New to us Rem 700 SPS in 25 Whelen

[35 Whelen]

JD,
That is great to know, 85gr / 115 gr bullets grouping within an inch of each other would be magic! To be honest if it will shoot an inch group with ANY load I would be over joyed.......... Everyone I know has guns that group 1/2" or "into a dime" @ 100 yds. However my experence with about 3 dozen rifles of my own, in the last 45 years has not been so exciting, my dad sold guns for 50 years and as a young fella , after setting them up it was my job to line em up, So having fired hundreds of customers guns, over the years, our shooting showed with factory loads most of the big 3 American rifles, R, R, W rifles.
Actually seamed to live more in the 1 1/2" to 2" world. Of course those groups where fired off a simple picnic table sorta platform and sand bags, with trigger pulls from 4/7 lbs, So naturally that same gun with super tuned handloads; cement table, 1.5lb trigger off a lead sled would have resulted in tighter groups, the fact is most outta the box guns in the 80/90s ,that we messed with ,where a far cry for moa.........(though I see everyone advertises that now even low end stuff)
I am really hoping with fingers crossed this 700 will shoot , but I wont be surprised if its just another 1.5"er!
But I will report back with the results, good or bad, on this 700....... the gun has had the trigger worked on an to say it is light is an under statement......
So wont be able to blame the trigger in the testing! Scotty thinks the 85gr BT are probably the story with this gun, and I have foubd his advice to be rock solid in the past so may have to order some of them from Pro Shop today.
I am planning on trying 4831SC and sone RL25 and see what we xan get outta this 24"barrel thru the chrony! I am pretty sure we can cook something up!
Cheers
E

 

[SJB358]

I think you'll have a blast with it. Most all of the .257's I've got to monkey with have been really accurate (except for one Rem 700 :shock: ) but all the rest have been easy 1"ers. I'm thinking after some bullets down the bore to knock it down a little it'll come together quick for you.

Those 85 BT should swat those late winter coyotes hard... Might need to try some in mine as well.

 

[truck driver]

Wish I could help you out with the 25 Whelen but my 257 Bob data won't do you any good.
Just wondering what you have cooking on the grill in the picture? It looks good and is making me hungry.

 

[JD338]

For coyotes, the 100 gr BT and the 115 gr BT really did the job!
100 gr BT exit

115 gr BT exit

JD338

 

[sask boy]

Hmmm 25-06/25 Whelen I think I have found my next build :mrgreen:!
If you have a 25 Whelen & a 35 Whelen life could not get much better :lol: thank you for the inspiration!

Blessings,
Dan

 

[35 Whelen]

Dan, your cracking me up , actually how much simpler does it get, two guns a 25/35 Whelen and one has it covered from 75 grs to 300 grs. Just doesn't get much easier than that , nuff said! If someone asks what your hunt with just reply, "I am one of the Whelen boys"

 

[35 Whelen]

The grill was loaded with venision burgers marinated in a burbon base, the fry pan is stoked with fryed spuds and onions, the sports had already eaten a plate of fryed white Perch, pickles and home made bread, before we load their plate with the meat and potatoes,and that is all washed down with ice cold adult beverages or "guides coffee" and we finish every meal with home made pie! :grin:

 

[truck driver]

Is this how you feed all your clients? Maybe I need to book a Moose hunt with you.

 

[SJB358]

Sent you some info E

I'm really thinking I need to get up to Maine one of these days to chase something around! Your chow sounds excellent buddy!

 

[DrMike]

I'm really thinking I need to get up to Maine one of these days to chase something around! Your chow sounds excellent buddy!

For sure!

 

[35 Whelen]

Thanks for that, and to be honest we do take a good break at lunch to get the heck ouuta the canoe, the traditional guides lunch
Has not changed much in over 125 years! I still use the same ash baskets my grandfather used in the 1920's! Really only the meat changes every day for 6 days then you start over again, of course food cooked over the open fire tastes even better, and when you have cooked thousands of broilers full of chicken your probably more apt to have it cone out perfect , than soneone that trys it a couple times a year. We try to cook fish everyday , (in saved bacon fat / canola oil) and that is always a big hit, the meats broiled with some spiced up rubs disappear quickly, (" the dizzy pig") makes some really great ones. And on cold rainy days , I still use a one gallon coffee pot and its not uncommon for three of us to finnish it off! Guides coffee made with egg is always something that amazes folks that have not had it, and if I have been told once, or half million times in my life, "gosh that is the best cup of coffee I ever drank in my life!"............ but the biggest thing about lunch is the fact we still do the whole process everyday with nothing but a pot, a broiler/fry pan and a coffee pot hung on a teapole, (used to be called a "dingle stick") which we now a days have to remove and stand up beside a tree so campers that use our lunch sites do not see the teapoles, as the first thing they do is chop it up and burn it!!!!! The newer generation is cooking over folding grills , and has no idea what a teapole is for!!!! Lol , always room for you here Scotty........ we will be starting to do a few hunts for big Maine Coyotes from mid Janurary
Off snowmobles, calling with Fox pros, in white cammos. Can be 30 below, but usually around zero. They are really well fured
And 45/50 lbers are shot here every season!
Cheers
E
Truck Driver, be sure and file online for the permit in Jan! Scotty has been trying for a few years now, we have some outstanding Bulls here 55/60 inches , so can certainly show you a big moose if you can draw the permit!

 

[sask boy]

E, I sure like the way you think !
Now gerry & I will just have to start to work on you about changing your rifles so that the bolt handle is on the other side :mrgreen:.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[35 Whelen]

Lol, well just got this 700, off the bench! Every person that has handled this rifle since it came thru the door has accidently discharged it................ a pro had set it up nicely but with exactly 1.5lbs of weight of pull..... just to light for most folks, even if you tell them first..... so I just took it to our shop and set it up to 2.5lbs, it feels much better to me now! ( that took less than a quarter turn in!)Zero creep and crisp. Was not crazy about the tension on the saftey button, took a gorilla to push it off!
Had way toooooo much tension to my way of thinking, so releived some of the tension on the side spring to about half of what it had, one drop of oil in the detent pocket and its now more like velvet!
Everything else looks good so I guess I am ready to try it tomorrow. Will post a report on how it does!

 

[Guy Miner]

Nice - and yes - some people like their triggers set really light.

3 pounds and crisp is fine for me. That's what my SWAT rifle (a Rem 700) is set at, and has been for many years. It's just fine.

Guy

 

[DrMike]

Interesting. I've routinely set my triggers between three and four pounds. My primary rationale has been the thought of using the rifle in cold weather with gloves. I wanted enough resistance to permit the thicker (and less tactilely sensitive situation) finger to enter into the trigger guard.

 

[truck driver]

I tend to like my triggers lighter than others would and during cold weather I do wear gloves leather shells with wool or cotton liners depending on the temperature and pull the right hand glove off before taking a shot unless I just have the light cotton glove on the shooting hand and then I'll take a shot with it on maybe but usually pull it off to get a good feel for the trigger.

 

[sask boy]

All my rifles are set at 3.5lbs, I also do quite abit of cold weather hunting so I like a little feeling with gloves on .
I only have Timneys in my rifles so I have been spoiled for the last 10 years or so.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Wincheringen]

I really enjoyed using the Barnes 90 grain solids in my 25/06 but now that I can't get them I use the 85 grain BT. IMR 4350 is a go-to powder for the 25/06, with a nod toward RL22 for 115 grain bullets.

 

[SJB358]

Sounds like it's all ready for the range. Looking forward to seeing how it shoots for you.

 

[35 Whelen]

Ok, as most of you know ,I don't post pictures of my shooting, or of targets. Because I really don't feel like
My shooting ( way under 500 rds a year) would be even come Close ;to you fellas with super tuned rifles ,and 30/40 years Of experience off the bench, with God knows how many Rounds fired? ( 50,000???) I am just an old hunting guide with,Some practical experience, so here is a couple of photos of my first two loads I tryed yesterday with the Remy 700,
One using 53.5 ,4831 SC & one with 57,RL 25.... So though they are,Nothing great, its a starting point with a scope that has tracking issues, 100yds, 5mph breeze.Two 4 shot groups, the bottom target is RL25 load , I had just cleaned the barrel and the first shot is Way low, So next four is the actual group it shot once the barrel had a round out thru it. Going to chronograph the vel today
To see what these loads are doing? No sign of any pressure here at all.....( have no idea why I wrote RL 22 on that bottom target??? As I don't own any?? The bullets in both loads is of course the H 117gr SST....[attachment