Reloading for .35 Whelen

asphalt599

asphalt599

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Just got my reloading gear all set up after a long stint of not being able to reload (new house). I'm looking to reload for a new rifle for this years hunt and could use some advice.
The rifle is a Rem 750 carbine. I want to stick with Hornady bullets as they are readily available and i for some reason just seem to feel more comfortable with them.
The rifle will be used for deer, bear and moose. I was thinking about a 250 grain round nose bullet. Is that a good choice? Should I go round nose or spire point etc? Bullet weight?
Also, being that it is a semi is there any advantage to light or hot loads? Will that make any difference in how the action cycles?

I would appreciate some input as to what is a good option and why.

Thanks guys
 
Once upon a time I loaded for a Rem 700 in 35 whelan. If memory serves it REALLY liked Sierra 225 gr spitzers. I also used 200 grain hornadys round nose. I don't have the load data anymore, but I do remember I was under an inch at 100 yards with the Sierras. I can't answer about semis and loads because I never used one, but I suspect close to factory would function as designed.
 
That 250Hornady RN is a good all around big game bullet if you can get it out the door at around 2350-2400. I chrongraphed the the Remington factory 250RNs at around 2350MV from my 22" barreled M7400 when I had it. That 250RN seems to cycle well in the Rem 35Whelen semis.

There are a few of us here I know of that reload for the M750 in 35 Whelen. Digger2 has been using that Hornady 250RN bullet this summer and has been trying to improve accuracy from around 2+". He was increasing his loads from his starter loads of 54-56grs of ReL15. I haven't heard back since last month whether or not he had any accuracy improvement doing that. The M750 semi will handle max loads and yet it is advisable to stay a slight bit under IMO. I like to use a very light roll crimp just behind the front canelure edge in my semis to prevent the possibility of bullet set back hitting the feed ramp. But Digger2 reported to me that his were tested uncrimped and functioned fine in his M750 (I expect he may join in on this thread any time if he isn't out bear hunting). A compressed load if it's used will also help to prevent set back.

For the semi I would generally recommend to full length size your brass, use close to full power loads, crimp the bullet usually, and keep the chamber clean between shooting sessions. Medium burn rate powders like ReL15 (my fav), Varget, IMR 4064, W748, and IMR 3031 - to name a few - should work best. Stay away from slower rifle powders like IMR4350 and slower as they won't give the desired velocity anyway and may(?) not be the best for your semi's action. In my M7400/35Whelen I liked a load of 56grs of IMR4064 behind a 250 Hornady SP for 2410MV - the 250 RN would probably want another grain or two of powder for the same velocity.

Oh and deep snow will eat your hot empty cases - use a brass catcher if you can.

My M750 35Whelen - carbine flavour
M750_carbine_sm.jpg
 
My advice is; stay with lighter but premium bullets and faster powders and your semi will thank you. My recipe would be to load 200gr Barnes TSX with a moderate presure of H4895 powder (to 2500fps or so) in 35 Whelen semiauto carbine. This way the reliability would be improoved, so would be the trajectory, battering of action avoided and faster followup shot realised IMHO.
 
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Hey Whelen B sorry I haven't gotten back to you been a very busy summer. Asphalt599, I have tried some hotter loads up to 59grs of RL15 (work up slowly in your gun), the accuracy improved a little bit down to a 1.5" or so. I then shot some loaded at 56grs and had pretty much the same result for accuracy. This was with 250gr Hornady SP and RN. It seemed the SP functioned a little better(??) in the semi and was slightly more accurate, but I have a 1 clip giving me a little trouble right now. My gun wears a VXII 1-4 scope just FYI. Need to get to the range again, but life has been busy. Your right about bear hunting, I was out last weekend up by Shining Tree walking the cuts - no luck though. I'll try and get out shortly and post some more results of my findings.
 
DIGGER2 said:
Hey Whelen B sorry I haven't gotten back to you been a very busy summer. Asphalt599, I have tried some hotter loads up to 59grs of RL15 (work up slowly in your gun), the accuracy improved a little bit down to a 1.5" or so. I then shot some loaded at 56grs and had pretty much the same result for accuracy. This was with 250gr Hornady SP and RN. It seemed the SP functioned a little better(??) in the semi and was slightly more accurate, but I have a 1 clip giving me a little trouble right now. My gun wears a VXII 1-4 scope just FYI. Need to get to the range again, but life has been busy. Your right about bear hunting, I was out last weekend up by Shining Tree walking the cuts - no luck though. I'll try and get out shortly and post some more results of my findings.
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You mentined the SP function better. They feed better than the RN...better reliability etc?
 
asphalt599 said:
You mentined the SP function better. They feed better than the RN...better reliability etc?
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This particular gun is new to my collection. I had one before but only shot factory 250gr Rem SP in it. I haven't had a whole lot of time to test my theory but so far any issue's(swamping ie:cartridge half in chamber half in clip bolt on top) I've had has been with the RN bullet which sucks because they worked really well in my 7600 35 Whelen. I have a boat load of each style of bullet so I just need to test it some more. I do have one clip that is giving me some issues with not holding the bolt back on last shot. It will work if I pull the bolt back myself, but not after the last shot. I have 2 Whelen's 1 bolt and 1 auto, and was using the same brass for both but have changed and bought new brass for the auto and will keep it separate, just for that gun. I personally have only shot like 40rds from this gun so far and need to get going on this as hunting season is around the corner.
 
With the 250 gr Hornady I have found that 60.0 grs of RL15 works well. Mine has a very long throat, and I can load it to an OAL of 3.400" and still am 0.120" from the rifling. That effectively increases its case capacity to accomodate the extra gr of powder. With that I get 2550 fps from a 1:12 twist 24" barrel . I'd stick with 59.0 grs in guns with shorter OAL's.

I have also loaded a full case of RL17 (66.0 grs) for 2600 fps. Some people claim that they can get up to 69.0 grs in the case, but I can't imagine how they do. Both RL15 and RL17 are very accurate loads in my gun, and I have not seen any reason to try other powders. RL17 is not a great deal slower than RL15, so I suspect that in an auto-loader it will not behave much differently than RL15.
 
My dies and brass will hopefully be in end of the week. I think I am going to pick up a pound of RL15. Seems to be a general concensus that that is a good powder to go with.

Still a little up in the air about the bullet but still leaning towards the 250 RN.

Any benafit to using magnum primers or just stick to the regular large rifle?
 
I had a hard time finding 250RN from a store, they mostly stocked the SP. I bought mine off of here from several of our fellow nuts. I usually use FED 210 primers or CCI's (large rifle) I think factory Rem stuff uses the 9.5M primer.(magnum)
 
I never understand why guys buy the larger guns and use light for caliber bullets. The 250 hornady in either PSP or round nose is the way to go with R15/R17. Hornady Interlocks are the forgotten stepchild these days and perform amazing.
 
I use to have a 750 carbine in 35 Whelan that shot the 250 Hornady SP reasonably well with a charge of 53 g of H4895 if memory serves me well. The velocity was right at the 2400 fps mark. I used just the regular federal 210 primer with a R-P case. Hope that helps you
 
Another thought asphalt599 - don't forget those M750s sometimes need some breaking in period to limber up the moving parts to work their best. Mine has well over a 120 rounds thru it now and cycles great. Some have reported that M750 hang ups went away after some shooting. Stands to reason. Mine worked well from the get go (according to the trustworthy CGN first owner). Sometimes a faulty mag can be a problem too - and COAL and bullet ogive (nose shape) too. Experiments are needed to see what works best.

It is highly recommended to devote brass to the specific rifle as Digger2 is now doing and full length size them for the M750.

I'm with Andy on the ReL15 charge of 60grs (work up) behind the 250RN but you may not need that much. I prefer to state 59.5grs publically as for many years Alliant recommended 59.5 grs as a "recipe" (only 48,400CUP). It's still a fav of many 35 Whelen fans. Also as Andy says, ReL17 may offer some additional velocity but is still pretty new and somewhat experimental (I got 250RNs at 2600MV with ReL17 from my 700Classic first time out). But IMO the M750 kicking 250s out at 2400 with ReL15 is quite good enough for a newbie 35whelen reloader/hunter - and is easy to achieve.

So asphalt599 - getting some ReL15 to begin is a pretty good plan. I use WLR and WLRM and like the magnums best (colour same as brass cases). But both are fine IMO.
Hornady Interlocks are the forgotten stepchild these days and perform amazing.
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Yep - very good performers on bears at 35Whelen velocities IME.

Alliant_35whelen_loads.jpg
 
Whelen B.,

Since picking up my 35 whelen too this spring I've been immersed with finding loads that will suite my hunting needs.

I have a Ruger number 1 with a 24" barrel and a 1-12 twist. I really trying to stick with bullets over 225 grains. So far I have tried the Sierra 225 BT Gameking and Speer 250 Hot Core Soft Points.

I decided to standardize my bullet weight to 250 and basically tailor make either the 225 or 300 grainers to be at the same point of impact as the 250s. So my standard 250 load with the Speer is 53.5 grains of H4895 with CCi 200 primers and an OAL of 3.35". I have them travelling at 2450 fps and zeroed for 200 yards.

The Sierra 225 gr in order to meet the same POI is loaded with 53 grains of H335 and travelling at 2690 fps.

I'm hoping to try out some Barnes 225 TSX and making casts in a the heavy 300+ grain side. Powder wise, I know that Alliant RL-15 is the bomb right now but I'm trying to standardize my rifle powders. H4895 and H335 seems to very accurate with the 250 and the 225 in my rifle. Have you ever worked with BLC2? It seems to have lower pressures and higher velocities than the other powders in the Hogdon reloading data site.

I have also develop a subsonic small game/target load using CAM-PRO 158 Plated Flat Point projectiles. I bought a box of a 1000 and use 7 grains of Trail Boss to make it happen. It's fairly accurate out to 50 yards for small game work.

I love my 35 Whelen!!
 
As for the break in period with the 750 I hoping it wont be an issue. The previous owner said it functioned well with no issues. So hopefully thats true.
My dies should be in any day now so when they show up I'll grab a pound of RL15 a few more magnum primers and some bullets. I will probably buy the RN if they are in stock at my local store. If their not in stock I'll give the SP's a whirl. Did a bit of reloading this week to get back in the swing of things (.223, .308 and .303). Its been at least 2 years since I have had my reloading stuff set up (since we moved). It is really nice to do some reloading again. I'm really enjoying it this time around.
 
Havnt read the thread, I reload my Ruger 35, with 55gr of ADI 2208 an use 225gr Woodleigh RN with Federal primers on RP cases.., accurate enough an fairly warm in my gun, works a treat!!
 
...I'm really enjoying it this time around.
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The 35Whelen is pretty easy to load for so I think you are in for some shooting fun.
I decided to standardize my bullet weight to 250 and basically tailor make either the 225 or 300 grainers to be at the same point of impact as the 250s. So my standard 250 load with the Speer is 53.5 grains of H4895 with CCi 200 primers and an OAL of 3.35". I have them travelling at 2450 fps and zeroed for 200 yards.
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Sounds all good to me. I've sometimes had 225s and 250s so I could use them interchangably when hunting with my 35Whelen - a happy situation if it works out.
Have you ever worked with BLC2?
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Nope - not a fan of ball/spherical powders generally. A buddy had one really erratic load with it (unexplained high pressure - no harm done to gun or shooter) so I'm shy of it particularly.

Since u mentioned 300gr+ cast, these 310 Woodleighs should work also in your 12 twist Ruger #1 with no mag restrictions - unless the throat is cut short. Lotsa fun IME. Here's one in a cutaway 35whelen case - COAL of 3.280" - seated to canelure. 3.400" or so may be doable in your one shooter if the throat will permit.
woodleigh310gr_358.jpg
 
Whelen B said:
Since u mentioned 300gr+ cast, these 310 Woodleighs should work also in your 12 twist Ruger #1 with no mag restrictions - unless the throat is cut short. Lotsa fun IME. Here's one in a cutaway 35whelen case - COAL of 3.280" - seated to canelure. 3.400" or so may be doable in your one shooter if the throat will permit.
woodleigh310gr_358.jpg
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I saw those 310 Woodleighs at your site. Very awesome looking projectile. I should invest on a box one day. Have you taken any large game with them yet?
 
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