I have been on the Campfire long enough now to appreciate the depth and breadth of the collective knowledge contained here so I thought I’d put this up for discussion. I apologize if this topic is ridiculously common but I’m never shy. 😁
What would you do if you were building a 35 Whelen on a pre 64 30-06....from top to bottom but NOT with an unlimited budget.
I “inherited” a 1953 Winchester Model 70 30-06 24” bbl. with a Lyman All American 4x that’s in very good condition EXCEPT the rifle was forgotten about and left buried in a Wells Cargo trailer where, because of our moist climate, it started to rust and the stock was ever so slightly warped. The throat has the most rust and pitting but the rest of the bore is very good. The stock is in beautiful shape and since oiling it with Snake Oil and bringing it inside the house the warp is all but gone. The warp was only perceptible by looking at the barrel channel and with a swipe or 2 or the barrel channel tool and some proper bedding would be perfectly fine BUT I will be putting a synthetic stock on it.
My rough plan is to rebore (JES...?) to 35 Whelen, cut and crown at 21”, replace iron sight on rear dovetail of the sight “ring” bulge and install front site, Cerakote (?), synthetic stock I like the McMillan “McWoody” but I don’t like the price, mount a 1 piece scope rail and my primary scope along with a backup scope in the same type of rings as the primary scope sighted and torqued properly.
I like the Williams Ghostfire style rear peep and firesight style front site.
The 24” bbl is.600 at the muzzle and .630 at 21”. I’ve never rebored a rifle but don’t want to spend a fortune and I want to preserve the “lines” of the pre-64. I think I’d ultimately like a darker type stainless looking cerakote in a dark McWoody would be ideal. What stock design would be a good fit by keeping the “lines” of the old stock but not out of place on a 20 or 21” barrel?
What would you guys do if you were doing what I’m doing?
I want a shorter, faster handling, rugged rifle that I’ll likely use down here for Elk but mostly up in Alaska. Once we get the cabin built up at our place it’ll be left up there. I have always wanted a place in Alaska and a .35 Whelen. 😁
I’m sure I’ll have a bunch of questions as I go along but I want to thank you all in advance for your thoughts.
