I sent my 2nd 30-06 off to JES yesterday. The first one was a matte finish Remington 7600, and he rebored it into a 3 groove, 1:10" twist, 35 Whelen. All loads in this rifle shoot a skinny inch at 100 yards.
The one I sent yesterday is a Ruger stainless 77 mark II, boat paddle, with factory sights. It too will be a 3 groove, 1:10" twist, 35 Whelen. I have a Leupold 2.5x8 b&c that I mounted in Warne QR rings. The scope will be sighted in with 225 grain TBBC loads, and the iron sights will sighted with 310 grain Woodleighs, probably 1" high at 50 yards.
This may be the ultimate OTC Idaho elk rifle? I bet it will be fun finding out, if it is!
Andy3
I think you’re going to really dig that Ruger!
Update on the JES/35 Whelen rebore....
I got the rifle back, in 20 days....door to door. I found a hawkeye synthetic stock to replace the original boat paddle. That added a few days to getting it sighted in.
I finally got to shoot it yesterday. Iron sights put the 310 grain woodleighs into an inch at 50 yards, and the 225 grain tbbc's went into a "skinny" inch at 100. I confirmed the 225 grain impacts out to 400 yards, with the 2.5x8 leupold/B&C reticle, on small rocks. Both loads are factory loads.
Mind you, the stock is factory, and not bedded. I did a little work on the trigger, but that's all.
The rifle shoots great, with no sign of pressure, or any other marks on the brass. To the eye, the bore looks slick and bright, with no sign of copper.....the patched cleaning rod pushed through nice and smooth (closest thing I have to a bore scope!!!). Another recommendation for JES!
Andy3
