35 Whelen

[PigBoy Crabshaw]

I keep thinking about the new offering in 35 Whelen. Looking over the ballistics, I'm confused and impressed at the same time.
30-06 - 200 grain
35Whl - 250 grain
How is it that you necked up 30-06 case with 4-5 grs more grains of the same type powder and your not giving up even 100fps in MzlVel for your 50grain gain in jacketed bullets?
The more I look over my reloading books, the more I see a potential for cast / lead bullets in this caliber.
If your resizing or necking up 30-06 cases, is there any loss in case life over buying standard 35Whln cases?
Your thoughs?
I got a bee in my head and can't quit thinking about it.
-g

[bikerbeans]

Now you got me looking at the 35 Whelan.  Looks like you could ream out a 357 mag barrel to 35 Whelan, but the 357 Max crowd would throw a fit if you did it.

BB

[xhare]

One thing to remember is pressure.  While the two cartridges essentially have the same pressure (I cant remember exactly), there are two parts to pressure.  Pressure is pounds per square inch.  So even if the pounds are the same, the Whelen has a larger bullet base surface area or square inch.  Area of a circle = (Pi)x(radius squared)  

A .308 bullet has an area of .07451 square inches while a .358 bullet has an area of .10069 square inches.  So the .358 has 26% more surface area at its base.  If both are loaded to 50000 psi, the .308 bullet has about 3,725 pounds of pressure pushing it, while the .358 has 5,034 pounds pushing it.  

I am no engineer, so I may not be using the right terminology, but the main point here is that larger diameter bullets will allow more thrust to be applied to their base.  To put it another way, if you load both cartridges to the same pressure with 200 grain bullets the 35 Whelen will push that bullet faster.

[Mac11700]

Smaller diameter bullets of same weight = higher sectional density and a longer bullet with a longer bearing surface for the smaller diameter bullet...hence higher pressure to drive them to the same velocity.While it may be larger in diameter,it doesn't have the same bearing surface to the ogive of the bullet.

The 06 has had a lot of cartridges built off of it. A quick look through most any loading manual will show you this.The 35 Whelen is a great cartridge,especially if you want to use heavier bullets than the 30-06 offers and as such is a very good choice. Same too for the 338-06 it shows similar performance gains as the Whelen so both can operate at faster velocity than the 30-06..The rub of this is the sectional density of the bullet will be less with the larger caliber bullets..While with these if only deer hunting might not matter a-lot..when it comes to bigger/tougher game..it will matter a lot.

Mac

[PigBoy Crabshaw]

Mac, I did notice the pressures that the 35 has with the larger bullets, but that really seem to drop with cast and a lighter charge or powder.
What about my case life question, being made from the 06 cases?

-g

[Mac11700]

Mac, I did notice the pressures that the 35 has with the larger bullets, but that really seem to drop with cast and a lighter charge or powder.
What about my case life question, being made from the 06 cases?

-g

You can,but the question is ...why? 35 Whelen brass is easy to find,you have the correct head space,and head stamp..I got a ton of 30-06 brass and have necked it up to 375-06 before along with a whole bunch of 338-06AS..but the easiest and best is always use the correct brass for what your wanting to do when available. To answer your question..necking up,and changing the shoulder from o6' to the Whelen will give you a shorter neck and case life won't be a whole lot different. You may have to anneal the cases after 5-10 reloads provided you do keep the pressures down on it. BTW.. cast bullets and a lighter powder charge effects all cartridges in the same way..That's why folks like to use them and load light.

Mac