I too love the Whelen. I've shot lots of wild boar here with mine, and a good moose in Alaska.

I never thought the recoil was bad, but I bet in that light plastic single shot it might be.

My 220 Swift is a plastic stocked gun, built for coyotes, but I bet if the good colonel T. Whelen could see Wolfie's gun... he might roll over in his grave a tiny bit.

Carry on Wolfdog. Get that thing dialed in.

Pete

Alrighty brass forming time . And gotta say , it was ... a learning experience. now yes I could have just bought some factory brass for not much at all buuut wheres the fun in that. And maybe this can help someone else down the line


So .35 Whelen is just a 30-06 case necked up to take a .357 cal bullet . Was legit made to be a easy deal for people to make an use . and since I have all this .270win brass ... and .270 uses .30-06 as a parent case should be about the same process . Dies and ammo boxes finally can come in so, and gotta say I'm liking what lee is doing with their new dies .they all come with a micrometer and lock rings now



so went though that big bag of brass and got all the R-P head stamps I saw . I personally like keeping head stamps separate when I can . even for non serious stuff . anyhow most of them where fairly clean soluned then with hornday one shot



as far as the die . what unlike to usually do is take factory ammo , shoot a few and measure where the brass is for forming. by doing that I can go ahead and set my die so my brass has a proper shoulder bump off the rip.... but since everyone told me how bad factory ammo would kick in this lil guy I just said we're gonna ek a few cases fire form and run off of that .... sorry not paying $2.50 a round to punish my shoulder .so anyway just gone set it up like the instructions say . Al the way to the shell how then a 1/4 turn


and our very first one . got like half way up and realized that the hornday one shot just wasn't enough for forming....you'd figure I'd know this by and the fact I'm going from .270/6.8mm to .357 instead of just .308 to .357 would have tripped something in my brain to say " hay man use the good lube ...and mabyoe anneal " but I was kinda stuck in the idea on how this was supposed to be a really simple and easy deal.
anyway got a lil imperial lube in the mouth and made it a lot easier. really trumpets that mouth out lol






annnd here we go very first .35 whelen case




and just to make things a lil easier I decided to try and use a 30-06 die to size them up to .308 as a step before.357 because welll

CH4D makes a universal expander die that does a good job. I used it to make 400 Whelen brass before Quality Cartridge began offering it.

Annealing the neck and shoulder before expanding will stop a lot of those splits.

alrighty so got those made up time for a lil tumble , wanted them super clean super quick so wet tumble with some lemme (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) and dawn for like 20min then in the toaster oven at 225 for like 30min to dry them out really good




and now to trim , most of these weren't super long but need a trim. usually use my Frankford arsenal trimmer but it goes off the case shoulder and I've found. usually when you forming cases the shoulder arnt 100% the same so we're just gonna go with the old school for the first time .

so.tjing odd I noticed is most of the. are slightly slanted... not sure what that's bout

the. debur and chamfer prime and boom

so this is where the real headache so far started. since I'm running cast bullets I need to expand the case mouths and necks a lil so the lead bullets don't get shaved , deformed or seated cockeyed . fir that gotta use some kinda expander

three options I have on hand and are the lee universal, the RCBs expander , and the NOE expander plug ( left to right )


the lee works but it just bells out the very start of the case and I had bullets seat ...not straight with this. the. if you don't adjust it just right you need to crimp it to tank the bell in back down . then there's the RCBS . it works but it's just a tapered rod that sizes the whole neck and mouth the same . my favorite is the NOE plugs which are pretty similar to the Lyman "M-Die " these are stepped . so you get a opening around the case mouth down a bit then it transitions to a neck expansion. usually just a lil bit smaller then the bullet diameter found I get much better accuracy with these then anything else . and their only like $8 a pop and fit into a lee universal expander die ..which is another $12 or so .



but as I said this is where the head ache started . Usually expanding cases takes like no force to put them in or that them out . seriously usually just run them up and run them down with a little bit of pressure. so I've gotten to where I'll set my turret press up to where will expand them , open hole where I dump powder then next is the seating die. usually by the time I funded a round my scale has another load mesured and ready ...


well idk what was goin on but I kept getting rounds stuck on the expander . like it got to where I had to grab the press with both hands and pull into it while pressing against the handle with my chest to pop them out. I've NEVER had them that hard . I tried adding a lil lune to the inside of the necks , tried putting lube on the expander , tired it onndoffer presses , tried using the RCBS one first as like a step..... by the end of it and I had them expanded but stuff was all over I was beyond annoyed so I just said screwed it , and put them all back though the full length die ... stuck the last case ..and tossed them into the corn cob media

You re-bored a Pre-War model 70? The Angels cried..................

after having some fun getting stuck case out with the use of a drill a tap and sown random parts I got back to it



ended taking some JB bore paste and using it to polish the expander . would have worked better if I would have chucked it in the drill bit dint have one big enough so put some in a paper towel and just twisted it over the plug. zeemd to help a bit still more force then usual but not as bad


and here you can see an expanded case . that lil line under the case mouth is where the flare stops and it goes to the neck expansion. and you can see how it helps the bullet start nice and straight without a crap load of force




ok so expanded , reprimed time for bullet and powder . So for fire forming gonna be trying out "the load " know some of the older guy who mess with cast alot might have heard about it . long story short its basically like this load using 13.0 gr of Red dot shotgun powder that gun writer by the name C E Harris figured out just works for a reduced gallery or small game load in most .30 cal cartridges.... with some stipulations usually I has to be AT LEAST a 30-06 or so sized case . that being said he never said he reccomend it for .35 whelen..but apparently was told it worked ...so said hey why not I'll be the guenia pig . but for anyone wanting this is an article from him on the subject


anyhow hope it works half decent because a lot of the older legacy powders the cast books call for .34 whelen cost an arm and a leg now days .... ESPECIALLY UNIQUE A D THE IMR LINE. probably gonna end up doing a reduced loading with 4895. anyhow


so 13 grains and this really doesn't look like 50% case fill.... it's about right here ...


but hay .... this is supposed to work well in 30-06 and they have near about the same case capacity so.... hmmm.the only deal is the lager bullet might cause a pressure issue I think but with this light if a charge idk


and the bullet is just gonna be this 158 gr 357 bullet out of an old Ohaus mold. seating depth..... make sure it fits so ...yes
goofy looking rounds

Ok so loaded up three and went out to test fire ... I don't even have the scope on this thing I was just firing into the been to get some.brass fire from and to see if the gun would blow up and for the first shot .... I'm no joking when I say I think my 6.5 grendel AR15 has more recoil then this load

all three round fired without a hitch tho no velocity as I don't wanna dig out the chrono for three quick shots. speaking of we now have fire formed brass ! now it can be argued that such a light load probably don't fully fire form these out but ..it's something . no splits , messed up primers ect




and here compared to an un fired on you can see where the shoulder blew out a lil


and then finally we can use this lil deal to check to see if and how much our shoulder moved . it's the Hornady head space comparator. just pop in the right insert for the case zeronit and it will give you a measurement from the base of the case to the shoulder and you can use that to see how much it moved from firing or resizing and in this case from a freshly fired case to a fire formknd one that shoulder moved forward about .002" so guess we'll call 1.962" our fire form and just for all of our brass to be like 1.963" or so to give a lil .001" of clearance... honestly I should load something a lil hotter and check again to see if it moved more...but till then we have a base line





so things learned
1. if going from .270 to .35 whelen .annel the brass and possibly used .30-06 as a step die .
2. go ahead and expand the case mouths and necks after converting when they still have some lube on them to help with stucking

35 Whelen is a perfectly good short/medium range cartridge. But I had to laugh when you said you chose it over the 45/70 due to recoil and powder consumption. My 45/70 Guide Gun kicks much less than any 35 Whelen I've ever fired. And I've not loaded for 35 Whelen, but my 45/70 loads use 2/3 the powder my 270 loads do, and the 270 is the same parent case as the Whelen.

ok bullet casting time . and since my MP hollow paint mold is still sitting at the FedEx place in Memphis, it time for the lee mold. legit got it just in case my other one didn't arrive in time and looky looky... anyhow both molds are a copy /clone of the RCBS and I head mixed things about it . some love it others hate it ....time to see


so the usual prep deal , brass brush , dawn hot water , some heat cycling in the toaster oven the a bit of break clean ( btw heat cycling and pre hearing are two different things )



alloy is Lyman #2 from Missouri bullet company. #$40 worths makes me enough good quality bullets that it's more then worth it to me to just buy instead of trying to scrounge the every depleteing supply of other lead fluxing with paraffin wax then saw dust after I skim the top off . starting out with 750 on my temp controller but with this big of a bullet I'll probably end up lower


and the first bullet s as expected was less then acceptable



well after about 30 casts and no good bullets I went and smoked the mold real quick . I know that modern aluminum molds don't need it but mans seem like I always end up smoking them on the first casting session. bi did that got the lead down to about 680°F and made a decent lil pile




now just to size , gas check , and powder coat these .... think I'll go with green again .... or purple


O Also got the scope on. makes. ahandy lil package


and I talked about how a lot of folks on here would probably like an LPVO like this since y'all like the lower powder stuff that's more like iron sight so here a lil visual. 100yd human torso target . 1x ,4x and 6x

we talking reduced or full power loads ? because looking the the cast handbook

also I don't see the comment anymore but someone asked about how close to spec I tried to get cases when I made them and really I just try and get them close initially

alrighty powder coat time . so I gas check mine first before powder coating. most people don't after but I found it to be easier to get the checks on nice and straight. si using NOE copper cheeks and a lee .358 sizer





then I give them a lil wash in acetone to remove any oil from .. wherever. noticed this really helps with the powder coat sticking . Just just pour them in a container with some acetone slosh them around for a bit . drain the excessans let them dry on some paper towel a bit



so for powder coat, dorm skimp . I buy mine from Smoke over on cast boolits . lil goes along way and he's is well with the money . you can apply this stuff by just putting a lil in a plastic container and swirling them around ... I got a spare brass tumbler to I just use that . but after their nice and coated I'll use a lil mini silicone ice cube try to stand them up in for baking. and a lot do people will argue that you don't need to stand them up but it seem to make better bullets for me . Now one thing I highly recommend.... don't do your whole deal in one go till you sure it's gonna work well .. yeahhhh it's been a while since I powder coated and end up melting all 63 of these because I baked them too high too long ..







but good thing about case bullets you can just melt them all down and re do them . so next morning spent 30 min and cased up another batch .. wife's a good luck charm so bad her pick the color this time lol same deal , only did a few this time before the rest and not the best coating jobs I've done.... but it will work decent





then I always size mine again. after coating because you can get like an extra few thousands of diameter from eh coating . but yeah got 83 total to play with

Ok loading time !
so again gonna be using "the load" just to see what I does with these heavier boolits


Just need to find where the bullet hits the rifling. for that just took a fired case and expanded the neck a lil more the the rest so it holds the bullet with just a lil force . I actually bought a modified case for my lil hornday deal but the issue is the extractor keeps the case a good 1/4" out untill it's closed . anyhow





so we'll back it up just a hair so the boolits don't stick it's a single shot so I'm not super crazy about a lot of other stuff like mag length or feeding from a mag lol

So we got a .35 whelen case made from.270 win , trimmed to length, no annelaing , case moth expanded to .361x.357 , lee 358-200 gas checked powder coated bullets made from Lyman #2 air cooled out the mold water quenched out the oven , sized to .358 and 13.0gr of red dot



And our set up. Bench front rear bags , 50yd ... because that's what everyone tests cast loads at...for some reason... 2" sticky 1-6 LPVO scope and my magneto speed chronograph . and got a pic of what that target looks like at 6x though this scope





So recoil on this , even with the extra 40 or so grains of this bullet vs the other one is still CRAZY SOFT I mean... MABYE .223 try recoil. hair a nice from push if anything. took two rounds to get on the actual target but the other three have a nice lil group ! nice clean straight holes too



velocity is definitely low as all get out ... but according to ole Google same weight bullet in a. 357 mag carbine is going about the same or a lil higher ... and people consider it like a bear protection deal sooo.... and also at th se powder velocites I should be able to use softer lead and get some crazy mushrooms



...But that being said I got a lot of case capacity here and definitely wouldn't mind a bit more velocity so we'll try some.more stuff . cases look good and I was gonna load more up but my aunt decided to creep up on me to pic some pecan from the tree behind the bench so till then...

So, why go to all this trouble to just re invent a .357 mag rifle? If you're not going to use this for it's intended purpose, seems like a waste of time and effort. Reminds me of the guys with 1960s muscle cars that only drive them 10 mph in a parade.

ah see your mis understanding ...not done yet .. like at all. this is an extremely reduced load ..... I mean I find it pretty cool that on its weakest so far and I mean this is legit like a gallery load ,it not far from a top high power load in .357 mag rifle .

by anyhow by the time I'm done I should be having it kicking a .200 gr lead pill out around 2100 fps which is way over anything .357mag could . will still probably be pretty soft shooting ...and if I really want to i still have to options to load it hot ... I probably won't not like I'm down here hunting friggen elk or moose ...but I can if I want to ... or I can just load pistol bullets for .357 mag or cast bullets and make it mimic .35 rem . I like options

you can daily drive a muscle are all day if you wanted and still use it as a muscle car.... cant do the same with camary

also...I just really enjoy these lil projects and sharing them

Maybe you said it in the past, but why powder coat?, does it replace lubing the cast bullets? Cause I don't see any lube...

Gcs yes the powder coat replaces the Lube. Quicker, less messy, and most times better results. Especially in a rifle. (My experience anyway)

I obviously use different powder in my 45/70 than I do in my 270. But since powder is sold by the pound, if I am measuring consumption in grains it doesn't really matter which powder I'm using. I load 38 or 39 grains of IMR 4198 (405 grain bullets, 38 grains with cast and 39 with bulk Core-locs) whereas my most common load for my 270 is 58 grains of my preferred powder. I see the 35 Whelen has much lower charges than a 270 listed, which makes sense with the heavier bullets and cast loads you pictured, but still higher than the 45/70. (33 grains of IMR 4198 is the factory duplication load suitable for trap door rifles, I up to get better bullet expansion out of a stronger action)