Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska .35 Whelen Rifle Question

Anyone have any experience with E.R. Shaw? Apparently I can have him build a rifle in .35 Whelen on a Mauser action I supply for a very reasonable price. I have read that he is a competent gunsmith and builds very good rifles. What say you?

Edit: Never mind, the wait is WAY too long.

I would, and am going 700, 22" hart #3 12 twist mcmillan hunter...

I'm sorry but I don't see the allure of any mauser action...

Sorry, I'm not taking the bait.

Not baiting you or being a dick, I just wouldn't build or buy a mauser action anything, just my opinion... matter of fact if someone gave me one, I'd dispose of it properly so someone else didn't have to deal with it. But I do love a 35 whelen, it sure as [bleep] ain't no 06, thank God...

Little worse than an idiot pretender... maybe his mother will wise up and take away his computer privileges.

Line was written by a good friend here a number of years ago... my table, my whisky.

Art you poor stupid donkey, hopefully you never had kids....

Please feel free to tell everyone the benefits and virtues of a mauser action.... Laffin

As I stated at the beginning of this post, I did not want this discussion to devolve into an argument between the merits of CRF vs. push feed. Both name calling and insults are counter-productive.

I'm guessing killing is as a mystery to you as is f*cking.

Having built a few rifles on milsurp mausers on a budget, a 35 whelen with a midway barrel and a 458 lott with a ruger #1 takeoff, I'd say the result is a heavy clunky rifle that will cost more than a new factory rifle and won't do anything better and in many ways is a step backwards.

Now if you're looking for a classic custom rifle by all means get a good smith and go all out, but you're looking at $3k minimum and can easily go higher if you go for a custom wood stock and fancy metal work.

If you want a decent sporting crf 35 whelen start with a Ruger M77 mkII or Winchester 70 and either have them rebarreled or rebored, or better yet find one of the Rugers so built by the factory.

There are a lot of ways to try and save a buck and end up with less than what you really wanted, been there done that more than once. There's also figuring out what you really want, paying what it costs and being done with it.

Posted for interest sake.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...Mauser-35-Whelan?p=12760837#post12760837

This is of no help to you, but this M98 Whelen just popped up FS here in Canada. Bit expensive as the stock would need to be swapped out. I personally knew the bbl maker and his 35cal bbls all shot well.

No not at all, you?....

Geez Scotty, he's probably only 13 years old. Give the little bastid a break or bend him over your knee. One of the two...

458Lott: Thanks for the dose of reality. You, of course, are correct. I do realize that building a classic, sleek, custom Mauser is an expensive proposition. I know this from my previous attempt at building one a few years ago - everything I wanted (almost) was well north of 3K, in fact it was $5,770.00! - and this was with no fancy metal work - save a 3 panel bolt. This is why I was looking at the gun auction websites - my thinking was that could find a nice custom Mauser in .35W, which some poor slob already went to the time and expense to build, at a substantially reduced price. In my many months of looking, so far I have only found a few. One that would meet my requirements, included dies, brass, loaded ammo and the original stock but it's priced at $2,600.00, which is more than I wanted to spend.

I think you have the right idea in terms of finding a M77 or an M70 and converting, or in the case of the Ruger, possibly a factory .35W. As mentioned, I do already have a M77 in .270, which I find to be a good rifle, but I really wanted this new rifle to have a sleeker profile, carry easier, and be a bit more refined than the M77, as I find the M77 to be a bit clunky and lacking the natural, easy, 'pointability' I am looking for in my new rifle. The M70 comes much closer to what I am looking for in this regard. I believe I could find a used (new model) Winchester M70 Sporter or Extreme Weather SS in .30-06, and swap out the barrel for a .35W Douglas, with a 1:12 or 1:14 twist, screw it on, and be done with it – and at a cost that is palatable to me.

That would be funny!!.... Haha

SuperCub: Apparently, I do not have access or permission to view the link you posted. I was asked to 'Log In.'

I could see an extreme weather as a 35 whelen. For me, if I were going this route and looking for good balance and pointability, I'd start with a 30-06 and have it re-bored by JES for $250.00 and be done with it. Of course, taking into account it had a McMillan hunters compact stock already installed. Kind of like this rifle:



Now that would be bad azzed..

Paul, pretty sure you have seen some of my mausers... but thinking especially about a 32 Mex in 7x57... very hard to call it clunky or slow. Even tougher to call it heavy at well under 7 pounds, loaded, scoped, and slung.

There is tremendous variety in mausers and everything from incredibly handy to a monster is an option... doing the work yourself puts them into inexpensive play.

Not that its rebored or a 35 whelen, but one of the best shooters I've seen over the years is a tupperware 338 Win mag in a Rem 700... I bedded the gun and loaded Barnes for it and its shot some 3 shot groups at .25 inches or so at 100... its pretty solidly under MOA for 5 shot groups at 100, and it holds accuracy way out there too.

FWIW don't discount just getting something that you like rebore it and don't sweat the stock so much, I'd rather sweat the finish for AK hunting... that would be the most important.

Of course I don't feel that CRF is an issue either, but thats totally your choice.

I've watched millions of rounds of rapid fire in NRA matches go off without a hitch with Win 70s and Rem 700s that I don't sweat it.