What do I need...

[CWLONGSHOT]

Along the lines of the "Help be buy a 45" thread...

A very good friend sent me a email and asked me to stop over Sunday. He knows my affection for 410's and said he had three I might want.
Well the first he pulled out was a 1960's Spanish garden gun. But its not a "410" it has a very short chamber and was shot with blk powder as bores are all bad.

The second was a Savage 24 410/410 nice gun!

Last was one I am gonna buy. American Arms SxS English stock. Dont remember what ge said model was. As new condition, nice walnut checkered butt no pad.

Then he handed me the "project" part of this post... A nicely stocked (HS precision) Weatherby Vanguard VLS 30/06. (Howa 1500 LA) the stock as as expected for a used hunted 30+ year old gun. Steel is still almost perfect. But the barrel... was chopped at 16". Price to me I cannot refuse. But, it would be a project as I simply dont need another '06. Not to mention who wants a 16" '06! So Ill have a LA, with a .473 bolt head.

So, its a good foundation for a new rifle but what caliber?? Knowing I like the off or not so common ducks.

CW

 

[Michael]

338 Federal or 338-06

 

[Ian]

Or Whelan.

 

[358156 hp]

375 or 400 Whelen. If it's adventure you crave and you don't mind store-bought bullets, 6.5-06 Ackley.

 

[Brad]

It isn’t a matter of what you need, it is a matter of what you want.

 

[Joshua]

I seem to have fallen down the 7mm rabbit hole, and via some wheeling and dealing have ended up with a plethora of heavier bullets that aren’t ideal for my 7mm-08.

So, for me 280 Remington would be my choice! Or, if you wanted it to be really spicy, exotic, and expansive you could go with a 7x64mm Brenneke!

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Ooh a 400 Whelen! Now my wheels ade turning.

I have a 35 Whelen & a 280 & even a 6.5/05. ( and a couple '06's)

I have wanted a 6mm Rem since forever, but a LA isnt required.

375 Whelen... hummmm

 

[RicinYakima]

The .375 Whelen for cast bullets is slightly less work than the .400. You can't just expand '06 brass up to .400. You have to expand the case up to really straight and then neck down to .400. Unless you are going hunting with the rifle, the .375 is the better cartridge. FWIW.

 

[RicinYakima]

Look for several articles by Michael Petrov on the 400 Whelen on the internet.

 

[RBHarter]

300 Gibbs .
It takes an 06' case and gives it a 308 neck and shoulder basically it gets really close to 300 WM in capacity . The assorted 280/7mm have and appeal , the 7×64 Brenkke was a 280 Rem only with the 7×57 shoulder and neck .
Spending for a good barrel I'd go with a 1-11" instead of the more common 8.5&9.5" twist . When Mountain Moulds had the bullet design program I stretched a 7mm out to 240 gr and according to that calculator had twist left at 1-9" .

Of course how could you go wrong with a 275 Rigby ? Style , grace , expensive sounding name .

Of course there's the practical aspect of nil recoil range/Varmint gun where you take a 223 action slap a 25 cal barrel on it and ream it for 256 Winchester . When the throat starts to wear you just ream it the other .5 in to a 25/45 , 25/222 or 25/223 .

 

[Glaciers]

375 Whelen. You could be pushing 300 to 350’s at a reasonable clip. Definitely would speak with authority.

257 Roberts on a long action would be nice

 

[Michael]

It would appear that the medium bores have perked your interests, that's a good thing.
A couple more suggestions, 9.3x62, or 370 Sako.

Regardless of the chambering, octagonal barrel will turn some heads. Check this out and watch the video. Now this is rifle porn, ooohh baabyyy, and it's all rated "G".

X-Bolt High Grade Hunter Full Line Dealer - Browning

Oil finish Grade III/IV checkered walnut, rosewood fore-end grip and pistol grip caps, matte blued octagon barrel

www.browning.com

 

[Spindrift]

I have a Howa LA that was originally a 30-06, rebarreled to .35 Whelen. No modifications to magazine or feed ramp. It feeds anything from the magazine, from FN 155 grs, to looong 310grs bullets. It has a pretty generous magazine length, allowing you to exploit the long freebore/ long possible COL of the typical .35 Whelen chamber, thus conserving powder capacity.
The Howa 1500 LA is an excellent platform for the Whelen. This reciever has a bit of weight to it (compared to many «newer» recievers), which is not a bad thing when building a gun with some recoil.
Can you have too many Whelens?

 

[Walks]

Have had a Vanguard .25-06 since 1976. Great action, any of the cartridges that have been forced into short actions would be a Good Choice for Me. 7X57 or it's children; .257Robt's or 6mm Remington.
That long action with a long throated chamber would be Great. Or even an 8X57.

 

[Glaciers]

It would appear that the medium bores have perked your interests, that's a good thing.
A couple more suggestions, 9.3x62, or 370 Sako.

Regardless of the chambering, octagonal barrel will turn some heads. Check this out and watch the video. Now this is rifle porn, ooohh baabyyy, and it's all rated "G".

X-Bolt High Grade Hunter Full Line Dealer - Browning

Oil finish Grade III/IV checkered walnut, rosewood fore-end grip and pistol grip caps, matte blued octagon barrel

www.browning.com

That’s a beautiful rifle no doubt.. but it’s discontinued

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

300 Gibbs .
It takes an 06' case and gives it a 308 neck and shoulder basically it gets really close to 300 WM in capacity . The assorted 280/7mm have and appeal , the 7×64 Brenkke was a 280 Rem only with the 7×57 shoulder and neck .
Spending for a good barrel I'd go with a 1-11" instead of the more common 8.5&9.5" twist . When Mountain Moulds had the bullet design program I stretched a 7mm out to 240 gr and according to that calculator had twist left at 1-9" .

Of course how could you go wrong with a 275 Rigby ? Style , grace , expensive sounding name .

Of course there's the practical aspect of nil recoil range/Varmint gun where you take a 223 action slap a 25 cal barrel on it and ream it for 256 Winchester . When the throat starts to wear you just ream it the other .5 in to a 25/45 , 25/222 or 25/223 .

I bought a Sharps 25/45 20" barrel when they became available. (M$R) I do like it. It loved the Sierra 90g bthp but its fragile @ 2900. Then Hornady made a run of 110FTX to try to revitalize the 25-35. Don't ya know they couldn't have made a better 25/45 bullet!!! I bought a sleeve of them after shooting my first box! Almost 2700 fps and near 1/2 moa makes this a great rifle. (but lil heavy for hunting)

I will check out these "fat" Whelens as well as 6mm in a LA. Since Id need to rebarrel. A fast twist would make use of new long streamlined bullet offerings. But this would again be moving away from cast. Where the Fat Whelens are much better in that regard.
Well its no rush fun contemplating.

CW

 

[Missionary]

Another vote for the 375 Whelen !
Can be as little as a 135 grain 950fps bunny gun and up to 345 grain GC 2200 fps smasher and all points between. We view ours as the younger cousin of the 375H&H that gets 95% of all the needed work done.

 

[Bret4207]

I've got a set of 6.5-06 dies here, just a thought. I have an FN 98 commercial action I've been wondering the same thing about- what do I do with it? The 375 Whelen interests me, but I already have a nice 35 Whelen on an '03. The 280 Rem is a for sure winner in big game hunting, but I've got a nice enough 7x57 and I don't shoot at deer at 250+ yards. It's a quandary...

For cast you cannot go wrong with a 35 Whelen. well over 100 grs of bullet weight variety and it can be anything from a 38 S+W to a rifle capable of taking anything in North America and probably Africa too.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Decided I will pick up this project rifle.

Ill continue contemplating calibers.

I learned last night, My buddy has a 375 Whelen. (And dies)

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I've got a set of 6.5-06 dies here, just a thought. I have an FN 98 commercial action I've been wondering the same thing about- what do I do with it? The 375 Whelen interests me, but I already have a nice 35 Whelen on an '03. The 280 Rem is a for sure winner in big game hunting, but I've got a nice enough 7x57 and I don't shoot at deer at 250+ yards. It's a quandary...

For cast you cannot go wrong with a 35 Whelen. well over 100 grs of bullet weight variety and it can be anything from a 38 S+W to a rifle capable of taking anything in North America and probably Africa too.

100%!!

I really like my 6.5/06. Its built on a Argentine 1909 Mauser action, Timney Trigger with a Shaw barrel 26". My very first load was a starting load of 4350 in new Winchester '06 brass with a 120 Nosler solid base bullet. Three of us over the hood of a jeep shot a 1.25" group @ over 200 yards!! Later that chronographed 3200fps.
It LOVES 142 Sierras shooting under 1" @ 200 from a rest.
Lately 140 Gold dots hand H4350 are its flavor of choice all are ahooting well havent nailed down best or velocity but the 142's better 3000fps.