Winchester Classic Featherweight converted to .35 Whelen?

[The Real Hawkeye]

I have a nice Winchester Classic Featherweight in .270. Also have two other excellent Winchester rifles in .270. Those two are pre-64s, so don't want to mess with them. Always wanted a Winchester 70 in .35 Whelen, but they haven't offered one in my lifetime, that I know of. Was thinking of getting a .35 Whelen barrel installed on my Featherweight. Thoughts?

 

[JShirley]

Might kick a mite. You mostly tend to hear that, with equivalent power levels, heavier bullets kick more, so even if the powder charge is theoretically the same, that light rifle might let you know when you drop the hammer.

If you ain't recoil shy, I don't really see a down side, but if you are, you might want a heavier starting platform. You may be able to find a trade that'll be just what you want, and they get what they want...

John

 

[ArmedBear]

Ouch.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Might kick a mite. You mostly tend to hear that, with equivalent power levels, heavier bullets kick more, so even if the powder charge is theoretically the same, that light rifle might let you know when you drop the hammer.

If you ain't recoil shy, I don't really see a down side, but if you are, you might want a heavier starting platform. You may be able to find a trade that'll be just what you want, and they get what they want...

John

That's the thing. I am not recoil shy at all. To me, a hot .30-06 out of a steel butt plated rifle is a fun gun to shoot. I don't start complaining till they get up near the .416 Magnum level, so I can't imagine having a problem with a .35 Whelen.

On principle, however, I might get a real recoil pad installed on the Featherweight Classic if I did the conversion, because the one on there is more of a rubber bumper than a recoil pad. That would increase the number of rounds I could shoot before quitting, anyway. I am not superman, and eventually recoil does wear me down, but that takes a good bit of shooting with anything short of a .416 Magnum. Now, from the bench, that's another question entirely. Once I'm sighted in, I never go back to the bench. I shoot almost exclusively off hand, and mostly from standing and sitting. You don't feel the pain of recoil much from either of those positions.

 

[redneck2]

I had a 7400 Remington in .35 Whelen. It really didn't kick all that bad, but it was semi-auto and heavier

I'm also wondering if the term ".35 Whelen" and "Lightweight" should be in the same sentence. Then again, you don't have the super velocities. Add a Decelerator and you might have a real nice elk rifle.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

I had a 7400 Remington in .35 Whelen. It really didn't kick all that bad, but then it was semi-auto and heavier

I'm also wondering if the term ".35 Whelen" and "Lightweight" should be in the same sentence. Then again, you don't have the super velocities. Add a Decelerator and you might have a real nice elk rifle.

That's what I was thinking too. The Win Featherweight is not really a true lightweight in the modern sense. My Weatherby Ultra Light in .30-06, for example, is only about 5.5 LBs unscoped. With a scope, the Wincheser Featherweight tips the scales at around 8 pounds, and a Pachmyer Decelerator pad would make it a pussy cat, I think.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

You shouldn't have a problem -- the .270 and the .30-06 cases (parent case of the .35 Whelen) are virtually identical and will feed from the same magazine. The big bugaboo in rebarreling is when someone goes from one general headsize to another and the magazine lips have to be opened.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

You shouldn't have a problem -- the .270 and the .30-06 cases (parent case of the .35 Whelen) are virtually identical and will feed from the same magazine. The big bugaboo in rebarreling is when someone goes from one general headsize to another and the magazine lips have to be opened.

I agree. So who do you recommend for the work?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I agree. So who do you recommend for the work?

I've had three guys do re-barreling (or re-boring and re-rifling) on my guns. Two of them are dead, and the other one is ER Shaw. No complaints about him.