Need suggestions......
09-10-2003, 06:50 AM
#12
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location:
Posts: 1,491
RE: Need suggestions......
Whelen 36 is right about the .35 Whelen not being difficult to shoot, (recoil is not any more severe than the .30-06 with heavy bullet loads). I owned a .35 Whelen in a Remington 7600 that I carried off and on over a five year period in Alaska. I never found the recoil abusive but had every confidence in its ability to protect me in the unlikely event of bear trouble. I would have carried it more often but I preferred a stainless synthetic stocked rifle when riding the ATV and using a gun boot.
The .400 Whelen is a good cartridge and more information can be found on it, (and many other big bores) in a book titled " Big Bores" . Many have been concerned about proper headspacing with the .400 Whelen, (rightfully so), as there is a nearly nonexistent shoulder. One way to solve the problem is to have the chamber cut for the .240 Weatherby case. (Which is no more than a .30-06 case with a belt.) Now I can hear the traditionalist screaming now. But even men like Elmer Keith admitted that headspacing was an issue with the .400 Whelen and moved on to other calibers for most of his experimenting and use. The belt on the .240 Weatherby case provides for certain headspacing thus eliminating any issues of set back on the shoulder. The only real disadvantages are some modifications are usually needed in the feed rails of the magazine and cases are more expensive. There is also the issue of multiple steps when resizing the necks. But to a dedicated wildcatter these are usually just " part of the fun" .
As long as we are talking about Whelen cartridges you may as well also look into the .375 Whelen and don' t forget to consider the Ackley Improved versions in all of the calibers. (The Ackley Improved provides a more positive shoulder for headspacing, slightly increases powder capacity, and in the event of the .35 Whelen and the .338-06 A-Square you simply fire factory cartridges in the chamber to " fire form" the new " Improved" cases. (And the fire forming process does not have to be considered a waste of ammo either. There is a usual loss of about 100 fps during fire forming but simply sight your rifle and use it like any other time during the fire forming. It will have absolutely no other effect than that slight loss of velocity. After your cases have been fire formed you reload them with new data, rezero for the changed load and back to the hunt! In the event you are ever seperated from you ammo you just rezero again for the standard factory loads and off you go! All part of the fun of wildcatting!!!) RCBS does indeed provide dies for all of these calibers...standards....and Improved.
You didn' t happen to mention if you happened to have one of the Browning reproductions of the Model 71 Winchester on hand. If you have one of those in .348 Winchester there are some very interesting wildcatting options. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, if you happen to have an original Winchester 71....DO NOT wildcat it! (You will cause a least 1000 dead Winchester lovers to roll over in their graves!) Possibly a few live ones as well!!!!
Keep us posted on what you decide.
The .400 Whelen is a good cartridge and more information can be found on it, (and many other big bores) in a book titled " Big Bores" . Many have been concerned about proper headspacing with the .400 Whelen, (rightfully so), as there is a nearly nonexistent shoulder. One way to solve the problem is to have the chamber cut for the .240 Weatherby case. (Which is no more than a .30-06 case with a belt.) Now I can hear the traditionalist screaming now. But even men like Elmer Keith admitted that headspacing was an issue with the .400 Whelen and moved on to other calibers for most of his experimenting and use. The belt on the .240 Weatherby case provides for certain headspacing thus eliminating any issues of set back on the shoulder. The only real disadvantages are some modifications are usually needed in the feed rails of the magazine and cases are more expensive. There is also the issue of multiple steps when resizing the necks. But to a dedicated wildcatter these are usually just " part of the fun" .
As long as we are talking about Whelen cartridges you may as well also look into the .375 Whelen and don' t forget to consider the Ackley Improved versions in all of the calibers. (The Ackley Improved provides a more positive shoulder for headspacing, slightly increases powder capacity, and in the event of the .35 Whelen and the .338-06 A-Square you simply fire factory cartridges in the chamber to " fire form" the new " Improved" cases. (And the fire forming process does not have to be considered a waste of ammo either. There is a usual loss of about 100 fps during fire forming but simply sight your rifle and use it like any other time during the fire forming. It will have absolutely no other effect than that slight loss of velocity. After your cases have been fire formed you reload them with new data, rezero for the changed load and back to the hunt! In the event you are ever seperated from you ammo you just rezero again for the standard factory loads and off you go! All part of the fun of wildcatting!!!) RCBS does indeed provide dies for all of these calibers...standards....and Improved.
You didn' t happen to mention if you happened to have one of the Browning reproductions of the Model 71 Winchester on hand. If you have one of those in .348 Winchester there are some very interesting wildcatting options. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, if you happen to have an original Winchester 71....DO NOT wildcat it! (You will cause a least 1000 dead Winchester lovers to roll over in their graves!) Possibly a few live ones as well!!!!
Keep us posted on what you decide.
09-10-2003, 08:01 AM
#13
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location:
Posts: 582
RE: Need suggestions......
Thanks for the suggestions guys, they all sound like great projects. I am going to wade through some info on all of them, and then do one of them. Should make for a really interesting hunting rig!
