I am in possession of several boxes of the original Barnes .358" 300-grain bullets. I have a 1-in 14" twist McGowan barrel on my custom 35 Whelen, and want to try these projectiles.

Anybody ever load a 300 in a Whelen, and if so, did they stabilize? I know the velocity would be pretty pedestrian to say the least, but I have a hankering to go try to kill a nilgai one of these days and am thinking that if I can get the bullet to stabilize, that Barnes 300 would be my choice.

Would love to use bullets of 275 and 300 grains in the Remington 7600 but understand the twist is too slow. That one, I hear, is 1 in 16, so you might be lucky with 1 in 14. If it doesn't key hole at 100 yards, it is probably good enough for forest use. Beyond that the looping trajectory from round nose/loss of velocity will soon tell, anyway.

I would expect the 1:14 to work just fine.

I shoot an "almost" 300 cast bullet in my Whelen, LYman 35809 RN mold at about 1950ish FPS. Shoots very tight groups and I have taken several deer out past 200 yards with it. It is a 14 twist and works fine. Looking at the exit holes, it was very stable even when it left the deer...and it leaves them all.
dmw

Fury, I have the same mould, just haven't gotten around to shooting that bullet in my Whelen. Would you care to share load data?

Good to know, guys. I hope to have my dad's old Springfield rebored to .35 Whelen. Will insist on 1:14.

Of interest ! My stubby .358 X 41 puts a 300 grain gas checked bullet accurately out the 16" barrel at 2300 fps. With a cast bullet the Wehlen ain't going to do any better.

It's bullet LENGTH, caliber and velocity, not WEIGHT, that determines stability. Measure the length and run it through a free online twist calculator to find the velo range for a 1-14, 358 cal twist.

1-16 is typically a standard for 35 cal so a 1-14 should stabilize some fairly LONG and pointy 35 cal bullets.

I tried some long ~1.40"(can't remember the exact bullet length or twist, picked them up at a gun show) 35 cal, 300 gr cast lead in my Marlin 356 W 2.57" COAL, Benchmark at ~1800 fs and they stayed under 2" at 100 y.

The only way to know for sure is to try several loads/powders/COALS on paper.

Luck

So glad you brought this up. A big name gun writer whose work I have respected for years has said over and over the Remington 700 Classic in .35 Whelen, with a 1:16 twist will not stabilize bullets over 250 grains.

My experience with this same rifle shows otherwise. I have fired maybe 40 or 50 300 grain .358" Barnes Originals with excellent accuracy and NO SIGNS of tipping or keyholing.

One time I had just a little bit of IMR 4895 left in the can. I weighed it and determined I could make 8 rounds with the 300 gr Barnes Original with a velocity of @2080 fps.

I assembled the rounds and took them to the range. My first shot was nearly off the bottom of the paper, I corrected and fired a second round. Still low and another correction. Then I fired a three round group that went into @.75". Another shooter was interested in my rifle so I asked him to fire the last three rounds. Again, the group was @.75".

The rest of my loading notes are in a notebook that I left with a friend so I can not give you any precise recipes. If memory serves, I have used mostly RL15, IMR4064, H414, and N201 and my velocities have been in the 2100 to 2300 fps range. Some have suggested RL17 would be a great powder for these heavy bullets but I've yet to try it.

So I predict your 1:14 twist should have no problems in stabilizing the 300 grain .358" Barnes Originals you have. Enjoy your rare treasures.

Doubless,
Bullet: 35809 weighs 290 grains with Gas check sized at .359"
Powder: SR 4759 31.5 Grains
Various lubes, hard green and Liquid Alox
Lyman Moly + Liquid Alox: My gun likes lube.
Over Powder fill of Dacron Pillow stuffing
CCI 200 or Win LR or CCI 34 primer

One other load
Powder: AA 2015 38 grains
Same other components as above.

Both loads will shoot to an inch to 1.5 inch for 5 shots at 100. 3 shots can be 1/2 that.

My Dakota 35 Whelen is a 23" barrel and a 1/12 twist barrel. It is extremely accurate with 310 gr. woodleighs.

I read people saying that their rifle with a 1/16 twist stabilizes 300 gr. bullets just fine at 100 yds. I also have a Ruger Hawkeye 35 Whelen with the 1/16 twist barrel and it too stabilizes the 310 Woodleigh and the 280 SAF, out to 100 yds. No keyholing.

I am no ballistics expert at all, so I ask those on this forum who are: if a 1/16 twist will stabilize a 310 gr. bullet at 100 yds., does this necessarily mean the bullet will remain stable at 200, 300 yds., as the bullet slows down?

Does one need to test the bullet for stability out to longer ranges, if it is stable at 100 yds? If so, then claims of stability at 100 yds. with any bullet is suspect until further testing at longer ranges. Is this correct? I am trying to learn.

I have a 35 Whelen with a 1:10 twist on a #2 Douglas contour. He shot bullets up to 300 grains and he says it shot well. It kicks too much for me with that lightweight barrel and I have only shot up to 250 grain bullets. Still kicks too much and I am having a 35 Whelen built up with a heavier barrel and 1:14 twist.

I went to a couple of calculator sights and it seems the 310 woodleigh will stablize in a 1/16 barrel at 2300fps. That's good to know for you guys shooting factory rem/rug barrels.

Well, I am still interested in this topic and the info provided by Yentna River is very interesting about the 1/16 stabilizing a 310 gr. bullet at 2300 fps.

I just rechecked my notes on my Ruger 35 Whelen with the 1/16 twist, using the 310 Woodleigh, where I said that there was no keyholing out to 100 yds; perfectly round bullet holes. Well, I was wrong. That was not 100 yds. It was 200 yds!!

So, what do you guys think? I am still trying to learn.

My Ruger 35 Whelen is a new Hawkeye, SS/synthetic. Do you think maybe it has a faster twist? Or do you think a 1/16 is sufficient for a 310 gr. bullet?

I guess I'll try the same rifle/load at 300 yds. the next time I get access to that distance. Has anyone here on AR already tried this with their Ruger Hawkeye with this load already, that is, at 300 yds?

If it does stabilize the 310 @ 300 yds., I guess the next questions is; what is the accuracy like?

My Rem 7400 (semi-auto) in .35 Whelen with a 1 in 16 twist stabilized the 300gr Barnes Originals just fine at about 2335 fps. Good accuracy too. Powder used was RL-15 and BL-C (2).

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

So far 5 guys have had success with the 300gr (+or-10gr) bullets using 1/16 barrels. Let's hear from someone who's had trouble shooting them.
Anybody out there tried them and failed?

That load sounds pretty hot, .458 Only, esp. to put through a 7400. Did the bullets stabilize at your starting loads, too?