Mould for 35 Whelen

[ColColt]

I'll soon be getting a Remington CDL 35 Whelen and want to shoot not only jacketed but cast as well. From all indications the RCBS 35-200FN mould is a good place to start. I've never used cast boolits in a rifle before, well-with the exception of BPCR's and never gas checks. I have a Lyman 450 and 4500 sizer. Is it a pain to add these to the base using either of those sizers?

[Duckiller]

Not a problem to install gc on a boolit with either sizer. Now you can also cast gc boolits for your 357. Your next question should be which lube for rifles? I would recommend Carnuba Red. Bullshop's speed green is also reported to be very good. I think you will enjoy shooting cast boolits in rifles. Light loads are especially fun.

[ColColt]

I have half a dozen sticks of CR as well as BAC. At what velocity would a gas check be considered needful... over 1800 fps? I've never used them in pistols or revolvers but know the velocity in rifles will be greater. Another question popped up is the BHN for rifle bullets. I've cast 1:20 and used ww's for pistols but unsure about rifles.

[MT Chambers]

With your sizer, crimping on gas checks is a no brainer, however I would recommend the Saeco 245gr. flat point GC, the best bullet by far for me in the .35s.

[ColColt]

What BHN is best?

[Artful]

ColColt (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?17362-ColColt) what are you planning to use the cast boolits for? - are you just plinking or are you hunting moose or ???
By the way good looking dog you have there.

For what it's worth - I do think the 200 RCBS mold is a good first choice - especially if hunting and plinking - I liked it enough to buy a NOE copy in multiple cavity (not just the $80+ 2 cavity available from RCBS).
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=509&osCsid=d5mfn0p6tn8jiae16ubasu63t6

[ColColt]

No moose or Elk, mostly paper punchin' fun and the occasional coyote. I looked at the NOE 360318 and it looks like a good performer as well.

Yep, Bubba's my buddy. He's a Pembroke Welsh corgi and light of my life.

[Guesser]

When I built my 35 W about 20 years ago I had a Lyman 358315 that was unemployed. The 358315 turned out to be a very good cast projectile for the rifle.

[TXGunNut]

No moose or Elk, mostly paper punchin' fun and the occasional coyote. I looked at the NOE 360318 and it looks like a good performer as well.


I like the 360318 but NOE's RCBS 200 clone or the RD 359190 would probably be better for your stated purposes. GC's are no big deal, just have to get past buying 1000 at a time. If you're plinking or not looking for velocity over about 1600 look @ NOE's plainbase boolit mould offerings. Many of their best-selling moulds are available in either GC or PB, sometimes both.

[35 shooter]

Good luck with your whelen. Mine has become my favorite rifle and caliber.
I started with the rcbs 200 gr. boolit and it is a good one,but i since switched to the noe 360200 which is a clone of the rcbs with a bit flatter nose and their moulds pour a full .360+ dia. with straight wheel weight.

I had to heat treat to get good accuracy over 1800 fps. (465* for ,1 hour then dunk in cold water) and wound up with a bhn of 27 which is pretty hard for hunting. You can lower the heat for less bhn but i haven't tested for accuracy like that yet with mine. It shoots great right where it is though.

I recently picked up a noe 358009 mould which also drops .360+ and drops boolits 282 gr. It's a lot more boolit than i need, but sure is fun to shoot for a "thumper" in the whelen!

[Charley]

I load the RCBS 200 grain FN for mine. Accurate, and a whitetail killin' son of a gun!

[ColColt]

How about standard wheel weights...too soft even with GC's??

[Blammer]

I would get the NOE version of the rcbs 35 200, with one cavity HP'ed. That HP will really put the whammy on a coyote. :)

GC's are not hard to add with your equipment.

GC's will make it easier to get good performance out of your rifle.

I would use WW alloy and water drop, this should let you do all you need/want to with the rifle. It's easy and simple, too.

BAC will be a good lube for you to start, many diff types will work for you.

I currently get 2400 fps out of my 35 whelen and the NOE 35 200, good accuracy in either the HP or the standard version.
A bit stiff, but it works for me and I plan to go Elk hunting this fall with it.

[ColColt]

I would use WW alloy and water drop, this should let you do all you need/want to with the rifle. It's easy and simple, too.


That's probably what, about BHN15 or 18? A 50/50 mix of lead and Linotype should give me that without water dropping. The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook doesn't give any great velocities with their 204 gr bullet-certainly nothing like 2000+ fps. If you wanted to use a 225 or 250 gr bullet load data is far and few between.

[Blammer]

Start with jacketed loads of that wt.

[ColColt]

That's probably what I'll do but wanted to get a handle on the moulds most are using. NOE is out of that mould right now and only have the plain base.

[Djones]

I have some 360318s you can try. PM me if you are interested in some kind of boolit swap.

[Yodogsandman]

Hey, for fun, you can always try out any mold that you already might have for a 38 special or .357 Mag. Keep the velocities low, maybe try 10-13gr Unique. Those SWC's make nice holes in paper and won't bounce off the coyotes either.

If that Remington has a 1 in 16 twist, it probably won't stabilize boolits over 250gr.

[35 shooter]

You can log on to accurate powders site and look at their data for 35 whelen. They have cast and jacketed info. Their cast info is for the lyman 204 gr., rcbs 250 gr., and lyman 358009 280 gr.

[sthwestvictoria]

I am having great fun with my two 35 whelens - a

re-bored FN Mauser 98 and a re-barreled Win

M70. Counter to some of the other people I have

not had much success with the RCBS 200grain but

a good deal with the 250grain Cast Bullet

Engineering from here in Australia. I suspect this

is because both rifles have a long throat.
I couldn't find data for a 250grain cast using

Australian powders so used the Hodgdon 60%

rule and the Richard Lee 1grain reduction method

to adapt jacketed data. I started around 37grains of AR2206H (H4895) which was position sensitive. I am now at 42.0grains for 1820fps (without a filler) and might go a bit higher.
http://i61.tinypic.com/21kf9cy.jpg
As 35shooter suggests above, heat treating really does seem to work. I don't own a hardness tester. However my best accuracy has been with oven HT one hour then quenched. As below targets, Air Cooled straight WW or 50:50 had incremental diminuation in accuracy:
http://i62.tinypic.com/10wpjwz.jpg
These are all with gator gas checks and my own pan lube of bee wax/vaseline/lanolin/crayon. All sized to .358, This has taken the 200grainers to 2200fps with no leading (but no accuracy!). Have fun.

[ColColt]

If that Remington has a 1 in 16 twist, it probably won't stabilize boolits over 250gr.

Sorry for the late response. I just got out of the hospital a couple hours ago..been t here since early yesterday morning. It does have a 1:16 twist for all I've read.

Djones-Thanks for that offer. It sounds like one I can't refuse.

Hodgdon at one time, and not so long ago, also has data for cast boolits but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

[ColColt]

I wrote Tom of Accurate Moulds since I had ordered several of his moulds in the past and was well pleased with them, and asked what he had for the Whelen. This was one of his own modified that looks most promising.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-210B-D.png



Or this one for hunting...

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-210A-D.png (http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-210B-D.png)

[youngda9]

If you get an Accurate mold I would highly suggest getting a couple different bullet types in the same mold. It's only $15 or $20 more for a different bullet type, well worth it.

In 358win I've had great luck with the 36-230D up to 2209fps. The 36-245S (Saeco #352 clone), and also the 36-280B (356009 clone) shoot quite well...still working up loads with them both, but they both show a lot of promise.

[ColColt]

Tom will work with you on anything you want, anyway you want it and that's a good suggestion I didn't think about.

[TXGunNut]

For some reason I like the 210B myself, probably because the profile looks like it's more likely to feed in my rifle. Not sure if a blunt boolit will feed in your Remington.

[ColColt]

I like the 210B myself and if I get that style it probably will be from Tom.

[35 shooter]

If you go with Tom, as stated above the option of different boolits in one mould is neat. Such as a 3 cavity with a couple different gc weights and one pb and have all bases covered in one mould....just a thought.

[ColColt]

I've used quite a few moulds for pistols/revolvers but other than BPCR's, I haven't used cast for a rifle such as the 35 Whelen and don't know if the GC would be beneficial or not. I'm not a great fan of them for pistols. I'm not sure at what velocity they would hold their own. I doubt I try for more than 1900-2100 fps. If the alloy is hard enough and you fit the bullet to the bore properly, I see little benefit of a GC.

[ColColt]

Two weeks after I last posted here I ended up in the hospital for five days having a vein bypass. They stripped out a vein in my leg to use as a bypass around a blockage in the main femoral artery. Two weeks later back in the hospital again due to an infection in the incision. I just got back a few days ago. It's not been a good summer.

I did get Tom to make me a mould with the 36-210B on one side and 36-245S on the other. One of those shoot really well, I'd say. I received the mould the day I got out of the hospital the first time but haven't had the capability of casting any as I can't stand on both feet yet...hurts my leg too bad. There will be brighter days ahead.

[dondiego]

Hoping you get better soon! Keep on casting for rehab!

[ColColt]

Thanks, I can't stand long and my casting area and bench require standing. I have managed to swap out the mounts on my 35 Whelen but I did most of it sitting. The rifle's ready to go when I am but that may be a couple weeks yet.

[SCHUETZENBOOMER]

Hands down, my favorite mold. Bullets jump out of it. 36-210, 36-250 and 36-280.

[ColColt]

That's a beauty. My 36-210B and 36-245S are aluminum. I have a couple of Tom's brass moulds and they're a work of art.

[ColColt]

I couldnt take looking at that fine mould and decided to see how long I could stand casting. Cleaned her up and fired up the Lee Pot and managed to cast close to 200 before my foot and leg gave out. I padi the price later with the foot/lower leg swelling a bit but at least now I know how they look and I need to get out and do a little shooting. It's been too long.

The one on the left is the 36-210B and the right the 36-245S. I've got an order in for the GC's so I'll be ready to go. The way things are looking that could be two weeks yet.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x220/ColColt/Misc%20Stuff/_DEF4829a_zps7eed6b2b.jpg (http://s180.photobucket.com/user/ColColt/media/Misc%20Stuff/_DEF4829a_zps7eed6b2b.jpg.html)

[MT Chambers]

Very nice! The one on the right looks like my cherished grain Saeco!!!

[TXGunNut]

Sorry to hear you had such a rough time of it, hope you get better soon. Casting can be therapeutic, just take it in small doses at first.

[ColColt]

I'm ready for a healing. It's been a month now. I knew once I started casting it was going to take a while but standing was hard. For a short while I forgot about the leg until it started getting tight and achy. Better times are just down the road. It's just too slow going. I got some nice shiny boolits out of it today, nevertheless.:)

[TXGunNut]

I like the looks of that 210B, hope you get a chance to shoot them soon.

[Artful]

Well, darn your just having too much fun with that leg - Both cavities look good - let's see some pictures after you poke some holes.

And feel better

[smoked turkey]

ColColt I really like the looks of your boolits from your new mold. Looks like you have your casting technique down pretty good. I pray your healing will be swift and complete without complications. I have a Ruger M77 in the Whelen and I am also wanting to do some shooting with it. I have a few molds for it so no excuse for not doing it. I am planning to take it on a Spring black bear hunt so I need to get busy with load work up. Good luck on yours.

[ColColt]

I'm chompin' at the bits to try those bullets out. In fact, I haven't even shot the rifle yet. I'm hoping these current boney shoulders can withstand some of the j-bullets I have loaded already like the 225 and 250 gr Nosler PT bullets. I have a Past Magnum pad just in case the recoil pad on the rifle is something less than soft. For sure it couldn't be any worse than my Browning BPCR 45-70 and 500 gr cast bullets behind a healthy dose of Swiss 1.5 powder.

[Yodogsandman]

ColColt, Please, get well first.

I let the fellow next to me at the range shoot my 35 whelen about a month ago. I didn't know he was recovering from surgery. He also had issues with infections and return trips to the hospital. He only took one shot to try it out. I took a few more shots as he did also with his rifle. He was at the bench to my blind side. I was snugging up and heard his water bottles fall on the floor and a scuffle sound. I fired and turned around and he was flat out, face down on the bench, passed out with an AR in full battery ready to fire almost pointing right at me. He came to and I insisted he make his rifle safe. He called his wife to pick him up. He sat in his car waiting and I brought his rifles and equipment out to his car for him. He never mentioned the surgery or hospital....his wife thanked me and filled me in. I hope he's OK, I haven't seen him since. I can't help but think it was that one 35 Whelen shot that caused his collapse.

[ColColt]

Good grief!! No, I quit going to the range toward the middle of May. I was having a difficult time returning fromo tacking up my targets at the 100 yard frame having to stop a couple of times due to my lower leg cramping. It just wasn't getting enough blood. reluctantly, I stopped going at that point until something could be done. So, it's been about three months since I've been to the range and it's getting so bad I'm ready to go out in the back yard, tack up some targets somewhere and zero my Whelen in...no, I haven't lost it that bad yet. I'd be in the pokey before sundown if I did that around here.

Poor fellow. I hope he's doing better. In his shape I never would have been at the range.

[Yodogsandman]

Maybe not but I just know you want to....badly.