Sweet 1903 in 35 Whelen

[TXGunNut]

Saw a piece of art in a used rifle rack today. I'm no milsurp or custom rifle afficianado so verify all these details yourself. She's a sporterized 1903 with a heavy sporter contour custom barrel chambered in 35 Whelen. Can't say about the twist rate, best guess is 1/14. She's D&T'd for a Bueller mount and wears a Lyman Alaskan 2.5 power scope with a post reticle. I believe the safety is a Bueller as well. Finish was awesome, deep blue on a finely polished action, bolt and barrel. Trigger is about 2#'s with minimal creep and overtravel. Bolt looks like a M70 with a knurled ring. Wood is a bit plain, very straight grain but well made with an anodized aluminum buttplate. I don't believe it's walnut, could be maple but looks almost like oak. What appears to be a ding in the stock is actually a cutout for a receiver sight.
I went in to buy another rifle, almost came home with this one as well. If she's worth $599 to you, she was in the rack at the Ft Worth Cabelas last time I saw her. I'm a regular customer at Cabelas but I'll receive nothing from them for telling you about this rifle. It's just too nice a rifle not to keep it in the family, so to speak.

[bouncer50]

That not a bad price for all the custom work. 35 Whelen is a great caliber just a neck up 30-06 brass is easy to find. A good all round hunting caliber to use. A older but still great for hunting and a wide choice of bullets weight to chose from.

[Yodogsandman]

Wow! An absolute classic in A-1 condition! Bet it has the 1 in 12 twist, though. Sounds like a custom job from the 50's or 60's, a great find! I've only seen the pictures...

[TXGunNut]

I bought a Ruger Hawkeye in 35 Whelen today, had a 30-06 rebored to it awhile back. Did a double-take when I saw this rifle today. This is an older custom, feel pretty sure it was someone's pride & joy.

[TXGunNut]

Wow! An absolute classic in A-1 condition! Bet it has the 1 in 12 twist, though. Sounds like a custom job from the 50's or 60's, a great find! I've only seen the pictures...

Could be 1/12, pretty hard to say. I was figuring 70's at latest, not sure when they quit making the Alaskan. Suspect it's a collectors' item in it's own right.

[bouncer50]

My opinion i rather have the custom 03 instead of the Ruger. Hard to find anymore old custom classic guns that were build with pride, I just old school in my choice of guns. To put that 03 together in todays money with that scope would be around a 1000.00 bucks or more. I bet that 03 will shoot as good as the Ruger.

[35 shooter]

I would love to know the history behind that rifle and scope. Just invested in another rifle or i'd be tempted to give FT. Worth a call on that one. Don't see them like that around here much.

[TXGunNut]

All I know is that it came from the same collection and my Ruger and I'm not 100% certain of that. I purchased the Hawkeye as a bad weather hunting rifle, a role I'd never pick for such a fine old school custom rifle. I have little doubt the 03 is a better shooter, just not what I was looking for.
I don't feel this rifle has been hunted with much, I'd rather spend some time with the gent that had her built. I'll bet he had some stories to tell.

[curator]

'03s make the best .35 Whelen rifles. I had a M98 Mauser that was sporterized with a .35 Whelen 1 in 16 twist barrel and while it shot OK, I couldn't load longer bullets in the magazine. I traded this off for a truly shot out pre-WWII '03 that I had rebarreled for .35 Whelen Improved. With a 1 in 14 twist barrel it will shoot 300 grain LBT LFN GC boolits at 2100 fps with near target accuracy. These feed beautifully from the magazine and the 40 degree shoulder of the AI case aids in long brass life. Of course, a 100 year old military design with a long firing pin fall doesn't have much going for it these days, except nostalgia.

[TXGunNut]

Well, seems someone else who appreciates classy old customs came along and adopted that sweet 03. Hope she makes him very happy, sure was nice to fondle her before someone who had a use for such a fine rifle came along.