.35 Whelen acquired, now optimizing.

[SeanMTactical]

So I bought a used Rem 700 in .35 Whelen. It had been shot and had some minor work on it and I think the bottom metal wasn't stock. I don't really care about that as I was setting this up to shoot and learn with. I reinforced the comb, installed Pillars, floated the barrel, and fully bedded the stock. I have a 1-6 LPVO temporarily on it till I can get my hands on the scope I'm looking for. The Hornady Superformance 200gr ammo is OK, but I think the gun is capable of better. I picked up Starline brass and Sierra Game King 225gr bullets to develop a load with before I dwell into the Nosler 225s at twice the price.

Here's the question. I'm looking to narrow down the load development. What powder and charge is everyone running in this caliber? Seriously, I know to work up in charge and pressure signs. Every caliber has a sweet spot, just looking to narrow the search. I have a ton of different powders, but no RE-15 or AA2015 which seems to be what I'm finding in the searches.

 

[mjcmichigan]

I don’t have a 35 Whelan yet. So not the right responder for your question. The 35 Whelan is on my Bucket list and I have been actively looking for a donor to do a build. Just haven’t found a donor at the right price point.
Powders I was planning on using in the 225 range for the 35 Whelan.
StaBALL Match (temp stable and I believe it’s a ball powder so should meter well.
H4895
Varget.
I was also going to see if I could find Reloder recipes for TS15.5, Rl 16, or RL23.. I do get good results with the RL powders.

 

[SJB358]

Congrats on the Whelen. I’ve had a pile of them and still have 3. The work you’ve done should get you some excellent accuracy. I use H4895 and the Sierra 225 which is probably my favorite deer bullet I’ve used to date.

CFE223, LVR, 4895, 4064, TAC, etc are all great powders. SB Match might be good as well. Anything that works well in a 223 or 308 will typically work great in a Whelen.

 

[KinleyWater]

I love me some RE-15 for my Whelen. And my 308s. And... I've also used 748, I believe, but I find that RE-15 is more efficient. That is to say I think you find that RE-15 gives you a certain velocity with fewer grains of powder than 748.

Don't knock the Sierra's, either. I think I may have only put 1 box of Nosler bullets through mine and never taken anything other than paper with those. Lots of good Whelen bullets out there.

 

[RL338]

BL-C2 is another good powder I’ve used in my Whelen. The best powder I’ve used in mine is the long gone RL-12 , it just works.

 

[JD338]

I’ve gotten excellent speed and accuracy with CFE223 and the Sierra 225 gr Game King in my Remington 700 Classic 35 Whelen.

JD338

 

[Johnly]

The 250 gr. R-P factory load clocks 2435 fps out of my rifle as a reference point.
I can get 200 gr bullets moving out almost 2700 fps with 59.0 gr. H4895 and match the velocity of the 250 gr. factory ammo with 60gr. of RL-17.

 

[truck driver]

Congrats on the Whelen. I’ve had a pile of them and still have 3. The work you’ve done should get you some excellent accuracy. I use H4895 and the Sierra 225 which is probably my favorite deer bullet I’ve used to date.

CFE223, LVR, 4895, 4064, TAC, etc are all great powders. SB Match might be good as well. Anything that works well in a 223 or 308 will typically work great in a Whelen.

If anyone knows the 35 Whelen Scotty does. I have the Ackley version and can't help you, the 40degree shoulder,1-12" twist rifling and Weatherby style free bore really makes a big difference in the old Gal.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

As others have said the Sierra 225gr Game King is hard to beat and they are available now at different places. Grap some while you can as Sierra told me couple years ago, they only make them about every three years and try to make enough to last for the down time. Fury is another good deer bullet also.

 

[grry10]

In my son's Remington 7600 .35 Whelen the load is 59.5 gr Reloader 15, 225 SGK, and Federal 210 primer. I often produces one ragged hole groups. There may be other powders that would provide more velocity, but I will settle for the accuracy that this load provides.

 

[gerry]

Lot's of good advise on powders already, the 225 gr Sierra is an excellent all around bullet. What powders do you already have on hand in the H 4895 - CFE 223 range? There are lots of powders that will do well and you may have something good already.

I've used RL 15, AA 2015, Varget, H 4895 and IMR 8208 with 225's over the years and they all did well. Currently have some CFE 223 to try out.

 

[longrangehunter]

I’m with Scotty on his recommendation! Although I settled on using a 225 TSX behind H4895 in my last Whelen. That said I had great luck with the old TBBC’s previously too, but in a wood stock in that same rifle.

The Sierra 225 is a tough bullet that stands up well on Game.

 

[KinleyWater]

A few years back, I emailed Sierra about their bullets in 35 Whelen. Below is their reply. Please forgive the consecutive posts, but this forum has a 10,000 character limit. I found that out trying to post this:
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Let's begin with our #2310 180gr SPT. It was built for a muzzle velocity of 2,500 to 3,000fps so from the 7.62x54R or 303 British only maxing out at 2,500fps, it will be a tough bullet. In fact, it would be an ideal combination on larger animals like elk but it may not expand on whitetails like you want it to. Your best option for whitetails from either of these two cartridges is our #2300 150gr.

The #2850 225gr SBT was built for a muzzle velocity of 2,400 to 2,800fps so it is ideal from the 35 Whelen or 350 Mag. It is another tough bullet from either and it will be my personal choice on elk. I have a lot of experience with this bullet on whitetails and it is just too tough for them. Don't get me wrong, I've never lost one when I use it and most have dropped within 25 yards (if they ran at all) but it will exit easily even on shoulder shots. I've only caught one and it went through a lot of bone to make it stop.



Here is a trajectory with our 180gr in a standard environment and a 10mph full value wind. (EDIT: This chart is for a .311 bullet in a 7.62x54r)

Range​	Velocity​	Energy​	Path​	Wind Drift​
Yards​	ft/s​	Ft/Lbs​	Inches​	Inches​
0​	2500.00​	2497.58​	-1.65​	0.00​
25​	2447.46​	2393.71​	-0.41​	0.06​
50​	2395.55​	2293.25​	0.46​	0.23​
75​	2344.29​	2196.14​	0.96​	0.52​
100​	2293.64​	2102.28​	1.06​	0.93​
125​	2243.60​	2011.55​	0.74​	1.47​
150​	2194.15​	1923.86​	0.00​	2.14​
175​	2145.31​	1839.16​	-1.20​	2.94​
200​	2097.08​	1757.40​	-2.86​	3.89​
225​	2049.49​	1678.54​	-5.02​	4.97​
250​	2002.55​	1602.52​	-7.70​	6.21​
275​	1955.84​	1528.64​	-10.92​	7.60​
300​	1909.77​	1457.47​	-14.71​	9.15​
325​	1864.39​	1389.04​	-19.09​	10.86​
350​	1819.74​	1323.30​	-24.10​	12.75​
375​	1775.83​	1260.21​	-29.77​	14.81​
400​	1732.70​	1199.74​	-36.12​	17.06​

This should give you an effective range out to 300 yards or so.
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[KinleyWater]

2 of 2
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Here is a trajectory using our 225gr in the same environment. (EDIT: This is the 35 Whelen info)

Range​	Velocity​	Energy​	Path​	Wind Drift​
Yards​	ft/s​	Ft/Lbs​	Inches​	Inches​
0​	2700.00​	3641.47​	-1.65​	0.00​
25​	2639.08​	3478.99​	-0.24​	0.06​
50​	2578.98​	3322.36​	0.85​	0.23​
75​	2519.71​	3171.41​	1.62​	0.52​
100​	2462.51​	3029.03​	2.05​	0.93​
125​	2406.78​	2893.48​	2.12​	1.46​
150​	2351.78​	2762.76​	1.81​	2.12​
175​	2297.50​	2636.70​	1.11​	2.91​
200​	2243.92​	2515.14​	0.00​	3.83​
225​	2191.01​	2397.94​	-1.54​	4.90​
250​	2138.80​	2285.01​	-3.54​	6.11​
275​	2087.29​	2176.29​	-6.01​	7.47​
300​	2036.52​	2071.70​	-8.97​	8.98​
325​	1986.58​	1971.34​	-12.47​	10.65​
350​	1937.68​	1875.48​	-16.51​	12.49​
375​	1889.53​	1783.44​	-21.13​	14.50​
400​	1842.16​	1695.14​	-26.36​	16.69​

You should still be able to see good results out to 300, maybe even 350 yards. Personally, I like the 2" high at 100 yards approach with this bullet as it will give a longer distance to zero and keep the point of aim shooting out to 250 yards easily.



Here is my personal trajectory from my Whelen used here where I live. My velocity was a little slower but it gave me the best accuracy and I can still shoot point of aim out to 225 yards.

Range​	Velocity​	Energy​	Path​	Wind Drift​
Yards​	ft/s​	Ft/Lbs​	Inches​	Inches​
0​	2525.00​	3184.73​	-1.65​	0.00​
25​	2468.46​	3043.71​	-0.19​	0.06​
50​	2413.54​	2909.76​	0.92​	0.24​
75​	2359.32​	2780.50​	1.66​	0.54​
100​	2305.80​	2655.79​	2.00​	0.98​
125​	2252.96​	2535.45​	1.94​	1.54​
150​	2200.77​	2419.36​	1.45​	2.24​
175​	2149.25​	2307.41​	0.51​	3.08​
185​	2128.84​	2263.78​	0.00​	3.46​
200​	2098.42​	2199.56​	-0.90​	4.07​
225​	2048.30​	2095.73​	-2.81​	5.21​
250​	1998.88​	1995.84​	-5.23​	6.50​
275​	1950.57​	1900.53​	-8.19​	7.96​
300​	1902.99​	1808.93​	-11.73​	9.59​

This may have been more than you asked for but I hope it gives you an idea on how to set up your system and hopefully answered your questions.

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Enjoy everyone!

 

[Blkram]

Very interesting data!
Thanks.
I am getting 2528 fps from my 22" barreled 358 Win with the 225 gr SGK, loaded over 54.2 gr of CFE223 in WW brass and F210M primers. It produces 100 yards 3 shot groups averaging 0.720". (ES was 11.5)
So almost identical as the 35 Whelen accuracy load provided by Sierra.