Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .35 Whelen and Speer 250 gr. bullets?

Does anyone have any good loads to share with this combo?

I have a Rem. 700 Classic and have been using it up until now with the 225 gr. Sierra or NP but have some 250 gr. Speer slugs that I would like to try. With the 225 gr. I was using 58 gr. of RL-15, which was giving me good accuracy in my rifle.

Thanks for other inputs.

I've been using IMR 4064 with mine, get right at 2500 with itty bitty groups. Has not been very temp sensitive. Unfortunately, I've only shot paper so far, but figure it should work pretty well. I've paired it with Winchester .30-06 brass, and the Federal 210 match primer.

55-56 grains of RL - 15 seems to work quite well in 4 35 Whelens I have loaded for with std primer RP Whelen cases with
older production Speer 250 gr spitzer bullets. Velocity 2450-
2500 FPS.
My Rem 7600 prefers 56 Gr of IMR 4320 with 250 gr Speer. 2500 FPS
Loads are safe in my rifle may not be in yours so work up!

I use 225 Sierra Gaekings and 58.5 gr. RL 15. I killed 4 Whitetail this past year 100 yds, 230 yds, 210 yds and my best buck ever (177" gross) at a lasered 286yds. I wouldn't change if I were you.

R-P cases
CCI 200

54 grains IMR4320, 2480 fps Ruger M77 22" barrel

53 grains IMR4320, 2465 fps 1903- A3 Springfield 24" barrel

Good accuracy in both and the bullet works well on Black bear, Moose and Elk.

I have a M700 Classic 35 Whelen and she is a tack driver.
I have been working up loads for the 250 gr PT with RL 15 and the results have been impressive.
http://www.noslerreloading.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15825
JD338

I had a box of the 250 gr. Speer Hot Cor given to me by someone getting out of the .35 game, so just looking for a good way to load them up. Thanks for the responses so far.

53 grs IMR4320, RP cases and Fed 210 caps have produced very good results for me in a 700CDL

Here is an eleven pt. buck I killed with the 53 grs IMR 4320, 250 gr. Speer load. It was in heavy cover and when I took the shot he dropped DRT.
whelennut

if you was to compare this bullet here to the horn. interlock 250RN as far as expansion, penitration and weight retention how would it match up?

nice buck btw! i love those chocolate racks!

I think you'll find the 250 speer is tougher than the 250 hornady rn. I've only taken one head of game with the 250 rn, and it was driven out of a 350 Rigby at 2700 fps. A 10 pace neck shot doe was nearly decapitated, those 250rn open right up.

I shot a mule deer with my Classic 35 Whelen at about 175 yds. It was a typical shot behind the shoulder with a 250gr. Speer on top of alot of 3031, at over 2500 fps. The bullet did not pass thru the deer but exploded like a hand grenade killing the deer instantly. What a mess inside that deer.

my load for the 250 RN is 53.5gr of 4064 and my crony only shows it to be about 2244fps on average. its out of a 7600 pump w/ a 18.5" barrel. i know the velocity would be less then a 22" tube but that seems like a turtle to me. i dodnt get to kill anything w/ that load last year so on game performance is still a mystery. if i could get it to 2500fps MV ide be pretty happy w/ it and use that as a do all load for up here killing deer, bear and moose but im wondering if it will expand on somehting like a 150-250lb buck BUT be tough enough for a 950lb moose. what do ya think

I have a .358 Norma, so it can push bullets quite a bit faster than a .35 Whelen -- and perhaps make bullets fail that might be OK at Whelen velocities.

Just for something to do (and to play with my new .358 toy!), I used it for some bullet testing in water filled milk jugs and in waterlogged phone books.

Based on my bullet testing, I can say that the 250gr Speer spitzer was a lot more likely to come apart than a Hornady 250gr Interlock spire point. Even the lightest loads I could find listed for the .358 Norma mag and 250 gr bullets made the Speer bullets fragment and they gave little penetration. Likely fine for deer, likely bad for moose, IMNSHO.

I do not recall if Speer makes a round nose (which could perform quite differently) but the pointed bullets I had were "Hot Cor".

Lastly, the lightest load I tested were still probably faster than the .35 Whelen, so it may well be that the Speer bullets are perfect at lower velocities.

Oh, and water filled milk jugs and soggy phone books are not critters -- just to save somebody from posting the obvious!

John

I never had any problem with 3 moose and 1 black bear around 2450 FPS. Yukoner killed a bunch of moose with the 250 Speer.
I have heard some bad things about the newer production 250 Speer.

In my admittedly limited testing, the 250 Speer was quite the penetrator in wet and dry phonebooks. Couldn't keep it in the wet phone books from a 358 Norma.

Hard to say as I have never recovered a bullet.
I do have a box of Speer Grand Slam 250 gr. so maybe that is a sign that the others were a bit soft for some folks.
I like them on whitetails!
whelennut

Interesting! My Speer bullets were very old (purchased from Ellwood Epps back in Ontario, and they looked like they might have been one of Ellwood's first purchases for the store).

After seeing the post just below mine by kk_alaska about recent Speer performance, I wonder how often they have changed over the years?

Just in passing, I will mention that the Nosler Ballistic Tip (discontinued now) expanded well but held together, retained a lot of mass, and penetrated like a freight train. It was sure a lot different than the Nosler Ballistic Tips I tried in 7mm! Too bad they dropped the .358 version -- I am down to just one box now.

John

I run the Hornady or Speer interchangable with Varget. The book max is only 55gr but I took it a bit higher until I hit 2500fps and called it good. I actually worked up to 2600fps and still had no pressure signs with Varget but did not not want to think about what the pressures could be. Also in the whelen I dont think 100fps either way is going to alter results.

Thanks for the information so far.

I'm not taking umbrage at any of the comments on this thread however, I felt it might be worth pointing out Speer's own comments regarding their 250 grain bullets in Speer's #14 loading manual pg.639 35 Whelen load data;
Speer states "that it sells four Hot-Cor 35 caliber rifle bullets: flat point designs in 180 and 220 grains, a 250 grain spitzer and a 250 grain Grand Slam. Both 250 grain bullets were designed for the Whelen. The two flat point bullets are fine for for game up to medium deer, and the 250 grain bullets should handle any other North American game.The Grand Slam should be chosen for large bear where deep penetration and bullet integrity are vital."
It may also be worth pointing out that their test rifle is a 700 classic with a 22' barrel and their average velocity with 250's came in around 2,350fps while not exceeding the industry max. average pressure of 52,000cup. The same test equipment that has been used over the last 3 load manual editions published by Speer. One might take away or be able to make an inference about the differences between both of their 250 grain bullets construction given Speers comments,design parameters, and testing equipment.
YMMV,
BD

duckster

The 250 Speer is an excellent bullet for the Whelen. I also like the Hornady 250gr RN and usually use IMR4064 or R-15

Many years ago I scored a stash of the old Speer 250gr ROUND NOSE. They are still my favorite bullet for the Whelen or 350
RM!

WN

Thanks to all who have chimed in.