Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska .35 Whelen Rifle Question

Try this with a 9.3 - Hint: they don't make 0.366" dia pistol bullets.

thats probably exactly why I should have done the whelen instead of hte 338-06. But from young up... I wanted a 333 OKH and the 338/06 was as close as I was willing to go vs really odd sized bullets..

Of course its not the first or last "mistake" one will make. LOL

Still intrigued by 400 whelen....

Got to spend some time with Michael Petrov and his 400s. He also showed me through his forming processes. Pretty cool cartridge, but a PITA to load for.

I can imagine that part PITA, but thats part of the fun sometimes.

WTF if it was grab and go, one could just grab a 375 HH and be done for about everything needed and find ammo about anywhere to boot. I've noticed that while 06 is probably more common, I"ve seen 375 of various flavors in almost every place we've ever looked...

With all this 35 love going around, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the grand daddy of them all, the 350 Rigby Magnum



Belted magnum performance without the belt, and feeds slicker than snot with it's gradually tapered case.

Downsides would be ammo availability, brass availability and load data being scarce. But it'll handily push a 250 gr bullet to 2700 fps with 66 gr of RL15 or 71 gr of H-4350 and the one I had made would group under an inch.

Now that would be fun to use in Africa.

Wow! That's cool. I've never seen a .350 Rigby before.

I found a .350 Rigby double that includes over 500 rounds of custom-loaded Superior Ammunition (250 grain bullets, .348 Winchester cases), but at $18,500.00 it's just a bit out of my price range!

$76.97 for 20.

http://www.qual-cart.com/35%20cal.htm

I built mine on a 98 action



It's essentially the same case as the 375 H&H sans belt, a tad shorter and with a 45 degree shoulder. It also pre-dates the 375 by two years. Bertram makes brass, but it's soft crap, Hornbear makes excellent brass but it's hard to come by. You can also tak 375 brass, chuck it in a lathe, turn down the rim, cut a deeper extractor groove and turn off the belt. Then fl size and hopefully the neck sets back far enough, then trim to length.

458: That's awesome. Have you tried the .348 Win. brass? Your method sounds quite involved.

Is the recoil comparable to a .358 Norma Magnum?

Although expensive, it's not too bad. I've seen both .35W and 9.3x62 at higher prices.

The 348 Winchester is much too large in diameter, 0.553" for the 348 at the case head vs 0.502" for the Rigby.

I've never shot a 358 Norma but would imagine recoil would be comparable. The 350 Rigby as originally loaded was on par with the 35 whelen, but with modern rifles the Rigby is essentially a 358 Norma in a different package.

Yes, forming brass was a PITA, but is an option. I came across a closeout deal on Bertram brass and bought 100 cases but as mentioned they are very soft and can't handle full pressure loads.

.... Just for giggles....

I once heard a comedian that offered a story something along the lines of: a well educated college graduate is down on his luck and took a job at a factory running a drill press. He was to drill a hole thru a bunch of steel plate and screwed up the whole stack...
Foreman, named Tex, tells him, "boy I'm going to have to let you go".
Man replies, "you know, I have a college degree!"
Tex tells him, "Well son, you best go back and take the class on drill press operatin'."

This got me thinking...

MtnBoomer: I now see the integrated dovetail mounts, which I missed the first time around, ya' bastard!

9mm Makarov is .365". It is close enough to shoot well in my 9.3 bore. Moreover, one can always seat a Mak JHP backwards if the 9.3 bore is a little too generous. The HP becomes a miniball type skirt. .366 meplat is a wicked wad cutter. May not feed from the magazine though.

Here's recoil.

[img]http://i1243.photobucket.com/albums/gg546/elkhunterinnm/th_IMG_2782.mp4[/img]

I think the guy's reply was actually, "I'll have you know I graduated top of my class at Cornell!" Then Tex says, "Better go back and take the class on drill press operatin' "

Cheers.

Nice. Looks fairly stout.

It is. I'll show you the scar on my trigger finger,whenever we meet up.

Ken: sounds good. I'll tell you I am so tired of this heat - it was 105 in downtown El Paso today, and to think that we have 2.5 more months of this heat is too much to bear.