Have any of you guys even rebarrelled a Sako to .35 Whelen? I am interested in thread patterns for the L61 and any issues that might arise. The rifle I am looking at is a .270

Since the 270 and the 35Whelen have the same base case, '06' the bolt shoould be fine. The threads on the Sako are metric IIRC; but this is no ploblem for ordering a barrel in the L-61 FinnBear.

Reboring your .270 barrel should be an option also , and maybe a little less expensive ! CAUTION = Once you go .35 Cal. , nothing else will do !

__________________
Don't forget to have your Liberals spayed or neutered !

If you decide to go with the plan to rebore, as mentioned above, this place has a LOT of experience in rebores such as you are wanting. I do think you'd even be able to specify your own twist rate, something some shooters of the Whelen like if they plan on using one specific weight bullet over the others. I'd think a nice Sako would make a great platform for the Whelen.

Caliber & Bore Options - Reboring by J E S

__________________
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote
a blank check made payable to "The United States of
America" for an amount of 'up to and including my life.
That is honor, and there are way too many people in this
country who no longer understand it.

Yeah, I wish Remington had gone with a 1:12-1:14. Not that there are many bullets available above 250gr I can afford.

My Remington Whelens have one big advantage. The barrel contour is the same as any other '06 based round. That big hole trims a lot of weight from a smaller caliber barrel. My 7600 weighs less than my M336/.30-30, (guess which one kicks harder).

One thing I would do is go with a Brown Whelen. I'm not about to mess with my rifles as both are tack drivers, but if you're going for a re-bore, might as well get the advantage of a bit more fuel.

__________________
No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
>>> Thomas Jefferson

I recently purchased a Ruger M77 Hawkeye SS in .35 Whelen, already owning both a .338 Fed & .358 Win in the same model. As I had them all out looking at them, I noticed something odd. The .35 Whelen has a lighter barrel profile than either the .338F or .358W. I thought that pretty unusual and could think of no good reason for it(?) The Whelen is actually the most accurate of the 3, so long as I give it a little time between shots to prevent the barrel from getting warm.

__________________
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote
a blank check made payable to "The United States of
America" for an amount of 'up to and including my life.
That is honor, and there are way too many people in this
country who no longer understand it.

If you do have a choice on twist rate , I'd go 1:12 , then you should be able to stabilize whatever bullet you choose !

__________________
Don't forget to have your Liberals spayed or neutered !

I appreciate the good advice

I've owned several std 35 Whelens and you don't need more than 1-14" to stabilize any 35 cal bullet that is appropriate to be fired in the Whelen. Mine have all shot anything from 250 gr and down with superb accuracy, and 275 - 280 gr do very well also, and that is in the factory std twist of 1-16"

I contacted JES Reboring yesterday about reboring my Ruger M77 30-06 to 35 Whelen. The owner said he puts uses a 3 groove, 1-14 twist for 35 Whelen as it will stablize any bullet weight. 1-12 would limit you to heavier bullets. If I have the reboring done, I think I'll go with the 1-14 so I can make plinker loads with 357 mag bullets.