About 8 pounds bare/dry/empty is a perfect weight for a .35 Brown Whelen OR .35 Whelen OR .358 STA for that matter.
The "Featherweight" .35 Brown Whelen stainless/Tupperware below is 7#14 oz as shown.
The .35 Whelen blued/walnut is about 8.5 lbs as shown.
Forming .35 Brown Whelen brass and .400 Whelen brass from .35 Whelen brass have a lot in common.
Lessons I learned with .35 Brown Whelen were applied to .400 Whelen: