Good powders for loading .35 Whelen..........

Marksman

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I have done a lot of research and load development for my .35 Whelen and have found IMR 4064 and RL15 to be two good powders for this cartridge. I use my Whelen for hunting whitetail deer and shoot 225gr. bullets exclusively. I was wondering what other Whelen shooters had found to be their powder of choice when loading 200-225gr. bullets.
 
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AA4064 and IMR 4320. Stick to the same burning rates that you are at IME.
 
I use RL 15 pretty much exclusively. I use their old load data, because they have become lawsuit sinsitive in the last year or so, and have drasticaly reduced their charge weights for the 250gr. Speer and their 220gr Speer. They have no data for the 225gr Sierra, but I shoot 60.5gr. of RL 15 and my primers are still slightly rounded. Out of a 24" barrel it chronographs at an average of 2725fps 10ft from the muzzle, and gives 3700 ftlbs of energy. That's my deer load, and its as flat as a Remington 30-06 load with 180gr. corelokt psp bullets. Its good for 500 yds for nearly anything except moose and bear. For them, I would use the Speer 250gr. with the old max load of 59.5gr. which still didn't show signs of pressure, and produced casings with less pressure signs than factory 30-06. Velocity average was around 2650 from my rifle. Work your loads up from about 56 grains and watch for signs of pressure.
 
I went 338-06 decades ago instead. Th same powders can work in either though. Don't overlook slower powders like H4350, RL19 or vv160. Full impressed lads shoot really well.
 
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