Why the disparity in the .338-06 vs .35 Whelen?

[SJB358]

If she would maybe she would let me invest in that Hornady Ammunition Factory in the new Cabela's shooting catalog. I'm tired of keeping her 9mm's, .38/.357 and AR fed on a single stage press. That is the reason I invested in a .22 lr pistol for her, cheap to feed :grin:, that and she squealed like a school girl when I gave it to her. :wink:

You got a great one buddy!

Trust me, the Whelen is only going to impress you on the range. You'll soon be ready to sell them dirty old 338-06's for scrap iron!

 

[DrMike]

It is a good plan not to aggravate your good lady, taylorce. You've given her the handgun, and she might just practise on you. It does sound as if you have a great lady sharing your life.

 

[FOTIS]

Put me in the Whelen camp. :wink:

 

[SJB358]

Put me in the Whelen camp. :wink:

That is the camp of giant bucks, bulls and bears!

 

[DrMike]

I like the Whelen, but the 338-06 A-Square is a fine cartridge in its own right. If I could own just one, however, it would be whichever came into my possession first. After that, it would be whichever was chambered in an action I wanted or had the best looking stock.

 

[SJB358]

I like the Whelen, but the 338-06 A-Square is a fine cartridge in its own right. If I could own just one, however, it would be whichever came into my possession first. After that, it would be whichever was chambered in an action I wanted or had the best looking stock.

Hey, no waffling allowed! We gotta pick sides and stand next to our picks!! Jeeze Mike, I was beginning to this I was listening to the Democratic debate!!! :twisted:

 

[DrMike]

Well, on the one hand... But, then, on the other hand... Still, everything considered... However, you cannot discount...

Democrat! Man, that's a slur on my sainted father! There ain't nary a drop of Democrat blood in these veins.

 

[SJB358]

Well, on the one hand... But, then, on the other hand... Still, everything considered... However, you cannot discount...

Democrat! Man, that's a slur on my sainted father! There ain't nary a drop of Democrat blood in these veins.

Just checking buddy! Didn't figure you for one.... Must have been the error between keyboard and operator?

 

[DrMike]

Must have been the error between keyboard and operator?

:wink:

 

[SJB358]

Must have been the error between keyboard and operator?

:wink:

Mike, have you recovered your Whelen yet? I'm starting to get the shakes in anticipation of that rifle... With the barrel you have chosen, I can't wait to see what it does...

 

[DrMike]

It needed to be tefloned. I ordered a stainless barrel, but when they were billing it out, they found they had put on chromoly. I opted to keep it, but have it tefloned. Any day. Of course, it turning bitter cold today. It looks as if we will have wind chill below -38 C for the next several weeks. I can pretty well assure you that I won't be shooting in that weather. I'm too old to do such things anymore.

 

[taylorce1]

Went to the range today, but too windy to do any load development with the Whelen. My wife did get to shoot zombie targets with her Sig. She is still giggling like a little girl. My 9 year old daughter shot it as well, she made 10 for 10 center mass hits on her zombie target at 15 yds with her second magazine.

 

[taylorce1]

Made it to the range Saturday with the Whelen and my loads. I pretty sure I will not be doing any more load testing until I get this rifle bedded. I wasn't able to get it to group very well at all and only had one group go under an inch. Plus it was extremely slow IMO only averaging 2470 fps with the 225 grain Sierra and 52.8 grains of RL-15 which was my third load above starting loads. It was my last load I ran across my chrony as well, I couldn't get it shaded enough for the eye to pick up the bullet I just kept getting errors after that.

I got quiet a bit of load development done with my other rifles as well but I didn't get to chrony much. Guess I'll have to go back when the weather is crappy to check the speed. Man I hate sunny days in CO when the wind isn't blowing and I'm at the range.

 

[PJGunner]

Taylorforce. I was able to reach 2710 FPS with the Barnes 225 gr. TSX and 60.4 gr. of RL15. Accuracy was superb with groups in the .50 to .75" range when I did my part.
I fully realize that this load is well above what the manuals say but I believe that the ,35 Whelen, like current 7x57 factory ammo and manual data does not take either round to it's full potential. I won't say you can go quite that far but this is where I stopped in my custom Mauser and primers were still nice and round, case head and expansion ring measurments were good and no weird velocity readings as well. My rifle is happy at that level. Your rifle will tell you where it is the happiest. Work up carefully and I think your Whelen will surprise you.
Paul B.

 

[JD338]

Made it to the range Saturday with the Whelen and my loads. I pretty sure I will not be doing any more load testing until I get this rifle bedded. I wasn't able to get it to group very well at all and only had one group go under an inch. Plus it was extremely slow IMO only averaging 2470 fps with the 225 grain Sierra and 52.8 grains of RL-15 which was my third load above starting loads. It was my last load I ran across my chrony as well, I couldn't get it shaded enough for the eye to pick up the bullet I just kept getting errors after that.

I got quiet a bit of load development done with my other rifles as well but I didn't get to chrony much. Guess I'll have to go back when the weather is crappy to check the speed. Man I hate sunny days in CO when the wind isn't blowing and I'm at the range.

Pour on the fuel! :mrgreen:
You should be able to run it up to 60.0 grs RL 15 with no worries.
FWIW, my M700 Classic 35 Whelen has a 22" barrel and 59.5 grs RL 15 with the 250 gr PT is running 2584 fps.


JD338

 

[SJB358]

I can't wait to start playing with the 226 AB's. I will probably start at 56gr of RL15. I ran the same exact load as Paul did with the TSX and pretty much mimicked his speeds. I love RL15 and the 35 Whelen.. I have always said, if I had the Whelen before the 338, I might not have ever gotten the 338WM..

 

[taylorce1]

Pour on the fuel! :mrgreen:
You should be able to run it up to 60.0 grs RL 15 with no worries.
FWIW, my M700 Classic 35 Whelen has a 22" barrel and 59.5 grs RL 15 with the 250 gr PT is running 2584 fps.
JD338

I'll pour it on, I made it up to 57 grains but nothing showed any accuracy worth writing about. The stock is still unbedded and I don't think I'll waste anymore powder and bullets until I fix it.

 

[SJB358]

Pour on the fuel! :mrgreen:
You should be able to run it up to 60.0 grs RL 15 with no worries.
FWIW, my M700 Classic 35 Whelen has a 22" barrel and 59.5 grs RL 15 with the 250 gr PT is running 2584 fps.
JD338

I'll pour it on, I made it up to 57 grains but nothing showed any accuracy worth writing about. The stock is still unbedded and I don't think I'll waste anymore powder and bullets until I fix it.

That is a great point. I have the same mindset a little more nowadays. Instead of chasing accuracy with a .2gr's of powder, I would rather they all shoot good and pick the extraordinary one.. Usually a bedded rifle does just that...

 

[truck driver]

I'm going to resurrect this post because it is unfinished. With reports from taylorce1 and DrMike on rifles that were being built and bedding jobs needing done.

So What Happened?

 

[DrMike]

I have a fine rifle that delivers excellent accuracy while packing a punch. I'll probably carry it this coming week when I go out seeking bruins to accompany me to a barbeque.