Re: Wich improved Whelen. ?

28 November 2004, 04:57

I had a .35 Brown-Whelen for awhile, and yes, the cases are a pain to make. I had the best results necking up new '06 brass to .35 cal, annealing the shoulder area, then seating a .35 cal bullet out to firmly engage the lands and fire-forming. The velocity gains over the std .35 Whelen were only about 100 fps, for that reason I had it re-chambered to .358 Norma Mag.

Dwayne

30 November 2004, 08:41

Paul H

Quote:

What about the Hawk or Howell? They start with straight cases, I believe, and have a shorter neck, giving you something substantial over the 35-06.
Paul, I had yto laugh hearing you say the cases were a pain so you rechambered to Rigby!
What cases do you use for that? That's gotta be a labour of love as well!

I beg to differ on the statement one can safely run higher pressures on the ackley. The sole reason I re-chambered my A&B barreled 35 whelen ai is that it would only group when pushing 250's @ 2700 fps, and I was unwilling to operate at those pressures on a mauser action. To those that claim it is safe to opperate at that level, what pressure are you operating at, and on what do you base the statement it is safe?

To the question of 350 Rigby, that was an out of kettle and into the fire move for me. I got a good deal on a used set of dies, and was loaned a reamer, so it was just the cost of a re-chamber and opening up the bolt. In hindsight, I should have gone with a 358 Norma, but I just had to be different. Bertram makes brass, but it is crap, ie soft, Hornbear makes brass, but it is difficult to get ahold of. One can take 375 H&H brass, cut off the belt, deepen the extractor groove cut, fl size, then trim to length. It makes any improoved 35 whelen look like childs play.

On the upside, when the smith re-chambered, took some cleaning cuts on the action, and re-crowned the barrel, it really shoots. Average hunting loads group 1 1/2 to 2", vs 3 to 5 before the work, and the best load of 66 gr Varget over a 250 gr hornady rn clocks 2700 even, and prints 3 shots into 5/8". With the larger case, I'm comfortable running those velocities, vs doing it with an improved whelen.

28 November 2004, 09:34

Bwana-be

What about the Hawk or Howell? They start with straight cases, I believe, and have a shorter neck, giving you something substantial over the 35-06.
Paul, I had yto laugh hearing you say the cases were a pain so you rechambered to Rigby!
What cases do you use for that? That's gotta be a labour of love as well!

28 November 2004, 03:49

N. Garrett

I have a 35 Whelen AI, and find it to be a worthwhile improvement.

What the AI versions allow you to do is increase chamber pressures (and therefore velocities) in a manner that is safer than the unimproved version.

First, the brass "clings" to the chamber better at the instant of peak pressure. Second, there is less bolt thrust, allowing the bolt to do its job (with less fatigue) of keeping the breech sealed during ignition.

If you enjoy handloading and experimenting with loads (and for me it is one of my favorite hobbies) you will enjoy the AI versions.

I shoot the 250 grain Speer Hot-Cor too (and just took an 8-point last weekend with it). You might want to play around with some of the 180 grain bullets available if you get the AI version. Some of us are rountinely getting over 3000 fps with this, and the recoil (for whatever reason) feels much less than I keep expecting. It's a suprisingly fun little package.

Garrett