35 Whelan
- Thread starter Deans
- Start date
George Stringer
Staff Alumnus
Deans, you can get a pre-threaded, pre-chambered barrel but it will have to be headspaced to your bolt. That will require a lathe. And while you're at it you should true the reciever, bolt face and lugs. I've seen a couple that required work (opening the feed rails slightly) to feed properly. The mag box will need to be lengthend. That's about all of the work for the basic conversion. You'll probably want to drill & tap for scope mounts, forge or weld on a new bolt handle and install a low scope safety. Dayton-Traister makes a nice inexpensive trigger for the 98 as well as the safety. If there is any of this work that you are not equipped to do yourself, feel free to e-mail me. I'd be happy to give you a quote on all or any of the work. George
George, Would you specify one barrel over another? I have been wanting to rebarrel a
post 64 Winchester Mod. 70 to 35 Whelen and am trying to decide on whose barrel to use.
Seems like over 30 cal drops out some quality barrel makers or at least puts them into a custom catagory. Ever worked with Pac-Nor ?
Regards,
Hank Lampe
post 64 Winchester Mod. 70 to 35 Whelen and am trying to decide on whose barrel to use.
Seems like over 30 cal drops out some quality barrel makers or at least puts them into a custom catagory. Ever worked with Pac-Nor ?
Regards,
Hank Lampe
George Stringer
Staff Alumnus
Hank, I haven't used a Pac-Nor. I have yet to have anyone specify that brand. You are right in that the less expensive barrel makers don't usually offer air gaged bbls bigger than .308. If left to my own devices I will always install a Douglas XX. I've had real good results from the Douglas bbls. I'll toot my own horn a little and say that I believe that the work done installing a barrel is more important to the accuracy than the barrel itself. I would almost go as far to say that if installed properly any barrel on the market is more than capable of sub MOA groups. A case in point is a 6mm Douglas XX I recently rebarreled a Remington with. The owner's handloads gave him a .137" center to center 3 shot group at 108 yds. That barrel wasn't air gaged. I'm not saying that you will get that from factory loads but what you get from factory ammo from ANY barrel would be anybody's guess. George
Amen to the installation thing George.Last year I bought a used barrel chambered for 257 roberts imp. I only paid $20.00 for it. It was all threaded for a M98,so I figured it was worth a shot.I screwed it into a action checked the headspace and shot it. I got a solid 2 inch group at 100 yds.After trueing the action face lapping the bolt lugs and glass bedding it consistantly puts 3 shots in a one inch circle at 100 yds.I think I could better that some if I replaced the military trigger.
I think I'll try to catch up with the folks at Pac-Nor and see what the deal is.You might want to look into the Adams & Bennet barrels from Midway. They come short chambered and threaded for the 98's. We have used several in a variety of calibers and they have been good shooters. They are not the quality of the premium market barrels, but then they don't carry the premium price either. For a hunting and shooting rifle, they seem to work great.