I've been reading "Mister Rifleman" by the good Colonel and at the same time thinking about building a rifle, in the obvious caliber, for the kind of rugged wilderness hunting he loved.

Here's what I'm thinking --

Zastava stainless action, probably replace the trigger with a Timney.

Stainless barrel -- which make? Twist rate? Countour? What barrel length?

Bell & Carlson synthetic stock (I already have one to fit this action, a nice coincidence).

Talley or Warne rings? Would you have open sights as a backcountry backup?

Leupold scope, either a 1.5-5X or a 2.5X compact.

Bullet of choice? Maybe 225 or 250 Nosler Partition, 225 Barnes X, 250 Speer spitzer (Finn Aagaard's favorite)?

My .35 Ackley Whelen is on a custom Springfield done in Austria in the 50's. The receiver has 1955 FN proof marks. 4x Leupold compact. AA2700 with the 250's has worked well. My father picked it up in the early 60's and is the only rifle in the safe that I would not part with. Bob

Sounds like a dream rifle I'd like to have!
Anyway, to pitch out my answer to some of your questions, I think I'd go 1-16" twist for the bullet weights you specify. And as you are wanting a wilderness hunting rifle, I would do a standard contour on the rifle barrel (if not a tad smaller) and cut it off at 20 - 22". You would lose precious little velocity but save considerable on weight while increasing handiness.

Low power variable sounds fine unless your wilderness is pretty open. Having back-up iron sights will only work if you can get the scope off the rifle. But for a serious wilderness experience, I suppose in theory iron sights sound good. But I'm pretty ho hum about them. I've never seen anyone actually have to yank a scope off and resort to this.

When you get tired of this rifle, send it to me. I'll give it a good home.

A few years ago I had a .35 Whelen build on a commercial FN mauser action. The stock is a laminate carved from a blank by me. The barrel is a 23", #2 profile Douglas premium with a 1 in 12 twist. I have never regretted going with the very light barrel which is fully neutral bedded.

With 225 gr Noslet partitions and 250 gr Hornadays, the 1 in 12 twist has proven to provide excellent accuracy. With Speer 158 gr plinking load, accuracy is an ugly pattern. The trigger is a Timney but next time I'd go with a Dayton-Traister because they are more compact and require less wood removal.

My best loads are (1)225 NP, 60 gr RL15, CCI200 primer, any case(necked up from .30-06) for 2730 fps and (2) 250 gr Hornadays, 58 gr RL15, same primers and cases for 2650 fps. I tried Barnes X 250's but accuaracy was very poor and they were too long.

The scope is a Leupold 2-7 VariXII.

I like the Whelen very much for moose. Recoil is not a problem so the gun is fun to shoot. If you go with your stated plan, I'll be you'll be very happy with the gun.

I would put on sights. My personal Whelen has sights, and I've had to use them. A pack-in can be terrible on firearms; my scope gpot the bell broke off in Wyoming when in the scabbard. This was not a QD mount, and it was not easy to remove with a Swiss Army Knife. The next day, I lost the rear sight in the scabbard again. I noticed it after a several hour climb on foot. Did I get my elk? Yes, 6x5 wing shooting at less than 40 yds.

John:

I'm not qualified to comment on the other twists you mentioned. I've owned two Whelens - both with the 12" twist - both rifles shot well with the heavier bullets(except Barnes X)

Yes, these are warm loads. I should of advised to work up to them as I did!! I don't sighns of excess pressure in my rifle but!!! my brass only last 4-5 firings before the primerpockets are enlarged to the point where I toss the brass. I realize there is a contradition here. I mean that after each firing my primers aren't flattened, the bolt opens easily, and there is no shininess on the face of the brass.

I will point too that they are not out of line with some of the mainstream loading manuals. For 220-225 gr bullets using RL15; Barnes #1, 60 gr; Speer #12, 60 gr; Hodgdon, 59 gr. For 250 gr bullets using RL15: Alliant, 59.5 gr; Barnes#1, 58 gr.

Also, Finn Aagaard did an article comparing the .338-06 and the .35 Whelen in Handloader 184(Dec-Jan 1997). He used a a virtual twin of my rifle to test the Whelen. He went as high as 61 gr of RL15 with 225 gr Sierras and 59.5 with 250 gr Nosler partitions. He states that he didn't use higher charges than those found in loading manuals and didn't tolerate the slightest hint of excess pressures.

I loaded some 250 gr Hornadays uo to 59.5 gr of RL15 and these were a little over the top in my rifle so I backed off to 58 gr and stayed there.

I find I get the best accuracy with the warmer loads.

[ 06-22-2002, 08:23: Message edited by: Mauser98 ]

My 35 Whelen Improved is on a VZ/24, 14 twist Shilen CM barrel,24" long, Dakota open sights, Warne rings and Bases, 2x7 Burris, KDF muzzle brake.
RL15 is my favorite powder for any bullet weight from 200-250grs. My velocities are similar to those posted, but I do not throw my brass away after 4 firings due to expanded primer pockets- any loads that cause that are TOO HOT regardless of what is in the loading manual.
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