H&R 35 Whelen First Shots

[jonp]

I loaded up some 180gr j-words with 56gr IMR4064 to try it and see if they would extract ok after my escapade with the resized 30-06 where I broke the extractor and had to replace it. I used factory 35Whelen brass this time.

I tried a few shots and then my sweetie asked to try it. 5ft 2" and 110lbs. She tried a round and i asked her what she thought. "well, not bad but I wouldn't want to target practice with it" and she squeezed off another one. She said with the PAST pad I bought her it would not be bad at all.

[bigted]

im bettin the rifle would be just about the same in recoil as the TC encore huh? that must be a pretty nice hunting settup!

[Ben]

I loaded up some 180gr j-words with 56gr IMR4064 to try it and see if they would extract ok after my escapade with the resized 30-06 where I broke the extractor and had to replace it. I used factory 35Whelen brass this time.

I tried a few shots and then my sweetie asked to try it. 5ft 2" and 110lbs. She tried a round and i asked her what she thought. "well, not bad but I wouldn't want to target practice with it" and she squeezed off another one. She said with the PAST pad I bought her it would not be bad at all.

I loaded up some 180gr j-words with 56gr IMR4064 to try it and see if they would extract ok

Well,........did they extract OK ?

[jonp]

I loaded up some 180gr j-words with 56gr IMR4064 to try it and see if they would extract ok

Well,........did they extract OK ?

lol, yes they most certainly did. The problem seems to have been a very tight chamber. Brassmagnet set up a trade to get me a set of SB 30-06 dies and after trying them on some brass they extracted with no problem. The factory 35 Whelen brass works just fine.

Now onto the reloading for accuracy and then casting for this firearm. Since I do not have a mold for it yet I'm going to start out fooling with some 357 Cast pistol boolits and Promo.

[jonp]

im bettin the rifle would be just about the same in recoil as the TC encore huh? that must be a pretty nice hunting settup!

I had an Encore at one time and although it was not in this caliber it was in 7mm Mag. The recoil with this H&R is very favorable and manageable. This light loading I started out with is not bad in the least although I think with full house 220gr boolits it will require a recoil pad.

[Ben]

johnp :

" The problem seems to have been a very tight chamber."


Your chamber may not be as tight as you think it is. I'm betting that the 06' cases that stuck when measured at the web of the case would have been .473" +.

If I'm correct ? ? ?, Your cases sticking in the chamber were related to improperly sized brass not necessarily a tight chamber. It is interesting that when you bought factory ammo, it fell in and out without problems.

A small base resizing die will often get them to .470" ( measured at the web of the case ) then the cases will drop in and out freely in the chamber of your rifle.

.003" is more than enough to stick a case.

Ben

[jonp]

You are correct, Ben. The brass at the web was within "book specs" from the 35 Whelen Lee Dies I have and are consistent but do not fully chamber in the firearm. When I ran them through the small base die they slide right in. This is what I meant by a "tight chamber". There is no slop in it at all. Fired factory 35 Whelen cases also come out and go in fine.

[Ben]

A problem that you can deal with now that you KNOW exactly what the problem is.

I personally pay much less attention to " listed specs " and much more to what works and does not work in my own firearms.

Reloading manuals list over all lengths for a loaded round, in many cases that won't work in someone's firearm. But it is a " spec ." and some view it as the gospel.

Good Shooting,
Ben

[jonp]

"Book Specs" are a good place to start as you have to start somewhere and I was not interested in starting a pound cast in a new firearm before shooting it a few times. When the factory 35 Whelen I bought at the LGS worked fine I knew something was up and with the help of this forum narrowed it down.

The 4064 min loading was all over the place. This is not to say increasing it will not shrink the groups of course and I am using 180gr JWords. I just loaded up 53gr of IMR 4320 under them that I had sitting on the shelf from an experiment in 7mm Mag my brother in law asked me to do several years ago. We will see this weekend what is up. Possibly 180gr just will not shoot in this gun but until I can find other weights it is what I have to work with and I will play around with 4064. 4320, 3031 and a couple of others I have on the shelf.

[Ben]

It is too late now.........

But, if that happens again, take the case that won't chamber and cover the cartridge case with a permanent black magic marker.

Now, try to chamber the case.

Now, remove the case from the chamber.

Where the black has been removed from the cartridge case is the problem area that is interfering with chambering.

[jonp]

Not too late yet Ben. I sized 50 30-06 that wont work. Primed them too DOH! Im going to get to the marker this weekend. Im looking at a new house. Small but with 5acres 4 of which are field 1000ft long. Can you say rifle range?

[TXGunNut]

Not too late yet Ben. I sized 50 30-06 that wont work. Primed them too DOH! Im going to get to the marker this weekend. Im looking at a new house. Small but with 5acres 4 of which are field 1000ft long. Can you say rifle range?

Primers not a problem, just remove the depriming pin and resize if needed.
Good luck on the house.

[bigted]

yes i had a problem with an old sporter remington rolling block in 40-65 with the same manner in the chambering dept. i could force em in and close the block to fire but then they had to be tapped out with a small hammer and a rod down the barrel.

my "cure" for this was to adjust the die into the press and try the shell without the shell holder in place on the piston. then when i found the place where they stick a bit ... i turned in the die 1/2 turn and seat the case in the die ... small brass drift and hammer to remove and try em in the rifle. did this trick till they would chamber just fine in the web area. was using some old remington 45-70 re formed cases with RCBS 40-65 dies so figured the web had swelled into my 45-70 chambers which i recon are a bit larger then the 40-65. so i treated all my newly formed 40-65 cases with this treatment and never had a sticky case either loading nor extracting ... that is till i decided to use some un-named smokless powder which was just a tad over the top i guess and the sticky came back ... good enough for me ... just load to barely blackpowder levels ... [mostly with blackpowder] ... and life is good with this dandy old sporting rifle.