Mauser 35 Whelen


iron buck

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I have posted some pictures of this rifle before but they do not do it justice. I had a chance to take better ones this morning while at the range. The natural light helped a lot. It shows the grain & color of the Turkish walnut better.This rifle started off as a Charles Daly LEFT HAND :) action. I had a buddy of mine put on the Douglas barrel cut to 23" & chamber it for 35 Whelen. I then sent it to Gentry for one of his left hand 3 position safeties. I wrapped it all up along with a great chunk of Turkish walnut that I bought from Ray Atkinson and took the works to Gary Stiles a gunmaker who loves working on mausers. Gary Put on a new bolt with a nicer angle then the original. It also has 3 checkered panels. He got rid of the push button magazine release & made a new, in the trigger release that is much cleaner in appearance than the original. He smoothed up the action & made it feed perfectly. I now know what CRF is supposed to feed like. None of my Winchesters feed this way, they all push the cartridge along for 1/2" before it snaps behind the claw. My mauser goes from the magazine to the claw....no free wheeling at all. Gary added Talley quick release rings & I have a Talley peep sight to use as back up should a scope go bad on a hunt. I also had him install a NECG Banded front sight. For blueing I went with a matte finish. Garys stock work is truly a work of art. The stock is classic & trim. Checking is 24 LPI in a Fler de Le (sp?) pattern. The inletting looks like it was done with a laser I have shot this rifle at the range with some extra boxes of factory ammo I had around. I will be working up some hand loads this spring. It has to be ready for elk season this fall! I will be using 250 grain Nosler Partitions.

The Left Hand Daly action worked better than I could have imagined for a custom. I have another action with Gary now that will eventually be my "mountain rifle". But that rifle is a ways off. For now....I will have to enjoy the whelen.

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....That is one sweet rifle!

......Turkish Walnut is the best of the best, I think.

The checkering is awesome...and that pattern is a sharp touch!

....I didn't know that Charles Daly made a bolt action?

...I like the Whelen...a "deluxe .30-06".

...We see several of them at the gun shows up here...though not nearly as nice as what you have put together here.....

This is a real piece of art.-I can't wait to show TC when he gets home.

-Thanks for sharing!

.....(yes,pretty close:)...it's"Fleur de Lis"....French royalty;"flower of the lilly;...perfection;light;...life.)

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Thanks for all the comments. The recoil is not bad at all. Shooting 250 grain bullets it does not hit nearly as hard & fast as my 338 win mag with the same weight. It shoots beautiful triangle shapped groups that are at just over an inch with the factory rounds. I am sure I can do better with handloads. I have a bunch of 225 grain 358 Ballistic tips that I want to try out. Along with some 250 grain partitions. A fun way to spend the spring:D

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