35 Whelen Strikes Again!

[35 shooter]

When I shoot my 35 Whelen with the NOE 360-310 FN over full charges, all those AR guys stop shooting and watch, LOL.

BIG BOOM BOOM!!!

[taco650]

Sorry if this has been asked before but.... what's the recoil on the 35 Whelen like?

I'm glad you asked this because I have wondered the same thing. Thanks to all who replied to it as well because I've thought of having JES bore out my old 30-06 to 35W.

[davidheart]

I ask because Midway sells the 35 Whelen barrel ~$90-$100. My gunsmith he'll swap/chamber any barrel on my Mauser for me for $125. So for ~$200 I have a 35 Whelen (or 308, or 25-06, or 6.5x55, or fresh 30-06). My Mauser is currently chambered in a military stepped 30-06 barrel with some pitting. 35 Whelen really intrigues me as a woods, hunting, cast cartridge. Then again, can't bat an eye at 25-06 or 6.5x55 either.

[taco650]

I ask because Midway sells the 35 Whelen barrel ~$90-$100. My gunsmith he'll swap/chamber any barrel on my Mauser for me for $125. So for ~$200 I have a 35 Whelen (or 308, or 25-06, or 6.5x55, or fresh 30-06). My Mauser is currently chambered in a military stepped 30-06 barrel with some pitting. 35 Whelen really intrigues me as a woods, hunting, cast cartridge. Then again, can't bat an eye at 25-06 or 6.5x55 either.

I think a JES rebore of your existing barrel might be a little less $$.

[Blammer]

35 whelen is no more of recoil (IMO) than a 30-06 180gr factory load.

if you have your rifle rebarreled to 35 whelen make sure they check for feeding of the 35 ammo.

when I had mine rebarreled the feed lips pushed the round too far to the left or right and the round got hung up on the side of the chamber, had to do some careful filing to get it to work properly. Wish I would have done that before the barrel was installed... would have been easier to get to for some metal work.

[Blammer]

I just water drop my ww alloy for my 35 whelen and it punched through a hog at about 200 yds, vel was about 2500 fps starting out.

[Moonie]

I think a JES rebore of your existing barrel might be a little less $$.

Looks like that starts at $225 not including shipping it there and he won't work on military barrels.

[MDC]

Only 50 yds mind you...but it does give hope out to 100 m or more. I had put a new scope on the rifle, unfortunately the sales person at Talley Rings told me I had a small ring Mauser..when I was certain I had a large ring ( Interarms Mk X) The back ring was low by about 60 thous...and I could not get it to go any higher than what you see on the target. I held on the top of the paper to get that group.

I would be very pleased with that even at 50yds. Only rifle I've shot cast in is my Marlin 41mag. And it will do a little under 2" at 50yds with the open sights. Just getting geared up to turn my Father in Law's model 94 into a cast shooter. If I can get one hole groups I'll consider it a success.

[gpidaho]

As mentioned farther up, I haven't seen any feral hogs here in Idaho, but if I do I'll be happy to help out testing alloys on a proper medium. May be a little cold up here in the winter even for a hog. lol Gp

[TXGunNut]

Mine is a sporter weight rifle so I don't enjoy shooting it off a bench after a few rounds. It's fun to rattle the roof over the firing line but I have other rifles that I enjoy shooting more. I upgraded my wimp pad since I fired it last, old one is old & hard and PAST makes a thicker one nowadays. Big fun for smacking hogs, tho.

[pls1911]

If you're looking for penetration, slow your bullet velocity.
Lyman handbook #3 has a great discussion on velocity vs weight retention & penetration.
For the alloys evaluated, (linotype and Lyman #2) around 1700-1800 was about optimized for both conditions.
Higher velocities with Lyman #2 caused over expansion, shedding mushroomed petals, and lower penetration.
Higher velocities with the brittle Linotype caused bullet fracturing and break up, and lower penetration.

I address the issue with an alloy much softer than Lyman #2 (BHN 10-11) heat treated at 450 degrees for 45 minutes and quenched in ice water. This alloy is at a nominal 25+ BHN, which easily allows 1900-2000 FPS, but retains malleability to preclude break up at impact.
These slugs are gas checked with ancient lyman slip-ons, sized to .309 or .310, and lubed with whatever happens to be in the sizer/luber.

Through old Marlin 30/30s, my high shoulder/spine junction shots ALWAYS have full penetration and leave a smoking hole in a DRT hog.
Heat treating is worth the effort.

[TXGunNut]

Point taken, the 35 Whelen is MUCH more than I need for TX white tail and most feral hogs. I'll be testing Larry's alloy on paper in the near future in the 35 Whelen and the 30-06 Tanner loads. I'm also looking for a 30-06 load for a recoil-shy youngster with a bit more energy transfer than COWW's. I think the alloy may be the same.

[Three44s]

I am curious.

With domestic boars there is a smell associated with cooking them. I assume it is the same with wild boars?

If one castrates a domestic boar and waits a fair bit it dissipates but you don’t have that luxury with a wild one.

Sorry for derailing the topic

Three44s

[TXGunNut]

In some cases a large boar is a very smelly and the meat inedible, at least to me. I had a very large boar processed into spicy breakfast sausage years ago (before I started doing my own processing) and wound up throwing most of it away. I think the boar's diet has as much to do with the odor and resulting flavor as his sex and maturity but when I pull the trigger on a big boar I do it for management (and recreational) value, not necessarily to fill the freezer. Hogs are omnivorous and will eat everything from berries to carrion and the odor of the animal and flavor of the meat will be affected.

[Fast Asleep]

Slow that Bullet down and don’t heat treat it..I have used both the NOE 360230 and the RCBS 200 grain 35 cal bullets with great success on pigs, but at 1800 to 1900 FPS and cast of air-cooled WW plus 2% tin. Both were shot from a 35-30-30 in a Marlin 36 rebored by JESS. I have had several rebores done by him including 38-55, 405 JES and 338-06, all with the same superb results n

[TXGunNut]

Slow that Bullet down and don’t heat treat it..I have used both the NOE 360230 and the RCBS 200 grain 35 cal bullets with great success on pigs, but at 1800 to 1900 FPS and cast of air-cooled WW plus 2% tin. Both were shot from a 35-30-30 in a Marlin 36 rebored by JESS. I have had several rebores done by him including 38-55, 405 JES and 338-06, all with the same superb results n

Thanks for validating my new plan. I'm thinking I'll soften the alloy to 50/50 plus a touch of tin; how do you feel about that?

[Fast Asleep]

Thanks for validating my new plan. I'm thinking I'll soften the alloy to 50/50 plus a touch of tin; how do you feel about that?

Should work as long as you don’t push too fast. These bullets will perform great on game at lower velocities than we have discussed here—just find the speed that matches your alloy to permit adequate hunting accuracy. Straight air cooled ww will work fine at a bit higher velocity than your proposed alloy.

[Three44s]

TXGunNut,

That makes sense. Thank you

Three44s

[44 flattop]

pls1911,

Fwiw, my GCCB load for my 9.3x62mm is 280 grains at about 1900FPS. = I, offhand, can think of NO creature in the Western Hemisphere that that rifle/boolit is inadequate to kill.
(Imo, any number of rifle calibers over .350" at about that speed, given a good shot, are equally capable.)
yours, tex

Yup, couldn't agree more, Tex. A couple years back I killed an absolute giant of a Roosevelt elk, hung quartered at 575, so tough we turned it all into burger, even the backstraps. Had a hump like a moose. Hit him four times behind the shoulders running through the timber, three passed through, one stuck under the hide. My caliber/load was .38-55 Cowboy with a 280gr cast at 1900 fps. Cast soft, 50/50 wheelweights/lead the one I recovered measured .720 and was the most perfect mushroom ever! Killed quite a few elk and deer with it, one antelope, too.

Slow that Bullet down and don’t heat treat it..

Agreed. I treat nothing.

I'm thinking I'll soften the alloy to 50/50 plus a touch of tin; how do you feel about that?

Sounds good to me. Probably slow it down a bit, too. The elk I kill are with velocities of 1400 to 1900 fps.

[Tripplebeards]

I just ordered a special run Remington 7600 carbine chambered in 35 whelen. $619 set and done...no need to mess with rebarreling. It will make good company for my 35 rem 7600 carbine. Can't wait, can't wait!!! I've been wanting one for years.