ORIGINAL: okgobbler
My question is can a light 30-06 load be fired out of the 35 whelen to fire form brass? YES!! BUT, use full-charge loads. Light loads will not have enough pressure if the bullets are .30" and go down a .358" bore. If you are loading them yourself, use 10 grains of Unique,fill the case with corn meal or cream of wheat, and seal the neck with a wad of toilet paper. This is messy, but doesn't waste any bullets.
I am concerned with the smaller .308 bullet bouncing around in the .358 barrel and damaging the rifling. Can this happen? NO!!
I have fired .348 Win. FL ammo in a .450 Alaskan to get .450 Alaskan brass.I later switched to the corn meal method! Bullets are softer than barrel steel-no damage occurred.......
IF you don't mind using '06 cases, and want a simpler way, get.30" to .338"and .338"-.358" expanding plug from Lyman, Hornady, or RCBS, and just expand the necks of .30/'06 brass then run them through your .35 Whelen FL die before loading them. This is cheaper in the long run than buying factory '06 ammo and shooting it to get cases.