I've been looking for a new .35 Whelen and have found two on the web I like. One is a super clean Remington 700 Classic in practically perfect condition. The other is a 1903-A3 Springfield that has been rebored in .35 and cut down to 22 inches and recrowned. The owner says it gets 1 3/4 inch groups with 250 grain speer spitzers but has some very minor pitting in the bore, other than that it is clean. Both have iron sights and cost $800. What would you get and why?
New .35 Whelen
- Thread starter Nugger
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HuntingLikeABadHabit
New member
Second that ^^^ I would try to talk down a tad on the 700 and wouldn't even consider the sporter unless it was half that price. Good luck!
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$700 for a M700 Classic is in the ballpark as long as it's nearly NIB condition. If it were me I wouldn't care less if it had sights or not, as the Remington put cheap plastic Williams sights on their rifles. If it were me I'd do something similar to the one I found here:
tdn said:Early 6 Digit, New Haven G-Series Classic Stainless Laminate Sporter.
Began life as a 30-06 and was rebored by JES Reboring, who has now done three rebores for me (two Whelens) and all have shot incredibly well with top notch work.
This one is twisted to shoot lights and heavies w/ 1:14" twist.
Barrel was recrowned at 21" and handles and balances incredibly well! Trigger was worked by "Redneck" and it a thing of beauty at 3lbs.
Feed and function are flawless. Shot only a handful if times and easily sub MOA with both 200gr Hornadys and 225 Partitions. Target pic below is actually 5 shots @ 100 yards (200gr over Varget). Priced to move as we are buying a new house - otherwise I'd keep it around.
A great all-around rifle, handy and accurate for any weather or game North America can throw at you!
Price: $799 +shipping to your FFL (from non)
Have dies, bullets, and new and 1x brass that will go for a super good price to the buyer first, if interested.
Please PM for any specific questions or for more detailed pics. Have bases and rings I will throw in as well and the Ziess 4x32 I shot the groups with will be up for sale soon as well and we could work a combo deal if desired.
First public, "ill take it" trumps all.
Thanks for looking
Keep looking...
I just put a Sears Ted Williams, 30-06 on lay-away for 310.
Once paid off, I will purchase a Douglas sporter barrel in .35WLN (short chambered), have the smith mount and headspace the barrel and blue to match the blueing, then I have a switch-barrel for when I need.
PS: The Sears Ted Williams was made by Winchester (M70)!!!
I just put a Sears Ted Williams, 30-06 on lay-away for 310.
Once paid off, I will purchase a Douglas sporter barrel in .35WLN (short chambered), have the smith mount and headspace the barrel and blue to match the blueing, then I have a switch-barrel for when I need.
PS: The Sears Ted Williams was made by Winchester (M70)!!!
This is a picture of a bear which my wife made for my re-loading room. His name is townsend or "townie" to his friends.
@nugger:To get back to topic, I would choose the remington, hands down. If it is a rifle that I really wanted and I could afford it, I would not let a small premium stop me. One member here has a quip which says you didn't pay too much for a gun. You just bought it too soon.
Personally I like mobuck's idea of building a .35 whelen from a savage 110 action. Except, I would choose .338-'06 for the chambering.
"Only accurate rifles are interesting." - Col Townsend Whelen
"A .30-06 is never a mistake." - Col Townsend Whelen
@nugger:To get back to topic, I would choose the remington, hands down. If it is a rifle that I really wanted and I could afford it, I would not let a small premium stop me. One member here has a quip which says you didn't pay too much for a gun. You just bought it too soon.
Personally I like mobuck's idea of building a .35 whelen from a savage 110 action. Except, I would choose .338-'06 for the chambering.
"Only accurate rifles are interesting." - Col Townsend Whelen
"A .30-06 is never a mistake." - Col Townsend Whelen
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Saying it costs around $200 to rebarrel a Savage is a little misleading. Yes, it can cost around $200, but only if you can find an ER Shaw barrel kit in stock at Midway or other online retailer. If you order just the barrel from ER Shaw it'll run you $225 to $250 for a basic blued CM or SS barrel. More than likely the cost will be closer to $350+ for any other barrel maker to get a pre-fit in anything other than a varmint contour.
Then let's not forget the cost of the Savage donor if one doesn't already own a Savage long action. $800 for a M700 Classic isn't looking that expensive when you have to figure in the cost of a donor action. A good used donor will cost between $300-400 depending on if it has an Accutrigger or not, even more if it comes with anything better than a Tupperware stock.
If you need a new stock, then the cheapest thing going for a decent stock is Boyd's and it'll run you about $110 shipped for nothing extra added to the stock. Then throw in other incidentals like bedding compounds, and a trued recoil lug, and you know have more invested in a Savage than the M700 Classic.
Now if a person really wanted to do a .35 Whelen on the cheap, I'd hunt for an old Mauser, 1903 sporter, M670 Win, or M700 ADL in .270, .30-06 with a wood stock and rebore at JES like the Winchester I posted. With a little searching you can pick up one of these rifles for less than $400 and JES charges $250 to rebore if the barrel doesn't need set back. So now you're looking at $650 in a Whelen. Buy some bedding compound and a decent set of scope mounts with a quality scope and you have a Whelen up and running for less than $1000.
@taylorforce: True that. All of what you said
But I'd still like a .338-'06. I'm thinking it would be the perfect elk cartridge and with lighter, 200 grain bullets, it would also work fine on the larger mule deer species.
Or if you want to go larger diameter, why not bump past the .35 whelen and get a CZ in 9.3x62 or a ruger #1 in 9.3x74R or 9.3x62? If brass is a problem, I think 9.3x62 can be easily reformed from .30-06 or .35 whelen.
But I'd still like a .338-'06. I'm thinking it would be the perfect elk cartridge and with lighter, 200 grain bullets, it would also work fine on the larger mule deer species.
Or if you want to go larger diameter, why not bump past the .35 whelen and get a CZ in 9.3x62 or a ruger #1 in 9.3x74R or 9.3x62? If brass is a problem, I think 9.3x62 can be easily reformed from .30-06 or .35 whelen.
.338-06 is a good cartridge, so good in fact that I own two. I had two .35 Whelen rifles as well, but I'm only down to one currently. The fact is there is very little difference between the .338-06 and .35 Whelen, but I'd give a slight edge to the .338 simply because of hunting bullet choices.
However as to the perfect elk/mule deer rifle there are several of those, it just depends on who you ask.
However as to the perfect elk/mule deer rifle there are several of those, it just depends on who you ask.
Magnum Wheel Man
New member
hmmm... I have a nice 700 BDL ( 70's - 80's vintage ) I bought used, but likely unfired, a while back... I don't think those sight were plastic ???
I put a Luepold on it anyway, but don't think the sights were in the way, & left them on. as they looked like decent sights ???
other than that, I agree with what was posted BTW... I paid about $600 for mine a year a half ago, a few handling dings on the stock, but LGS owner thought it was unfired, traded in with a group of 35 Whelens
I put a Luepold on it anyway, but don't think the sights were in the way, & left them on. as they looked like decent sights ???
other than that, I agree with what was posted BTW... I paid about $600 for mine a year a half ago, a few handling dings on the stock, but LGS owner thought it was unfired, traded in with a group of 35 Whelens
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
I'm a firm believer one should always buy new verses used if finances allow. But on this occasion as read both rifles are used. Only one little glitch with the Classic Remington. You may want to check it out to see if its one of those that are Recalled due to a defective trigger works. FWIW: O3-A3 rebore job having minor pitting. That means at one time that rifle wasn't properly look after. Having a old antiquated action. Na!! Buy the current model Remington instead.
I have three rifles chambered to the .35 Whelen. A Ruger M77 tang safety model, a Remington M700 Classic and a very nice custom on an Oberndorf Mauser action that I found at an estate sale. I have a load for the Mauser that does 2710 FPS with the 225 gr. Barnes TSX bullet that has flat knocked down every elk I've shot at.
Seems Ruger and Remington went with a 1 in 16" twist while my custom has a 1 in 14" twist and I believe the original Whelens used mostly a 1 in 12" twist. A 1 in 16" twist will shoot decently with a 250 gr. bullet and as they will do a decent number on anything in North America that should not be a problem. The Mauser is very accurate and .50 to .75" is the norm with the TSX bullet when I do my part.
Personally, I think a good 225 gr. bullet is the way to go in the whelen. I'm doing some work with the 225 gr. Nosler partition and Accubond right now at least for anything in the lower 48 but would stick with that 225 gr. TSX for the great bears.
As far as which of the two rifles the op asked about, Probably the Remington Classic although in my case I might want to take a look as that 03A3. After all, at one time a .35 Whelen on a 1903 Springfield was looked upon with high favor. I'd almost bet the one the OP was interested in might even have the "proper" 1 in 12" barrel twist.
Paul B.
Seems Ruger and Remington went with a 1 in 16" twist while my custom has a 1 in 14" twist and I believe the original Whelens used mostly a 1 in 12" twist. A 1 in 16" twist will shoot decently with a 250 gr. bullet and as they will do a decent number on anything in North America that should not be a problem. The Mauser is very accurate and .50 to .75" is the norm with the TSX bullet when I do my part.
Personally, I think a good 225 gr. bullet is the way to go in the whelen. I'm doing some work with the 225 gr. Nosler partition and Accubond right now at least for anything in the lower 48 but would stick with that 225 gr. TSX for the great bears.
As far as which of the two rifles the op asked about, Probably the Remington Classic although in my case I might want to take a look as that 03A3. After all, at one time a .35 Whelen on a 1903 Springfield was looked upon with high favor. I'd almost bet the one the OP was interested in might even have the "proper" 1 in 12" barrel twist.
Paul B.
I never heard of "cheap plastic Williams sights" on a Remington 700, certainly not in 1988 when the .35 Whelen Classic model was produced. The Remington 700 sights were steel units that are entirely serviceable. Oh, and I would go with the 700, I have a 1989 vintage 700 in .35 Whelen, it has been a great rifle that I have killed nine species of big game with.
reynolds357
New member
I own a .35 Whelen 700 BDL. It is a nice rifle. To those advocating the .338-06, you can not begin to build one for what a very nice Ruger 77 in 338RCM presently cost.
Reynolds357,
What you say is sort of true, sort of not.
I have a spare M98 action laying around, and a takeoff stock, all I'd need is a cheap Adams and Bennet barrel and a reamer rental to put it all together. That's pretty cheap, but only because I don't count my time.
Sometimes you can find those old Stevens 200 long action rifles used for very cheap, and rebarreling them is a snap, so once again, as long as you do the work yourself and shop around for the barrel, it can be done.
If I had to pay a gunsmith, you are totally correct, wouldn't even bother with it anymore except for the love of tinkering.
Jimro
What you say is sort of true, sort of not.
I have a spare M98 action laying around, and a takeoff stock, all I'd need is a cheap Adams and Bennet barrel and a reamer rental to put it all together. That's pretty cheap, but only because I don't count my time.
Sometimes you can find those old Stevens 200 long action rifles used for very cheap, and rebarreling them is a snap, so once again, as long as you do the work yourself and shop around for the barrel, it can be done.
If I had to pay a gunsmith, you are totally correct, wouldn't even bother with it anymore except for the love of tinkering.
Jimro