Remington Sportsman 78

HAWKEYESATX

Handloader
Aug 15, 2016
1,805
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As many of you know, I have my Remington Sportsman 78 in .30-06!
I have the .35 Whelen bug very bad!
I’m just wondering what the most cost effective way of changing it into a .35 Whelen.
What say ye all?
I’m open to suggestions.


Hawk
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Also, how well does the 3 groove rifling work?
Is it quite accurate?


Hawk


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HAWKEYESATX":2364if9u said:
FOTIS":2364if9u said:
How does the process work?
Do I send them the barreled action? Do I send it off by UPS or USPS?
And then they ship it back to my FFL?


Hawk


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I believe they can send it directly back to you. Ruger did that when I sent a #1 back for possible repair. They put a new barrel on the gun. I haven't heard about any complaints on the accuracy on any of the sites I go to. There is a .35 Whelen site on Facebook and that would be a good place to ask as quite a few people have had JES do one for them.
Paul B.
 
You send the rile and after the work it comes back directly to you. It is your rifle already.
 
Yup, I send them FedEx, UPS, etc. Whichever is less money. 2 weeks later he sends it back to you.

3 groove works great, I've never seen any reason to do anything but his 3 groove. Send a dummy round with your rifle so it can be rechambered and throated the way you want. That is the only thing I have seen is people send their rifles off and complain about it being throated wrong, but they didn't send a dummy in order for him to gauge the machining process.

JES is a great deal in my opinion. I haven't had a stinker yet and it is a great way to breath some life into an old rifle.
 
SJB358":2a7idkzp said:
Yup, I send them FedEx, UPS, etc. Whichever is less money. 2 weeks later he sends it back to you.

3 groove works great, I've never seen any reason to do anything but his 3 groove. Send a dummy round with your rifle so it can be rechambered and throated the way you want. That is the only thing I have seen is people send their rifles off and complain about it being throated wrong, but they didn't send a dummy in order for him to gauge the machining process.

JES is a great deal in my opinion. I haven't had a stinker yet and it is a great way to breath some life into an old rifle.
Thank you for your info!
It looks like I am going to do exactly what you have done.
The only thing is though, I don’t have a dummy cartridge to send along. I suppose it would have to have a long throat for the heavy weight bullets.


Hawk


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SJB358":3luo8jud said:
Yup, I send them FedEx, UPS, etc. Whichever is less money. 2 weeks later he sends it back to you.

3 groove works great, I've never seen any reason to do anything but his 3 groove. Send a dummy round with your rifle so it can be rechambered and throated the way you want. That is the only thing I have seen is people send their rifles off and complain about it being throated wrong, but they didn't send a dummy in order for him to gauge the machining process.

JES is a great deal in my opinion. I haven't had a stinker yet and it is a great way to breath some life into an old rifle.
Did you have a .30-06 and rebored it to .35 Whelen?
It seems like the 78’s barrel is quite beefy enough to rebore, too.
I don’t think .05 of an inch would take that much metal out of the barrel.


Hawk


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If you’re going to have the rifle chambered to the cartridge I’d get the die, brass and bullets and seat the bullet you’d most like to use reasonably and send that to him.

I’ve had 280’s rebored to 35 and a 300 rebored to a 375.

You don’t need near as much barrel as you think. I believe .125 is plenty of wall thickness for JES.
 
Hawk you can make dummy case if you have the reloading dies already.
make the case as long as your magazine so you can have a camber that will let you seat the bullet long.
JES usually likes you to send just the barreled action and bolt so he can test fire it and not have to worry about your stock being damaged.
I did have to send mine back for a new throat cut since I opted for a 35 Whelen AI and couldn't send a dummy case that he could use.
I also got the 4 groove and a 1-12" twist to handle all weight bullets. Some have had a 1-10" twist cut for just 250gr and heavier weight bullets.

The picture attached as just an example of what the barrel can do with an average load and it has shot tighter groups with bullets and powder it likes.
 

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SJB358":1koi096t said:
If you’re going to have the rifle chambered to the cartridge I’d get the die, brass and bullets and seat the bullet you’d most like to use reasonably and send that to him.

I’ve had 280’s rebored to 35 and a 300 rebored to a 375.

You don’t need near as much barrel as you think. I believe .125 is plenty of wall thickness for JES.
Would it be possible to send him dimensions I want instead of a dummy cartridge?
I believe I have lengths and widths to send along, if at all possible.
I don't have any dies or cases and bullets as of yet.
I guess I'm always kinda backwards when it comes to doing things like that.

Would anyone be willing to send me a dummy cartridge?


Hawk

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truck driver":1bah8yz4 said:
Hawk you can make dummy case if you have the reloading dies already.
make the case as long as your magazine so you can have a camber that will let you seat the bullet long.
JES usually likes you to send just the barreled action and bolt so he can test fire it and not have to worry about your stock being damaged.
I did have to send mine back for a new throat cut since I opted for a 35 Whelen AI and couldn't send a dummy case that he could use.
I also got the 4 groove and a 1-12" twist to handle all weight bullets. Some have had a 1-10" twist cut for just 250gr and heavier weight bullets.

The picture attached as just an example of what the barrel can do with an average load and it has shot tighter groups with bullets and powder it likes.
Thank you very much for the info!

I noticed you're using CFE223.
Is that a good powder to use for the 35 Whelen?

Did I see a posting a little while back with someone loading StaBall 6.5 for their .35 Whelen, or no?

I think a 1 in 12 twist would work just fine.


Hawk

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HAWKEYESATX":3uezpr0f said:
truck driver":3uezpr0f said:
Hawk you can make dummy case if you have the reloading dies already.
make the case as long as your magazine so you can have a camber that will let you seat the bullet long.
JES usually likes you to send just the barreled action and bolt so he can test fire it and not have to worry about your stock being damaged.
I did have to send mine back for a new throat cut since I opted for a 35 Whelen AI and couldn't send a dummy case that he could use.
I also got the 4 groove and a 1-12" twist to handle all weight bullets. Some have had a 1-10" twist cut for just 250gr and heavier weight bullets.

The picture attached as just an example of what the barrel can do with an average load and it has shot tighter groups with bullets and powder it likes.
Thank you very much for the info!

I noticed you're using CFE223.
Is that a good powder to use for the 35 Whelen?

Did I see a posting a little while back with someone loading StaBall 6.5 for their .35 Whelen, or no?

I think a 1 in 12 twist would work just fine.


Hawk

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I'm using CFE223 in the Ackley Improved version and there is a bit of difference between the 2. Will it work in the regular Whelen I don't know. Most use RL15 but you will have to let the rifle till you what it likes.
Since I don't have a standard casing it would be hard for me to make one up for you and who ever does needs to know the desired overall length you want and the inside dimensions of your magazine box.
 
Hawke, been planning that exact thing for 2 yrs now with an 03 Springfield I have with a worn out barrel, just didn't get around to it yet as it always seems I'm picking up a new project to work on.

As Scotty mentioned I believe JES likes to have .125 wall thickness on the barrel. So technically your barrel at the muzzle should measure at least .608 if going to a .358 bore. Although I doubt he'd squirm if your barrel happens to be .600 or slightly less but I don't know that for sure. You'd just have to talk to him to make sure if that was the case.
 
If you’re doing it there’s no negative to a 1-10 358. RPMs with those big Bullets are quite fierce.
 
My barrel a little beefier than normal, and I’m confident it will be plenty for a rebore to .358!
My only concern is it being a 22 inch barrel.
Will it get enough velocity, or have enough length for full powder burn?
I’m really liking the data I’m reading about the 35 Whelen.
It is an amazing hunting round, and rivals the .375 H&H in power.
I was wondering what you all think about just using the 225 gr AccuBond or TSX as the only bullet?
How heavy do the bullets go for the cartridge?


Hawk
 
Today, with the powders used I wouldn’t want a Whelen with much longer than a 22” barrel myself. The powders used are relatively fast and with be larger bore, work great from the shorter barrels. I’d bet you’ll get more speed than your body wants to absorb for too much shooting.
 
You'll be fine with a 22 inch barrel. It'll definitely be more convenient than a longer barrel when toting the rifle through bush.
 
SJB358":et2t28lt said:
Today, with the powders used I wouldn’t want a Whelen with much longer than a 22” barrel myself. The powders used are relatively fast and with be larger bore, work great from the shorter barrels. I’d bet you’ll get more speed than your body wants to absorb for too much shooting.
With your testing in other calibers Scotty, I believe you’re right.
Did you do any StaBall 6.5 testing in your Whelen?


Hawk


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