OK, boys, there is but one question left on the Rem 750

[FirstFreedom]

Alright, I WILL be getting a Rem 750 Woodsmaster in .35 Whelen within the next 6 mos - 1 year. Purpose is hunting stuff like meese & caribou up north; possibly elk & hogs further south. Secondary purpose is fending off hungry coastal brownies looking to take my kill. OK, that's hyperbole, but still, it's for close-in action (such as trotting pigs) as well as longer-range hunting. Tertiary purpose is backup to backup to homeland defense rifle. :)

So, only one question remains - barrel length. The 750 is offered in 2 bbl lengths in .35 Whelen:

1. 18.5"
2. 22"

Which & Why? How much velocity loss from 3.5 inches with a 250 gr bullet, do you suppose? I know there are rules of thumb, ranging from 25 to 75 fps per inch, but with a bigger bore, I'd imagine the loss is perhaps even less than 25 fps per inch? Then there's recoil & muzzle blast - 22" preferred. Then handling - 18.5" preferred. Then carrying all day - 18.5" preferred. What say you? I don't want to skew the responses unfairly, so I'm not saying at this point which one I'm leaning towards.

[Paul B.]

I know, this is a cop out, :barf: but go with whichever one feels best to you.
My choice would be the 22" barrel. I have three rifles in .35 Whelen, two with 22" barrels and one with a 24" barrel.
While the .35 Whelen can be hot rodded somewhat, I would stick to factory pressure levels in either the pump or semiauto rifles. I also believe that at factory levels, or even with my warmer loads, standard bullets will probably work just fine. I have two pen pals who live in Canada who shoot the .35 Whelen for moose. Their bullet of choice is the 250 gr. Speer Hot-core. They've told me that the Speer will penetrate clean though a goodly sized moose. One drew a tag for Grizzly bear and used his 250 gr. Speer load for the hunt. Sad to say, he couldn't find any bear willing to commit suicide. The point being, he was perfectly confident the bullet would do it's job.
Remington factory ammo does leave a bit to be desired. One, in none of my rifles will it reach factory advertised velocity with the 250 gr. bullet. I get barely 2300 FPS from a 22" barrel and 2350 FPS from the 24" barrel. Part of that problem is because there are a lot of old Winchester Model 95s and low numbered Springfield 1903s that were converted to the round. Second, Remington brought it out in the pump gun as well as the M700. While the pump gun can stand the pressure, it cannot extract as well as a bolt action rifle. I'd have to go dig up my notes, but if memory serves, the 24" gun was about 35 to 50 FPS faster than the 22" guns.
My Remington Classic and Ruger M77 have 22" barrels with a 1 in 16" twist rate. My custom Oberndorf Mauser that I found at an estate sale has the 24" barrel with a 1 in 14" twist rate. The proper twist should be 1 in 12". However, as no factory ammo comes with a bullet heavier than 250 gr., the 1 in 16" will be adequate. I did see something on another web site where they thought Remington was putting a 1 in 12" twist in the M750 It certainly makes one wonder.
If you plan on handloading the Whelen, a powder I've had some pretty decent results with was H-335. Either of the 4895s or RL-15 are showing promise as well. In my rifles, the Hornady 250 gr. spire point outshoots the 250 gr. Speer H/C, but not by much.
A few years back, I hunted elk in the rain forests of Northwest washington State, the Olympic Penninsule to be exact. The rifle I carried was a Sears rifle based on the M70 Winchester and had a 22" barrel. Even in that very thick stuff, and in some places, you couldn't see five feet in front of you, the 22" barrel on that rifle didn't seem to be much of a handicap.
Still, the choice is yours, take the one that feels best to you. If you plan on using a scope, have the scope on the gun if possible when checking out the "feel". You's be surprised how many times a light great feeling rifle becomes a clubby thing once a scope is mounted.
I love my Whelens. I'll be making up another one, this time with the proper 1 in 12" twist.
Paul B.

[Anthony Terry]

Definetly 22" barrel. Id say you might gat maybe 1/2 lb. max from it. The rewards are worth the drawbacks. 3.5in, while not being much, will take alot of velocity off. The whelen I think was made for for a 22-24in barrel. And I don't blame you for choosing the 750. It's a nice rifle and as always, a cut above winchester.:D The best load I seen was around 2800 in a 24in barrel. Going by average standards, you be around 2450 maybe. A 22in might be around 2700. Thats with a 200 grain bullet.

[Dave R]

If it were me, I would go 22" barrel. Free velocity. Free power.

[bettingthehorses]

I just called to request a mag from Remington due to a mag problem with my 750 in 35 Whelen, and Remington rep confirmed it has 1 in 16 twist for 35 Whelen as I suspected. I chose the 22 inch barrel, and I've read that there's approximately 50 fps velocity loss for each 2 inches of barrel difference. This can vary some depending on bullet weight a powder, but it should be something close to that.

[Fremmer]

A 3" difference in barrel length probably won't significantly affect velocity, retort, etc. If you like the way the shorter barrel looks and feels, go for it. If a .35 caliber round from a 18" barrel won't kill it, I doubt that the same round from 22" barrel will kill it.

Do you presently own any 18" barrel hunting rifles? If not, maybe you want shorter just to have something different. :)

[FirstFreedom]

And, of course, since then I changed my mind completely, and got instead a CZ550 in 9.3x62mm (which has a 20" bbl), after reading some bad things about reliability of the 750.

http://www.cz-usa.com/product_detail.php?id=17

[MacGille]

The .35 is ok for Alaska, however if a bear wants your kill in the state of Alaska, you must not shoot the bear. give up your kill and go away. You can shoot another, but you cannot shoot the bear.

[BusGunner007]

FirstFreedom,
----edited to add: I also read some bad press on the 750. Oh, well! Here's what I was going to post- )
These are old pix of my 7400 Carbine in 'Y2K' form. Lame? Kinda! :D
Still, that's the 18 1/2" bbl. in .30-06.

I've eyeballed the 750 in .35 Whelen in the 2007 Remington catalog and would choose the Carbine both for looks and carrying fun.
I can't believe that the extra length would make much difference at the distances you'd be shooting or on the big animals.

The Carbine just looks 'right', especially with that bigger hole in the end of the bbl.

Some kind of QD scope mount/rings would be apropriate, along with a low power variable ( like the Weaver 1-3, for instance ). Maybe even a 4X.
But a short, lighter weight, bigger bullet type of autoloader would be mucho fun for anyone.
Good Luck!

http://www.hunt101.com/img/417794.jpg

http://www.hunt101.com/img/353367.jpg

[FirstFreedom]

I agree, Busgunner, that .35 whelen carbine, pimped like your .30-06 would be very very nice for a variety of serious purposes, and for cool factor - IF it worked reliably. Too bad you didn't need yours for Y2K after all - that was way overblown. :p Looks like you may have to move to the gulf coast and pray for a hurricane, to create a situation where you might need that rifle. :) AND, in addition to Y2K and hurricanes, it appears that you are ready for societal meltdown chaos induced by a solar eclipse, with your Geordi LaForge style sunshades there:

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1065/Mptv/1065/5115-0255.jpg.html?hint=tt0092455

:D Just gotta love 10 semi-auto rounds of .35 whelen, though, for sheer firepower!

[bettingthehorses]

The bad reports are likely due to a simple to fix magazine problem. I did a fix on a 742 magazine in the early 1990s, and it's functioned flawlessly for over 15 years since the fix. My new 750 had same problem that I fixed, and it now functions flawlessly. If interested in the fix, see post #33 at http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222054.

[FirstFreedom]

Ok, thanks for that info on the mag fix.

I should mention that even though the 750 looks nice and can be made workable, I'm extremely happy I got the CZ550 FS - it's in my top 3 favorite rifles already, I think, and I haven't even shot it yet. Absolutely beautiful & ergo.

[stevelyn]

The .35 is okay for Alaska, however if a bear wants your kill in the state of Alaska, you must not shoot the bear. Give up your kill and go away. You can shoot another, but you cannot shoot the bear.

That's why some of us get a bear tags and go on a mixed bag hunt.;)

And no you can't go and kill another.