(I posted this in general reloading too)

That's pretty much the question. Anyone here have some good/bad experience with this? I have a box of 125 gr Hornady XTP's that I was hoping to work up some recipes for. Here's some possible issues I've thought about.

1. Accuracy. Twist rates in a 35 Whelen are rather slow, so this could hurt accuracy even though I'm not expecting such a round to be a tack-driver.

2. Velocity. I'm sure such a bullet COULD be pushed very fast, but what about the bullet coming apart mid-air, or worse, in the barrel?

3. Performance. Such a round would only be used for vermin and maybe coyote. A bullet driven past it's optimum velocity range would probably give very shallow penetration, with the exception of loading up an FMJ.

So if any of you have any input on this, I'd sure like to hear it. My reconing says if loaded, pistol bullets in a 35 Whelen should be shot at moderate velocities.

Just yesterday I was playing with Blue Dot and Speer 158gr projectiles in my 358Win. Accuracy is good enough to hit a rabbit out to 100m... easily. Drop at 200m was estimated at around a foot. Didn't get a chance to chrony the load, but I'm now looking for a RN jacketed projectile so that it can feed from the magazine. I think the use of pistol projectiles in the .35s is one of its best assets and well worth exploring.
Cheers...
Con

I love shooting pistol bullets in my Whelen, I can get them over 2000ft per sec, and still have good accuracy

My gunsmith has been shooting and hunting with his 35 Whelen for years and loves to plink with pistol bullets.

He claims that a jacketed hollow point pushed to around 2500 fps will make an armadillo disappear!

I'm going to put this on the agenda to do again. For years I've had nothing but marginal results. I may be trying to move them out too fast for the twists in my rifles.

Maybe some of the Blue Dot reduced loads will be better. So much to do and don't know if there is enough time. roger

I am using 158gr Magtech pistol bullets in my Whelen...they shoot VERY accurately using 46gr of Imr4895. I havent run them across the Chrony so I don't know what the velocity is, but they shoot at almost the same POI as my 225gr hunting loads at 100yds...so I can plink with them with out changing my sights....I love that!!

One of these days I plan to try them out on a coyote and see what happens...I expect it will wreck his day!!

zeeriverrat

I've shot quite a few pistol bullets through my 35 whelen AI now 350 Rigby. Here are my thoughts.

The barrel twist rate may be slightly slower than many other rifle chamberings, but it is as fast or faster than most 35 revolvers, and is plenty fast even when bullets leave the muzzle at 800 fps, as I've found out.

A bullet cannot come apart in the barrel, but it can come apart in the air. To my way of thinking, pistol bullets are used for mild loads, not maximum velocity, so that simply isn't an issue. If you want to vaporize stuff, then load em up till the bullets come apart in air, then back down a bit

If you want to hunt deer, then I agree, keep velocities down a bit, and also consider a slightly heavier bullet, ie 180 gr.

You might find the lightest bullets have poor accuracy simply because they have to jump from the the throat to the lands, never a good thing for accuracy especially for a stubby bullet. I'd consider the 150-180 gr bullets, and find that 12-15 gr of Unique provides 1200-1700 fps and should cluster them right in to a ragged hole at 50 yds.