I've been shooting girlie boy loads (235 grains at low velocity) in my Whitworth. Before I start putting 270 and 300's thru her, I was considering glass bedding and a good soft pad.
Mine has the original wood stock, the old Whitworth pad and has been shot little. I intend to keep the wood.
What have the rest of you done?
Bfly

Other than a new red Decel pad and glass bedding I just shoot mine.

Well, I have a Mark X, but it's had:

Dual cross-bolts installed
bedded
Limbsaver
KDF Hg recoil reducer
fiber optic front sight.

Black Fly,

It's been a few years since I was in Newville, but last I was there, Ron Shuman always had a few rifle's like yours setting there among the Winchesters. Is he still around? That would be a nice way to see what others have done to big rifles.

Add a red Decel pad, bed the stock with something like Marine-Tex, and (this is just a personal thing) have a new bolt handle welded on with a knob that is a hell of a lot bigger then a Whitworth comes with. You could also make a new safety button from antler or something like that. I always found the button to need a bit more meat to it so in those tense situations, your thumb didn't slip over it. Adding a new bolt shroud with a good three position would be even better.

Joe

Thanks guys.
Joe, Thought you must have been from PA at some point when you mentioned fishing the Juiata in one of your posts. Randy and I went to high school together, a very long time ago. He still runs a shop out of his house, mostly thru Gun Digest and ads. He sold his original shop to Brian Magee and it operates under the name of Shumans Gun Shop. Both Randy and Brian are nice guys to deal with. It still has a lot of the model 70's and other really nice rifles and shotguns. Don't often see Whitworths there, though, and when you do, they are like new. I own guns to shoot them and hunt with, not to collect, so I was interested in what shooters had done to them. Always figured guns were like pretty girls, you don't save them for the next guy.
Some good ideas from all.
Bfly

Black fly,

I would shoot around a box of full power loads.. Letting the rifle do its thing and see where the marks are dug from recoil... As for felt recoil it is a lot less then turkey loads... A simms pads are nice or a kickeze also... I do practice shooting my 375 Kimber for groundhogs running and sitting..

regards,
Mike

Michael, Thanks I was more concerned about the stock cracking than my shoulder. I cracked the stock on my 416 Taylor on the third shot with full house loads, so I was just being cautious. I agree that the 375 is a pussy cat compared to those roman candles I shoot in my old 835. To be honest, when I had a model 70 in 375, I couldn't tell the differrence between it and my Whelen, but then I've been accused me of being insensitive.
Bfly

I have a Whitworth .458 WinMag. I installed a LimbSaver pad, a fiber optic front with a skeleton hood, cut a grove in the rear sight and filled it with ivory paint, added a Timney triger, a three position Model 70 type safety and polished the feed ramp so about everything will feed well. For some reason, this rifle didn't have a barrel-band swivel, so I installed one. The only reason for the new trigger was that I couldn't get the original to work with the new safety and I had the trigger already. Oh, yeah.. I glass bedded the stock, too.

I have less $900 in an absolutely reliable rifle that will shoot 2" at fifty yards with iron sights with both solids and softs (500 grains at 2100 fps.)

In the .458s the area between the magazine and trigger seems to have a tendency to crack, although you may not see it unless you pull the action out of the stock. Don't know about the .375s, but it is worth a look if you will be shooting it a lot.

a 375?
marine tex bed it, and put a decel pad on it

they just plain don't kick

quote:

Always figured guns were like pretty girls, you don't save them for the next guy.

That might be the single best piece of wisdom I have heard yet.

Joe

I didn't consider anything I did to my Whitworth (458) to be in the realm of 'pimping'.
The second cross bolt, full bedding, longer screws in the recoil lug, and necg banded front sight were all done to make it whole.
The recoil lug screws had only a thread and a half of purchase, the metal wasn't 'hitting on all cylinders' in the wood, and the front sight ramp self-ejected well before the hundredth round.

In retrospect, there's one thing I did that could be considered 'pimp', that's the flush-fit rosewood plugs over the stock bolts.
Still, that was done for functional purpose too, as I don't like how a stock feels in my hands with exposed stock bolts. Wears better too.



Cheers
Tinker

quote:

there's one thing I did that could be considered 'pimp', that's the flush-fit rosewood plugs over the stock bolts.

We can't hold that against you. Actually I am impressed with your restraint, you are from Oakland after all.


Jason

Thanks guys,
All good options. It is a 375. The fellow that bought her originally only fired it seven times, according to his widow, them put it in the gun cabinet. She didn't think he had ever taken it out again. There were stil the orginal two boxes of ammo with the seven empties. So it's in nice shape. Now she will get some use, mostly at the range and, on nice days, groundhogs and deer.
Bfly

Blackfly,

There used to be a place in Perry county new New Bloomfield that you could shoot hogs. That would be a fine way to limber up your 375.

Joe

Thanks Joe,
You're right. I tried to find them about a year ago. They were supposed to be up behind Little Buffalo somewhere. I'll give that another try.
Bfly