who has Whelen?

[kennyd]

Since the .35 Whelen is offered this year, who has one?  How well does it shoot, is the rifle strong enough to stand up?  It seems there are not any rifles at any of the distributors, so I am thinking of sending in my Ultra (.25-06) and have the second barrel put on.  This will be after the Christmas UPS rush mess is over.  In reality, a .30-06 would do what I "need"; a light hard shooting rifle with low power scope and pointed bullets.  I presently have a .243, the .25-06, and a 45-70.  I could scope the .45, but personally feel there are some calibers which  should be open sighted, either tradition or practical range considerations.  My other other options are to see if anyone wants to part with a .35 or have a barrel rebored to a BN in over .30.

  Thanks.

[Mac11700]

I presently have a .243, the .25-06, and a 45-70.  I could scope the .45, but personally feel there are some calibers which  should be open sighted, either tradition or practical range considerations.  My other other options are to see if anyone wants to part with a .35 or have a barrel rebored to a BN in over .30.

Good Luck on both accounts...most folks who have the 35 Whelens...don't want to part with them...cause they do very wel...with both the 22" and the 26" versions...Getting a barrel rebored isn't cheap...and if your wanting a Whelen..you can get one thru the factory a-lot cheaper than having it made...not that there is anything wrong in spending money to do so...just that many prefere not having to spend it to get it... ...If you do elect to have one done up...Give Wayne York of Oregunsmithing a holler...http://home.earthlink.net/%7Eoregunsmithing/index.html...I'm sure he can make what you want...

Mac

[quickdtoo]

There have been some problems with the recent .35 Whelen barrels with factory ammo, but those that handload for them have great shooting barrels, see mattparliament's range report below.

Tim

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/smf/index.php/topic,100788.msg1098266994.html#msg1098266994

[Scibaer]

Im one of guys here that have a 35whelen.. it shoots great when it shoots. i have a few no fires , maybe 1 out of 10 rounds dont fire. the firing pin hits the primer, dents it but it dont light.. i have noticed that the dent in the primer isnt as deep as the rounds that fired. ive read posts that say its a combination of issues. if i were to only use factory remington ammo what would be a descent fix ? i thought of removing a few thousnadths of an inch on the hammer face, but im not sure if that would work, because of the transfer bar, and also if that would hurt anything on cases that did fit right..any suggestions ?
glenn

[quickdtoo]

How's the headpace with factory ammo? The headstamp of an unfired round placed in the chamber should be flush with the face of the barrel, if it's recessed, I'd send it back to H&R and have them fix it as it's most likely out of spec......or it could be Remington ammo that's just not going to work well in it,  as far as I know, they're the only factory over-the-count ammo made for the Whelen.

Tim

[mattparliament]

There have been some problems with the recent .35 Whelen barrels with factory ammo, but those that handload for them have great shooting barrels, see mattparliament's range report below.

Tim

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/smf/index.php/topic,100788.msg1098266994.html#msg1098266994

Tim~  You beat me to it!

[quickdtoo]

Matt, I looked to see if you were on-line before I posted it, but you weren't....you snooze, you loose!!! I wanted to post about my RMEF Whelen, but since it's not available any more, yours was the next best reference I could think of!!

Tim

[Scibaer]

tim, yeah i believe that remington is infact the only factory making ammo in 35whelen .. i favor the 200grain psp.. from what i can see with my eye the round looks to be flush with the chamber face. wouldnt the extractor account for some of that, i mean, the extractor rim sits flush against the barrel face and if it doesnt sit futher in then the face, the round cant set into the chamber lower then the extractor would allow, correct ?
 is the hammer idea reasonable / what about making adjustment to the  extractor so it doest set so deep ?
glenn

[quickdtoo]

Push the extractor down out of the way and see it the case goes any deeper. The extractor should drop down when the action is closed all the way, I don't think it is a captive extractor and wouldn't keep the case against the standing breech when the action is closed. Just so ya know, once the round is all the way in the chamber, you probably can't close the action without pushing down on the extractor to make it go under the rim so you can get the round out.

Tim

[Scibaer]

tim, ok i'll look and try that, cant do that now, finishing up some legal docs for court. when i get the chance i'll check it out and see whats what.. just to be clear, the extrator drops out of the way and doesnt become a part of the barrel face, and the rim of the round doesnt rest on that extractor edge when the chamber is closed ?.. so the breech face isnt not a complete circle supporting the shell rim ?
glenn

[quickdtoo]

No, it's not.  The extractor cutout in the bottom of the barrel has no support for the rim. With the extractor claw out of the way, the cartridge may be going into the chamber too far for the firing pin to reach the primer with full impact. The shoulder in the chamber should stop the round from going in past flush with the chamber mouth, if it goes in further, it has too much headspace since there's already a slight amount of space between the barrel face and the standing breech, any recessed amount below the chamber face is additional headspace which isn't good.

Tim

[quickdtoo]

I could scope the .45, but personally feel there are some calibers which should be open sighted, either tradition or practical range considerations.

When you get a few years under your belt, your view(no pun intended!! ) will most likely change on that as your eyes change and you can't see open sights any more!!  Ultimately, a scope or peep sights will be the only options.

Tim

[kennyd]

Thanks.  I am 58 and know about eyes all too well.  I have peeps on a Savage 99, old Enfield, and a Remington Model 30.    Since I handload for everything I consider worth owning, that is not a problem.  I remember that Whelen wanted a .375, but couldn't get enough shoulder, that may be the problem with the .35 going too deep.  The shoulder is still small.  As for reboring, it could be a .338-06, Federal, .358 Win or whatever, just a bigger bullet.  Now that I consider, I could maybe get a 26 inch, or a bull that way.

[quickdtoo]

Thanks. I am 58 and know about eyes all too well.

My mistake, I confused you with some young paintballers that showed up recently, sorry Kenny!!

Tim

[mattparliament]

When I had the misfire problem, I removed the extractor completely and sorted the brass by which ones fell in flush and which ones went just a tad further, since then I haven't had a misfire.  Also, I feel that the Remington brass is to blame, I've measured the brass pre and post firing and as the fired brass forms to the chamber mine is right on speck.  It seems the shoulder of the factory unfired brass, loaded ammunition and brass alike, have a shoulder that is too rounded.  I think I had to remove about 10 brass out of 100 but haven't had a misfire since.

[poncaguy]

So far, my 35 Whelen has had no problems with 200 grain Remington factory rounds...................