And here I was, thinking I just couldn't justify another rifle. Now which of my treasures can I sell to make room in the safe for another treasure? My .35 Whelen Model 700 Classic is near perfect. What comes after perfection? Now there is a 24 inch model in a 700 Mountain Rifle look. WOW!

Live without a Whelen? Of course you can - I managed it for 46 years! On the other hand, a bolt action Whelen has been on my mental list for a long time. I bought a 350 Rem Mag when I really wanted a Whelen but couldn't find one and came across the 350 at a time when I had money in hand. So I sure didn't need a Whelen with a ballistically identical rifle already in possession. But the allure of the Whelen for me is as much the classic nature of the cartidge as any real need. It's why I bought a 257 Roberts and a 22 Hornet and a 30-30 and a 7x57 and a 300 Savage and a 45-70 when the first rifle I ever bought, a 30-06, would have surely sufficed for anything I'll ever need a rifle for. Hell, owning classic big game rifles and cartridges is probably the closest I'll ever get to actually having the classic big game hunts we've all read about. -WSJ

"Would I be better just sticking to the rifles I have or is the Whelen something special I can't live without?"

Well, Bob257...that is very difficult to say. Some might argue the point, one way or the other believing you haven't really lived untill you've owned a Whelen.
The Whelen, to me, represents all the so called "big game rifle" a feller could ask for, plus some. It is easy on the shoulder, easy on the pocket book, and a hoot to shoot even with it's heaviest loads.
I have owned a Whelen, of some kind, for the past 40 years. I even got my hands on a 700 Classic once, but being the fool I am, I let it slip through my hands.
My current Whelen is based on a Howa 1500 action, w/27" Douglas barrel, NECG quarter rib w/three flip-ups, and Timney trigger, housed in a french walnut stock that has been pillar bedded, and floated. Weight is 9lb.2oz unloaded and recoil is next to nothing with the decelerator pad. Perhaps you can see the quarter rib in the picture?




Poor photography! Maybe you can see the "shadow-line" on the cheek piece in the next picture. The scope is a 1980 something vintage Weaver V mdl.w/steel housing. I only use the scope for load testing. w/o the scope it is truly an "express rifle" and points, and handles as such.



It seems the Whelen is sometimes in vogue, and sometimes it is shadowed by something more glamorous. But for day-in, day-out shooting, it just can't be beat! IMO.
Respectfully, Russ

Bob,

I must say that the Whelen is my idea of a near perfect rifle for anything Pennsylvania had to offer, including elk. While the 30-06 is quite the proficient cartridge, the added punch of the Whelen gives me just that much more confidence in my hunting rifle's ability to stop a black bear in his tracks with a good hit. I cannot wait to get it bloody on a whitetail; and it is actually accurate enough for groundhogs out to 250-300 yds.

Pleasent to shoot, accurate, reloading for it is a breeze, and nostalgia to boot!!!



Come on, you know you want one!!!

Yep you're right, I do want one. I guess that's what makes rifle loonies!! I just hope I live long enough to shoot all the rifles I own!! I actually have a "lottery" system to choose what rifles I'll take hunting. Two blued and two stainless that I choose from chips in a coffee can. Pretty sick, huh? They all have to shoot in an inch before they can even be "selected". I haven't picked this year's yet.
Thanks for all the input. Some pretty rifles there!

Bob257

"Wstrnhuntr,

I was expecting more bites than just one; I looks like I will never make a very good troll! "


DOH!


"I am not a speed guy and if I need a cartridge with a bit more clout I prefer extra bullet weight and diameter. Nor am I interested in shooting animals much beyond 250 -300 yards either.

Therefore to me the .35 Whelen seems the perfect "step up" for somebody who owns a .270/30-06 and wants something better suited to larger game such as elk."

I felt the same way, thats why I added a Whelen to compliment my 06.

As to your question of the 257 vs the 243, there was a time when the 257 was VERY popular here, but not unlike lots of other situations, the 243 at its introduction went through the roof which translated to a decline in the 257's popularity. Just because the 243 was the new kid on the block and they were so similar. One of my more recent handloader manuals states that the 257 is actually once again on the rise.

You and I have very similar tastes in cartridge selection, along with my 06 and 35 sits a 257 AI and they are my three "go to" rifles. If the 9.3X62 were as popular here as the 358's then I may well have selected it instead. I am equally intrigued by the european classics but some of them are just a logistical nightmare to usefully employ on this side of the pond, especially for those of us with limited resources.

Actually my Whelen started life as an 8X57, awsome round. I had intended to make it my Elk rifle but I couldnt get satisfactory results from the few prefered bullets that I chose. Outstanding results with 180 gn BT's though, but not what I feel suitable for Elk. So now its a 35 Whelen, it's all good..

Picked up the rifle and a box of 200 gr ammo Friday evening and mounted a 3-9x40 Nikon (the cheaper Pro Staff) Saturday morning but didn't have a chance to shoot due to company, broken weedeaters, broken mower belts, non-starting chainsaws, etc., etc., per usual.

I was fortunate that Grice's had a number of them on hand and that they were kind enough to let me look at several and pick the one that appealed to me, mostly based on the wood.

Of the 4 I looked at (or maybe 3, I can't swear now which it was), 1 (or 2) were quite acceptable, 1 was very nice, and 1 was pretty marginal interms of wood quality and finish. All had similar metal finish and wood-to-metal fit and all functioned (safety, magazine release, trigger, etc.). The trigger pull on the one I picked was of course very heavy; no scale but if it doesn't go 6 or 7 lbs I'll buy your lunch. I still have an old 700 owners manual from back when "how to adjust the trigger" was a normal thing to include in one and will address that ASAP. And look at the stock fit from the inside, so to speak.

Overall I'm very pleased and the relatives who looked at it all thought it was nice. The bedding screws are allen head type, which is a nice touch. The recoil pad doesn't have ridges and is quite unobtrusive. The length of pull feels just slightly longer than a couple 700 Classics I've got, maybe because of the pad, but I've yet to actually measure that. I like the straight comb & cheek piece stock and the satin wood finish, which is more appealing to me than the BDL style stock. Neither Remington's website or paper catalog pictures do justice to the CDL look by showing it only from the right side where you can see the "Mountain rifle with a cheek piece" effect. I'm less in love with the satin blue metal finish and wish it was a polished blue. But that said, the metal finsih is actually better than the sort-of-polished blue on a 1998 Classic but nothing like the finish on a 1985 Classic. I'm certain a tolerable satin finish is cheaper to do than a good polished blue finish but I'm not complaining (it looks just like the other CDL's I looked at before I bought it, so I really shouldn't whine).

Hopefully it'll shoot! -WSJ