Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Factory 35 Whelen 250 grain COAL??

Anyone have a factory 250grn load laying around they can get a COAL on? I shot all my factory stuff and was loading up some Nosler Partitions and they don't feed well at Nosler's 3.33" COAL.

I don't really want to mod the feed rails/ramp, I'll have to drop down to the 200 Hornadys i have if the 250's don't work out.

Any issues (like pressure spikes) I'm gonna get myself into by seating deeper than Nosler's 3.33" COAL? From all my books it looks like pressure should go down rather than up since there is more of a jump to the throat/lands. Reloader 15, CCI LR primers, RP brass and VZ24 action.

Thanks

Use a 1/4" wooden dowell rod. Slide it down the bore until it touched the closed bolt face. Mark the rod at the muzzle. Pull rod out. Take out the bolt. Drop a bullet into the chamber, hold in place with a pencil ( piece of another dowell) insert the dowell in the barrel until it just touches the bullet, mark the rod again. Measure the distance between the marks, subtract .025". That's your COAL.

Jim, appreciate the response but I'm just looking for a factory COAL as they feed & shoot fine in it. Just trying to avoid buying a $40 box of ammo when i can roll my own!

Remington Factory 250 GR. PSP 3.240

Only factory stuff I have are Fed Premiums with 225gr Bear Claws. They measure 3.285".
Can't imagine why you should experience a pressure spike unless something in your recipe is "out of bounds."
Don't ignore the 225's if you can't make the 250's work. I have used the 250 gr Partition in 3 different Whelens, all with great success, but can say the same about 200's and 225's. The Whelen has been easy to get along with.

SAJ - thanks! That's right where I'm at right now but have not run them yet but the Remington 250s shot really well for me.

Fishdog, I won't over look the 225s, I just have a bunch of 250 partitions right now and figure they will be a thumper for nilgai that I drew a tag for. Not much I miss about ny but your area sure is beautiful! Always wanted to hunt Seneca army depot for one of those piebald but never got over that way. I'd be up in Indian lake at camp this weekend if I still lived up there!

Thanks gents!

I chrono'ed a bunch of Whelen factory ammo some years ago. The Rem 250's were very accurate and consistent, but also very slow, a bit under 2300fps on average. Never used them in the field, but reckon the game would never know.
This time of year makes it worth living in this corner of the world. The grape harvest and tree colors are just remarkable. Happily, deer hunting & fishing remains very good.

Through extensive range testing 225gr. bullets became my bullet of choice in my .35 Whelen. I load both Sierra 225gr Game King and I have a stock of the discontinued Nosler ".35 Whelen" 225gr.. With a load of IMR 4064 and Sierra 225 my rifle will shoot 3 shot cloverleaf groups at 100yds. all day long. The Game Kings do an excellent job on whitetails and will be what I am carrying when our season opens here in a month. Good luck with your Whelen, I have enjoyed mine for 30 yrs.. Lastly I'll mention that the C.O.A.L. with the Sierra 225 is 3.250".

Last time I actually hunted this rifle I was in Unit 4A with about 4" of snow on the ground and shot at a nice doe. Drilled a 3" wild grape vine about 5 feet in front of her that matched her hide perfect. Left a nice 35 cal hole and missed the doe. Shame too as it was so hard to draw a doe permit for 4A.

My wife and kids just returned from a trip north to visit my parents and got to stomp grapes in a barrel in my father's mini vineyard. Fall is the best time up there but I sure don't miss loading firewood in the middle of the night when it is -25*!

I agree on the factory loads, my full house 250's thump both ends pretty good, even with the rifle weighing in at a little over 9 lbs unloaded. I carried it exactly one time in the Adirondacks, after that the model seven never got left at home!

I have a box of 100 hornady interlock 200's that I haven't even tried yet, maybe they will be next...I just don't burn a lot of ammo through this one

Due to having rotator cuff repair of both shoulders I have begun loading 180gr. Speer Flat Points. With IMR 4064 the accuracy is fine but with the 225gr. Sierra Game Kings grouping into one ragged hole I may just stick with them.

Well, my pet load for the .35 Whelen is the 225 gr. Barnes TSX loaded to 2710 FPS with Rl15. The charge is 60.4 gr. but start well below that. The load is fine in my custom Mauser but has proved to be too hot in a Remington M700 Classic. Accuracy is superb and the load smacks elk down like the Hammer of Thor.
I started out with 250 gr. bullets but a special hunt I went on required monometal bullets so worked up the TSX load. I never went back to the 250 gr. bullets. I have some 225 gr. Nosler Accubonds and Partitions to try but just haven't gotten around to it.
Paul B.