Which Bullet Would You Choose For .35 Whelen???

Off the shelf, I prefer the Federal 225, but they have become difficult to obtain. I have never been a big fan of Remington ammo, but the 200 grain corelokt group well in my 35. The 250s are very erratic in my rifle.

Try them all and see which your rifle handles best. Your rifle may have very different results.
 
I bought one box of Federal 225 gr TBBC's for my Whelen when I first got it and while sighting in with them I found out that they were very accurate out of my Remington 700, unfortunately I didn't see a moose that year. I now reload and have used Remington 200 gr PSP's on deer and they worked great.
 
wonksy said:
Just wondering out of the 3 Factory Offerings,
which one would you Wheleneers Choose???

1...Remington 200gr Core-Lokt

2...Remington 250gr PSP

3...Federal Premium 225gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw

I've fired a box of the 250's, But recently picked up a box of the Bear Claws to try. Interested to see if they will group any better then the 250 remmys
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No they are all crap. You may as well just sell that rifle back to me.
You shot it.......:eek: Now it's worth what you paid less 20.00 a shot.
LOL....!
 
35 Whelen bullets

Before I started to reload, I used 200 grn Remington factory ammo in my 7600. I found them very accurate (1.0-1.5", when I did my part from a benchrest). For hunting, I fired the gun twice; two dead caribou on the spot; one at 125 yards, the other at 225 lazer yards). For moose, I prefer 250's but those 200grn Remington Corelockts did everything I asked of them.
 
225 sierra spbt

used this bullet very successfully on deer, bear, and calf moose.

have never recovered a spent round, always thru and thru

wound channel is the size of a toonie, does not look to have had any bullet fragmentation, very little meat loss

no experience with adult moose, but i feel the bullet will perform as expected
 
Hey, a little off topic here but anyway...:rolleyes: I just started loading for a new to me whelen...it's supposed to have a faster twist barrel. My normal loads of 250g horcores just walked verticaly right off the target as I increased the charge, but it bug holed the 200g hornadys. All this is with IMR 4064. I'm guessing that the 250s are too long and got over stabilized. I was going to get some more 250s' but now I'm thinking that I should try the hornady RN instead of the SP. Any thoughts
 
I'm guessing that the 250s are too long and got over stabilized.
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Probably not the issue even if you do have a fast twist (rate -?) - especially if shooting at 100yds. I've got 12", 14" 1nd 16" twists that all handle 250s accurately. Besides longer heavier bullets benefit more not less from a faster twist - not the reverse.
Look elsewhere like - "I increased the charge"...
Hornady250RNs are often quite accurate IMO. IMR 4064 is a decent powder too for the 35Whelen - for classic 35Whelen velocities anyway.
 
Ya, I thought the faster twist would be better for the heavier bullet, I was quite surprised to see it string like that. I was thinking maybe it has "hanger" issues or needs bedding. But then I fired 3 shots with the 200g's and it grouped about .75"! Maybe it just hates the Speers, I've got some 250 SP's to try next

Oh ya, I mesured the twist with a cleaning rod and it looks like it's 1-12
 
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You are likely getting more muzzle rise with each increase in powder if we understand your first post corectly. Shoot a group with them all the same charge.
 
stocker said:
You are likely getting more muzzle rise with each increase in powder if we understand your first post corectly. Shoot a group with them all the same charge.
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Ya, maybe, but any good shooting hunting rifle I've had will throw all it's loads, with the same bullet, into roughtly the same group. Usually a group about 4-5" big with all the loads in it. Maybe a node or sweet spot shows up as a group higher or lower, but most are on paper. This thing just walked from the bull to 3" off the top of the paper in 5 shots...each one 1g higher. I've never had that before
 
Update for those who care:p This No1 Whelen today put 10 shots from 2 different powder charges into 3"....would have been 2" but shots 9 and 10 pulled a little high. What I did was put 2 pennies, wrapped in electrical tape, between the hanger and the barrel. I use a screwdriver to carefully pry the barrel/hanger apart a bit so the pennies will slip inbetween and then the tension holds then there. This is the second No1 that I've done this to and it's worked well both times. Those 2 shots that went high did so after I adjusted the gun on the bags....I moved in a little farther forward as the previous shots and pushed her back. So there is still some "hanger" issues going on, but much better then before. IMR 4064 with 250 SP's got to 2620fps, .5g over max with this things long throat....book max loads at 2550 land in the same group. Now I'll try in off a soft rest, free hand and using my hand as the rest...hopefully with no change in POI.
 
Too bad you didn't mention it was a #1 on your first post. I did a similar cure with a 22-250 #1 about 35 years ago. As I recall I used a piece of a brass dog licence disc and drove it between the barrel and hanger. It would also walk 5 shots off the top in 2"ncrements when I first received it and settled down to a 5/8" shooter after the "scientific" treatment. Some guys install a set screw in the hanger that bears against an indent in the underside of the barrel. They claim to tune it by varying screw tension till best results occur.
 
stocker said:
Too bad you didn't mention it was a #1 on your first post. ]

Ya, my bad...don't know what I was thinking. Thanks for the replys, I've seen those little adjustable tension units on the Brownells site, but the pennies just keep on working. My 7x57 was the same. Out of the box it walked then up and off the chart...removing the forewood helped, but once I wacked a couple of pennies in there she clamed down to 1 1/2". You'd wonder why ruger wouldn't do the same thing....they could put the widget in there for a fraction of the price we pay for them and then just call it "custom tuning to your own loads"
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