Does anyone have first hand experience and/or reloading data for jacketed pistol bullets in the .35 Whelen.

The whelen is quickly becoming my favorite round and I'd like to do some "unique" stuff with it.
Vapo

The last Speer manual I have is #13, and if memory serves, it shows loads for their 158-grain 38/357 handgun bullet.

Maybe a "jumping off place", anyway...

I have had very good accuracy Using Sierra 158 JHP bullets in my 358 Winchester at just over 2700 FPS. You may have to play with seating depths to get reliable feeding but other than that I have had no problems in the "smaller" 35 caliber. I could have pushed it faster with a different powder but the .3" groups at 100 yards was too good to risk losing.

I tried the Speer bullets too but they did not get along with my rifle producing groups in the 1 1/2 to 2" range.

I've got a 16 7/8", overall length counting brake, Encore pistol barrel in 35 Whelen that I had SSK make for me a few years back.

I haven't ran the load across a chrony nor has the barrel seen anything but the range but it's 'very' accurate with the below load using Hornady single shot pistol / handgun bullets.

WLR primers....Hornady # 3505 180 gr. SSP....55.0 grs. Varget.

Ike

I have loaded 30 grs of IMR 4198 under a 158 gr Hornady jacketed bullet and shot that as a plinking load in a 35 Whelan Imp. Rem 06 cases =1940 fps. It also fireformed the improved shoulder. I had trouble locating the origin of that load but it appears to have come from an article in a magazine that compared the 35 Whelan to the 338-06. I do not have any loads for any faster powders like Unique. I also see that the Speer manual that lists loads with pistol bullets doesn't use powders faster than RE 7 and doesn't recommend reducing their listed powder charge. That load shot to the same POI as my full throttle loads with 250 gr Speers at 25 yds in my rifle. Hope that helps.

I'd be interested to hear why the Whelan is becoming your favorite round. Generally, what bullets and loads do you use for it.

Lindy2 I'm sure Vapo has some of his own reasons for liking the 35 Whelan. I would like to share some of mine with you. I prefer the 35 Whelan Ackley Imp version. The sharper shoulder provides for positive headspacing and a little more case capacity (not saying the slight shoulder on the std Whelan is a problem). Forming the cases is a NONE issue, just load std 06 and fire them. I have two 35 W . Both are the AI. The first was built on a 98 action and a McGowen featherweight barrel, back when Harry made them. That rifle has accounted for a number of moose in the timber of northern Manitoba. That rifle shoots 250 Speers very well and almost every other 35 cal bullet tolerably. My latest 35 is built on a Tikka M-65 action. With a 23 in barrel I can start the 225 gr Nosler accubonds at over 2800 fps and over 3900 ft/lbs of muzzle energy. A 200 yard zero is only 23 inches low @ 400 yds. I am a fan of heavier bullets punching larger holes in game such as elk and moose. If you feel you want to get up close and personal with something that may bite back the 250 gr Partion or an A-frame @ an honest 2500 Ft/sec would be recommended. While not as extensive as some calibres there are some good bullets out there. 225 gr are offered by Nosler (2), Barnes TSX, Swift A-frames and Sierra that will do for most NA game. Check the numbers and you will find it gives up very little to the 338 Win in a lighter rifle with a shorter barrel all from the puny little 06 case. There is really quite a lot to like if you get away from the sickly factory loads.

quote:

Originally posted by lindy2:
I'd be interested to hear why the Whelan is becoming your favorite round. Generally, what bullets and loads do you use for it.

First off....it uses .30-06 brass.....something that allows for an extra round in the magazine compared to magnums

then it's a lot flatter shooting than one might expect.....with 225 grain partitions, it's an easy 300 yardround.....

Add the dimension of considerably heavier bullets to facilitate deep penetration for moose size game and you can readily see that it's a fine round for game larger than deer.

Also, I shot my first elk at 301 yards with one.....and it went down to the first shot....

If I can find a good pistol bullet load for varminting and possibly deer, it quickly becomes a very versatile round....however I'm most liking the ability to throw a considerably heavier bullet for larger game.

I also have the A.I. version with a 14" twist, and mine likes 5744 with pistol bullets. 34 grains under the Hornady 180 XTP gives about 2400 fps and is quite accurate. I've never shot anything with it, but it fireforms my brass very nicely, and is a fun practice load offhand.

Vapo I have used the 200 gr Hornady Spire pt on deer. Lets out lots of blood. I'm thinking if you use a pistol bullet designed for approx. 1800 to 2000 fps is driven to 2400 or 2500 fps there is going to be a lot of meat damage.Maybe a Barnes bullet would hold together?

I have used 8 gr of 700x and a square oftoilet paper behind the 158 Speer. Velocity is right at 1100 fps and the load shoots very well. The only thing I don't like is the possibility of a double charge when using very fast powders like this. I have seen several rifles wrecked this way by reloaders who swore they were too careful to ever double charge one.
My plan is to try Trail Boss with the same bullet and see what it will do. It is bulky enough that a double should be easy to spot and it will do away with the square of paper.
I have used a stiffer load of 4198 to get about 2100 with Speer 170's. Again, it is very accurate (under 1 moa in calm conditions)but is a load which is neither here nor there. Too heavy for a grouse load, too light for big game (though I suppose it would do on a deer). Regards, Bill.

Have shoot a lot of 150 and 180 gr. bullets in my .358x41 and .358x.404 with good accuracy. One of the best and most forgiving powders was SR 4759 in both. (Forgive me Hot Core) also safe use of BLUE DOT was just fine . Have done significant shooting of cast gas checked bullets.This can be a lot of fun and a real eye opener. For example, the 300 grain gas checked can be safely driven from the small .358x41 at 2200 ft./sec. That's 06 energy level. Have never achieved great accuracy with the lighter (<150gr.) pistol bullets in the .358x41. Never tried the lighter bullets in the larger 35. FYI roger

I played around with some 180g Hdy XTP pistol bullets, but its been quite a while and I dont recall the load. I want to say it was about 55 grs of 3031 but cant remember for sure. They seem to be fairly stout as pistol bullets go, but plenty explosive for varmints and for accuracy they did OK. Nothing to sing about though. You may get better results than I did.

For deer I would suggest the 200 gn Interlock, mine loves them behind a stiff dose of Rlr 15 @ about 2850 fs. Very accurate, flat shooting load. You might also try the 180 gn speer for an all purpose light load.

I have loaded 158gr handgun bullets and used the rounds to shoot prairie dogs while fireforming the brass for my 35WAI and it works quite well as long as the load is sufficient to form the brass.

quote:

Originally posted by DuaneinND:
I have loaded 158gr handgun bullets and used the rounds to shoot prairie dogs while fireforming the brass for my 35WAI and it works quite well as long as the load is sufficient to form the brass.

care to share the loading data?