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Author Topic: 35 Whelen not firing  (Read 796 times)

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Offline bajabill

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35 Whelen not firing
« on: November 05, 2006, 05:46:54 PM »
I had a problem with my whelen on the first day out.  I think it is the fresh brass, but I need to do some more investiigation.  The firing pin is not getting deep enough into the primers.  I can push the roung into the chamber beyond flush with the end of the barrel so the pin is pushing the round in.  My thought is to seat the bullet to the lands and use starting loads to fireform the brass.
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Offline quickdtoo

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2006, 06:32:41 PM »
Mattparliament had the same problem IIRC. :(

Tim
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Offline mattparliament

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2006, 07:00:18 PM »
wow, I'm starting to get popular!  Check your brass, even the factory stuff has some issues.  Actually, I believe NEF is cutting the shoulder a tad too deep allowing for exactly what your talking about, bottom line is the bullet go in too far and the pin doesn't hit deep enough.  Had a factory box of remington's that had 3 (I think) misfires.  However, pre-checking the brass for seating depth in the chamber has served me well, since discarding 3 brass of 50 I have had no misfires, just a sore shoulder....
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Offline Mac11700

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2006, 07:14:04 PM »


I just got a bag of 50 35 Whelen brass from Cabelas's last week to reform into 338-06A-Square...all of it is under sized and the shoulders are out of spec on it....I would bet it's the brass that's giving you trouble...I had 20 left over from the first batch I bought 2 years ago...it isn't no-where as bad...I'm calling Remington tommorrow...

Mac
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Offline hunman55

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2006, 11:22:51 PM »
I have a new 35 Whelen being fitted for iron sights and haven't fired it yet-have 2 boxes of Rem. 200gr. When I get the gun back and shoot it ,I will give a range report. Hunman55
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Offline Scibaer

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2006, 01:59:01 AM »
two months ago, i got a NIB 35whelen from a local gunshop and when i sighted it in i had that same issue, the remington 200 gr. box i bought had 4 no-fires out of 20. i have yet to fix this problem, but i think its the brass, if it was the rifle, alot more then 4 would fail to fire, no ? .. my neigbhor reloads and he put gauges to my empty cases and looked in a reloading book and said" the brass is junk"..lol..
 it seems to be the brass, so short of reloading my own ( thanks to my neigbhor ) i'll look elsewhere for factory rounds ..
cheers, glenn
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2006, 03:23:05 AM »
The first time out with my .35 Whelen it fired my handloads fine but would not fire Remington factory ammo at all.  Called NEF, they had me return it and they sent it back fixed.  Have had no problem with it since.
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Offline mattparliament

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2006, 03:40:19 AM »
Quote from: Mac11700 on November 05, 2006, 07:14:04 PM


I just got a bag of 50 35 Whelen brass from Cabelas's last week to reform into 338-06A-Square...all of it is under sized and the shoulders are out of spec on it....I would bet it's the brass that's giving you trouble...I had 20 left over from the first batch I bought 2 years ago...it isn't no-where as bad...I'm calling Remington tommorrow...

Mac


Mac, let me know what you find out please.
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Offline bajabill

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #8 on: November 06, 2006, 03:48:11 AM »
Mac,

how are you measuring your brass.  I use the stoney point headspace gage, but I dont have an insert for the whelen.  Actually, stoney point does not say what diameter to use for the headspace measurement.  Im guessing it would be .400.  My brass does not have very distinct corners on the shoulder so I would be guessing to try and measure the start and stop of the shoulder.

Im using remington brass for my reloads.  I have not seen any factory ammo so I have not tried that yet.  In the long run, I would hope factory loaded ammo works.  I can handle virgin brass not working.

I think  no-go gage would be required to check the barrel and have the factory fix or replace.
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Offline Mac11700

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #9 on: November 06, 2006, 05:21:24 AM »
Quote from: bajabill on November 06, 2006, 03:48:11 AM
Mac,

how are you measuring your brass.  I use the stoney point headspace gage, but I dont have an insert for the whelen.  Actually, stoney point does not say what diameter to use for the headspace measurement.  Im guessing it would be .400.  My brass does not have very distinct corners on the shoulder so I would be guessing to try and measure the start and stop of the shoulder.

Im using remington brass for my reloads.  I have not seen any factory ammo so I have not tried that yet.  In the long run, I would hope factory loaded ammo works.  I can handle virgin brass not working.

I think  no-go gage would be required to check the barrel and have the factory fix or replace.

bajabill:

I'm measuring the cases by hand...I know there can be some small discrepences..but...the shoulder measures=.429....should be closer to =.441....Lenght to shoulder junction from the rim should be 1.948"...mine is =1.83"...over all lenght is=2.489"...at the web.is =.458"...should be ..=.4698".....What pisses me off...is this brass if loaded will cause a serious headspace issue...and I didn't measure this before trying to reform them..now..I will have to try to fireform them with a light load of pistol powder and wax...they won't work good in my 338-06...as is just run thru the forming die...

Mac
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Offline Fred M

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #10 on: November 06, 2006, 03:34:21 PM »
Well Mac you better start from scatch. Expand to 35 and make a new shoulder with zero head space. Lube with Crisco and fire form with about +- 20.0gr 700x and cream of wheat.

The lube is very important. All the dimensions will iron out. After all the 338-06 is still a wildcat of sorts. The same goes for the 35 Whelen, you got to get to zero head space brass.
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Offline Mac11700

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #11 on: November 06, 2006, 06:56:57 PM »


Thanks Fred...That's what I figured...but..it will have to wait till after hunting season now >:(...I had to break out the new Weatherby cases...I was saving them don't you know...I waited & waited & weaited & waited to talk to someone who could give me a decent answer...I got tired of the "uhhh...let me put you on hold"...then transfer me to someone else routine...

Mac
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Offline bajabill

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Re: 35 Whelen not firing
« Reply #12 on: November 07, 2006, 03:56:08 AM »
I measured one last night

length to the shoulder is very close to blueprint

case dia at the shoulder is small, .435, and the dia at the base is small too.  For the most part the fresh brass is very similar to some fresh 30-06 I have.  I think running it thru the sizing die may have effected it a little because the sized brass seats slightly deeper than brass I do nothing to.  I will back my die out and only clean up the neck in the future for the fresh brass.  I, also, will not be able to solve this completely untill after deer season. 
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