Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 7 mm vs 35 whelen

Rem 7600 / 760 = Two scope rings attached to a base that is attached to the top of the receiver with 4 screws.

Rem 700 = Two scope rings attached to a base that is attached to the top of the receiver with 4 screws.
I'm not seeing a difference here.

Maybe your smith should have smoked some weed. Hell, in my prime I drank enough moonshine to float a 14 foot boat and smoked enough weed to sink the same boat.

Never mind. I just figured it out. You must be one of those that use the see-thru mounts. That was just his polite way of saying "moron"

An avowed fan of the 35 Whelen, there is no doubt which rifle I would take!!!
After more than 25 yrs. still no problems with the original scope mounting set up.......
Yes it is a rebored 760.

Since you already own a 35 Whelen, inarguably the finest North American big game chambering ever, all that awaits you in a 7 mag is buyers remorse and bitter disappointment.

Bernie 2016.

I would take the Model 99 in 300 Savage. I know a few guys here in SW Colorado that use them.

Asking most guys here if you need another rifle is about like asking your barber if you need a haircut.
Predictable, YES.
Use the 35. Any gun good, shoot'em good.

A 7600 in .35 Whelen and a good 7-mag would be a great 2-gun elk battery. But if you are limiting your shots to 300 yards there's no need for the 7mm. With some practice and attention to detail an accurate 7-mag is a VERY capable rifle; the simplest path forward there would be a scope with a range-compensating reticle and the 160 Accubond. That's a 500 yard rig. You can stretch a good 7-mag much further than that but you start getting into more esoteric and expensive gear, and the practice requirements go way up.

If you want to "go there" budget a rangefinder. The Sig Kilo is the one. All of us with Leica LRF's are going "aargh".... grin....

When a 300 yard shot is the longest one taken,no need for the "range-compensating reticle" or a rangefinder,JeffO.

Shoot what you already have.

You're license (if you don't already have one)
will eat up 90% of 7 Benjamins

Take the whelen. Those 7600s just plain work. The 35 Whelen is an awesome round. LOVE mine

easy call. whelen.

Lots of practical responses from a bunch of addicts with an expensive out of state elk hunting habit.

I bought my 7mm 25 years before it ever got to shoot an elk and it works well for deer, maybe the best deer rifle but your Whelen has the advantage for elk killing out to 200 yards certainly.

If you don't already have them good boots, binoculars, rangefinder will make a bigger difference in your experience and chances for success.

A little longer range practice should give you a better answer for your rifle and scope combination. Whatever range you can consistently hit a coffee can sized target from a field position gives you a safe conservative maximum range. If the Whelen does it out to 300 you are probably good to go.

Our area offers more long range shots than close up normally so we practice out to 800 getting ready for 400 -500 yards. In a different area my first bull was only 60 yards away and closest cow was 11 yards when I pulled the trigger.....you never know so a rifle you use like it is part of you.

Well, you'll probably send me a nastygram to go with the others saying you "gunsmith" was full of it or smoking whacky weed but up to a point I'm inclined to agree with them. I worked for an older gunsmith for a bit over three years before he passed away and most of my work had to do with mounting scopes on rifles he built or for customers who wanted to upgrade. Part of my job was to ask sight the rifles in for the customers.
The point made that a scope on a Remington 760/7600 takes a base and four screws or two bases and fours screw vs the Remington M700 also taking bases and four screws is spot on.
Now I'm not gonna say your "gunsmith" is full of prunes just yet. It would go a long way settling that question with a couple of good photos on how that scope set up is mounted. Your choice. A couple of pictures or more badmouthing. Which ever lifts your skirt.
Paul B.

"So the girlfriend has bro. Wants me to come out Colorado. 300 yd longest shot he has taken should I get a 7 mag or just take the whelen?"



Well, I hunt New Mexico near Raton which is right on the Colorado border. Been doing it for the last 6 years. Closet shot was right at 100 yards and the longest was 350 yards, all verified by laser. My hunting buddies shots were at similar ranges with two exceptions. Both a bit bit over 400 yards. Animals were hit and running away. They didn't make it.
My buds were shooting .270 Win.150 gr. Nosler Partition and 30-06 180 gr. Hornady SP.
My rifle is a .35 Whelen shooting a Barnes 225 gr. TSX at 2700 FPS. Dunno if that load would be OK in your rifle though it's fine in mine. It's accounted for 5 of the 6 elk I've taken on those hunts. One was with a 30-06 when the scope on the Whelen turned toes up. Take the Whelen. If you don't reload, try some of the Nosler ammo with the 225 gr. Partition. Pricey? Oh yeah but they'll do the job if your rifle likes them.
FWIW, I have there rifles chamber to the Whelen. My custom which is what I take, a Remington M700 Classic that my current load is too hot and a Ruger. M77 with a possibly bad chamber. Factory ammo will have case head separations on firing. Gonna see if I can firearm some brass and use it as a cast bullet gun.
Paul B.

Paul, I appreciate your response. I have since read extensively on the 7600, its design, many reviews, and conclude that I stand highly corrected, on believing the opinion of an old gunsmith. It appears that he had a bias against 7600. And, in believing his opinion of the 7600, I was wrong. It would have benefitted me if previous posters would have directed me to publications, or even explained how the 7600 design and mounting system helps to give it great accuracy even at long distances. But since previous posters had no intention of educating me, preferring instead, to respond as jerks, they demeaned the old gunsmith, whom I regarded as a friend. Badmouthing began on THEIR end, probably fueling their egos by a few brews. What they think of me is really none of my business. They know what I think of them. They started out taking the low road at the git go.

Wyogal,

A post of class.

I don't drink.

I ran my 35 Whelen for quite a few elk hunts and it NEVER left me wanting. With a good scope 400 yards isn't hard and with a practiced shooter it'll get out further..

Love the 7 mags as well but I've been left wanting with the Whelen.

???

Just to salt the soup... I have and love a .358, which has left me chronically yearning for a Whelen, just because .35's are fun and whack the crap out of critters.

But I have a good .338, and it sure strikes me as a superior elk cartridge in pretty much every way at comparable recoil levels. And in the same size rifle.

No?