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I have a Whelen in a T/C Encore for use during our primitive firearm season here in MS. I'm currently shooting full house loads with a 225gr SGK or 225gr NAB but it's not real fun to shoot since it weighs 7.5lbs ready to hunt. Our deer are rarely bigger than 180lbs so the Whelen is serious overkill. Reloading some light loads for my young nephew and cousin got me to thinking about finding a light load for this rifle to make it more pleasant to shoot. I figure something in the range of a 35Rem load should be plenty for our small deer and be much easier on the shoulder.

I currently have the above listed bullets along with 200gr Sierra and Hornady RN bullets for my 35rem lever gun. I have IMR4198 that I use for light loads in the other rifles along with a bunch of other standard powders.

Anyone ever done this or have any suggestions?


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I have both 35 Whelen and 350 mag. This past spring I put up some loads in the 350 in an attempt to more or less duplicate 35 Remington loads. Using the 200 Hornady RN and IMR 4198 I went from 39 to 43 grains. Here's what I got from the 350 mag:
39 grs 2190
40 grs 2200
41 grs 2285
42 grs 2320
43 grs 2350

I had hang fires on all up to 41 grs but none with 42 or 43 grs, the best accuracy was right at 2".

I later tried the 200 Hornady RN and IMR 4759 with pretty much linear velocity oncreases from 31 grs at 1885 up to 39 grs at 2330. No hang fires at any level and the best 3 shot groups of 0.8" and 0.4" but most around 1 1/2".
These loads came from the old IMR reloading pamphlet and, of course 4759 has been discontinued.

With the 350 and 35 Whelen being pretty close twins these should be pretty close.



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I use 34.5 gr of 4759 over 200gr Rem, Sierra, or Hornady's. Velocity runs around 2200fps with decent enough accuracy as I use it for whitetails in the marsh. 80 yards would be a long shot there, 2 of last years deer were closer to 8 yards.
My Savage smokeless muzzleloader likes this powder, so I am fortunate to have an adequate supply for the foreseeable future.


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H4895 can be used in reduced loads, look at Hodgdon on line data.

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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.


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Originally Posted by WoodsyAl
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.


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My Whelen also showed mediocre accuracy with any of the 200 grain RN bullets but was very accurate with the 200 grain Hornady spire points. I used 3031 and starting loads for a pretty comfortable shooting round.


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I used 4064 in my Encore whelen barrel. You can get down to 2400 with minimum loads of that with good accuracy. I shot 200 rem corelokt and 200 hornady bullets. I traded my whelen barrel for a 358 winchester a couple of years ago and I really like it. The whelen barrel I had was 24 inches and kicked like a mule. The minimum loads helped some but I like the 26 inch 358 much better.

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I use a stainless CVA Apex Whelen for primitive weapons season here. My load is the 225gr Accubond over RL10x, which is actually listed in the Nosler manual. I think I'm a grain or two above their minimum charge, but it is substantially less powder than the typical choices for 225gr loads. The result is less recoil and 2,425fps with that load. As the bullet is quite sleek for a .35cal, it offers a pretty dang flat trajectory for such a moderate velocity, which is something that many of the blunt-nosed 180-200gr choices cannot give. I sight in about 2.5" high at 100yds and I'm pretty much "on" at 200yds and only a couple inches low at 225yds. It knocks nice holes in whitetails out to 225, which is as far as I've shot it. Blood trails are always more than adequate, and as a result I will often hunt that rifle in rainy conditions even during regular rifle season.



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