35 Whelen RL15 and 250gr PT

I imagine if you continue working up in .5gr increments you could get more. RL15 is pretty good stuff in the Whelen. Seems like it does take it to the other class of medium bore cartridge. Scotty
 
Scotty,
I'm happy overall with the load I have, using RL-15 at those velocities. Gaining more velocity at this point is not a priority for me. But just the thought is very interesting, 50-75 fps more is not going to kill any better. The Doe I killed last year was DRT, honestly I felt kind of cheated not having to track her, but it was nice. I can get used to that! I just love those 35 Cal. Guns. :mrgreen:

Don
 
I think you will find the Whelen really doesn't let them walk far. Alot of frontal area, high SD'ed bullets that penetrate far and decent speed. Kinda a sure killer. I think if you continue to work up, you would probably end up in the mid 2700's with the AB and have trajectory as good as a 30-06 with 180's and alot more killing power. Nobody ever mentioned a 30-06 for being underpowered for much, and the Whelen is that much more. Love the Whelen Don. It's taken a bull elk, black bear, deer and all have been found at their tracks. I can't say that for the other cartridges I hunt with, and part of it was the animal and shot, but again, it breeds alot of confidence. If you haven't messed with the 250's, give them a whirl, I think the Whelen scream to be shot with them, and old Elmer Keith will smile down from above while you are sending them downrange. 270's, 280's and 30-06's wanna be Whelen's when they grow up! Scotty
 
beretzs":q26j4kbq said:
I imagine if you continue working up in .5gr increments you could get more. RL15 is pretty good stuff in the Whelen. Seems like it does take it to the other class of medium bore cartridge. Scotty

That is certainly your prerogative Scotty. You may gain a little velocity and not lose any accuracy. Albeit, you are half way to the Norma Mag levels now, so I suspect if you did, the very least would be at the expense of brass life, as I also think you would start into some pressure issues. There again it's your choice.
But think about it another way, while you would gain some more energy, an extra 50 fps, will only gain another 10-15yds in point blank range.
And like Don said,,,,,the animal won't know the difference, or die any quicker.
But I know how it is, in wanting to know or push the limits.
 
onesonek":q7w2kvjo said:
beretzs":q7w2kvjo said:
I imagine if you continue working up in .5gr increments you could get more. RL15 is pretty good stuff in the Whelen. Seems like it does take it to the other class of medium bore cartridge. Scotty

That is certainly your prerogative Scotty. You may gain a little velocity and not lose any accuracy. Albeit, you are half way to the Norma Mag levels now, so I suspect if you did, the very least would be at the expense of brass life, as I also think you would start into some pressure issues. There again it's your choice.
But think about it another way, while you would gain some more energy, an extra 50 fps, will only gain another 10-15yds in point blank range.
And like Don said,,,,,the animal won't know the difference, or die any quicker.
But I know how it is, in wanting to know or push the limits.

Oh no, not me, that was meant for Don. I am not going .1gr's further. I am completely happy where I am at buddy. Sorry if you thought I meant I was going further. I am so happy with this load and rifle right now! I actually can't wait to just start practicing off the ground instead of a bench with the rifle. Scotty
 
beretzs":be49nmp0 said:
I think you will find the Whelen really doesn't let them walk far. Alot of frontal area, high SD'ed bullets that penetrate far and decent speed. Kinda a sure killer. I think if you continue to work up, you would probably end up in the mid 2700's with the AB and have trajectory as good as a 30-06 with 180's and alot more killing power. Nobody ever mentioned a 30-06 for being underpowered for much, and the Whelen is that much more. Love the Whelen Don. It's taken a bull elk, black bear, deer and all have been found at their tracks. I can't say that for the other cartridges I hunt with, and part of it was the animal and shot, but again, it breeds alot of confidence. If you haven't messed with the 250's, give them a whirl, I think the Whelen scream to be shot with them, and old Elmer Keith will smile down from above while you are sending them downrange. 270's, 280's and 30-06's wanna be Whelen's when they grow up! Scotty


Reading this again, has me thinking I need to get back to the 9.3x74R project.
How's that relate to your .35 Whelen you ask?
Well initially I had seen load data, that called for R-15 with a 250 gr.. So I did up a load ramp starting at the bottom. I hit pressure with on the second load, well below the max load listed. I was somewhat disappointed, buy not totally suprised with this tight chamber. Still, knowing R-15, I had high hopes. Switching to H4350, and still pressure issue's. On to H4831SC, and there it all came together. Full case, no pressure signs, and to my suprise, 200 fps over standard listing. Accuracy was under 1/2 moa. Ok on to the 286 gr. PT I thought. Not much to add , 150 fps over book, no pressure signs, and just under 1 moa accuracy. Like the Whelen, it will cover the largest game on this continent, well out to normal hunting ranges. I know "normal" is subject,,, but at least what I consider normal,,,maybe average would be a better term.

But now I am looking at paper patching a .359" 275 gr. cast, patched up to .367". I would be tickled if I can get 2500 fps, and 1.5 - 2 moa with this method. Even though in talking with another guy, whom paper patches everything, says jacketed accuracy is way more then just possible with PP. Being paper patch most generally developes less pressure than jacketed, I don't think the velocity will be a problem with the 275. It even may be possible to match the 250 BT's velocity.

Sorry this got away from the main topic,,,,, but there's just something about Medium Bores! Someday I will have a Whelen too!!
 
I am looking forward to your load work with this rifle. I think people are starting to come back to the 338's, 35's and 9.3's more and more these days. Very useable trajectory and bullet speed below 3K makes most bullets act very predictable in a way that makes hunters think they kill better. I know I have been impressed with every bullet shot out of my Whelen except for the 200gr PSP Core Lokt. That bullet was garbage at Whelen speeds. It did kill deer fine, but I didn't get exits and the bullets were really torqued to pieces. Yes, they came out of dead deer, but I wouldn't have been comfortable with them on anything larger than deer. Scotty
 
I have never used CoreLoks, but know a couple guys that use them exclusively in 30-06's with 165 and 180 gr. weights for deer and elk respectively. I haven't heard them describe what you just did. I wonder if a screw up lot didn't get out the door. As in someone getting the wrong core alloy in the setup. Say one meant for the 35 Rem.??? Just a thought or possibility.
Me,,I have played with and used Barnes on a couple occassions. Also played with Speer and Swift's. I practice with with NBT's, mostly, because they always give me the most consistant accuracy. But when I go hunting, 98% of the time I load up NP's. While generally not quite as accurate as the BT's, they have proven me to be very good, and not as fickle to find a load for as the other premiums. And I haven't had one ever fail me, when I put it where it needs to go. Are they always necessary ?, no. But when I factor what dollars I have tied up in a hunt, spending twice the avg. compared with non-premium bullets,,,to me NP's are cheap insurance.
 
I hear you on the Core Lokts, I think they are good bullets for the 30-06, 308, 270 class of cartridge. Maybe I just got a fluke of a box. I wouldn't have put much stock into it, but I shot two deer about 5 minutes apart from one another. Both were WT does, so not overly big animals. It really didn't bother me too much until I couldn't even find a bullet worth keeping. Remington only runs those 200's about 2600 or so over my chrono, so they aren't overly stressed either.

I usually run the PT's or AB's because of the same reasons you do. Cheap insurance and they shoot pretty well for me. I don't think I will ever find a 250gr PT in any deer, or probably an elk even! Scotty
 
Scotty, you're putting my .30-06's barrel in jeopardy with this thread. I could still redo the stock and magazine setup and then have it rebarreled later.

Man...............just what I need...another rifle project to ensure my wife makes me sleep on the couch! ;)
 
Tom, I think you would like the Whelen and heck, you already have tons of brass to make good Whelen or 358-06 cases from! It is an excellent cartridge. Since you have time now, it would be nice to see what you could do to your 30-06. PacNor could put an excellent barrel on it for you to match up with that new stock. I would like to find M70 in 270, 30-06 or whatever that needs to be built. I think the ultimate Whelen should be on a M70 rifle. Scotty
 
beretzs":397lyp5h said:
Tom, I think you would like the Whelen and heck, you already have tons of brass to make good Whelen or 358-06 cases from! It is an excellent cartridge. Since you have time now, it would be nice to see what you could do to your 30-06. PacNor could put an excellent barrel on it for you to match up with that new stock. I would like to find M70 in 270, 30-06 or whatever that needs to be built. I think the ultimate Whelen should be on a M70 rifle. Scotty

All good points.....I think it's a "next year" project, though. I've used up about all my brownie points at home at this point, although my 300WSM didn't touch the bank account for a nickel (although the dies and brass did, lol).

Nosler's reloading data seems a bit less potent than some data here on the thread. Even so, a 225gr bullet seems to move out at 2400-2700? Not too shabby.
 
I think Nosler has data up to 2800 with their 225's and mid 2500's with their 250's. Pretty potent stuff either way. A guy probably wouldn't ask for much more than a 225gr PT or AB at 2700+. I just decided to go heavy or go home.

Your probably right, it would be a good next year project or something to do with some extra cash if you happened to find the money tree. I kinda wished I had a clunker in the safe to get rechambered into something cool. I just don't have the heart to change any of them just yet. Scotty
 
I will start up my load development once the temps go down a little. Looking forward to playing with the 25 gr PT's and RL 15 in my M700 Classic.

JD338
 
BK":39flas55 said:
I know a deer won't stop a 250 grain Speer Grand Slam!

I agree, same with the 250 gr PT.

Way back in '88, I took my new M700 Classic 35 Whelen deer hunting. I was loaded up with the new Remington 200 gr PSPCL factory loads.
I shot a big 11 pt in the base of the neck quartering away at 40 yds dropping him in his tracks. The bullet never exited the neck.
The next morning, I shot a Spike head on in the neck at 50-60 yds, again dropping him in his tracks. I recovered the bullet when I skinned him out, it was against the hide in the shoulder. I was surprised that those bullets didn't exit.
The following year, I shot two more bucks, both were lung shots and those 200 gr PSPCL bullets made nice big exits. In 1990, I switched to the new Nosler 225 gr PT and it exited from any angle.

The 250 gr PT is more of a great thing in the 35 Whelen.

JD338
 
Here is my best shooting thus far with the Whelen. Same load of 60gr's RL15, CCI250, RP cases, and the mighty 250gr PT. It ran about 2650 over Brians chrono all day yesterday. A 250 yard zero really allowed easy hits out to 300 on steel yesterday. Scotty

DSC_2738.jpg
 
Thanks Mike. We were smashing steel out to 300 pretty easily with it yesterday. Really boosted my confidence in the load and man, it is really clicking well. Overall, it is really everything I want out of the Whelen and could not be more impressed with this cartridge. Scotty
 
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