Oh Bob! They’ve done it!

[flying sailor]

I wonder if I can get it in .243 Winchester, heard it is a real flat shooter compared to .450-.400 3"NE

 

[Scott CWO]

@112Savage
Already have exactly what I want.
A nice Stevens 200/Savage 110 in 35 Whelen.
Bob

Really? We had no idea you had a Whelen. Since when?

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Oh, now I have visions of Bob doing a remake of "Quigley Down Under"
He can use that .25-20 for Dingoes and have a matching one in .35Whelen for Camels.

@CBH Australia
Chris with an 86gn cast projectiles and 3.5gn of trailboss giving just under 1,100fps I would be flat out hitting a dingo at Quigley ranges standing on 30 foot building and a 45 degrees muzzle angle. Even then I might make 200yds if I'm lucky.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

He is a chip off the old block Bob.

@MS 9x56
Only a bit mate I only tolerate the 308. Granted it's a great cartridge and it works well on all the game he shoots here and Namibia but it just doesn't float my boat. It's just so boring.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I wonder if I can get it in .243 Winchester, heard it is a real flat shooter compared to .450-.400 3"NE

@flying sailor
Hush your mouth NO RIFLE SHOULD BE AVAILABLE IN 243, PERIOD.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Really? We had no idea you had a Whelen. Since when?

@Scott CWO
I has 2 mate
A normal and an AI. To me the AI is a bit of a waste of bullets, primers,powder and time. Just doesn't give enough over the standard Whelen.
Now if I could get the 225s up to 3,100fps and the 310s up to 2,600fps maybe it would be worth a look but that ain't going to happen.
Bob
Yeh I know I took the bait but hey that's me.

 

[MS 9x56]

Bob you never disappoint. Just keep being you mate!!!

 

[TOBY458]

I once had a Ruger M77 in 35W. The headspace was a bit off on it, and it would misfire with new brass. Once fire formed it was fine. It did shoot very well when it did shoot though!

 

[thriller]

I once had a Ruger M77 in 35W. The headspace was a bit off on it, and it would misfire with new brass. Once fire formed it was fine. It did shoot very well when it did shoot though!

Wouldn’t have done that in 243

 

[roklok]

I once had a Ruger M77 in 35W. The headspace was a bit off on it, and it would misfire with new brass. Once fire formed it was fine. It did shoot very well when it did shoot though!

I have had four .35 Whelens, every one of them have done this. Remington 700, Remington 7600, Ruger 77, Ruger No.1. The Rugers misfire more than the Remingtons, but every one has done this at one time or another. I lost an opportunity at a wolf with my Ruger No. 1 before I caught on to what was going on. All will have misfires with new brass, even factory loaded ammo(Remington). Once the brass is fireformed to the chamber, no problems on subsequent loadings. From my experience it is a .35 Whelen problem. I hate to say it, because I have had great success with the cartridge and it is my favorite. Factory loads or handloads with new brass are for practice, serious loads are in previously fired brass. In my 7600 and 700, the virgin brass will end up so far forward in the chamber that the extractor cant grab it, and a cleaning rod is required to knock the loaded round out of the chamber.

 

[Inline6]

@CBH Australia
Chris with an 86gn cast projectiles and 3.5gn of trailboss giving just under 1,100fps I would be flat out hitting a dingo at Quigley ranges standing on 30 foot building and a 45 degrees muzzle angle. Even then I might make 200yds if I'm lucky.
Bob

Bob you are not trying hard enough. My PR for a 22lr is 800 yards. Speed on it is only 1127fps.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I have had four .35 Whelens, every one of them have done this. Remington 700, Remington 7600, Ruger 77, Ruger No.1. The Rugers misfire more than the Remingtons, but every one has done this at one time or another. I lost an opportunity at a wolf with my Ruger No. 1 before I caught on to what was going on. All will have misfires with new brass, even factory loaded ammo(Remington). Once the brass is fireformed to the chamber, no problems on subsequent loadings. From my experience it is a .35 Whelen problem. I hate to say it, because I have had great success with the cartridge and it is my favorite. Factory loads or handloads with new brass are for practice, serious loads are in previously fired brass. In my 7600 and 700, the virgin brass will end up so far forward in the chamber that the extractor cant grab it, and a cleaning rod is required to knock the loaded round out of the chamber.

@roklok
Never had a problem in my Savage a Whelen as I have only ever reloaded for it using new Remington brass. It's never had a factory round near it. Even the headspace was set with a dummy full lenght sized Virgin case and a 225gn accubond with a coal of 3.4 inches.
Bob

 

[roklok]

My main .35 Whelen is my Remington 700, I have had it 33 years and killed a pile of game with it. I thought it was immune to this problem, until it wasn't. I had experienced multiple misfires in two Ruger .35s prior and was aware of the problem, just never experienced it in my 700. Then one day, luckily at the range, my trusty 700 experienced a misfire with virgin brass. The rim was too far forward for the extractor to grab, so I had to get a cleaning rod to extract round. My most recent experience was with a Remington 7600 Carbine in .35 Whelen. I bought two boxes of factory Remington .35 W, my idea was to keep separate brass for the 7600 being a pump gun. I had multiple misfires in the 40 rounds of factory ammo. With it as well, I had to use a cleaning rod to extract misfired rounds. If you look at a virgin Remington brass, the shoulder is rounded and undefined. Once the brass is fired, it is sharper, not rounded, and much more defined. It is certainly possible some rifles will never misfire on virgin brass, especially with more sensitive primers, but from my experience I would no longer trust virgin .35 Whelen brass for important use. I have read multiple accounts of others experiencing this as well over the years on various forums. Here is a close-up of Remington virgin brass next to a round loaded in once fired brass in my 700, obviously a large difference in the shoulder.

 

[roklok]

Bob, rereading your post, if your headspace was set with a dummy round with virgin brass, you may never have a misfire. Have you ever checked headspace with actual gauges ? I have a suspicion that your headspace is probably on the tighter side being your headspace was set with virgin brass. That may be the key.

 

[Inline6]

Bob, rereading your post, if your headspace was set with a dummy round with virgin brass, you may never have a misfire. Have you ever checked headspace with actual gauges ? I have a suspicion that your headspace is probably on the tighter side being your headspace was set with virgin brass. That may be the key.

If he is shooting a Savage, he can control his headspace easily. If it is setup to use the barrel nut system Savage is known for.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

My main .35 Whelen is my Remington 700, I have had it 33 years and killed a pile of game with it. I thought it was immune to this problem, until it wasn't. I had experienced multiple misfires in two Ruger .35s prior and was aware of the problem, just never experienced it in my 700. Then one day, luckily at the range, my trusty 700 experienced a misfire with virgin brass. The rim was too far forward for the extractor to grab, so I had to get a cleaning rod to extract round. My most recent experience was with a Remington 7600 Carbine in .35 Whelen. I bought two boxes of factory Remington .35 W, my idea was to keep separate brass for the 7600 being a pump gun. I had multiple misfires in the 40 rounds of factory ammo. With it as well, I had to use a cleaning rod to extract misfired rounds. If you look at a virgin Remington brass, the shoulder is rounded and undefined. Once the brass is fired, it is sharper, not rounded, and much more defined. It is certainly possible some rifles will never misfire on virgin brass, especially with more sensitive primers, but from my experience I would no longer trust virgin .35 Whelen brass for important use. I have read multiple accounts of others experiencing this as well over the years on various forums. Here is a close-up of Remington virgin brass next to a round loaded in once fired brass in my 700, obviously a large difference in the shoulder.

View attachment 583608

@roklok
It sounds like a case of poor quality control on Remingtons part.
I bought 200 Remington cases from the same batch and made up my dummy round. My gunsmith then headspaced the barrel to that cartridge with a very slight feel on chambering it. All otge rounds were the same when I loaded them. After firing them they have only been neck sized until the 5th firing. Then they were trimmed, chamfered and annealed. I'm still on my first 100 cases and they are still going strong and I'm hoping to get at least another 10 or more loads out of each case. Sounds like a bit of work but brass is expensive and I'm a tight wad.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Bob, rereading your post, if your headspace was set with a dummy round with virgin brass, you may never have a misfire. Have you ever checked headspace with actual gauges ? I have a suspicion that your headspace is probably on the tighter side being your headspace was set with virgin brass. That may be the key.

@rockloc
When my gunsmith does MY rifles he sets the headspace to match my loads and dies like I ask him. This way we know everything is fine and tolerance is very tight.
For others he uses headspace gauges, I like to be different.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

If he is shooting a Savage, he can control his headspace easily. If it is setup to use the barrel nut system Savage is known for.

@Inline6
My Savage Whelen is set up using the traditional method. The barrel is a bit beefier than the Savage barrel so couldn't use the barrel nut. When he built it I asked him to build the most accurate 35 he has ever built and he did.
A 2 inch 100yds group with 10 different projectiles ranging from 200 to 275gn bullets is pretty good in my book. That way it doesn't matter what I throw in the chamber I can have confidence in it. If I use the one type of projectile it groups .75 inches or better. It loves the 250gn round nose and will regularly cut .5" or less if I do my part. Even the big 310s will cut clover leaf groups.
Having a good gunsmith really helps.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Ha ha I’m thinking some where in between like the 7mm08 is a better cartridge then either the 243 or 308. It has more energy than the 243 and better SD and BC with the same weight bullet than the 308.
Something to think about……

@K95
I agree with you on at 7mm-08 but my son is even more of a tight wad than me. With 7mm-08 costing more than 50% more than 308 and harder to get he went with the boring old 308 and he loves it.
His 308 has never had a factory round thru it as he said it was cheaper to by brass, primers and projectiles and get dad to reload it as he has plenty of 2208.
As I said he is a skinflint.
Bob

 

[flying sailor]

@K95
I agree with you on at 7mm-08 but my son is even more of a tight wad than me. With 7mm-08 costing more than 50% more than 308 and harder to get he went with the boring old 308 and he loves it.
His 308 has never had a factory round thru it as he said it was cheaper to by brass, primers and projectiles and get dad to reload it as he has plenty of 2208.
As I said he is a skinflint.
Bob

We must have same style sons!