1 in 16" twist. I'm in the planning stage toward building another .35 Whelen and this time the twist rate will be a proper 1 in 12".
it was sometime in the mid 1970 IIRC, that C.E. "Ed" Harris wrote in the American Rifleman that Howe designed the .35 Whelen to be a serious North American heavt game cartridge. he decided on the 1 in 12" twist to stabilize 250 to 300 gr. bullets. The fact that that twist rate would also work with 200 gr. bullets was just icing on the cake.
I have a friend back east that rebarreled a Ruger #1 to the .35 Whelen and specified a 1 in 10" twist. He says it shoots all the bullet weights just fine including a custom cast bullet that weighs nearly 300 grains in his alloy.
Paul B.

Thank you everyone for the info i'll probably order the barrel next week. Then ill post a range report thanks again

I'm having one done with a 1:12" twist, boring an original 30-06 and getting cut rifling in the deal.

Rich

The barrels from Midway are already blued and it is going for 79 bucks, all you need is a nut wrench, go, and no-go guages, and a vise. So for about 150bucks you can do it yourself.

How do i know this?- because i did it, on a Savage 110, the rate of twist is 1 in 14 which will stabilize up to a 280gr .358" bullet, and would work fine with the 250gr bullet. The Whelen is a great cartridge that deserves more accolades than it gets.

The other benefit of buying the equipement is that you can then buy a barrel for .280 rem or .270 win, maybe a 25-06, this is a great cheap swith barrel set up.

I did it as well two years ago and my Savage will shoot both 250gr NP and 310gr Woodleighs quite well. I used the A&B from Midway.