The RCBS 35-200-FN to hollowpoint or not to hollowpoint?

[Corbi]

Greetings,

My goal is to have a 35 Whelen reduced load for my Ruger #1. Maybe take the RCBS 35-200 boolit and load it to 35 Remington velocities (2,000-2,200 fps). Most of the deer I take is within 50 yards. There is no use for me to load the Whelen to it's potential for around here hunting. The reduced loads would be more fun to shoot out of this light rifle too.

I do not have a mold yet but I see you can purchase these boolits gas checked both in solid and HP from Western Bullet Co.

My question is do I use the solid or hollowpoint?

What would you use and why? At what velocity would the HP boolit work best?

Thanks,
Corbi

[Ben]

You speak with wisdom.

1,700 1,800 may offer better accuracy and a dead deer at those speeds won't know if the bullet was traveling 1750 fps or 2100 fps.

[KYCaster]

At 2000 to 2100 fps, that boolit cast of ACWW performs exactly like Winchester Power-Points or Remington Core-Loct.

Absolutely no need to HP it.

Jerry

[Lefty SRH]

I agree, I say no hollow point. My opinion is that 35-200 in HP version would be rather explosive. IF/WHEN you buy a mold just mix up 50/50 for a softer boolit for expansion.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?172689-I-believe-the-cast-lead-rifle-boolit-is-the-most-effective-projectile-in-the-world

[richhodg66]

I'm not the expert some here are, but I killed two in the past year with .30s at similar velocities, niether of which was a HP and both deer died quickly. I think solids would do fine.

[largom]

You could not pay me to HP my RCBS 35-200 mold. Kills deer great in my 35 Rem.
Larry

[runfiverun]

before I storebought I would want to know the alloy they used.
making your own at home allows you to tune in your alloys softness and velocity.
there is soooo much you can do yourself to make the boolit perform [or over perform like in the above linked thread]
you have a velocity window in mind you just need to find accuracy in that window, then tune the alloy to the desired outcome.

[Larry Gibson]

rather explosive

HPs? Sorry but that dog just don't hunt........if hollow pointed correctly and used with a correct alloy the HP does not "explode" but rather decisively increases the terminal potential just as an expanding soft point does.

It's not rocket science either and is easy to do. The RCBS 35-200-FN is an excellent candidate for HPing. Granted it can be quite effective without HPing by using the same alloy but the easy to do HP with a Forster 1/8" HP tool makes the job simple and quite effective. Use COWWs, add 2 % tin to those and then add lead for a 50/50 alloy. I GC and size mine in a .360 H die and lube with Javelina or 2500+. I push them at 2150 fps out of my M91 Argie rebarreled with a 26" Shilen barrel chambered in 35 Rem.

How effective are they? The photo's below show the rifle, the cartridges and the effectiveness. Target show 2 groups at 100 yards in top target with "zeroed" group just above POA. Bottom target is 200 yards with 3 moa added to the rear sight. The bullets in the cartidges in the stripper clip were HP'd with the Forster 1/8" HP tool to a 3/16" depth. Those are my hunting bullets. Buck was shot at about 90 yards and he stumble at the shot and staggered about 20 yards and collapsed. Couple coyotes shot with same didn't go that far.......none of the bullets "exploded " and all were through and through with lots of blood let out. The load is effective to 200 yards (my personal max range based on retained velocity for expansion).

I clean the barrel every 8 - 10 shots with that softer alloy load to maintain that accuracy. I cast the same bullet out of just the COWWs + 2% tin and use the same load for practice. Zeroes are the same that way and with the harder alloy I can shoot all day (have shot 100+ cartridges in an afternoon) w/o any fouling, leading or loss of accuracy.

Doesn't get any better than that.

Larry Gibson

71639716367163871637

[Corbi]

Thanks for all the insight.

I'll probably go with the solids. Most of my deer killing is within 50 yards. I would still like to push the boolits fast enough to have a +3" at 100 and -3" at 200 type of trajectory.

123DieselBenz, thanks for the link to that post. I quit shooting shoulders long ago.....especially with the Whelen. LOL! I really like the heart/lung shot if long, if within 10 yards or so I make neck shots.

I appreciate the replies. I will probably buy a hundred or so, if I like them maybe find a mold.

Corbi

[Ramslammer]

G'Day All
I've got NOE's copy of this mold in a RG (hollow point) and it works well. No doubt it'd work well as a solid too but I'm happy with it's performance. Kills feral Goats in a flash!!
Juddy

[Andrew Mason]

I wouldn't HP it,
It's a great boolit allready

I

[Corbi]

Anyone want to share a favorite load for the Whelen?

I was considering a reduced charge of IMR4895.

Corbi

[Shuz]

Anyone want to share a favorite load for the Whelen?

I was considering a reduced charge of IMR4895.

Corbi

I've been using 24g of mil surp 4759 with this boolit cast outta 3:1 alloy(ww:lino) and heat treated to Bhn 22 after sizing. this load chrono's 1744fps with an sd of 22 in a stock Rem 700 with 1:16 twist and gave me a 1.28" five shot group at 100 yds on 8/26/12.

[Blammer]

look at post #25 on this thread

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?169630-35-Whelen-powder/page2

[clodhopper]

Can't vouch for hollow points. Unaltered RCBS35-200, cast unsientificly of 50/50 wheel weight/softish rangescrap kills deer very well launched from my rem700 .35 whelen. I use 4064, 40.6 grains. Average about 1900 fps.
One memroable spike whitetail was leaving in a hurry when I swung on him (but did not swing through) he went down for good. The bullet caught him in the small of the back, ranging forward.
My hunting buddy, armed with a high velocity 25 cal wildcat was apalled at the disruption of backstrap.
But real meat loss was very small.
Well placed shots are very effective. Most animals that were shot standing, folded on the spot, and those in high gear, only good for a few steps.

[Corbi]

Thanks for the replies.

Blammer that was exactly the information I was looking for.

I happen to have IMR 4895, 4350 and 4759 on hand.

Corbi

[GLynn41]

there can be reasons to HP --I want to is one-- to lighten the boolit, to shift the center of the boolit- -but I want to works fine-- they are fun to work with and do not have to be blitz boolits unless you choose to
have fun HP if you choose- either way can work or fail it is up to us to make them work

[bart55]

I have used this bullet in both the whelan and the 35 rem ,both have taken deer with no particular problem .as cast with ww gc and 2percent tin added .also tried the hollowpoint with half ww andhalf pure lead .It performed perfectly on a large doe at about sixty yards.looked like the earth swallowed her up at the shot. that was in the whelan at about 1800 fps . So its your choice both work, I love the cast bullet!

[Cosmiceyes]

Well done.Now I wish I didn't sell my Arg.Mauser.I love the caliber choice.Great pictures.I have been looking for a old action/gun to re-do just this month.I have the old Lyman/Mauser peep that mounts to the bolt release.Like seeing the cart.in the stripper clip.

[Outpost75]

Believe it or not, one of my favorite reduced loads for the .35 Whelen uses the 35-200FN with the GC heel bored out to give a 215-grain plainbased bullet, which I cast from wheelweights with 8.4 grains of Bullseye pistol powder. Velocity is about 1300 fps. Pleasant, accurate and effective. A fine 50-yard deer load, BTW.

[280Ackley]

I've been working on loads for a 35 Whelen I bought last year. 700 Remington Classic. I've been following all the 35 Whelen threads here and experimented with several of the ideas that were discussed. Until today I haven't been happy with the results. Based on a thread that Blammer posted about hardening his alloy with WQ, I went a step further and mixed 9/1 COWW/Lino WQ. These boolits are hard, but don't shatter when hit with a hammer, except the nose shears off. I have tried a number of powders and have settled on H4350. Today I started at 52grns and worked up to 55.0. I don't know if this will be to explosive for a deer load, but I plan on testing them on wet paks in the near future. I do know it shot clear thru a pine 4x4 at a hundred yards and blew a 2 inch hole out the back. The 54 grn load was an honest 1.5 MOA and had 4 in under .9 inches. I think I am starting to zero in on a hunting load.

[357maximum]

280 your alloy will most likely blow the nose off, but you have enough mass with that boolit to kill any whitetail that walks the earth. The best alloy I have found for my whelen is 50%COWW, 50% soft lead which I then add 5% of railroad bearing babbit into......at 2450 and 2700 fps it works great and I can get honest sub inch groups with both loads when I hold my mouth just right. I have my best luck with H4350/H414/H-Hybrid100V...you are close, but I would personally ditch the HP...your call on that one however.

[enoch59]

I've given up on cast HP's after destroying a hind quarter on a beautiful buck a few years back. I was shooting a Marlin 44 Mag with a 265 gr. devastator hp. Somehow the heart/lung shot bounced off a rib and some if not all of the hp traveled out the backside and left a hole the size of my fist with extensive blood shot damage. What a disgusting mess I was left to deal with. Ever since then I have been heat treating by boolits and then annealing them for the desired effect. They just leave a hole with no shot damage. I only use the devastators if I find myself in a dangerous situation protecting my own meat.

[DanWalker]

I shot a VERY large warthog last summer in Africa with that boolit(non HP) from a marlin 336 (35 rem). Alloy was 50/50 WW/Range scrap (BHN 12)
Punched it through his shoulders at 60 yards. He tried to run, but his shoulders didn't work. He did two forward flips under the power of his hind legs, then just died. My PH was struck by the THUMP this little boolit displayed on game. Another fun load in your whelen is to load this boolit over 16 grains of 2400. It's a phenominal target and small game load.

[youngda9]

No need for HP with a properly placed shot. Millions of buffalo agree with me.