Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Anyone have experience loading .357 158 gr bullets in a .35 Whelen?

Speer lists limited load data for 158 gr .357 pistol bullets in a .35 Whelen.

Has anyone tried loading a 158 gr bullet in a .35 Whelen? I’d be curious to hear the outcome.

If it’s possible to get reasonably decent accuracy, I thought I might try it.

It would be nice to do some offhand or field position practice with my Whelen shooting bullets at $0.12 a piece.

I burned up a bunch of then pushed by IMR 4227, hell on raccoons. My rifle didn't like them pushed too fast.

So accurate to minute-of-raccoon? that sounds promising!

Actually pretty accurate more like minute of raccoon head at 100 yards. For some reason though if I pushed them past 2000 fps you would be lucky to hit a gallon milk jug at 100 yards, could have been my rifle I guess, or the bullets.

This is my best load. CCI-200 primers. RP '06 cases. 1:12 twist barrel. 158 gr Hornady XTP or Speer JFP.

13.0 gr W-231 - 1,525 fps - 1" @ 75 yds for 5 shots.

Thanks!

I just wanted to follow up. I worked up sone loads with different .357 158 gr pistol bullets, and apparently my rifle really likes the Hornady 158 gr XTP.

That's pretty awesome - what was your load?

I have long advocated that for the handloader, that wants a “one gun- do it all” rifle.... .a .358 in magnum (.350 Griffin &Howe, or .358 STA) may be that cartridge! memtb

I just followed the Speer data for IMR 4895, 45 gr, with CCI 200 primers. Brass was once fired PPU .30-06 i annealed then resized to .35 Whelen.

I played around with different .357 bullets. Sierra 158 FP, Speer JHP and no-name bulk 158s all shot various levels of “ok”.

I had an old box of XTPs that I tried on a whim and jackpot!

Speer .35 Whelen 158 gr Load Data

I've shot many XTP's in my .35 Whelen and was always able to get good accuracy. I used them for practice only, never on deer. For a lighter recoiling deer load I have been shooting Hornady Inter-lok 200gr. RN over a charge of IMR 3031. Accuracy of this load is phenominal and performance on whitetails produces a perfectly mushroomed bullet that typically retains 66 -75% of original weight.

Does your rifle have a short throat, or one you can get one of the pistol bullets close to the rifling.

No, not a short throat. These XTPs are nowhere near the lands.

Hmmm you may have lucked out somehow. I never tried the XTP's though. My rifle also handles any of the 200 grain RN's with disdain but the 200 gr. Hornady Spire point shoots very well in it.

I think it's just the planets aligned for the XTP. I tried a couple other 158 gr .357 bullets I had boxes of and the results ranged from okay to unimpressive. Same brass, same primer, same powder charge just different bullets.

I loaded the pistol bullets mostly for the grandkids to plink with and take out a couple of dumpster diving raccoons. If the coon had not pulled the trash out onto the ground I wouldn't have cared but didn't like picking up after them.

I can see varmints as a great use for a .357 bullet in a Whelen. Even though the XTP has a reputation as a bit of a “tough” HP bullet, the mild charge of powder I’m using pushes it way too fast, as I confirmed via a chat with Hornady.

For me, these are mostly range use. However, the farm where I hunt has groundhogs snd coyotes, and the landowner really hates them both. She often reminds me to shoot any I see, and it’s legal to do here in VA year round. For off season scouting I may carry my Whelen zeroed for these 158 gr XTPs, for groundhogs or coyotes.