What caliber to buy for a 35 whelen rechamber

[Elkwonder]

I want a tikka re-chambered to 35 Whelen......
IS there any difference or advantage to one caliber over another to start with since I will have to just buy a new gun and then have a smith re-barrel it?
Isn't it the same bolt face as 30-06, 270, and 25-06? Wouldn't any of these be a great donor for the project? Thanks

 

[257scramjet]

I built mine off of a 3006 and went with a 35 wheelen ackley improved! it sure does kick but i knocks stuff down! Awesome round!

 

[WildRose]

You're going to have to rebarrel rather than just rechamber. There's a world of better calibers out there to choose from though so I'm wondering why you would want to go to 35 Whelen?

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

Wild is correct unless your going to get the barrel reamed to .35 diameter, a big job. The bolt face is the same as the /06 so that won't be the problem. I would think you should be able tofind a replacement barrel fairly easy, might check shooters corner, they might have a take off barrel at a very reasonable price and that work would be done quickly..good luck and make sure your filling are in good shape, this big bullets will get your attention!!

 

[Elkwonder]

I completely meant rebarrel sorry. Thats was my intensions. I have a 6.5x55 as my MAIN hunting rifle and really like that its kind of an odd ball but true performer. I was looking for something a little bigger that is a real GAME STOPPER without too terrible of recoil. Im all ears as to a "better caliber" to fill this gap for me. If I could find something that is already chambered in the tikka, that would be great!!!!
However, the only thing that really comes to mind is the 300wm and I thought the 35 was a little better choice simply for bullet dimension. 338wm kicks like a mule and Im not sure how well it can be loaded down for a little less recoil without it harming its performance. Also same goes for the 375 h&h.
SO I think those are the only calibers that are factory chambered in the tikka. That is why I was thinking of a rebarrel. So what say everyone?? Thanks for the information

 

[Dskiper]

well I postedon this before.how about a .338/06! same great 06 case with great .338 bullets.I think its recoil is less than 06/180s with 200 gr.nosler accubs.my rifle started out as lightweight Kevlar rem.700 in.280.bought shilen .338/06 barrel thu Midway and my smith beded and finished it.In 2008 weatherby,A-square&nosler loaded factory ammo.Nosler still loads 180.200,210,225,250gr.handload anything in your choice.great deer,elk,mooseand bear cartidgeas there are manyotherswe all know!thats why we discuss this.lightbulb

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

You could buy an off the shelf .300 WM for the price of a new barrel and a chambering and have enough left over for casings or bullets. Since you hunting big game it'll be more than enough in the accuracy department to kill game out to 500 without much of a problem. Brass availability has to always be part of your choice and when 300 WM brass can't be found not much else will be around either. Think before you act that's for sure on this one.

 

[4bycamper]

I want a tikka re-chambered to 35 Whelen......
IS there any difference or advantage to one caliber over another to start with since I will have to just buy a new gun and then have a smith re-barrel it?
Isn't it the same bolt face as 30-06, 270, and 25-06? Wouldn't any of these be a great donor for the project? Thanks

If you have your heart set on a 35 cal bullet, why not consider all the cartridge options for that bullet. First one that pops up to my mind is the 350 Rem Mag. This was one of the original short mags, belted though. It came in 6.5 mm and 350.

A quick check on GB showed about 2 dozen of these for sale. So why reinvent the wheel? To lighten the load of any of the short mags, just use slower powder. Try H1000 vs H4831 and you'll see what I mean.

Also spending $600. or so on a custom barrel job doesn't guarantee one hole groups. I have suffered through some expensive, average results that way.

Hope this helps.

 

[WildRose]

The 300wm is never a bad choice. You can go bigger but it is more than enough gun to kill anything in North America given good shot placement. In truth, shot placement with a quality bullet makes far more difference than anything else.

As for 338wm no, I don't find it to be a particularly heavy recoiling rifle either.

For an absolute "game stopper" I chose the .375 Ruger. It served me well on everything I shot with it in Africa and even without a muzzle brake on it I didn't find the recoil to be overwhelming or a big problem at all.

I did add a muzzle brake to it just to make it more fun to shoot. I went with the North West Precision muzzle brake since I have it on my other rifles and was extremely pleased with the results.

If you want an absolute "game stopper" that is still tolerable to shoot that is it and it also has the added benefit of being relatively flat shooting pushing the 260gr bullet at around 2900 and the 270gr at around 2800 so it's more than capable of shooting to 500yds.

 

[AZShooter]

ELkwonder,

You mentioned the 338 win mag as being too much recoil. You can load it down to your level of comfort. I once did just that with the 210 partition with a "sluggish" velocity of 2600 fps. It was very effective with tolerable recoil AND accurate.

I checked with a recoil calculator and the recoil of many of the max loads are identical to the starting loads for the 338 win mag. You could duplicate 35 whelen velocities and recoil with the additional ability to surpass the 35 whelen in velocity as you got comfortable with the rifle or as needed.


In addition to being able to duplicate the recoil of the 35 whelen you have a wider choice of higher BC bullets. Example: Hornady offers twelve 338 cal bullets and only four 35 cal bullets.

There are more rifle offerings in 338 win mag as well.

Choosing a 338 win mag rather than purchasing a rifle to rebarrel to the 35 whelen would save you a great deal of money and time.

 

[Elkwonder]

Thanks AZSHOOTER
I was considering the possibility of loading the 338 mag down, but didn't know what that would do to the accuracy. I will do some checking for sure. Thanks again
I have been reading up on the 338wm and the 375h&h, but can't find a lot of info on "downloading" them.

 

[FEENIX]

However, the only thing that really comes to mind is the 300wm and I thought the 35 was a little better choice simply for bullet dimension. 338wm kicks like a mule

My Ruger M77 MKII in .338 WM shoots very well and pleasant with a custom muzzle brake, felt recoil is similar to that of .308 Win...

Shot a coyote at 338 yards with .225gr NAB, 73.5gr H4831SC, CCI250.

 

[AZShooter]

Cool looking coyote. One of those rare red phase yotes.

------------------------------
regarding reduced load data for the 338 win mag:


Speer used to have reduced load data in their older books. They used SR4759


Hodgdon's 60% rule: reduced loads with H4895.
https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895 Reduced Rifle Loads.pdf

 

[rickiesrevenge]

I've had a couple rifles in 35 whelen Improved. Hammers critters. I really like the 35 caliber guns. Used to shoot an 06 until I met this old guy in Alaska. He told me to try the 35 whelen imp. I shot a lot of critters up there with it everything from grouse to moose. Can't say that I needed anything bigger. I like the 35 more than the 338w for a couple reasons. Brass is cheaper, less powder, and more rounds in the mag. I shot hornady 250's to start with. Switched to partitions and never looked back.

Aaron