I scored on a classic today, now I have 2 whelens a CDL and a Classic. Its got some mileage on it, and its been bedded all the way. Why would you bed barrel and all?(curiuos) Anyway I'm ready to shoot it and see how it does.

They didn't know any better ?? This was a
common technique many years ago.

Congrats on your Classic. I have one and
it is an awesome hunting rifle.

quote:

Why would you bed barrel and all?

I'll try some 250 gr Hornadys in this one. Mounted a VX-I 2-7X33 on it,if it'll shoot like the other I'll be a lucky man. Loading today and maybe next weekend I'll get to shoot it.

Yo, Ray I’m jealous!

I’m on my second Classic and I wish I could buy another I know where there is a new left over from 1988…

Vin

vinnyg, my other whelen is a cdl I bought a couple of years ago. I sure wouldn't mind having a whole collection of whelens and maybe a 350 rem mag to boot. I really enjoy the whelen, it all started with an article i read and walking into a store that had one on the shelf.

quote:

its been bedded all the way. Why would you bed barrel and all?(curiuos)

Bedding either a rifle or a woman is an art of maximizing love. Some techniques make for the most happiness with one individual (woman or rifle), while other techniques work best for another.

As we all know, every rifle is an individual. Back in the days of wood stocks when glass bedding was first popular, experienced shooters recognized that some rifles shot best with a free-floated barrel, others worked best with pressure points at the front of the forend channel, and others worked best with the whole barrel damped (not "dampened") of vibrations.

Because wood stocks tend to warp over time, no matter what the climate, even though they often shot their very smallest groups with fully bedded barrels, their performance was always changing, and the shooters were always tinkering with them as the bedding "soured". Some guys had the necessary patience and skills; others didn't.

It is still that way. Often a particular rifle will still shoot its very best with a fully-bedded barrel, or bedded using fore-end pressure. However, since the days of glass stocks folks have sort of lost the "touch" of testing for and producing the very finest accuracy for a particular rifle through experimentation. That's not necessarily bad, either, as with the relative stability of glass stocks (particularly of benchrest dimensions) and the other fine parts available (triggers, actions, barrels, etc.) free floated barrels will generally shoot plenty well enough to win in the hands of a skilled shooter.

But it does not mean a well done fully-bedded barrel will not be a fine shooter. Often it can be a magnificent one. Just because it is no longer a common technique does NOT mean it is a useless approach.

Like making a woman happy, there isn't just one formula that works for every one of them.

Thanks Albert, I took the rifle apart(mainly to see if it would seperate) and inspected the bedding. Whoever bedded this rifle IMO done a fine job. It is very smooth and even throughout. If it shoots well I will leave it as is. Hopefully in a couple of days I can report back how well it shoots. I'll keep ya'll posted on the results.

I have been building and shooting rifles for over 55 years and ALL have been full length bedded since the bedding compounds came into common use with the first being Devcon Plastic Steel back around 1960. All have consistently shot well. My latest was a custom Mdl 70 I ordered last year (only the second custom I have ever comissioned) and I specified it be fully bedded. It is a 257Roberts and it consistently shoots under 3/8".

zimbabwe, that just gives me another way to make sure a rifle shoots good. The more I thought about it I remember having a rifle(my first mauser) that was full length bedded with a mannlincher stock. It shoot really well with my cobbled together handloads at the time. It was an 1895 Chilean mauser with a fajen wood stock. Still kick myself for letting that go(7X57). Keep your fingers crossed and I'll take it for a spin this weekend.

Ray, congrats on the classic I just love mine. If your is anything like mine she will love hot loads in the 225, & 250gr weight class. I currently shoot 225 TSX in front of 57.5gr of IMR 4064 for sub MOA groups. Good shooting and enjoy that great gun..

Craven

It depends on the caliber for me as to whether I want a 24" barrel on it. This one will be great around here when the weather cools off(pigs). I like to keep them trim after I made a trip to colorado in the mountains. I stick with lighter scopes and mounts nowadays. Standard calibers too!

Hey Ray, HA, I must have been missing this post.

Looks like a right fine rifle, except for the Blue and Wood . Sooooo, how does it shoot???

quote:

Originally posted by craven:
Ray, congrats on the classic I just love mine. If your is anything like mine she will love hot loads in the 225, & 250gr weight class. I currently shoot 225 TSX in front of 57.5gr of IMR 4064 for sub MOA groups. Good shooting and enjoy that great gun..

Craven

Craven:

I have experimented with the old style 225 grain Barnes X bullets in the past and shooting 60 grains of RL15 was able to push them over 2700 fps in my ole style Remington Classic with a 22 inch barrel. It was a very consistent load in my gun but then I switched back to 250 grain Speer spitzers.

I was wondering, how deeply do you seat the 225 grain TSX bullets for your gun? What is the overall length of your cartridge? I am about to put together some new loads with a 225 TSX again.

Dave

Hotcore, I'll be able to let ya know tomorrow. I've got plans to shoot it and a 270 win. I have not shot yet. I may try some of my handloaded TSX's in it to that are for my other rifle. I'll just have to start some low loads for it to see if it'll handle the pressures. Always work up ya know, its a different rifle. I'm really interested in the 250's for this one though. I'll have pics up or at least a report tom. evening.

Well my first trip to the range and I'm happy. 58 grs= 1 1/16" group
59 grs= 11/16" group
I didn't take the chrony today, but in this rifle whatever the speed is I'll probably be happy. The bullets were 250 gr Hornadys.

Dave, I seat them to the last groove, I dont recall the overall lengh but I will chek and let you know tomorrow..

Craven

Thanks guy!

Hey Ray, Congratulations on ANOTHER fine shooting rifle.

There is a guy on here occasionally who posts as "hard luck" that has probably Killed more Bears with the 250gr Speer Hot-Cor than any other person. He used it at 358Win velocities, but I'd imagine it will do fine at Whelen velocities too.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills.

Hot Core:

I have used the plain old 250 grain Speers in my Whelen to take two elk. I would show you a recovered bullet but there where none! I had complete penetration with two broadside shots on a really big cow and shot damn near lenghtwise through a smaller cow. At Whelen velocities, that 250 grain Speer is just superb in my book. In my rifle, they are running around 2460 fps. However, I am going to give the 225 TSX bullets another try. I can get them running around 2700 fps in my rifle so they will shoot a little flatter and probably penetrate just as well. A bit better "all around" load I think.

Dave

Dave
FWIW dont change your load. you cant get better than thru n thru penetration which you already have and, sending the bullet faster wont change your trajectory more than 1/2" which is nothing. At 2700, meat starts to get spoiled and, why buy a more expensive bullet? Plain ol bullets do great at 2400 or so. Forgive me butting in, I´m just an ol man from Africa who believes in a little hold-over instead of bullet velocity to flatten trajectory.
As an aside, and I cant support this mathematically, something really happens when you step up to ´35 cal in terms of distance covered by animals after being shot and, this does not improve until caliber reaches ´40. Cant explain it, just seen it for years n years. Cant beat a whelen for on game performance even with a 375. I know guys will argue, but I believe my eyes.
boet

Boet:

I know you are probably right. There will not be much change in trajectory by switching to a 225 grain bullet. However, I also have a coupe of 9.3X62's and I am shooting 250 grain TSX bullets in those rifles. I just thought I would switch to a 225 in the Whelen.

You are absolutely right about the killing power of the .35 and .36 calibers. They are just really, really effective.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by raybass:
I scored on a classic today, now I have 2 whelens a CDL and a Classic. Its got some mileage on it, and its been bedded all the way. Why would you bed barrel and all?(curiuos) Anyway I'm ready to shoot it and see how it does.

This is perhaps the finest choice of caliber for heavy American game up to moderate ranges. I carry 9,3x62 with Kahles Helia 30mm scope. My backup is stainelss 7&1/2" .454 five-shooter from Wyoming full of 260gr 'Partition Golds'.
Remi made nice rifles. I would not mind owning one of them early carabines with VR, dogs' leg bolt handle in cal 350Mag.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:

quote:

Originally posted by craven:
Ray, congrats on the classic I just love mine. If your is anything like mine she will love hot loads in the 225, & 250gr weight class. I currently shoot 225 TSX in front of 57.5gr of IMR 4064 for sub MOA groups. Good shooting and enjoy that great gun..

Craven

Craven:

I have experimented with the old style 225 grain Barnes X bullets in the past and shooting 60 grains of RL15 was able to push them over 2700 fps in my ole style Remington Classic with a 22 inch barrel. It was a very consistent load in my gun but then I switched back to 250 grain Speer spitzers.

I was wondering, how deeply do you seat the 225 grain TSX bullets for your gun? What is the overall length of your cartridge? I am about to put together some new loads with a 225 TSX again.

Dave

Dave,
Sorry it took me so long to get back with you, the over all length is 3.275 form nose to tail with this depth the last groove is still visible above the case. I hope this helps you and good shooting, I'm off to the range with my new stainless PT 1911..

Craven

Thanks Craven! I'll get some loaded up and let you know how they shoot.

Dave

Hey Dave, That sure sounds like excellent performance from the 250gr Speer.

I also like to try new Bullets, even though the old ones still work great when used properly.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills.

Confused a little. The 225 TSX measures 1.305 and I do not know the length of the old X bullet but it must have been much shorter?

I am loading the 225 TSX at OAL of 3.30 and just compress the heck out of 60 gr. of Rl 15 to get er dun. Do I have a measurement problem relative to Dave or is it the shorter length of the old X that is making the difference? There is no way for me to get more than 60 gr into 3.30 with the TSX much less match the 3.275?

MY- [quote] The new CDL sports a 24†pipe for the Whelen. I personally don’t care for a barrel over 22â€.
The shorter and lighter the better for me because I hunt in NY & PA, and head deep into the swamps so with all my other gear the weight adds up.[quote]

Ray,

You've got me thinking about buying a new CDL.....even if it's a 24 inch barrel.
It's still only 7 1/2 lbs without the open sites.

I weighed mine with talley lightweights and a vx3 2.5-8X36 Leupold on it. It came in at 7.8 lbs. pretty good weight for hunting. Not to light for good aiming and not to heavy for toting.