Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .35 Whelen out of a shorter barrel?

I just found a pretty good deal on an older Remington 700 chambered in .270 Winchester.

The previous owner had the barrel cut back to 19”, re-crowned, front sight re-attached, then the whole thing cerakoted.

I’m guessing nobody wants a short barreled .270 with iron sights And that lacks a detachable magazine, so I grabbed it at a good price.

I’m considering using this as a donor rifle for a rebore, potentially to .35 Whelen. This would be for use as an Eastern whitetail timber gun.

Anyone have experience with shorter barreled .35 Whelen rifles?

It'll be going faster than a 35 Rem. Anything else is gravy.

I think it's a fantastic idea!

That’s a good point.

I think it's a great idea.

When I cut a 22" Rem factory chambered 35 Whelen back to 20", I lost 50-60 fps in most factory loads. 200gr Hornady superformance dropped from 2850 to 2800 fps and 200gr Fed Fusion dropped from 2775 ish to 2725 fps.

Ie a 20" Whelen is still 250-300 fps faster than the same bullet in a 358 Winchester and 700 fps faster than the same weight bullet in a 35 Remington. At 19" you might lose 30-35 fps to a 20".

Thanks very much. I appreciate the real world velocity data for your Whelen barrel reduction. Good reality check against .358 Winchester or .35 Remington.

I just ordered a barrel blank for a 9.3x62 build that will sport a 20" barrel, it is a #5 contour so it will short and stout kind of like its owner. Yes, I will lose some velocity but the gun's intended use is for bear hunting over bait i dense woods. Muzzle velocity of the bullet is less important than the ability to get the sights on the animal rapdly if needed. There will be enough velocity to punch two hole for every shot and that is what I want everything else is immaterial. It seems my barrels are getting shorter over time, I have found that I like the speed that you can put a 20-inch barrel on a target versus a 26-inch, I have a lathe so I can trim any barrel at no cost another reason they get shorter.

When someone asks is this good enough, they first should describe what their intended use is.

Been using a carbine 7600 35W for some time, can't think of a better use than eastern WT and Bear, and that's what mine does. Plain Jane remington core-loks works just fine.

I have been wanting that very thing, top it with 1.5-4 and stick in the camper and leave in the camper during hunting seasons, especially spring 🐻 . But i have a ruger compact in 338 rcm so cant justify it. But, if i had a pre shortened donor, i would be saying, hey i have one of those. Do post pics when u get it done =)

Pictures X 2 please. Be Well, Rusty.

I killed a boatload of Alaskan game with a 20” Whelen pushing 250s at 2550. Always had great performance.
A friend killed a big assed polar bear in Canada with his 17” barreled Whelen and 275gr bullets with no problem.

Go for it.

It's a pretty efficient round. I had an 18" 358 and it didn't loose much speed wise. Expansion ratio of a 35 bore an an 06 case is good. I had a cdl whelen that I always get wanted to cut to 20" but it shot so well I didn't mess with it. Down to 18" should be great. Shorter than 18" gets too muzzle blasty.

Bb

Here’s the donor rifle. I gave it a wick clean and then took it the range and no problem with two boxes of cheap PPU .270 Win.

I’m going to pull the Leupold scope mount and Simmons scope, then send it off for a rebore.

Tannhauser,

Who's doing the rebore? Please keep us in the loop as to the end result.

I'm planning to contact JES for the rebore. I would have already done so but I'm stuck out of town for an extended business trip. As soon as I'm back home in another week or so I want to get moving on the rebore.

i have had a 7600 whelen carbine for years. it has an 18" barrel. i have never crono'd it but deer don't seem to mind the short barrel and it is the most accurate gun i own after i put a match grade trigger in it. it will shoot one hole if i do my part. it does have a lot of muzzle blast but i wear muffs.

Looks like a cool project and a fun one to hunt.

Had a 15" 35 Whelen barrel for my TC Encore handgun. 49.0grs of IMR3031 powder with a Hornady 250gr. round nose averaged 2150fps out of the chronograph.

That 19” looks awesome. Good lick and JES is awesome. He rebored a 700 bdl 06 for me. 250 NPTs are under an inch. I am really envious of your project.

Looks like a 35 Whelen made for me. I like medium bores and short handy barrels. Don't remember the velocities of my 358 Winchester but it is a Savage 99 that had a barrel obstruction and was shortened to 17 1/4". It has always been a DRT gun pretty much. The Whelen will be more of the same only better. Mo' better! I have too many projects to do that one. Right now my 600 Remington from 222 to 458 SOCOM is moving the fastest. Similar ideas though. Big bore from short barrel carries bullets like a steam engine. Hard to stop a train. Good luck with your project and Thanks for the photos. Be Well, Rustyzipper.