Making 35 Whelen brass

[loaders_loft]

Take a look at the nosler manual, varget with the 225 accubond. Velocity is phenomenal and performance on game is devastating. Within a few hundred yards, I've killed all sorts of game with the 225 ballistic tip (now discontinued) and the 225 tsx. Beyond that and my accuracy& drop is unpredictable.

Folks say, what do you hunt with that, and I say ANYTHING.

 

[loaders_loft]

30-06 brass is plentiful and I use it exclusively for the 35 whelen. Anneal before sizing if you are set up for that, otherwise plenty of lube and one pass thru the die.

 

[loaders_loft]

BTW I used blue loctite to bed my scope mounts to the action and also to bed my scope to the mounts. Did this after the scope jumped forward in crappy leupold mounts and locked up the power adjustment ring.

 

[Mowgli Terry]

There is no big ceremony to forming the brass using dies with a tapered expander ball. For me this was with RCBS and Hornady current dies. I replaced the expanders in my older sets of 35 Whelen dies with new. This worked like a charm. Lube the neck as if you would any other rifle case. If you swap out expander balls on the RCBS dies make sure you have new style decapping pins. I would expect to wreck cases trying to steamboat 06 cases over an old style 35 caliber expander ball to make 35 Whelen cases. In the old days I used an Lyman M die. If you have 35 Whelen dies already make the new stye expander ball is there before ordering another. I hope all this has not confused OP to the point of trading his barrel off.

 

[cross]

My Dad has been hunting with a 35 Whelen AI for over 30 years and has been using 250 gr Speer spitzers since day one. Very affordable and very affective.

 

[Mike AVM]

Just don't buy Remington brass if you decide you want the head stamp. It's very heavy and I never could get to shoot like the Hornady.

 

[greenejc]

I've been shooting the .35 Whelen for about 13 years now and have formed 30-06 brass from various manufacturers. The RCBS dies will do it easily, but so will any of the other dies from any of the other manufacturers. That's because all of them are designed to make 30-06 into .35 Whelen. Brass is available through Hornaday, Remington (sometimes) and Nosler and I try to use Remingtion brass. When you form 30-06 into .35 Whelen, it only takes one pass through the die, and you will need to trim the neck, because the case neck will almost be slightly uneven. Trimming will return the mouth of the case to 90 degrees with the casing, insuring even neck pressure and good bullet alignment. I've used Federal, Remington, and LC brass and had very good results, with Sierra gamekings going inside an inch at 100 yards after forming and trimming. However, I buy Remington .35 Whelen brass whenever I can find it. Just remember, any die you buy for .35 Whelen was originally designed to wildcat 30-06 brass, so unless you're really concerned with headstamps, just make your brass. Also, you can't (absolutely can't) mistake a loader .35 Whelen brass for a 30-06. The difference in bullet profile and diameter is enormous.

ok so my lovely wife got me a 35 Whelen barrel for my bday. I was checking around trying to find a set of dies , and lo and behold my two local sources don't have them. I try my best not to buy anything offline but may not have a choice.

While searching around I thought why not get a tapered expander and just use it in a 30-06 sizer die . Am I thinking totally wrong?? Everything I've read on making Whelen brass says just use 06 cases and run them through the 35 die. I'm not sure if this is feasible. Or am I missing something? Hopefully someone on here has experience with the Whelen and can steer me in the proper direction. Thanks in advance.

First, the .358 expander won't fit inside a 30-06 die. Second, the die body at the neck is designed to squeeze the neck down to a .308 interior diameter, not a .358 diameter. You need to order either the RCBS or the Lyman dies for the .35 Whelen. Also, you might check with both Lee and Hornaday for dies. If you try to use a die that sizes to .308, you will probably destroy the brass.

 

[greenejc]

I just checked on line at Midway. RCBS, Redding, and Lee are all listed there as either available or mixed availability. You can get your dies there. So is Hornaday. Lee is also represented by a factory crimp die.

 

[wv270wsm]

Thanks to all . Im ordering the rcbs does today and will go with either Winchester or Hornady brass for sure . Im not a Remington brass fan at all .

Does anyone think I should Anneal brand new 30-06 brass before necking up . This will be my first time Annealing anything I've purchased all the proper things to Salt Bath Anneal and read through all the directions and warnings and watched probably 10 different videos . I feel very confident. Shoot I mould my own 44 bullets at least twice a year for target practice and hunting.

Also thinking about buying a mould for this 35 Whelen that could be fun!

 

[Mowgli Terry]

Make sure you get the most current dies with the tapered expander. My dies that were updated were made in the late 1970's.

 

[nicholasjohn]

Also just my opinion if you would use 30-06 brass to make 35 Whelen and somehow you couldn't tell the difference with it being head stamped 30-06 remember just my opinion you probably shouldn't be monkeying around with trying to form brass. Between me an my two sons we have all the 308 family and we've sized just about everything from 308 brass 243,260,7mm08,308and 338 federal. Sorry if I ruffle feathers or disrespect anyone's responses

I used to know an old guy who made EVERYTHING out of 30-06 brass. He had a 55-gallon drum full of military brass, and he didn't even own an '06. He shot a .270, and his wife shot a .25-06, and they used the military brass for both. He also made 338-06 for his brother, who had had his .270 barrel re-bored when he wore out the barrel. That was an easy, one-step operation. They all shot .22-250's made from the same brass, but that was a pretty fancy operation - forming dies, shortening the brass, neck-turning, etc. I also remember somebody in the bunch shooting a .257 Roberts, also made from '06 brass - also a fair amount of work to make. These guys used to buy 4350 powder when it was sold in the old cardboard barrels. Their reloading room looked like a wine cellar with all the barrels sitting around ……….

 

[greenejc]

Thanks to all . Im ordering the rcbs does today and will go with either Winchester or Hornady brass for sure . Im not a Remington brass fan at all .

Does anyone think I should Anneal brand new 30-06 brass before necking up . This will be my first time Annealing anything I've purchased all the proper things to Salt Bath Anneal and read through all the directions and warnings and watched probably 10 different videos . I feel very confident. Shoot I mould my own 44 bullets at least twice a year for target practice and hunting.

Also thinking about buying a mould for this 35 Whelen that could be fun!

Its not really necessary, but it won't hurt. It will keep the neck from cracking and give the brass longer life. But I get at least 7 loadings from the Remington 35 Whelen brass when I can find it. I haven't used Hornaday .35 Whelen brass. I have necked up the Hornaday 30-06 brass, and it works fine. Just get a trimming tool so you can uniform the case mouth. I use the Lee trimming tool and a battery powered drill for this myself. It is fast and easy.

 

[wv270wsm]

Its not really necessary, but it won't hurt. It will keep the neck from cracking and give the brass longer life. But I get at least 7 loadings from the Remington 35 Whelen brass when I can find it. I haven't used Hornaday .35 Whelen brass. I have necked up the Hornaday 30-06 brass, and it works fine. Just get a trimming tool so you can uniform the case mouth. I use the Lee trimming tool and a battery powered drill for this myself. It is fast and easy.

That's how my dad had his trimmer set up to . I have the Redding case trimming lathe and like it very well.

 

[Edd]

You can buy Norma brand 35 Whelen brass for $1.00 per piece.