35 Whelen

[legendhunter]

I found a NEF rifle for sale in 35 Whelen at a really good price. How are they with shooting cast bullets and what would a good bullet weight? Thank you.

[siamese4570]

I have one and shoot a noe 245 gr flat point at about 2000fps. Groups pretty well
Siamese4570

[pworley1]

I use the Lyman 358315 358318 and the Lee 358200 and they all shoot very well at about 1800-2000.

[Rapier]

I use the RCBS design plain base flat nose 200g PCed with same loads as a J bullet. RCBS discontinued the mold, so I have gone to the Saeco iron mold they shoot sub MOA with authority. I traded my early short barrel, light, 35 W 700 Classic for a 6.5x55 classic and am currently building a longer, heavier barrel 35 W 700.

[atr]

I shoot 200, 214, and 275 grain in my 35 Whelen. 1:14 twist
I find that the longer projectiles are more accurate than the shorter stubby ones.

[Tripplebeards]

Was going to try 200 grain HP cast in my 7600 pump but can’t get them to feed and cycle.

[siamese4570]

Legendhunter, If you want some abuse, try a factory a round thru your handi rifle. One will be all you want. Of course we're not on this site because we shoot "j" words. This is a great cast boolit rifle.
Siamese4570

[Shawlerbrook]

Agree with siamese4570. Out of the light Handi Rifle I would only shoot cast reduced 35 Whelen loads for the sake of my shoulder.

[Tripplebeards]

My 7600 chambered in 35 whelen is an absolute recoil beast with factory loaded jacketed ammo. Who ever said the recoil was almost the same as 30-06 is full of BS. I have the same 7600 in 30-06 and its recoil is like shooting a 243 vs a 375 RUM between the two calibers. I’m sure the handi rifle would even be worse.

[BadgerShooter]

I have had 3 whelens. The first was a non-cataloged Ruger 77. Honestly, it was a ***. The stock cracked, the rifle would not reliably fire factory ammo due to headspace issues and it wasn't very accurate with anything I tried in it. I did kill a nice Black Bear with it at about 10 yards where it performed admirably with the bear dead on the spot. The other rifles are a custom mauser and my wife has a Rem 700 in the caliber. She shot a huge 11 pointer with it. With 250 grain bullets at full power, they do kick way more than a -06, closer to a 375 H&H. The 700 shoots paper patched bullets excellently. I thought it would be an ideal woods smasher, but once I started shooting the Marlin 45-70's at full pressure with swaged paper patch bullets, I found it to be way better for game under 150 yards or so.

[atr]

I know J's are not about this site but if you want recoil try 275 gr J's in the 35 whelen. I have a small supply of 275 J's and they will really push you back.

[Tripplebeards]

My 7600 wouldn’t feed or cycle j words or cast right out of the box. Didn’t know till after I tried a bunch of failed loader tests loaded singly. Accuracy was also terrible. I sent it back to Remington and got it back during their bankruptcy. It now feeds jacked ammo but not cast. Supposedly they replaced the barrel. Remington sent back a test target that shot sub MOA with their 200 grain factory load. They said it was a 100 yard three shot group. I’m guessing it was a 50’ group.lol. I haven’t got it to shoot better than a 1.5” group with over 60 ladder tests. Not giving up yet. I’ll try some heavier j words some day in it. If I ever give up on it people are paying and arm and leg for them on GB.

[ChristopherO]

The 35 Whelen I shoot is an old military Mauser that was sporterized long before I acquired it. I really like this rifle and cartridge and have been shooting reduced cast loads for fun and cost effectiveness. The Lyman 358318 boolit is so-so. The NOE 182 WFN GC mimics the 350 Legend. Accuracy is decent for the first 8 or 10 shots, then it needs to be swabbed out well due to the soft lead I use, range scrap.
The dirt cheap Bullseye loads of 7 grains are fun practice with no push on the shoulder to think of. It is all what you want to make of this combination.

When shooting full tilt 250 grain jacketed bullets it does set my hat back, but my rifle is considerably heavier than your's, has a decelorator pad that mitigates the recoil, as well. The Handi Rifle would be brutal, IMHO, with top end loads.

[BadgerShooter]

I know J's are not about this site but if you want recoil try 275 gr J's in the 35 whelen. I have a small supply of 275 J's and they will really push you back.

I have some 300 grain Barnes Originals - ditto on the recoil. I've got bigger guns that kick harder so its all relative. If you want smash out the front, you have to deal with some in the back, or install a brake.

[Tripplebeards]

…and if your down loading it you should have bought a 35 Rem imo. I have a 300 RUM and 375 RUM so I’m use to the recoil. Just stating it belts about twice as hard as a 30-06. Most magazine articles say the felt recoil is about the same between the 2 calibers.

[TurnipEaterDown]

I have a 35 Whelen Improved on a Mauser '98 action. 1:14 twist, 24".
To be honest, it almost meets std Whelen reloading manual book velocity. In this, I don't think the Ackley mod gives much w/ the short magazine (3.29" max COL, I load at 3.28" generally) except for improved headspace control which seems fine on the standard Whelen anyway if you handload.
I have used jacketed 158gr pistol bullets (great w/ XMP5744), 200 gr, 225 gr, 250 gr, 275 gr & 310 gr and liked them all for a purpose. I got 2225 fps on the 310s w/ 4350 & 2400 fps on 275s w/ RL17.
I use the NEI 232 gr (cast, checked, lubed, 252 gr for me) with IMR3031 with good satisfaction at 16-1700 fps.

Found this cartridge killed everything I pointed it at quite nicely w/ jacketed bullets (Boar, Deer, Elk & a Bison).

The rifle used to wear a 2 3/4 power Redfield post. Now a Burris I think 1-4x w/ heavy duplex. The duplex will easily cover the group at 100 yd, and measured I often get 5 shots ~ 2 inch. It really liked a 250 Hornady SP w/ IMR4007 (sub inch) but it was a slow load -- 2150 fps. So, other than put a couple boxes through paper, that load didn't get much use.

I never minded the recoil w/ full loads, though I tend to move w/ a rifle in recoil.

[kaiser]

I have 3 Whelen's (35) at the moment; two bolts and a pump. The pump is the hardest recoiling of the three because of its lighter weight and stock design. With "full house" 250gr loads the pump action turns into a "semi-auto" where the "slide" initiates ejection without any effort on my part! The recoil of the two bolt actions rifles are much less than the pump because they weigh almost a pound heavier; one is in a "fiber" stock and other in wood. I read somewhere that Col. Whelen opined that the cartridge was designed for the bolt action; I do believe the cartridge is certainly the most versatile in this type of action, especially for a "hand loader". I do not find the recoil of the cartridge to be much more than a standard weight (8#) 30/06 firing "full house" 180 to 220gr bullets. (I have owned and shot .375 H&H, .338 Win., 9.3X62, and 45/70's that explored the "upper reaches" of my recoil "pleasure"!) I'll take the .35 Whelen over all the medium bores for comfort and effectiveness on big game. My .02

[gunseller]

I have two 35 whelens. One a custom on a mark X action and the other a Remington clasic 700. The clasic will shoot 147 grain 9mm bullets well enough to shoot rabbits at 50 plus yards. Many years ago I purchased several 500 bullet boxes of 200 grain copperised bullets from notional bullet company. They will run about as fast as j bullets. I the same bullet weight I can tell little differance in recoil between the 35 W and 30-06. With 225 or 250 j bullets the 35 W performance is about the same as the 338 win mag.
Steve

[MarkP]

I have several 350 Rem Mags all Remington's 1:16"; I have them sighted in for specific loads; I frequently shoot the LEE 158 gr FN (bevel base) over 8.5 gr of Red Dot or E3. Velocity is 1,350 - 1,400 fps. Also have shot the NOE 180 WFN with GC at 1,700 ish ( SR7625 -- about 13 or 14 gr) with great accuracy. I have loaded the same 50 cases multiple times down to 44 cases or so of the original 50, I anneal every 5 or 6 loadings or when I get some split necks.

Accurate Molds 247 & 273 gr FN for hunting these are designed to get 2.80" COL so loaded rounds fit in the blind magazine. RL-7, AA2015BR, IMR3031, RL-12, RL-15 for the 247's and IMR 4320 with the 273's.

Also the RCBS 200 gr FN shoots very well. I shoot that with RL-7 and duplicate upper 35 Rem loads with decent accuracy.


All are lubed with either Lars BAC or Carnauba Red.

The 247's at 2,250 the recoil is pretty sharp with a decent push in a 5.75 lb M Seven KS not too bad the the heavier 673 or Rem 700.

[lar45]

Not cast, but a Speer 250 with CFE223 will run 2700+ with book loads. I have a 28" barreled 350 Rem Mag on a Husky that will do an honest 2800fps with 35 Whelen book loads.