Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Easy-shooting .35 Whelen load for deer

I finally got this rifle figured out and thought others might be interested, seeing as how so many shoot the Whelen now for "Primitive Weapons Season" in various southern states.

The rifle is a stanless CVA Apex with fluted 25" barrel and one-piece alloy Durasight mount. I was impressed with how tight the action mechanism was, as well as the 2lb factory trigger. I was not impressed with the 2-2.5MOA groups I got out of factory 200gr Fusions. Recoil was also a bit more than I liked (I can admit it). I then tried 225gr Accubonds over 59-60gr of RL15 but made the mistake of partially sizing the brass like I do for my bolt guns. This apparently causes problems in some break-open designs as the action does not lock up consistently. Again, groups were 2-3MOA and recoil was stiff. I stuck the gun in the back of the safe and forgot about it for several months

Not long ago, I read about the importance of headspace with rifles like this. I sized my Federal cases down to where my press would cam-over on the stroke. Accubonds were loaded out to 3.5", which is as far as I feel comfortable considering bearing surface in the neck. To address recoil, I moved to RL10x powder, which Nosler shows in their latest manual as having light charge weights and medium speeds. I looked to the middle of the indicated 44-50gr range and chose 47gr. It shoots MOA pretty easily now, which is a very welcome change.

To make a long story short, dropping 13gr of powder and shedding a couple hundred FPS made a substantial difference in recoil. I should be getting around 2,450FPS from my 25" barrel but the gun shoots flatter than that. Zeroing at 200 yds with the fairly sleek Accubond gave me impacts that were 2-2.5" high at 100yds. I'll chronograph it soon. Shot a broadside doe with the load yesterday at 221 yards and it was point-and-shoot. Nice exit hole, moderate recoil, and a very good blood trail. If a person is looking to tone down a Whelen, think about RL10x and the 225gr AB. I will likely use this "primitive weapon" a fair bit during regular rifle season too.

Sounds like a sweet load JP. I've also been considering taming my 350RM Encore down quite a bit as recoil is a bit much and full house loads are just not needed for our little deer. I'd like to get ahold of some 200g ABs and load them down around 2700. Hopefully I could gain some case life as well with the stretchy action.

I imagine case life will always be an issue with these break-open single shots. If I can get 3-4 loadings out of brass, I will consider it well used.

On a side note, I loaned out my older 444 Handi-rifle to a hunting buddy this weekend and it snapped on him twice before finally firing on the third try. He got his deer, miraculously. I had that happen once with that rifle when the temperature was around 22F and the hammer was a bit gummy with grease, but I've never seen it happen in warmer weather. Weird.....

Dad had the same thing happen to him 2 years ago on a buck in Union. He gave it to me and I sent it to H&R's authorized repair shop in OK. A word of advice, send it elsewhere. They kept the rifle 6-8 months+ and when I finally got it back all they did was replace the transfer bar. It cost $125 IIRC. I thought they'd fix it for shipping under wtty as it was only 3 years old. I had to keep hounding them and they finally got on it. Someone told me that Simmons and Spotted Dog can have them fixed, so you might should check into that option instead. If I had known up front it was going to be $125, I'd had a local smith fix it.

Dang, $125 is steep. Thanks for the advice. Will check with those local shops.

Unpublished loads DO NOT USE.

180 hardcast 32 gr 2015(1900fps) Xtremely accurate, easy clean up.
Sierra 200RN 42 gr 2015 (2400 fps) In between 30Rem and 35 Whelen. Recovered bullets are 60 caliber miss shaped lead/copper round balls.

JPro,

I use a 225gr. TSX for bear and moose that's pretty stout out of the Encore. For Miss. deer hunting I chose to go a similar route as you. I use a 200gr. Hornady SP with 57 gr. of RL15 for approx. 2600 fps. It's an accurate load out of several Encores and H&Rs that hammers deer and doesn't hit me like the TSX load does.

I don't know if your load or mine has less recoil. My brother and I have daughters who've used ours with no problems. My brother has the longest shot so far at 317 yards. He held on the back line and hit center mass on a nice 8 pt.

My deer load is a 225 gr. Sierra or Nosler Balistic-tip over a moderate charge of IMR 4064. It is an accurate, easy shooting load. I shot a KY 8 pt. broadside thru the lungs at 60 yds., good blood trail and he only went 30 yds. before dropping.