A few years back I wanted to do the same thing you are considering. I shoot some big cartridges, but it seemed like a full-bore .35 Whelen load was serious overkill when I would never use my HandiRifle on anything other than Mississippi antlerless deer. I did some research and then worked up a load that fundamentally mimics .35 Remington ballistics.
The bullet is Hornady's 180 gr. SP SSP, #3505. This is considered a "pistol bullet" for use in long-barreled pistols. I talked with a Hornady tech about the velocity window for this bullet and he said it should not be pushed "much over 2400 fps."
I used H4831SC and worked up to 63 grains which, in my rifle, gives a muzzle velocity of 2216 fps.
Recoil is much milder than the factory loads I started with.
Accuracy is very good, and entirely adequate on my Mississippi property where the longest possible shot is 125 yds. I fired six shots on the same target at 100 yds. (barrel cooling after three) that went into 1.75". A year later I fired a three-shot group just to confirm sighting and velocity on a 50 yd. range (only place I could shoot over the chrono) and that went into 0.52".
Not surprisingly, this load has worked well on the deer I've shot with it.
I've got a lot of rifles I prefer to use, but this is the only one that is legal in Mississippi's early primitive weapons season. I wouldn't want to do it, but I wouldn't feel handicapped ballistically if this were the only rifle I could use in Mississippi during the entire season.
That's exactly what I'm trying to do and the info I'm looking for. I may have to order some of those bullets. I have that powder already. I wonder if it would work with 200gr 35Rem bullets. I already have a bunch of them.
