M77 MK II .35 Whelen

[TWalker]

A local shop has a very nice M77 MKII for sale in .35 Whelen. The stock is the black skeleton style and the barrel is blued. It has rifle sights and scope rings. What can you tell me about this model and its value? The asking price is $500. Thanks for any replies. I think I 'm going to have to buy this one.

 

[patrickjames]

35 whelen with a boat paddle stock. I think you should buy it.The boat paddle stock is the toughest fiberglass stock I have ever used.It would be one mean machine.

 

[CP]

During the Whelen Special Edition run (500 rifles were produced), the internet was full of stories regarding misfire issues with this rifle. Unfortunately, I bought one and sure enough it misfired. I sent it back to Ruger and they did not solve the problem. So, I had the barrel jerked off and had a ss Lilja barrel with the factory contour and a 28 lbs firing pin spring installed. I have subsequently fired this rifle in 20 below weather and had no problems. I just don't have any confidence in the reliability of these blue/boat paddle stocked Special Edition Whelens. CP.

 

[chet15]

Those black stocked .35 Whelens were a special distributor model that went through Davidson's. In fact, Davidson's had most calibers available at the time in the blued steel barreled action with the skeleton zytel stock. The gun in .35 was also the only one of these Davidson's models that had sights on it.
Chet15

 

[Jeff Hoover]

I replaced the firing pin spring in mine and never had a misfire since.