Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 35 whelen

I have quite a bit of staball 6.5 on hand that I have used with success in a few of my rifles thinking about trying it in my whelen. Hodgdon lists loads for the 338-06 with staball with a max load of 62.5gr with a 225gr bullet at 2725fps. I can’t find any load data or anything online of anyone using this powder in a whelen and perhaps it’s too slow of a powder. But same case and only 20 thousandths difference in diameter has me thinking I could use that data’s starting loads and see what happens. Any thoughts?

I like your method of thought. BUT I'm no egg-spurt. Rusty.

Slowest powder I've had good results with in the Whelen in CFE-223. StaBall 6.5 is quite a bit slower.

There's a reason there's no published data for Staball and the Whelan. I think you will be wasting valuable components

Be the first to give it a try and see for yourself. That's what I did in my .375 H&H under 300 grainers. It's so slow a full load can't hurt other than making a discovery. It's magic behind the 300gr Sierra in my .375 H&H. No other powder comes close except RL-17 which is also great in the .35 Whelen. RL-17 is the greatest in mid-bores like the Whelen, 9.3 x 62 and .375 H&H with midweight to heavy bullets. Because it's no longer available, I was looking for a substitute. Many thought StaBALL 6.5 would be too slow, but i'ts great (so far) in my .375 with 300s. Ya never know till you try. . . and it's best with all you can get in SAFELY. But for a 225gr in the Whelen, like many others, I use CFE223. StaBALL 6.5 might be a good choice for the heavies in .358-cal for the Whelen - like the 280s and 310s.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

i just started loading my 35 Whelen , the powder that shoots decent for me is AA2495 so far. i would be glad to hear someone else advise on what powder they use . thanks,Pete53

I use Power Pro Varmint for 180 to 225 grain bullets for 250' CFE223 is excellent

Pete,
What weight bullet for your 35W?

Been loading the whelan for several years. 59 gr of 4064 behind the 225 grain bullet gives good accuracy and power.

Good article in this month's American Rifleman by Towsley about Col. Whelen.

That sounds like a good load. I tried 60.0grs of IMR-4064 with that combination in the Whelen, but thought it should be backed off a little bit. Congrats on a great combination.

I too have been loading the .35 Whelen for many years, with 225gr. bullets IMR 4064 gave me the best accuracy and for years was my whitetail load. The last several years I've been loading the 200gr. bullet with IMR 3031 and it gives excellent accuarcy and killing power on whitetails.

Look at Speer rifle data

Mine liked CFE223

I ran the numbers on Staball 6.5 in Gordons Reloading Tool (poor man's QuickLoad) and it predicts you'll run out of powder room before you reach overpressure, with MV around 2500fps. I only recently started fooling around with GRT so can't comment on how closely it predicts pressure-tested loads, but it sounds like MuskegMan is correct.

good to know , the Speer reloading book is still one of my favorites. some day i hope to find a nice 35 Whelen in a 760 Remington pump. thanks , Pete53

I used H322/200 X, TTSX. I used AA br-2015 with the 250X. Later in life I used R15/Fed 215M/Nosler 250. At the moment, I forget what I used under a Woodleigh 310 sn. This was in an Whelan Ackley Improved. The case is "almost" cylinder, faster powders doo pretty good. Its a fine round. I always felt the Ackley version more closely compares to the 9.3x62.

The Speer data is online

If I recall there is a page dedicated to the 35 cal's.

something like 35cal.com

google is your friend

just got my NRA American Hunter August 2024 magazine , there is a very nice article about the famous Mr. Rifleman Col, Townsend Whelen by Bryce M. Towsley its worth a read talks some about the 35 Whelen.

CFE 223 works well in mine with 225 gr bullets.