Paul, are you sorry that you reamed your whelen to 350 Rigby? Or was it worth it. I´m having mine done now, because I´m working toward having only classic african calibers in my battery. Of course, I want my bread buttered on both sides by having modern ballistics in this one. I would like to load to both whelen ballistics with the heavier bullets which, I consider perfect for bushveld but, would like to know how you got on with 225gr bullets @ around 3000fps I think you said? What sort of trajectory did you get with that?
Thanks
boet

Boet,

I don't regret having that paticular rifle bored to 350 Rigby, because it didn't shoot well as a 35 whelen ackley. That's not a rub on the ackley, rather the guy that did the original work.

If I'd better understood the issue of getting brass, I likely would have gone with a 358 Norma. That said, I'm glad to have a 350 Rigby. So long as you have a supply of good brass, ie Hornbear, the 350 Rigby is a wonderful round. That's really the only sticky bit of the Rigby.

It feeds slick due to the heavly tapered body, no need for a belt with the 45 deg shoulder, and recoil is moderate. I have no doubt that I could come up with a good load driving a 250 to 2500 fps, I just never tried. Early in my load work I came upon the 250 hornady rn over 66 gr of Varget for 2700 fps and sub moa groups, and I was done. It is a somewhat soft bullet at those speeds, I took a small blacktail deer (bigger than a dik dik, but not by much )last fall with a neck shot, and nearly decapitated it I would have lost what little meat there was if it had been a body shot.

What I'd really like is a 275 gr rn @ 2500 fps, that would be as you say lekker. (forgive my spelling, thats about the only Afrikans I know)

I have yet to work up any 225 gr loads. I got one of Rugers 350 rem mags and it's taken most of my attention for loading.

If you use a 225 gr boat tail @ 3000 fps, it'll shoot about as flat as a 300 mag pushing 180's 3000 fps. I don't know the trajectory off the top of my head, but that makes it an honest 400 meter rifle in my mind. I'd expect that ~69 gr of Varget would produce near 3000 fps with a 225. I'm not sure what powders you have available that are similar to Varget or RL15.

boet...i dont know how "classic african" it is but jamison is making 35 newton brass now

Newton is a yank chambering, won't fly as a classic African round.

sooooooo the 30-06 is not a "classic african" does it need to be german or english to be "classic african"

I guess it depends on who you talk to, but English and Germanic, some would say only English. Then again it would be tough to ignore the use of the 7X57 and 9.3X62.

A 300 H&H would be a classic hunting round.

The 30-06 was a military round first and foremost. I don't believe it was really used in numbers in the hunting fields until after WWII.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul H:

What I'd really like is a 275 gr rn @ 2500 fps, that would be as you say lekker. (forgive my spelling, thats about the only Afrikans I know)

Well, Paul, if it comforts you - it is correkt spelled in Norwegian!

BTW, did yoy buy your own reamer for the .350, or did your gunsmith have one?

Bent,

Funny as I'm of Norwegian decent, but the only Norwegian I know is Got Yul, which I probably spelled wrong.

Actually it was neither on the reamer. One of the members here had a Clymer reamer that he'd purchased to make his own 350 and that he most graciously loaned to me. I also got my RCBS dies from John S, another member here. So you could say my rifle has been an AR colaboration.

Paul,

There is nothing like good board buddies!

GOD JUL, my friend!
(Merry Xmas!)

Thanks for the input guys, and thank you paul.
Lekker is spelled correctly . The original word means tasty, but now corresponds with `cool´.
A traditional african calibre does´nt have to be british, but needs to have been used during the days of open liscence hunting in africa. This includes cartridges from the turn of the 19th century till about the end of Taylors tours in africa. As far as I know, apart from the 30 06 all calibers were brit or european.
I have now so far :
425WR ; 350 Rigby ; 375H&H ; 300H&H ; 7x64 Br ;
7x57 Mannlicher Shonauer ;6.5x55 ; and 303 Brit. I think the 300 and the 425 could cover everything, but hey, this is fun. More fun than getting the biggest or the fastest.

quote:

jamison is making 35 newton brass now

I saw this recently, but no price??? Is it truethat the new 375 Ruger uses the old Newton case? I would love the 350 Rigby, but the cases are very expensive! 197 Euros for 100 cases I think they quoted.

quote:

Originally posted by 333_OKH:

quote:

jamison is making 35 newton brass now

Is it truethat the new 375 Ruger uses the old Newton case?

No, the new Ruger meassures .532 both on rim and head, while the Newton meassures .520 at the head and .525 at the rim. But I would not be surpriced if newtons could be made from Rugers - it ain't much of a difference.

I don't know if it passes as a classic hunting round, but one of my regrets is passing on a 9X57 ms carbine. The action had been swiss cheased with scope mounting holes and the stock was cracked, so the $900 asking price seemed too much. That said, it would have been a fine little rifle that could have been cleaned up nicely. Needless to say a 6.5X54 ms would be even nicer.

I'm not sure what the Euro/Dollar exchange is, but if you could get 100 cases delivered for $300, it would be worth it. You'd have a lifetime supply of outstanding brass and a wonderful rifle.

Paul.
I can put you in touch with a good MS in 6.5x54.
Its going for around R7000. Thats about $800 in your money. Its in SA. Send me a PM if you would like more info.
The 9x57 is on a par with the 358win, a goodie as you know, and most definitely an african classic.
I just lost out on a 9.5x57. Damm
boet