I have a custom 35 Whelen that has a lot of free bore in it. I just checked a 250-grain Grand Slam in the rifle, and COL is 3.445". If I load to that length, it will leave .245" of projectile in the neck of the case. A 225-grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw looks like it will have about .080" in the case, and there is no way I will ever be able to push a 200 up tight.

I tried the TBBCs seated to the cannelure, and about 3" is the best it will do with a healthy dose of RL-15; the faster you push them the bigger the group gets. That is unacceptable for a four grand rifle! Next stop is the GS bullets and either more RL-15 or some AA 4064.

Realistically speaking, what kind of number do you guys shoot for as far as length of projectile in the case? I don't think the TBBCs will ever make it to the woods, and that is a shame. But I am not sure I trust that short length of bullet in the case.

Am I wrong?

Doubless....

1. a lot of freebore is not necessarily a bad thing. Weatherby has made quite a name for itself and they are the kings of freebore. i spoke to a Weatherby rep once about this same subject in my 30-378. he told me that the designers of Weatherby ammunition use a freebore of 0.360" on the 30-378 when determining the C.O.L. of Weatherby ammunition. Nobody can argue the quality or consistency of Weatherby ammunition. so...freebore ain't so bad as long as the chamber, including the leade, is done right.

2. as far as the bullet seating depth goes..... most folks say that you should have at least one caliber of depth. in your case, you should seat at least 0.358" of bullet in the case. this is a rule of thumb. there are notable exceptions. the 300 Win Mag being one.

3. lastly, i have had the same experience you have with driving bullets faster. personally, i have never had my fastest loads become my most consistent shooters. as my loads hit maximum velocities or maximum pressures, the groups seem to enlarge. there is nothing wrong with backing off a little. usually, as i back off, i will see the groups tighten. i have never had to back off so far that i thought i had made the loads too weak for hunting.

anyway.......i am sure you'll get other feedback. i am sure some of it will contradict some of my experience. read it all and make a good decision.

My experience with free-bore is that rifles can be made to shoot well but they are extremely "fussy". My 22-250 and 204 each have about 1/4" of free-bore and are one load rifles, no versatility at all. I hate free-bore!

The rifle may be suited to using the Barnes TSX bullets since they are long for caliber.

Also, consider using Barnes bullets. They often don't need to be close to the lands to be accurate.

I have shot a 35 Whelen put together in 1965 before the cartridge was standardized by Remington. Has a 1:10 barrel and was made to shoot 285gr bullets and handles 310gr as well.

In short it has a very long throat/leade, but my standard “go to” load is a 250gr Speer or Hornady with RL15. I seat these at about 3.4 COL, so they will fit and cycle through my magazine. The base of the bullet seems to be even with where the neck and shoulder of the case meet so there is plenty of case “grip” on the bullet. While they are jumping a little to the lands they have produced excellent accuracy.

Try seating them out so they still fit your magazine and reduce you load a little. My Whelen produces best accuracy with RL15 a couple of grain off max loads listed.

Barstool(er)

900+ posts as “Barstooler”

Managing freebore is always an interesting topic.

What Bill Smith said above seems spot-on.

As was mentioned, consider long-for-caliber bullets like the GS custom or the Barnes TSX or TTSX. But dont forget about North Fork (copper shank with lead nose) or Cutting Edge Ballistics (CEB) bullets either.

Good luck and give us some follow-up!

quote:

Originally posted by lee440:
The rifle may be suited to using the Barnes TSX bullets since they are long for caliber.

Plus...TSX and TTSX like freebore. They would be high on my list to try as well.