35 whelen

[LaHunter]

I have found Speer loads in their latest manual to be a bit on the hot side in other cartridges. Speer shows 2700 fps but thats in whatever rifle they used and a 24" barrel and a max load according to them. In a computer simulation, that 66.2 gr load shows 86,000 psi. It depends on the rifle. While I dont shoot 35 Whelen, I have shot some speer data in various cartridges and as I approached max I got stiff bolt lift and ejector marks and the computer sim agreed with my rifle. As always, books and computers are reference and not cut and dried, just simply what speer found in their lab with whatever they were shooting.

We're you using Quickload?

 

[Old Rooster]

When I owned a 35 Whelen I found I only got 2 to 3 firings from my brass with it that hot.
Plus I have been looking for RE16 for about a year now and as soon as it shows INSTOCK it is gone in seconds.

 

[jwp475]

When I owned a 35 Whelen I found I only got 2 to 3 firings from my brass with it that hot.
Plus I have been looking for RE16 for about a year now and as soon as it shows INSTOCK it is gone in seconds.

I'm getting 8 to 10 loadings on my brass

 

[Old Rooster]

Back then I was using Remington R P cases.
Which brass do you use?

 

[jwp475]

Back then I was using Remington R P cases.
Which brass do you use?

Mostly R P and a few Hornady

 

[sentry53]

View attachment 311087

had to go back to my reloading book and using cfe 223 the load was 63 grains not not 66 book was 64.1 i did not see any pressure sign. best group was 63 so thats where i stopped. not shure how i screwed that up?

 

[Double Dropper]

The 35 Whelen is a bit of an odd ball when it comes to reloading. Ancient case design, 358 caliber hole.....but it behaves much differently. Load Varget, REM brass, Fed 210 primers and just shy of 2800 fps with 225 grain Nosler accubonds, 24 inch gain twist barrel. recoil is up there.

 

[greenejc]

last year i started loading the 35 whelen with remington brass winchester large rifle primers cfe 223 speer250 hot core from speer book number 15. rifle is a ruger haweye 24 1-12 twist book max is 67 grains at2788 got there without pressure but best group was at 66 grains at average vel of 2690. my question about that is same book shows the 358 norma mag same bullet at 2732 with 76 grains of imr 4350that just does not seem right to me. is the 358 pressure that much lower? or is the book not right?

I use RL15 for my Whelen, and I load to the old Speer and Lee manuals for it. The pre-2018 or so Lee and Speer manuals list a max of 59.5 grains of RL15 for the Speer 250 grain HotCor. At this charge, I get about 2670fps from my Remington 700 with a 24" barrel, with some primer flattening using Remington primers and either Remington or Winchester brass. I also load about 60.5 grains for the Sierra 225 grain Gameking, which is really hard to find right now. I get around 2740fps or so with this load and bullet. From my semi-custom Remington 700 with a 26" 1 in 14" twist, the velocities for both loads are about 75 fps faster. I have a couple of pounds of RL2000, as an alternate powder, but haven't tried it. I'm still working on loads with CFE 223 as an alternate powder. As to the 358 Norma, the powders used in it are slower burning and so I think the rifle would benefit from a longer barrel. I haven't shot it though, and don't know for sure.

 

[greenejc]

He said 358 Norma not 338 which is a slightly shortend and improved 338 Laupa case.
Not difficult at all to hit 2700 FPS in the 35 Whelen with Power Pro 2000MR or CFE223.
These new progressive powders change the game dramatically

Yes they do. You have to be careful near the max listings, though. The pressure on some of them seem to spike a little near their max listed loads, at least for me.

 

[greenejc]

We're you using Quickload?

I'm sure it did show excessive pressure. The max load in the Speer No. 15 is 64.2 grains of CFE 223 for their 250 grain HotCor, and I hit pressure signs at about 63 grains with milsurp brass. Commercial brass is ok at 63 grains in both my rifles.