Has anyone actually tried bullets heavier than 250 grains in a Remington 700 CDL with the 1 in 16" twist? I keep reading that it may not stabilize anything heavier than 250. I am currently stationed overseas, so unfortunately I cannot do any tests for myself for a while. I just bought some property in Alaska where I plan to hunt (and eventually build a cabin) that seems to be pretty well infested with grizzly bears. I know that they should be no problem with a 250, but I wouldn't mind having a bit more bullet weight. I could just move up in caliber, but this is my favorite rifle.

Thanks,
Rob

I have a CDL in Whelen, but I haven't shot anything heavier than 250. My primary reason for not having tried anything heavier is that so many 35 cal bullets in the 225 and 250 weights were designed specifically with the Whelen in mind. There is a large choice of bullets plenty tough and designed to stabilize with a 1-16 barrel at Whelen velocities.

If you start going heavier you run into two issues. One is that they may not stabilize sufficiently, particularly at ranges past 100 yards. Two, the bullets may be designed for higher velocity cartridges. For example if you look at the 280 Swift A-Frame, the Swift manual only shows data on this bullet with the 358 Norma, but not the Whelen. The A-Square manual lists their 275gr bullet with the 358 Norma and 358 STA.

So my thoughts are that no matter how tough an animal you are shooting, it's best to stay with bullets designed for the cartridge's velocity.

I imagine a TSX no matter what the weight would keep you safe.

I shot a friend's Rem700 with 310gr Woodleigh RN and got oval holes at 200m, was okay at 100m. I've just bought my own 35Whelen and will be repeating my 310gr tests before trying some resized 9.3mm Woodleigh 286gr projectiles.
Cheers...
Con