35 Whelen updating

[SJB358]

Well, this old gal has been sitting in the safe for quite a few years now. The recoil pad is one of the Remington's that turned gummy and the stock was a bit short for me. Plus, it is a Remington and I am sorta prejudiced against them, although, this one has always shot really well and it is very portable at under 8lbs scoped..

Well, I found a stock from Stocky's I wanted to try out

https://www.stockysstocks.com/stock-fin ... stock.html

They advertised it at 26 ounces.. Here is what it weighed on my little digital scale.



Here is the old Whelen in the wood stock



And I didn't mind the trigger too much as it was stock and tuned a bit for weight, but it always felt like the pull weight changed, so I said to heck with it and dropped a TriggerTech in it at the same time.

I did have to fill in the new stocks barrel channel. It was real big when I started and I could've used a stack of cards to measure the clearance. Anyhow, I needed to bed the lug anyhow, so I put a couple layers of tape on the barrel and went after it..













And I am real happy with the final weight. I believe this scope is getting peeled off and a 6X is going atop and I'll move the 1.5x5 over to the 45-70..



I think the only thing else I'd change is getting an M16 extractor milled into it, but otherwise it feels pretty decent.

 

[DrMike]

Looks to have been a most successful upgrade, Scotty. I do love the Whelen. It does work well in almost every situation.

 

[5shot]

Looks great. I find it hard to drop that kind of $$$ on a stock though. I might be interested in that old one for one of my Remingtons.

 

[longwinters]

Looks great. no doubt a fun project.

Long

 

[Guy Miner]

Outstanding!

So, now you're selling the rest of your rifles? With this, you really don't need them... :wink:

Guy

 

[SJB358]

Outstanding!

So, now you're selling the rest of your rifles? With this, you really don't need them... :wink:

Guy

Yup, take a deep breath Guy... you may have just “slipped” a little in your advanced maturity! :mrgreen:

Thanks fellas. Looking forward to getting the old Whelen out and a 7.5-8lb Whelen might be handy in some places I hunt.

 

[Guy Miner]

:mrgreen:

Sigh. I can't help it. Your 700 CDL has always spoken to me, and the 35 Whelen... Well, the way you load it, it's doggone near a 375 H&H! I can't imagine anything in North America standing up to a hit from it.

I chuckled a bit when you mentioned that the LOP was a little short for you! :mrgreen: Not just 'cause you're a tall son-of-a-gun, but 'cause that's the only shortfall for me with the CDL. The stock is a little short for me too, and I'm only a fraction over 6' tall.

I'd imagine that lightweight 35 Whelen, particularly with your handloads is a little "frisky" in recoil.

Guy

 

[truck driver]

Outstanding!

So, now you're selling the rest of your rifles? With this, you really don't need them... :wink:

Guy

Yup, take a deep breath Guy... you may have just “slipped” a little in your advanced maturity! :mrgreen:

Thanks fellas. Looking forward to getting the old Whelen out and a 7.5-8lb Whelen might be handy in some places I hunt.

Looking good Scotty. Did you inlet some pillars while you were at it,Interested if it shoots better with the new stiff stock also.
Just saw where it came with pillars already install.

 

[OU812]

Nicely done Scotty, looks great. That is a great weight to be packing around the hills for elk.

 

[SJB358]

:mrgreen:

Sigh. I can't help it. Your 700 CDL has always spoken to me, and the 35 Whelen... Well, the way you load it, it's doggone near a 375 H&H! I can't imagine anything in North America standing up to a hit from it.

I chuckled a bit when you mentioned that the LOP was a little short for you! :mrgreen: Not just 'cause you're a tall son-of-a-gun, but 'cause that's the only shortfall for me with the CDL. The stock is a little short for me too, and I'm only a fraction over 6' tall.

I'd imagine that lightweight 35 Whelen, particularly with your handloads is a little "frisky" in recoil.

Guy

For sure Guy, that’s my only gripe with the older stock is it actually measured closer to 13 3/8 with my tape measure. I could never keep the darned scope out of my face. My loads were pretty stout but man, never had a darned issue with them in any form or fashion. I’m thinking of dropping back to 200’s and seeing what those will do. I know a few who have done great with them in the TTSX and AccuBond so I’m thinking it’ll be something to do this year. If I can make a 200 move around 2850-2900 I think I can get the dots to line up for me.

With the 338, 35 Newton and 375 I’ll let those big fellas toss the heavier Bullets. So far elk haven’t walked away from anything of decent quality so I don’t feel like I’ll be handicapped.

I’m excited to see how the new stock feels on recoil. Fits pretty well...

 

[truck driver]

Scotty pick yourself up a small jug of CFE223 and try that with the 200gr AB you might see 3000fps out of it with the 24" tube. I also had good luck with IMR8208 out of my classic when I had it.

 

[SJB358]

I’ll give those a shot TD. Was planning on trying 8208. Forgot about CFE223.

 

[truck driver]

I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

[SJB358]

Well, I’ve been shooting the Whelen with RL15.. my 700 has a long throat but man it’ll shoot when it finds what it likes.





And finally



Now that I’ve sorted out the seating I’ll try and find a flat spot. I’m looking for something between 2700-2800 with the 225 Partitions.

 

[DrMike]

Yes, that does appear as if it will shoot. Understatement, isn't it.

 

[gerry]

That looks really nice, I like the upgrades you have done so far. That gun needs to get out hunting again soon before it starts to complain. I could see that CDL stock being too short for you after owning the CDL I had. Still one of the nicest factory stocks out there would be nice if they made the LOP a bit longer. The only thing that would give me caution would be to mess with the extractor, they are very strong as is............

 

[35 Whelen]

That really came out nice Scotty........ What a nice little lightweight "hammer" for headen down into
Black Timber when those big bull Elk, just wont come out!