Resizing 9.3/286 grain bullets for 35 Whelen

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I thought some 35 Whelen fans might find this of interest.

It took some experimenting this weekend with different techniques and lubes but today I found a trouble free way to resize Hornady's 286 grain .366" bullets for use in 35 calibre rifles. The bullet on the left in the pic is a slight bit under .366" - as it left the factory. All the ones on the right are .358" now. After one pass through my .357 Lee sizer die they were a bit over .358" (there seems to be a little diameter spring back). A second time through the same sizer gives me slightly under .358 with uniform results, The bullets seem perfect on the outside - no obvious scratching or other defects it would seem.
366to358_resizing_1.jpg


I first tried Imperial sizing die wax to resize these bullets. But I had a stuck bullet that had to be drilled out of the sizer die. After discussions with a machinist friend who sizes 50BMG cases with Lee lube, I decided to go back and try the old tried and proven Lee case lube which he recommended I try again. Simply put it worked very well. I have similarly sized Norma 232grain 9.3 bullets in the past using Lee lube and it worked well too. But I thought I would use something better with the Imperial wax - but it was not better at all.

I have an older Lee challenger press which isn't much in terms of brute strength. It get's most of its power nearing the bottom of the handle stroke. So I have to adjust the die up a 1/2" initially to get the bullet started on its way up the chimney. Then I back off the handle momentarily and screw down the die that 1/2" in order to complete the trip through the die. It's not a problem as it's not a critical measurement. I use the locking washer left a 1/2" high as it is then easy visually to duplicate quickly and repeatedly the required die up and down adjustment.

Now I have to range test these resized 286ers in a 35Whelen (3.280" COAL in cut away pic) or in my 350WSM (2.875" COAL in cut away pic) - hopefully tomorrow. I also will be sectioning one to see if it has the interlock ring. The box says nothing about that. I'm not sure if the core is bonded or not either. If it has the interlock then I doubt it.

As well as being a pretty well made bullet, these are economical too - at least compared to .358" Swift 280s and Woodleigh 310s which are more than twice the cost per bullet.

Regards all
 
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When I first got my 35 Whelen about 9 years ago I found a guy on line who lived in Alaska that was selling .358 dia reduced 9.3mm bullets. Of course your way is a lot more cost effective as the Lee die and lube are not that expensive.
 
The only problem I can anticipate would be the "springback" of the jacket that you mention. This commonly occurs when drawing lead core bullets down like you are doing, and leaves the cores loose in the jackets.

Your shooting tests will tell the story. Looking forward to hearing how things go.

Ted
 
I was hoping the "springback" was the core and jacket moving together but ??? I wonder if a "bonded core" design would be better for resizing as the core and jacket would be "bonded" - ??? I still have to section a bullet to see if it has the interlock ring.

Today I chronographed the first four of these resized 9.3 bullets. Out of my 350WSM I got the following initial results.
60 ReL15 - 2366 (all instrumental readings)
61.5 ReL15 - 2428
63 ReL15 - 2473
62 IMR4895 - 2476
When I was shooting over my Chrony I set up this target at 100 yds. It's OK for four different loads over 100fps apart and two different powders I think. No issues at all with pressure at this level too. Just good fun to shoot.
286gr9.3mm_resized_target.jpg
 
Normally its not advisable to draw bullets down more than 5 or 6 thou. because of springback and jacket separation. From the target you've shown, it appears that this won't be a problem with these bullets since they seem to be very accurate. Bonded bullets would hold together better than standard bullets after drawing, but it is possible to break a bond, so its not a guaranteed solution.

As for a draw lube, anhydrous lanolyn would do the job with no problems. I use it or a mixture with castor oil to swage bullets at pressures of up to 180,000 psi. You can get small quantities of it from a druggist.
 
I've often wondered if you could size 8mm (.323) bullets down to .314. Most P-14s have a bore diameter of .314, it seems, and the same applies to a good number of Lee-Enfields.
 
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