[Tamara]

Behold my Turkish Mauser in .300 Whisper, w/Lilja barrel, Boyd's stock, Timney trigger, Millett 3-9x44 illuminated reticle scope, et cetera, ad nauseum. More pics to follow...

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=391687

[Chris Rhines]

So where's the suppressor? You can't have a .300 Whisper rifle without a suppressor... ;)

- Chris

[Schuey2002]

What two, er, um.. I mean 4-legged critters are you going to hunt with it ?

[Intune]

Wow, nice work! May I ask who built it?

[cdbeaver]

That's what I call a really beautiful firearm! If only it were blue instead of that awful white.

Can I have it when you're through with it? I promise I'll take good care of it and never let it stay out late at night.

[Tamara]

So where's the suppressor? You can't have a .300 Whisper rifle without a suppressor... ;)

Funny you should mention that... :D

Note the stylish custom-fabricated thread protector covering the standard AR-threaded muzzle, just waiting for me to go snag a flash hider or pay the BATF for the privilege of owning a can...

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=391727

[saddlebum]

why 300 whisper? just wondering. bum

[Tamara]

That's what I call a really beautiful firearm! If only it were blue instead of that awful white.

It's still "in the white" because I haven't decided whether I'm going to sand and polish the stock and blue the metal, or have the whole thing finished in some teflon finish, possibly in a camouflaged motif. Pretty or practical? Haven't decided yet...

[Tamara]

Wow, nice work! May I ask who built it?

Shannon Jennings at Randy's Guns & Knives here in K-town, 865-688-0077. I can't recommend him highly enough for all your gunsmithing needs.

[Steve Smith]

Dammit Tamara, now you've done it. I'm planning on having JD Jones build me a suppressed .300 Whisper AR this winter, assuming my 1919 doesn't get in the way.


I hate you.

[Dave Markowitz]

Nice!

What's the all-up weight and how long is the barrel?

[ShaiVong]

Those are some nice pictures, but lets see an image of you holding it! That way we can... errr... see it in its 'natural environment'!:D

[444]

Right on. You have been working on that project for a long time. I can't believe this hasn't been asked but, how does it shoot ?

I have a Turk Mauser sitting here that won't headspace, maybe I need to give Shannon a call tomorrow.

[Mannlicher]

Congrats. There is (almost) nothing as wonderful as the first look at that rifle, handgun, knife, well, you know, that you have waited so LONG for. I share you joy.

[sm]

Tamara, that is simply beautiful!! With that wood, I'd have to vote for blue.

Ok, where is the darn range report and targets...we want more...we want pics...we want, we want, we want...:D

[444]

Where do you plan to buy the can ? Did you consult them about the barrel threads ?
If I got this project going, I could buy the can and maybe have the rifle, can, and tax stamp around the same time.

I don't know how long it would take him to build the rifle, but I ordered two cans around the middle of December and haven't gotten them yet. When and if I ever get them, I can then wait another 2-3 months on the tax stamp.

[Soap]

Very nice! Most frankenguns are oogly, but this one is just plain classy.

[cookhj]

maybe a satin finish or a parkerized finish would be appropriate.
it would give it the look of "serious; yet refined."

[nextjoe]

Looks very nicely done (almost done, I guess).

A couple questions. What kind of bolt knob is that? It looks like a Talley to me.

How's the feeding? Did your 'smith shorten the mag box and follower to match the cartridge? If so, did he do that at the front, back, or both ends of the mag box? What about the bolt throw? Did the rails need a lot of work?

How was the conversion to the smaller rim size handled? bushed bolt face and built-up extractor?

What bolt shroud did you use? Mark X or FN, it looks like.

How is it bedded?

Shot it yet? If so, how's it shoot?

What scope mounts are you using?

What's the weight and where does it balance?

OK, so I didn't quite make it up to 20 questions, but I came close :D

Weird Mauser conversions are neat.

Best,
Joe

[Schuey2002]

Isn't .300 Whisper basically a .223 Remington that has been enlarged to roughly the same size as a .308 Winchester?? :confused:

If so, it's probably a fairly mild shooting cartridge, right? :o

[444]

The .300 Whisper is a necked up .221 Fireball.


I wonder if this conversion would be easier if done in a .338 or .375 Whisper which is based on a 7mm BR parent case ?

[BusMaster007]

Perhaps a subdued matte or satin blue with a couple of components left 'in the white' for effect?
It's such an unusual project that unless you're going out 'sentry silencing' it deserves to be uniquely finished.

If it IS for senty duty (with a 'can' you can...) then nothing is more beautiful than a BLACK RIFLE.
Wrapped in a wood stock, that would still qualify as beautiful.
Is checkering in the plans, too?

Is that a two position safety I see? I just got new glasses, so I'm not sure!:p

[nextjoe]

I think a two-tone hot-dip blue in the style of a Pre-'64 Winchester would be nice. "Vapor blast" action and brushed barrel.

If you want a really slick little accent, I invented a nifty way of finishing the extractor. Take a look. The pictures don't come CLOSE to doing it justice. It looks like tiny flashes of lightning when you move it under the light.

extractor picture (http://members.aol.com/nextjoe/nitre_wormtrk2a.jpg)

one more (http://members.aol.com/nextjoe/nitre_wormtrk1.jpg)

Best,
Joe

[Bostonterrier97]

Nice Mauser! What is the Barrel Length and Trigger Pull Weight?

[Ian]

Cool! It's a great runner-up for the Coolest Mauser Ever award! :neener:

[444]

Ah come on. This is ridiculous. You come in here, drop this bomb and then don't stick around to answer any of the questions.

[4v50 Gary]

I don't have enough space in the safe to play keep up with Tamara. :(

[Tamara]

How's the feeding? Did your 'smith shorten the mag box and follower to match the cartridge? If so, did he do that at the front, back, or both ends of the mag box?

How was the conversion to the smaller rim size handled? bushed bolt face and built-up extractor?

The mag was shortened from the rear. I believe it now uses a short-action Savage box and follower. A brisk throw to the rear is required for positive ejection, of course, due to the tiny case in that cavernous action. The boltface was welded up to take the smaller round. Here's a pic:

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=392144

I can't believe this hasn't been asked but, how does it shoot ?

Haven't shot it yet. Need to boresight the scope and then drag it to a proper range.

Where do you plan to buy the can ? Did you consult them about the barrel threads ?

Haven't decided yet, but since the threads are standard AR pitch and diameter, any can intended for a 7.62x39 AR should work.

What scope mounts are you using?

Leupold.

What's the weight and where does it balance?

The weight, with that truck axle of a barrel, is heavy for such a stubby rifle; I don't have a scale handy, but it's roughly the same as my Garand. The balance point is right about under the receiver ring.

why 300 whisper? just wondering.

Well, one day I was sitting there with a $39 Turk that didn't headspace and a .30 caliber Lilja barrel. A friend had two boxes of .300 Whisper ammo. Next thing you know, I was spending six or eight hundred dollars to turn a forty dollar rifle into a four hundred dollar rifle... :uhoh:

[nextjoe]

I'm REALLY curious about how that little beastie feeds. That's some pretty radical surgery and it must have taken a lot of cut-and-try on the rails.

Best,
Joe

[waynzwld]

NICE RIFLE!
With that beautiful wood, I would go with bead blasted metal and a dark blueing.
That wood is too nice to cover with camo.

[Tamara]

So far I've only tried it with Cor-Bon's factory 220gr loading, and it feeds fine. For a bonus, the magazine holds six of the dinky little rounds instead of the normal five 8mm cartridges. :cool:

Another pic. (Note the stylishly custom-contoured trigger guard. The more I examine this rifle, the more I like my 'smith. He even called me at home the other evening to see if I was happy with it! :) )

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=392893

[uglygun]

Really like the rifle.


Ofcourse no pictures of the rifle would be complete without a picture of it's ammo....


http://home.bak.rr.com/varmintcong/bullets/300whisper.jpg



And OD Green really would be an appropriate color for that rifle if you did a Teflon/Moly job on it. Heck, Brownells Alumahyde II OD green on the mounts and scope too even :) Go for the fungus look that is so swank these days.


As for feeding, I too would be interested in knowing how it feeds. Not so much feeding actually but ejection. I have heard some shooters reporting the short little 300Whisper giving them problems in bolt actions where the casing manages to release from the bolt face before clearing the front receiver ring, angles to the side as soon as the case mouth clears the chamber and is released by the bolt before it clears the forward ring.


I didn't see it yet, what length barrel did you go with and what's the twist rate? 1:10 or 1:8?


I'm desperately waiting for the day I can get a 300Whisper built up, probably going to do it on an AR15 platform though. Got too many projects ahead of me right now though, 300Whisper is like on the bottom of the list for the top 10 most desired builds.

[Byron Quick]

Tamara,

That's one beautiful $400 rifle. I'll give you five bills right now. How about it?:D I can relate though. I've got a paint finish FN Hipower with about eight hundred invested.

Personally with that wood, I'd fancy it up with a deep rust blue. You can always go "practical" with two or three cans of flat spray paint if "practical" becomes needful.

Gary, I don't have the room in my safe to catch up with her, either. But that's my goal in life. I can buy more safes...actually I'm planning on buying a vault door and hardening a room.

John Shirley and I together only reach a little over half of Tamara's total but we're striving.

I think that Al, John, and I have her equalled...maybe.

Poor me, I only have 35 firearms.:(

[Byron Quick]

Tamara,

I've got a couple of pistols with Millet sights but I'm not familiar with their scopes.

Why did you pick that scope?

The bolt handle appears to be almost identical to the one on my .35 Whelen built by Carolina Precision Rifles. Since I bought the rifle second hand I'm not familiar with all the particulars on the rifle.

[nextjoe]

Tamara, is that a custom-made triggerguard? Blind magazine?

That bolt handle definitely looks like a Talley. Clean installation, too.

I assume you had the bolt re-heat-treated after welding the bolt face, right?

As for feeding, I too would be interested in knowing how it feeds. Not so much feeding actually but ejection. I have heard some shooters reporting the short little 300Whisper giving them problems in bolt actions where the casing manages to release from the bolt face before clearing the front receiver ring, angles to the side as soon as the case mouth clears the chamber and is released by the bolt before it clears the forward ring.

I can see where that would be a problem on a plunger-ejector gun like a Remington 700, but on a fixed ejector rifle like a Mauser it shouldn't be an issue.

Best,
Joe

[bogie]

Do you know if the fellow could chamber a 17" or so barrel for a Savage 12? I could handle the headspacing provided he set it up for use with a barrel nut vs. the "remington-style" headspacing...

Really like the bolt handle - looks a lot like the extended teardrop that the guys at Kelbly's put on my Panda for me. Makes a followup shot a LOT faster.

You know, a "Whisper" style cartridge based on the 6BR would be interesting... .308 boltface, and might solve problems with the magazine well alterations...

Also, you might consider getting the barrel fluted - I was you, I'd send it off to Skip Otto after he gets back from the World Benchrest Cup stuff...

[Larry Ashcraft]

Nice rifle, Tamara!

I built one about 18-20 years ago from a 1903 action (no, not sporterized, I bought a brand new, never barreled nickle steel action from Sarco). My bolt handle is similar to yours, but has a line of checkering around it. The trigger guard was also slimmed and contoured. We used a deep rust blue and polished the bolt and added just a touch of engine-turning. We used a Douglas premium barrel and chambered it in 25-06. Then I used a French walnut stock blank and added a European comb and Schnabel forend.

It's still my favorite pronghorn and coyote rifle. Someday I'll have a digital camera and post pics here.

[444]

I talked to this guy on the phone today. He gave me some stuff to think about.
I have a Turk Mauser sitting here that won't headspace. When Tamara first brought this up I was interested. The one thing I dont' know enough about is the cartridge. I need to find out what the .300 Whisper has going for it. I mean, I could just have this guy build me up a rifle in .308 or .30-06 with a barrel twist that will stabilize big bullets. It would make loading a lot easier since I already load for those other calibers. No case forming etc.
I would want a fairly short, fat barrel (I think) so that the OAL with the can would be reasonable.
This wouldn't be a good move for me financially. It would cost more to build the rifle than it would be for me to buy a .300 Whisper upper for an AR. But, I really like the idea of using this old Turk action. I like the look of that rifle also. Cost isn't everything.
I would finish the wood with BLO if it was me. I guess I would rather have a synthetic stock, but I think that would be significantly more expensive. I would be happy with that exact stock with a nice matte BLO finish.

[Gewehr98]

You know, a "Whisper" style cartridge based on the 6BR would be interesting... .308 boltface, and might solve problems with the magazine well alterations...

Like the .308x1.5, or .308 Waldog? ;)

[ShaiVong]

WOW! That is a BIG bullet with SMALL brass!

As if the name didnt give it away, I assume its built for subsonic's only?

[Tamara]

I've got a couple of pistols with Millet sights but I'm not familiar with their scopes.

Why did you pick that scope?

Actually, Shannon recommended it. I didn't want to go overboard on the glass, but I wanted a decent scope nonetheless. I asked Shannon if they had any used Leupolds lying around, and he asked if I'd seen these new Millett scopes. He pointed out the nice optics, the gizmo factor of the dual-color illuminated reticle (your choice of green or red with the twist of a knob, five levels of brightness in each color), and the fact that they're made in Japan, unlike most current budget scopes that are made in Korea or the PRC. After playing around with it and comparing it to various Simmons and other top-o'-the-line scopes from bottom-o'-the-line companies, as well as comparably-priced Leupolds, I was suitably impressed. It seems like a darn good chunk of glass for the money...

[gburner]

Tamara,

I never figured you for one of those folks who butcher old war horses, destroying the historical value of the piece to satisfy their own petty, selfish desires. SHAME ON YOU!!!:D

PS.....what a beautiful rifle. Must be nice to know such a talented smith.

[uglygun]

ShaiVong, with BIG bullets the 300Whisper is in it's element being subsonic and retaining velocity like a MOFO.


But it is possible to load the things with lighter bullets bumping velocity up, with 110-125grain bullets it's just under a 30-30 or a 7.62x39mm in performance from what I can gather in reloading manuals.


Don't just focus soley on the 300Whispers though, there are other "Whispers" out there like 338 and even a 500Whisper(think something silly like a 50AE case holding a 750grn Hornady Amax).

[BowStreetRunner]

now tamara, if your other guns get jealous from all the attention that beaut gets, send them to me and i will make them feel better
nice gun!
BSR

[Brian Williams]

So, How does it shoot?
Looks beautiful BTW.

[Matt G]

Soooooo: Months later. How does it shoot? Did I miss the thread?

[tex_n_cal]

yeah...I am wondering about that twist rate, myself, and how it shoots.

The whisper looks like it would be a neat quiet deer rifle for North Carolina:D

[gun-fucious]

heres some 300 Whisper data:
http://www.quarterbore.com/300whisper/index.html

[Tamara]

I uhhh... *cough* errr... haven't actually taken it to the range yet. I got the gun finished right before I went back to work this past summer, and now it hasn't even been bore sighted yet. :uhoh: (Well, it's not actually "finished" in the technical sense of the term, as it's still in the white... :uhoh: )

As soon as the industrial scrub on the Martini is finished and a buttstock located for my Chicom 1897, then work will resume on Project Whisper. (The Detonics and the Essex/Kimber/Clark will have to wait.)

[varoadking]

...thanks for sharing!

[Matt G]

For SHAME!

A custom new rifle and not even a group out of it in 4 months?!??!?

Go see Preacherman, and put two barrels of high-brass through his steel buttplate 10ga as penance!!

[tex_n_cal]

Ah I think I have the answer to that question:

For SHAME!

A custom new rifle and not even a group out of it in 4 months?!??!?


That's how she affords so many guns...she doesn't buy ammo. Maybe I should try that approach, myself:evil:

[Tamara]

...oh yeah, and Shannon had to whittle a Sako extractor to fit my SSG82 to replace the sheared-off pot metal one, and solder a new nose on the (cast!) firing pin.


Anyhow, yes, I have two full boxes of .300 Whisper, but having waited two years for the gun, I'm all kinda patient.

[Med 10]

Don't touch it. It looks great as is.

[bogie]

Tamara - I'll come out and say it.

Bring it to Knob Creek. You can get it parkerized, and then shoot it. You may even be able to test a couple of cans.

[six 4 sure]

I know this thread is several years old, but have you shot this rifle yet?????