I printed up a data page from the Aliant web site , And I recomend any one who has or is thinking of buying or building a whelen, check out the data for the cartridge,
There Data using a 250 grain Hornady round nose and RL-15 shows a top load of 59.5 grains generating 2550 FPS and preasure of only 48400.
I use RL-15 in my custom mauser in the standerd Whelen, and I can get 60.1 grains in the case easily (250 gr speer hot core) and it shoots very accuratly, my chroney said 2619 Fps with is great velocity and my .338 win does not beat that by much with a 250 grain pill.
I hope you experenced AI shooters get my point. It apears to me, if you get excelent velocity from a cartridge using a powder that is slow enough that you can safly prety much fill the case and still be in a safe preasure zone, seems like the pefect reason to AI your chamber and add a few more grain,s In short seems to me RL-15 is a great powder for the 35 Whelen or the AI version...tj3006

Two gunwriters have built .35 Whelens, then converted them to the .35 Whelen AI. Both gentlemen have stated that if they had to do it all over again, they would go with the standard Whelen and forego the improved version.
That's a pretty good load you have worked up to. I have three rifles in .35 Whelen, and I can't come within two grains of Alliant's max load in any of them. I do get some good velocity from H-335 though.
Paul B.

Remember that is CUP not PSI. The RN is shorter than the speer. So add a couple thousand PSI if the COL is the same.

Loadtech won't allow 59.5 in an AI much less a standard case. Nor can I get close to 60.1 in an AI.

I have numerous wildcats I have built. AI, Gibbs my own improved Gibbs. What I have found is if you want Magnum velocities best way to get there is to shoot a magnum.

I agree with the point about if you want a magnum shoot a magnum, I have some of them too.
But i like to get the most from my loads.
What preasure signes are you seeing in your whelen ? I just redid some that I shot yesterday and the primer pockest seemed nice and tight and the cases chamberd before I resizes them. I have a hankerin to build another whelen , the one I have now was done on an old military mauser and I did it with the midway adams and bennit barrel and corelock stock. It shoots great but I would like to have one with a nice walnut stock...tj3006

Thomas

I no longer have my Whelen. Looking at my records I was getting real flat primers and head expansion about 2 grs below what was shown as max. That was back when they supplied their data in a little paperback manual.

The point I was trying to make was that many people take an AI and load it to magnum velocity. What I found in all my wildcats is that in a 06 based case you would get about 1% velocity gain for each 4% powder increase. In the magnums it took more powder to achieve the 1% increase in some of the smaller cases less.

The reason peoples velocities vary from the manuals is because their pressures are different. I took a 280 from std to 280RCBS to AI to 280JRS to my 280PDK(an improved Gibbs) what I found using a strain guage was that one was not more efficient than the other. What increased the velocity was pressure.

If you get a higher velocity that a reloading manual then you have higher pressure. If you use more powder without signs to get a manual velocity then your barrel has less pressure.

As you push the limit small changes in chamber volume make a big difference. One brand case vs another, round nose vs spitzer, .01" change in COL can have several 1000psi impact. At 55,000 not an issue at 63,000 it becomes critical.

The OAL from the Aliant data is 3.225 and my load with the speer bullet is 3.260.
I use the same charge with the sierra 225 grain boat tail and it is exteemy accurate.
I have allways noticed that the cartridges that show the most improvment through the AI treatment are the cartridges that are loaded to lower preasures in the origional form. Exampoles being .257 Roberts .250 Savage 280 remington 7X57 and 30,06 All those cartridges are loaded down in preasue by sammi standards and I think when you load the AI versions in a more modern rifle than the 95 mausers low number springfields and early remington automatics You can load them up to higher preasure. But in the case of the Whelen you certainly give the case a better shoulder and improve headspacing. If I build another I probably will go standard. I would like to build a .257 Roberts AI...tj3006

I agree it is the old under pressured rounds that show the gains. But 99% can be picked up by loading to the same higher pressure. The 257 Roberts is loaded to 54000PSI. When I loaded to the same pressure (around 62-63000) I saw about 75-90 FPS gain from the 257AI. Don't get wrong I have as many wildcats as factory. But, I have never seen where 75FPS made a difference. With a 200yd zero that is 1" less drop at 500.