35 whelen beats snot out of man!

[Blammer]

Ok, it's me.

After a full day (11am to 5pm) of shooting, the 35 whelen really was pounding on me at the end of the day.

As many of you know I have a Marlin XL-7 I rebarreled to 35 whelen.
Fully loaded and with scope it wt's a scant 8 lbs.

I sized some Win 30-06 brass to 35 cal
WLR primers
41.5gr of IMR 4895
Lyman 358009 280gr WC WW's
sized to .358 with gator checks and speed green
OAL 3.050

Wind was blowing 35 mph coming directly from behind me.

I didn't wt or sort any of these boolits. I guess I should have.
oh well, I'll call it good.
this is 10 shots.
that's a cluster of 5 shots in the middle

[canyon-ghost]

Good Shooting, DJ! Might have hammered on you hard but, you have an impressive target there. You might have just started something.
Ron

[javelinaboy]

Very impressive.

I have a Ruger Model 77 tang safety in 35 Whelen that I had rebarreled with a 26 inch number 3 sporter weight barrel, that I have shot a few head of game with.

I guess I am just a natural born sissy, but if I put the first shot exactly where I want it on the target, I put the thing back in the case and go on about my business, ain't seen me no critters willing to stand there and get hit by a slug from that gun the second time.

[missionary5155]

Good morning Blammer
Try some good solid crosssticks.. Maybe not as perfect but they sure do help my little 155 pounds roll with the recoil. And once you get the hang of them cross sticks will produce real fine shooting.

[Bret4207]

Nice to see someone else using 10 shot groups. Gives a lot better view of how things are going.

The 35 can become a beast as you use heavier boolits or bullets and boost the speed.

[outdoorfan]

The 35 can become a beast as you use heavier boolits or bullets and boost the speed.

No kidding! Last time I had my Whelen out I was shooting 267 grainers at 2400-2500 fps, and the recoil was putting the scope (about 3.25-3.5 eye relief) back into my forehead to the point where it just barely kissed my eye brow a couple of times.

[9.3X62AL]

Hear that. The very similar 9.3 x 62 will thump ya a good one with full-tilt loads. Ease them back to the 38-55 ZIP Code (270 grainers @ 1700 FPS), and the shooting is a lot more pleasant. I use 23.0 grains of 2400 to get that velocity, and 10-shotters go well under 2" at 100 yards.

[357maximum]

DJ

Now you know why I wuuuuusssss out and shoot the BRP 360-220 exclusively in my Whelen. A max/near max load of H414 or H4350 will take anything that walks this continent and it only kills on one end of the gun.

[Blammer]

I shot some 185 gr boolits out of my whelen the same day. Couldn't tell the diff in recoil between it and the 280gr one. I guess 51gr of IMR4895 and the 185gr boolit will do that.

[357maximum]

The BRP 360-220 with 52,54,5* grains of H4350 or H414 behind it is not nowhere near the recoil I get with the 358009's at warm modest velocity in my walnut stocked Mauser 98. YMMV apparently.

The best thing about the WD'ed 50/50 BRP360-220 and the ball and stick versions of H4350 will both put ALL the boolits into groups like your 5shot cluster all day long and will totally transverse a whitetail from the forward upper shoulder and out the thigh on the opposite side without tearing it up too badly.

I shoot my 6 and 8inch plates at 440 yards alot and the H414/H4350 load with the BRP360-220 will hit it everytime and hit it with plenty of WHOP factor. It is not very likely I would take a deer at that distance......but I could very easily.

Stock design may be an issue here. My 98 just rolls up with very little rearward thrust with the 360-220. The recoil is more like a 1 1/2 ounce 12ga 2 3/4 inch "BABY MAG" than a rifle hit to the shoulder.