.35 Whelen

[Spindrift]

This is my first meeting with .35 caliber rifles. And I must say, I really like the Whelen. Very flexible cartridge. And I’m getting good (for me) results with little load development.
One day, I’ll get a .358win as well. But it will have to wait for a bit, I have a lot to tinker with these days...

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

35's are where its at as far as I am concerned!!!

Love them all!!!

CW

 

[Spindrift]

I have recently recieved my new checkmaker dies, regular and PB .35 checkmakers. Made a few plainbase checks today, and installed on the MP360-640. These bullets have shot quite well (about 1,5moa 5 shot groups @100m) with powder coat. In a few weeks, I’ll see if the PBGCwill allow me to squeeze a bit more accuracy from these bullets.

The green one has a beer can GC. Not easy to spot, hence the different colors

 

[L Ross]

I had Norm Johnson of Turtle Lake, ND rebore and rechamber an Argentine Mauser to .35 Whelen. His work was excellent and reasonable. I would think that picking up any good used 30-06 and sending it out for a rebore would be the cheapest way to get a Whelen. He offered your choice in twist rates.

 

[Spindrift]

The scope originally mounted on my .35 Whelen had a little marginal eye relief for the heavy loads. It made shooting a bit uncomfortable, making me slightly apprehensive- particularily with the 310grs CBE-bullet at full whack.
So, I mounted a new scope with better eye relief. And it totally transformed the shooting experience! Now, it is quite comfortable to shoot even from the bench.

I had 10 cartridges left from last year. CBE 360-300. Powder coat over GC. Nose sized .351, bands sized .360. They chamber without resistance. 47 grs Vihtavouri N150 (not 48, as I for some reason wrote in the photo). One of the cartridges had been loaded and unloaded a lot, during the course of last years hunt. It had vague land marks on the nose. I wanted to see if the cartridges had kept well. And if the loaded/unloaded cartridge would still hit in the group, or if it was messed up (neck tension).

I also needed to adjust the scope. First, I shot 3 shots at 100m. Cloverleaf! Ajusted a few clicks. Then I shot a 5- shot group to verify POI. Which was perfect, with a 5-shot group of 22mm (the upper hole had three bullets through it). Patched up the group, shot the much-handled round- and the last one. They both landed within the former 5-shot group.

I’m very happy with both the performance of this load, and the shootability of the rifle with a more suitable scope. This is probably my most consistently accurate cast bullet load, across the board.

 

[L Ross]

The scope originally mounted on my .35 Whelen had a little marginal eye relief for the heavy loads. It made shooting a bit uncomfortable, making me slightly apprehensive- particularily with the 310grs CBE-bullet at full whack.
So, I mounted a new scope with better eye relief. And it totally transformed the shooting experience! Now, it is quite comfortable to shoot even from the bench.

I had 10 cartridges left from last year. CBE 360-300. Powder coat over GC. Nose sized .351, bands sized .360. They chamber without resistance. 47 grs Vihtavouri N150 (not 48, as I for some reason wrote in the photo). One of the cartridges had been loaded and unloaded a lot, during the course of last years hunt. It had vague land marks on the nose. I wanted to see if the cartridges had kept well. And if the loaded/unloaded cartridge would still hit in the group, or if it was messed up (neck tension).

I also needed to adjust the scope. First, I shot 3 shots at 100m. Cloverleaf! Ajusted a few clicks. Then I shot a 5- shot group to verify POI. Which was perfect, with a 5-shot group of 22mm (the upper hole had three bullets through it). Patched up the group, shot the much-handled round- and the last one. They both landed within the former 5-shot group.

I’m very happy with both the performance of this load, and the shootability of the rifle with a more suitable scope. This is probably my most consistently accurate cast bullet load, across the board.

View attachment 21720

That's pretty darned good shooting and ammo crafting.

 

[fiver]

the 35 cal's have to be about the best cast bullet launchers there is.
they all just seem to want to shoot even if your not doing everything you can for uber accuracy.
kinda like 25 cal. jacketed bullet rifles.
if they ain't holding things together with some sort of reasonable accuracy your doing something way wrong, or you done shot out the barrel.

 

[Spindrift]

I also shot some copper plated handgun bullets through the Whelen, with very satisfying results. I'll shoot them some more, and report when I have a little more observational data.

 

[fiver]

I'd be interested in that.
I have been making some more 35 cal half jackets and swaging up some powder coated bullets with and without gas checks.
I like to shoot the half jackets in the lever rifle, but I can only shoot so many of them, plus I got a bucket full of cast bullets the rifle really likes that do the same thing.

 

[CZ93X62]

The ONLY reason I opted for my 9.3 x 62 over the 35 Whelen was the usual twist rate each caliber was then being put up in at that time (2002). The 35 Whelen traditionally got 1-16" twists, and the 9.3mm got 3 turns/meter (about 1-13.1"). That enabled the 9.3 to support spitzer-form 286 grain bullets accurately, a thing the rifle does splendidly.

Almost 20 years with the 9.3 x 62 has shown me with some clarity--those 286 grain spitzers are NOT its best bullet weight. That weight might be best for dangerous game, but for general big game hunting the 250 grain spitzer is far more flexible and useful. At its full potential, the 250s can be sent at 2600 FPS, which compares closely with the 30-06's 180 grain bullet performance. Both bullets track each other's trajectories very closely from 100-400 yards. The sole difference--that 250 grain bullet delivers half-again more energy on target.

If there is an advantage ballistically between the 35 Whelen and the 9.3 x 62 Mauser, it only exists in the fevered imaginations of their respective enthusiasts. Both are very fine calibers, and while the 9.3mm was a bit unknown in North America 20 years ago, that is no longer the case. Apart from brass and bullet droughts, both calibers are pretty well-served by the component makers.

 

[L Ross]

The ONLY reason I opted for my 9.3 x 62 over the 35 Whelen was the usual twist rate each caliber was then being put up in at that time (2002). The 35 Whelen traditionally got 1-16" twists, and the 9.3mm got 3 turns/meter (about 1-13.1"). That enabled the 9.3 to support spitzer-form 286 grain bullets accurately, a thing the rifle does splendidly.

Almost 20 years with the 9.3 x 62 has shown me with some clarity--those 286 grain spitzers are NOT its best bullet weight. That weight might be best for dangerous game, but for general big game hunting the 250 grain spitzer is far more flexible and useful. At its full potential, the 250s can be sent at 2600 FPS, which compares closely with the 30-06's 180 grain bullet performance. Both bullets track each other's trajectories very closely from 100-400 yards. The sole difference--that 250 grain bullet delivers half-again more energy on target.

If there is an advantage ballistically between the 35 Whelen and the 9.3 x 62 Mauser, it only exists in the fevered imaginations of their respective enthusiasts. Both are very fine calibers, and while the 9.3mm was a bit unknown in North America 20 years ago, that is no longer the case. Apart from brass and bullet droughts, both calibers are pretty well-served by the component makers.

"Fevered imaginations" gosh, what a great turn of phrase. Says so much with just two words.

 

[Spindrift]

The 9,3x62 is a splendid cartridge, without doubt. I believe the designer of the cartridge (Otto Bock) wanted to design a cartridge that gave maximum stopping power with good reliability (adequate shoulder for headspacing) in a Mauser 98 platform. It provided German settlers in the colonies with a good hunting tool, that was reasonably priced.

Given the design parameters, and the bullet quality of the early 1900’s, the 286grs bullet made sense. With the much better bullets available today, a lighter bullet seems a more logical choice.

The 9,3x62 is a quite popular cartridge in Norway, among moose hunters. The 35 Whelen is much less common here. The reasons I chose the Whelen, are

- brass logistics. I can form Whelen brass from 30-06 pick-ups with a single pass in a Lee FL-die
- Mould selction. Very good in the .358, very sparse in .366. I don’t have a large market of used moulds to draw from, like in the US
- Bullet selection, particularily the option of shooting cheap handgun bullets. Sometimes it is nice to shoot bullets that others made for you, particularily if they are cheap.

 

[todd]

europe HAD a secret, the 9.3 caliber. i have the 9.3x57 in husqvarna m46. i use 275gr wfn gc and imr4895, although i have used a 280gr rn gc. i know that 9.3x57 ain't cheap, but you can reform a 8x57 or an '06. mould selection would be accurate molds(many) and noe(2 molds).

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

My Whelen has been treated with kid gloves doe decades. Its living life in the cushy safe that stays sealed and doesn't get cracked open but for those occasional friends visits.
It needs some Love.
CW

 

[Spindrift]

Todd; the 9,3x57 should be perfectly balanced for cast bullets! It has always had a following among Swedish hunters, it is also used to some extent in Norway. The good old «potato thrower» (as the Swedes call it) has had something of a come-back in later years. Suppressors are widely used by Scandinavian hunters. When mounting a suppressor, it is tempting to shorten the barrel a bit. The 9,3(and 8mm)x57 are less affected by shortening the barrel than some other cartridges, typically loaded with slower powders.

CW; time to break out that Whelen, and heat it up! It deserves it!

Shot some copper plated 180grs H&N truncated cone bullets today. It is the cartridge on the right, below. The other cartridges are .308win, also with copper plated bullets. A 71 grs «32acp»- bullet, and a 165grs FN. H&N claim to have a plastic coating over the copper, to eliminate copper fouling.






I did a little load testing last trip, and 23 grs Vihta N110 seemed to give very good accuracy, and relevant point of impact with the 180grs bullet. Load development was done with quite fresh (for me) S&B cases, and CCI LRP primers. Today, I had (for various reasons) loaded in some well-used R-P cases with win LRP primers.

First, I shot 25 rounds of powder coated bullets. I was curious how the barrel would react to a change in projectile.
Then I fired one copper plated bullet into water containers to check for expansion (the copper layer is really thin!). Clean pass-through, no expansion.

Then the first 5-shot group @ 100m. High, left; a little over 2 MOA. Disappointing. Surprising as well, the POI should be closer to POA. Could the change in brass and primer have so much effect?

Second 5-shot group- significant contraction to near 1 MOA. POI still high-left.

Third 5-shot group, wind flags going crazy (as you can see in the target). POI wanders to anticipated place.
It seems to be a bit of bore conditioning going on, when switching from PC to copper plated. Last time, when i switched the other way, I had splendid accuracy with PC right away.

Side note: the .308 165grs FN bullet shoots consistent 5-shot 1MOA groups at 100m. These copper plated bullets are fun!

 

[CZ93X62]

I have used Hornady 9 x 18 Makarov bullets (.365") to make "varmint loads" for the 9.3 x 62. These depart at 2900 FPS and stay accurate well past 100 yards. They do BAD THINGS to jackrabbits and ground squirrels.

 

[JustJim]

The only "varmint bullet" I've used in my 9.3 is the Speer 270. The exit wound on the coyote I shot was bigger than the palm of my hand, with bits of jacket visible in various places. Nicely accurate though. . . .

For me, the deciding factor between 35 Whelan of 9.3x57/62 is the action. If I were buying a rifle built on the 03 Springfield, or building on an 03, I'd go with the 35 Whelan. If using a 98 Mauser action, the 9.3 options seems better choices. Given my fondness for Mausers, it was an easy choice.

 

[Ian]

The 9,3(and 8mm)x57 are less affected by shortening the barrel than some other cartridges, typically loaded with slower powders.

@Spindrift , I feel silly now, just wrote that on your other thread. Been thinking about filing for another stamp to build a .35 suppressor and putting together a falling block in .358 Winchester with a 16.5" barrel. Might also have to build a companion LR-358.

 

[fiver]

you could just as easily get ahold of some 7X57R cases and neck them up.... just sayin.

 

[RBHarter]

No mention ........not a peep .........must be the obscurity of the 9×57 .
Fell on love once with one , alas it was not for the pauper to have the princess .

All the perks of the 358 and none of the length bugs of the Whelen in the 95 and 98 .