So I picked this thing up a while ago. Or rather, I placed an order for it a while ago, but it came through I Run Guns so it took a few weeks to import. First .35 Whelen I've owned, figured it would be a short bush cannon. Got the glass from Precision Optics (Bushnell Prime 1-4x24mm, 30mm with G4 illuminated reticle) and rings (Grand Slams) and Hornady ammo from Epps. They only had one box in stock (I ordered qty 3 to build up a brass supply but error in their inventory), so that cut my range session short, but here it is all together posing for a picture.
Scope mounting and initial checks (removed the base, degreased everything, ran a patch through for sanity, bore sighted and torqued everything, etc):
Range day (light breeze, 26 degrees, beautiful day! perfect morning to cut work to take a few shots):
First group on paper (at the 50m line, don't get too excited here, it opened up to about 1.25 moa @ 100m):
Notes - the trigger is surprisingly nice. Definitely a nice "hunting" trigger, superfast lock time and crisp, not too heavy. Recoil is easily manageable, the butt pad is squishy but not too tacky. The muzzle brake must be working fine, I did notice it's much quieter than my un-braked .257 Weatherby I brought along as well. Normally shooting a braked rifle under the canopy is loud as f@ck, especially with the Superformance ammo (200grs @ 2910fps).
Overall it is short, under 40" with the brake removed. But not a featherweight, the barrel is a chunky piece of steel and I fired all 20 rounds and it was warm but far from hot. Feels like it would be a nice gun for pushing bush and taking a beating.
Maybe a fall bear once I find the loading I want to run with. Need a couple more boxes of ammo to run through it to practice, build a brass supply, and start ladder testing. Fired brass looks very good which bodes well for case life.
Neat gun. Neat cartridge.
Scope mounting and initial checks (removed the base, degreased everything, ran a patch through for sanity, bore sighted and torqued everything, etc):
Range day (light breeze, 26 degrees, beautiful day! perfect morning to cut work to take a few shots):
First group on paper (at the 50m line, don't get too excited here, it opened up to about 1.25 moa @ 100m):
Notes - the trigger is surprisingly nice. Definitely a nice "hunting" trigger, superfast lock time and crisp, not too heavy. Recoil is easily manageable, the butt pad is squishy but not too tacky. The muzzle brake must be working fine, I did notice it's much quieter than my un-braked .257 Weatherby I brought along as well. Normally shooting a braked rifle under the canopy is loud as f@ck, especially with the Superformance ammo (200grs @ 2910fps).
Overall it is short, under 40" with the brake removed. But not a featherweight, the barrel is a chunky piece of steel and I fired all 20 rounds and it was warm but far from hot. Feels like it would be a nice gun for pushing bush and taking a beating.
Maybe a fall bear once I find the loading I want to run with. Need a couple more boxes of ammo to run through it to practice, build a brass supply, and start ladder testing. Fired brass looks very good which bodes well for case life.
Neat gun. Neat cartridge.
