Anyone have a favorite .35 Whelen deer load they would care to share???

Thanks!

MIBIGHNTR

59/RL-15 and a 250 Hornady RN shot under MOA in my Ruger at about 2,550 fps. The Federal Trophy Bonded load is good, too. Okie John.

58.5grn of RL-15 WLRP with a 225 Nosler Balistic tip 2700fps this is a very accurate load MOA under 1 inch

59 gr of RL15, 225 gr Nosler Partition, CCI LR primers, Remington brass(reformed from .30-06), 2700 fps, 1-1.5" groups

58 gr of RL15, 250 gr Hornady spitzer, same primers/brass as above, 2630 fps, .75" groups

56 gr. RL 15 250 gr. Hornady RN. <1 in in Ruger
Bolt Action.

Good Luck

so RL-15 is the only powder you guys use? I have AA-4064, H-380, N-202, AA-2700, AA-2230C and RL-12 in my stockpile. I'm sure one of them should work fine in my Whelen.

My favorite deer load for the whelen is fairly mild but effective. 53 grains of IMR 4064 with a 200 gr Hornady round nose. This is one of the most accurate loads out my M700. It has the added advantage of shooting to the same point of aim as my light cast bullet loads.

Do you guy's use Whelen brass, or do you reform 30-06?

Another vote for RL-15 and the 250 Hornady Spitzer. My son's gun likes 58.5 gr. Shoots under .75". (Knew I should've kept that gun for myself, instead of giving it to him for his birthday!! )

GSF 1200:

I've tried IMR3031(too fast, slow velocities), IMR4320(similar results to RL15 but RL15 meters better and accuaracy wasn't quite there), H380(didn't get the velocities I knew were possible with RL15). I even tried H4831(way too slow, poor velocities).

For me RL15 is IT!!! Good accuracy and good velocities all at reasonable pressures.

All my Whelen brass is formed from once-fired .30-06 brass. I use an RCBS full length resizing die with a tapered expander. I usually try to just do a partial re-size to the point where the brass will chamber with a wee bit of effort.

[ 11-08-2002, 07:36: Message edited by: Mauser98 ]

Just shot my 35 Whelen for the 1st time. I used win 30-06 brass, CCI-200 primers, 55gr's of AA-4064, and a 225gr Sierra. Shoot's real good, had to zero the scope, then fired a few from a sitting position at 50yds the bullets were almost touching. The Sierra shed it's jacket in the wet berm at 50yds.

I chronoed the AA-4064 load, it was only 2207fps! Then I grabbed a can of RL-12, used 57gr's, it made 2550fps, that's more like it.

I use the Hornady 200 grain and IMR 4320. I get great groups in my Rem. 700.

I use two loads for my Ruger 77 whelen. The first load is a 250gr hornady RN at 2425fps with varget and the other load is with 225gr Sierra gameking SBT with H322 powder at 2650fps. Both loads shoot good out of my gun and I can use the same zero with either load. THe 250 dead on at 100 and the 225 are +3 at 100 yards. The sierra 225 works very well on whitetails.

A thread too good to die. For 10 or 15 years I used the Hornady 250RN over a respectable charge of IMR4064 in my Springfield Sporter. About 10 (?) years ago I switched to the Barnes 250 X and never looked back. It is true that it can be hard to get the X to be accurate, but IMHO that is a function of seating depth & bbl cleanliness, rather than any chacteristic of the bullet. If you start w/a CLEAN bbl & experiment w/the seating depth, the X can produce outstanding accuracy. Its terminal effectiveness on game is worth the effort it can take to obtain accuracy in your rifle.

In my 7600 pump 35 Whelen:

IMR 4320 at 56.0 grains
250 Grain Speer SPT
FED 210 Match Primers
Fed Nickle Cases

Excellent Accurate Load.

Hey GSF1200,
The only reason so many use RL15 is that they haven't yet discovered Varget.

Same accuracy...more fps!
Jerry/AK

OK Jerry/AK, now that you have teased us, fess up!

What is the Varget load???

Thanks!

MIBIGHNTR

MIBIGHNTR,
Okay, I'll fess up. But first, the normal qualifiers: I'm not recommending this load to anyone; it works in my rifle to my satisfaction; work up from way below if at all; and last but certainly not least - mine is an Ackley Improved chamber.

I'm using 59 gr. Varget, Speer 250 gr. HotCor's, Winchester primers, and getting 2650 fps from a 23" barrel. That is about 75 fps more than I was getting with RL15...mine may be a "slow" barrel.
Jerry/AK

I've been using 55.5 grs. of IMR 4895 under a Sierra 225 gr. bullet, Fed. 210M Primer, Rem. 35 Whelen cases...getting 2540 fps. and 3 shots cutting each other at 100 yds with boring consistency.....I have yet to shoot a deer with it, for 3 years in a row the deer have been coming at me with a neighbors house behind them and they see me before I could get them in a safe shooting lane......just crazy luck....but one day....

One load for everything, deer, pig, and coyotes, last three shot group was .327" @100 out of my Ruger 77 with a Pacnor barrel. Dont believe it when some people try to tell 250's are for short range only, got my buck at 308 yards this year, dropped him in his tracks and expanded nicely, left a 1" exit hole.

Remington .35 Whelen cases
Hornady 250 spirepoint (more consistent than Speer 250s for expansion)
60 gr of Varget for 2650fps

Interesting info.

53 gr H335; WW standard primers; Remington factory .35 Whelen brass; 250 gr Speer spitzer for deer or 250 Speer Grand Slam for elk/moose/caribou. 2550 fps from my 700 BDL over my chronograph; one MOA accuracy. Both bullets strike to the same point at 100 yards.

I keep thinking I should try some other bullets and powders, then I think: "Why?"