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Speer new manual and on their web site they list the 35 Whelen with their 250gr. bullet with max loads of Alliant pro 2000-mr with 66.2 gr. at 2709 fps and Hodgdon cfe 223 with 64.1 gr. at 2664 fps. that is up with the list loads for the 358 Norma mag. That's pretty darn good from the Whelen. I can't help but wonder what the Norma could do with up dated load info and newer powders.
I've thought about that, too. People seem to want to take to the field with the biggest gun they can carry, even if they're going after some small target like an African dik-dik. I can see a .375 Ruger for a Polar Bear. I cannot see a .35 Nosler for a whitetail or something of similar size and weight.
After I read your post I had to look. That is amazing speed for a whelen. In the early 90,s I had a remington pump for a boat gun when I was in Fairbanks. In those days 4320 worked well but 2400 is about all I could get. But I also had a 358 norma. I just necked up federal 338 brass. 24 inch lilja barrel. I was getting 2950 with a 250 nosler partition and it was very accurate and the cases lasted. Imr 4350. 3050 with a 225. Perfect Alaskan gun. Use it for sheep to big growly. Built on an 03a3 with 03 bottom metal in a laminated stock. Model 70 safety. A friend liked it so much he needed to have it. Good Kodiak deer gun. Anyway it surprised me that speer loaded it that soft.
That equates to 4,832 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. That's 18% more than I was getting out of my Stomper. I should have pushed the envelope a little more to see if I could maybe get to 4200 foot-pounds at the muzzle. I don't like sticky bolts nor the gratuitous expanding of the primer pocket, so the 4092 I got was good enough.
I don,t know what to say. The 358 reamer has a fair amount of freebore and it just works. I was not swelling primer pockets. After I sold the gun I built a 358sta. 25 inch lilja. It would not equal that 358 norma. With the STA 2900 is all I could get with a 250. Recently I have read that the sta was built with 2 different throats. I guess I have the short throat. I am going to order a bore rider throater from kiff and run it in. That will wake it up. Before the sta I had a reamer made for a 358/378. lol. 3450 with a 250 with 7828. Giant 22/250. At that time the old x were the only bullets that would stand it. Want to stay busy for a few days scrubbing copper? I threw that barrel and built a 338/378. Better bullets but not near as much energy.
When I had that 358/378 I loaded some speer hot core 250,s. Not shooting well. Hundred yard target looked like you had shot it with 8 shot around the bullet hole. Those bullets were coming apart in the air.
Your stomper. .532 is a belted mag. So what case did you start with?
I am interested. Why don,t you like the 26? That is a lot of mustard on the hot dog.
It is a savage action with a heavier 26" barrel and boyds laminated stock. I built it for LR coyote stuff. I have a love for 6.5-284 and don't see the need for another 6.5 type, since they shoot so well. Nothing wrong with the cartridge other than it seems inefficient to me, much like the 7rum. The Extreme Outer Limits guys sure loves his though.
I understand. I have built a few 22 creedmoors and the guys love them. Not pushing it hard 3550 with the 75 eldm and bug holes. The lilja 3 grooves in 22 are awesome. H4350. 43 to 44 grains. I got on the 7 practical kick which is basically a resurrected mashburn. So I thought how about a 6.5? Less coal than the nosler. I have always been a believer in a certain size hole can only use so much powder. Anyway I made up the 6.5 on the practical design with kiff,s bore rider throat. 81 of us 869 was 3360 with a 140. .001 head expansion so I dropped to 80 for 3300. The nosler uses 10 more grains for 3250 and the roy uses 90 for the same speed. Too much of a good thing.
The Stomper is not belted. It used the Hornady .375 Ruger Basic brass-- until Hornady quit making it in 2016 or so. Now, it uses the factory-formed .375 Ruger. Works perfectly; just has an incorrect headstamp. The Ruger Basic never had any headstamp. I no longer own the two rifles that used the Basic. A friend from high school said he'd like a rifle like my .300 Nevada Desert Magnum target rifle, so I gave it to him. Gave him the .358 Sierra Stomper, too, because each uses the same F1 and F2 forming dies. Gave him everything required to form the cases for both, plus a ton of other stuff related to the cartridges. I don't miss the rifles; I take solace in the fact that a man whom is nuts about accuracy has my rifles and will be able to use them far more often than would I.
