I have always been a fan of big bores, rifles in 45-70 and 375, handguns in 45 or 454 and 475 Linebaugh.

I have had this for over a year and am finally getting it put together. A Remington 700 Classic action in .35 Whelen, birth year of 1988. A new factory Remington stock, which as of yet I do not know if I have to glass bed or not for accuracy. I think it is a little over scoped, but I have a Leupold 3X9 Vari-X II mounted, but would think a good quality 2X7 would be more fitting.

Plan to use this as a backup to my handgun when deer hunting northern Minnesota this year.


Ignore the messy bench in the background. The rifle behind is a Winchester Light Weight in 22-250 with a Leupold 4X12 Vari-X III that I use on critters. I'm getting that ready for pheasant hunting trips that we run across yotes and foxes.

Nice rifle. I used to take a rifle along for backup to my handguns too but I no longer do that. I do have to pass on deer that I could easily hit with a scoped rifle but there are enough deer that another usually comes along.

My son in-law got a nice 8 point buck on our land last weekend with his bow. One bad winter and there are so many deer that there will be a mass starvation. I hope to fill 3 tags this season and do my part to thin the herd.

We make a lot of jerky that never lasts very long...

I have taken 6 deer with a handgun, and had to pass on a few also. I kinda quit hunting with a handgun a few years ago when my son started hunting with us, I wanted a rifle with me as a backup, just in case. This year my son isn't going with us, he doesn't want to miss work because he is saving up for a new guitar and amp and a deer hunting trip will put off the guitar and amp maybe another month. I understand his thinking, he has priorities that I think are in line for a working person.

Cobb wrote:



OK Cobb, I've seen you shoot too often to know that if 5 well placed rounds from a 475 Limbaugh won't stop the deer you hunt, I would look for something a LOT bigger as a back-up rifle than the 35 Whelen. (Something in a 50 BMG, 20 mm or 37 mm.)

Looks like a nice project gun.

I think a 3 x 9 is a little too much for MN too. I went with a 2 x 7 on my 30-06 and a 1 -3/4 x 5 on my Ruger #1 in 45-70. I can think of only once I ever used either over the min. power. I like big bores too. I have a 3 x 9 on my 25-06 and it is too much for northern MN.

Good luck & have fun.

The reason I went with the 3X9 is that I was at an auction years ago and picked up a few scopes new in the box for about half of what you could even buy them for on the internet. So that is what I had left, and that is what got mounted.

You all know that the planning and the trip is maybe the best part of the hunt.

Dan, I hope I get a chance at a deer that big.

Looks like a really nice gun!

NICE rifle...

Nice Caliber....

I don't hunt in a rifle zone Because of that, I'm more into rifled slug barrelled shotguns. I did learn that Hornady makes an SST slug that seems pretty accurate and for a 2 3/4" slug, it has some kick. Cobb, I'm kind of jealous of the new rifle. Hell, I'm scrimping and saving for a CMP M1 Garand.

Edited to try and lighten up the pictures so that they will be easier to see. My bench area has plenty of lighting, the problem if I turn it all on, what ever I take pictures of is nothing but glare and shinny spots.

Nice rifle Cobb. I've always had the hankerin for a Remington 7600 in 35 Whelen. I thought it would make a nice brush gun, but since we don't bust the brush like we use to, it's slipped off the radar.

And btw guys, it's Linebaugh....

Damn, I always get John and Rush mixed up.

Large hole in the business end. Expells copious amounts of hot gas at high velocity! Who could keep them straight?

Sorry couldn't resist.

Good one.

And holy house of fire, does it shoot.

As you can see from the targets below, I spare no expense.

I use to work on large mainframe computers and have 3 boxes of green bar continuous form paper that a customer was throwing out. Works great to staple up and put paste type target dots up. For handgun I use bright colored, 4" X 5" address lables that were being thrown out. I think of it as being friendly to the enviorment and recycling a product that is no longer usefull.

This was my final 3 shot group at 100 yards, all were under an inch and I had 2 that went at the honest 1/2" , this from a hunting rifle, impact 2 inches above center of bullseye.



I think I will drop the elevation a notch, I really don't need to be 2 inches high at 100 yards, but I do have one stand that I shoot over a field in northern Minnesota and I can stretch that shot about as far as I want to. But in that stand, I usually have a 7mm mag as a back up to my handgun.