35 Whelen Redux

[35 shooter]

I agree on the powder. After all the testing we've both done to this point and considering your results and mine, I would be totally happy with some flavor of 4350 and unique for my whelen. LOL if i quit going to the range all the time, 8 lbs. of each would last from now on.

[robroy]

Well what's the point of having powder if'n ya don't shoot it?

[TXGunNut]

Well what's the point of having powder if'n ya don't shoot it?

I don't think that will be a problem, seems I need to keep 2-3 lbs on hand of several varieties and at least one empty bottle leaves every time I empty the trash in my loading room. Better question is "where the heck did it all go?"

[TXGunNut]

I'm thinking about a new mould, all I can figure is that the 360318 just isn't going to work in this rifle.
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=36-250A-D.png

[bigted]

TX ... thats a good looking boolit. wonder how it would feed outta the mag tho with the wide meplate? i do think by the drive bands tho that it would be a rifling hugging hummer.

[bigted]

would your rifling require the short section of the nose? i had looked at the 36-270 B or C boolit with the longer nose section and the slightly heavier weight ... do you think a fella would experience nose slump with the 270 grain boolits? looks like the nose would be pretty long and slip into the rifling begining to get a good start in the speed dept.

[35 shooter]

Tom sure has got a lot of 35 cal. boolits to choose from. Everytime i go to his site i find something i like on there.

Wow! Just took another look. A, c, and d ARE good looking boolits on the 250 gr. B looked like it had a tapered nose profile kind of like the 360318?
I need to stay away from that site!lol

[TXGunNut]

Based on my experience with the RD 359190, 360235 Thor and NOE/Lyman 360318 I'm thinking Ol' Ugly likes a big meplat as long as it's not very long (359190). A boolit with a longer nose needs a bit of taper to feed properly (360318). The 360318 doesn't have the meplat I want for hunting and I've had little success getting the accuracy I want at the velocity I desire. A boolit with a long nose, a big meplat and little taper (360235 Thor) won't feed in Ol' Ugly. I need to get drawings of all the above along with the 36-235A.
Don't have an answer for your later questions, Bigted, but I think the answer to the first question is "yes". Quite honestly I don't fully understand bullet slump but in my limited understanding that may be the issue with the 360318.
And yes, 35 shooter, hanging out on boolit mould manufacturer sites has proved expensive for me a time or two. Could be a long summer!

[Yodogsandman]

Could Ol' Uglys feed ramp be modified, ground or polished to accept that 360235 Thor? Or is the extractor not catching the rim when feeding from the magazine? That Accurate 36-250 looks like a thumper! Do you know the length and the length of the bore riding section? I didn't see those dimensions listed. That's nice that they'll fit it to your lands.

[TXGunNut]

Could Ol' Uglys feed ramp be modified, ground or polished to accept that 360235 Thor? Or is the extractor not catching the rim when feeding from the magazine? That Accurate 36-250 looks like a thumper! Do you know the length and the length of the bore riding section? I didn't see those dimensions listed. That's nice that they'll fit it to your lands.

Possibly. I polished it as best I could and it helped a bit. Not willing to change the contours of the feed ramp, simply don't know what I'm doing in that area. Problem is the leading edge of the meplat would catch the ramp and pop the round out of the magazine lips prematurely. The 670 is a push feed so the extractor doesn't engage the rim while feeding. I tuned the magazine lips and even replaced the follower and spring. Didn't help much with the Thor but helped a bit with the RD 359190.
Still studying on the 360-250A. Does look like a thumper, doesn't it?

[Yodogsandman]

Sure does! Would Accurate send you some test boolits to try?

[35 shooter]

The 250-A nose profile looks closer to the ranch dog than the others doesn't it? Looked like the others had longer noses? My problem is everything on his site looks good lol. I like all the dia. options he offers with his moulds. Sounds like he can make em fit any throat or bbl.

[TXGunNut]

Sure does! Would Accurate send you some test boolits to try?

No need, just need to gather up measurements on the boolits I've tried and compare. The other 250's would likely have the same issues the Thor had but the 250A has promise, especially with a craftsman like Tom ready to tweak it a bit.

[bigted]

looks like that boolit ... the 36-250A would be considerable as it is just under 2 calibers in groove grabbing length along with a fairly short nose section and that big wicked meplate for thumpin whatever it contacts. did you say you ordered the mold yet?

[TXGunNut]

Haven't ordered it yet. Need to do a little homework and headscratching first. I like the bore riding feature too. No hurry, too hot to get serious about rifles for awhile.

[TXGunNut]

Took advantage of today's unseasonably cool weather to interrupt Ol' Ugly's vacation. Unfortunately the benchrest shooters were having a match on the rifle range so I had to shoot on an adjacent 50 yd rifle range. I needed to shoot Scopekiller @ 50 anyway so it wasn't all bad.
Decided to go back to the 52.5 gr H4350 load (8A), I have a few pounds I was saving for a j-word rifle but I don't shoot that rifle anyway. First group (upper left) had a couple of fouling shots in it but was pretty decent, all things considered. The IMR4350 loads at around 54 grs (load #9) showed promise but had a nagging habit of tossing a flyer high with annoying regularity.
I guess I have this year's hunting load for Ol' Ugly, think I need to cast another bucketful of those RD 359-190 boolits; Ol' Ugly and Scopekiller have been eating them like candy. Speaking of Scopekiller the new Weaver is still hanging tough and I've discovered she has a marked preference for a 41.0gr LVR load I found on a thread around here a few weeks back...as long as I don't let her get hot. She's still not shooting like she used to, maybe a bit of tweaking on this load or her old standby load and she'll be back to her old self and quit taking her anger out on my scopes.

[35 shooter]

It does show a preference for the h4350 even at 50 yds. It is indeed strange how different rifles of even the same caliber can often show a preference for different powder brands like that, even when their basically the same powder.
My rifle showed a definite preference for the imr 4350 today.
Looks like you've got a good load there indeed and that RD is a fine looking boolit. Glad you got to get out and shoot today!

[TXGunNut]

That load does quite well @ 100 as well, you may recall when I first tried that load awhile back. Couldn't find anything better so I came back.
My 30-06 had a hard time choosing between H4350 and IMR4350, very close in that rifle. Gave up trying to figure out that flyer when using the IMR4350 in the Whelen.
Thinking pretty seriously about lubing that RD boolit with BAC in my Lyman instead of TL'ing with LLA. Pretty amazed that LLA is hanging in there at what I believe to be 2300 fps or better. Got plenty of time to think about it, going to load up a few to chronograph and then load up some hunting ammo. Not going to change anything until after hunting season.

[35 shooter]

I remember that load well. I believe that's the one that was cloverleafing at 100 yds. It's definitely shooting Very well in your rifle.

[TXGunNut]

I agree. It's going hunting this fall. Now we need to get your hunting load figured out.