New Rifle, What can be causing this at 20 yards?

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As no one else has asked, I will. Have you fired factory ammo in the rifle or just bought brass, made handloads and shot those If you shot factory, how did those bullets perform.
Not a .35 Whelen but years ago I was given a .243 that the owner said, "If you can make it shoot, it's yours. Otherwise throw it away." It would keyhole bullets at 25 yards regardless of weight. I tgrimmed the muzzle and squared it off before recrowning the barrel, slugged the bore to determine bore and groove diameter, both of which were in specs. Seated bullet so they'd engage the rifling and seated some at various depths all to no avail. One strange thing, the bore looked like a Marlin Microgroove. Marlin did make some rifles on FN Mausers as I recall and I'll bet that's where the barrel on that rifle came from. That one just wouldn't shoot. Even the throat looked good. :confused:
I think if the OP's rifle were mine, I'd get a few pure lead sinkers of the proper size and oil the bore and drive a couple down the barrel, one at a time. Three would be even better and use a good micrometer to determine the groove diameter. It should be .357" to .358". I'd examine the crown for any possible damage and I'd definitely check out the twist rate. If it's slower than 1 in 16" then the barrel needs to be replaced. A 1 in 16" will stabilize bullets up to 250 gr. and sometime, though rarely even stabilize 275 gr. bullets.
Currently I have three rifles in .35 Whelen, a Ruger M77RS, a Remington M700 Classic and a custom Mauser. The Mauser has a 1 in 14" twist and the two commercial rifles have 1 in 16" twists. My next planned custom will have a 1 in 12" twist which if I understand things correctly is what was originally used in the Whelen.
There is something radically wrong with that rifle and my money is on the barrel needing replacement.
Paul B.
 
I can't recover the bullets. I will try to measure the bullet. I did has a previous poster commented and put the bullet into the muzzle and it would not go in all the way, which tells me it is getting to the rifling, I just bought a box of federal fusion and a box of Nosler accubond, form Midway. I will take it on a test fire next Sat when they get in. I'll post results. Tomorrow, I'm calling the gun shop I bought it from ( 3 hours away) and E mailing him pics and see what he has to say about it.
 
Swedeforelk, No it's not a joke, but I know exactly what you mean, it's like they are not tumbling, but all of them are flying straight parallel ?
 
From the look of the target, those bullets are trying to rotate completely around.
Make sure they don't get the notion to come back at ya'. :)
 
Send it back to the manufacturer. It's obviously defective and there's nothing you can do to correct that amount of instability, provided the ammo is correct.
 
It's really simple to find out what's wrong, put a cleaning rod with a tight patch down the tube. Mark the cleaning rod and measure the distance it moves down the bore in the time it takes it to make one complete turn, if it's greater than 16" that's your problem and only a new barrel will fix it or start shooting round nose and pistol bullets. Don't shoot anymore ammunition through it until you measure the twist.

I imagine you picked up this Whelen for primitive deer season, the bad news is it probably won't be fixed in time to hunt with this year.
 
These are normally good shooting rifles. I'd waste no more time screwing with it, call support and get a call tag to send it in for repair...

Tony
 
A close friend of mine had the same problem--an older Remington bolt action that was stamped .270. Wouldn't hold paper at 25 yards, and when it did, it keyholed.

First thing I did was clean the bore. Then, I got a spare lead slug--a Hornady 148 grain HBWC. These are dead soft lead, and will work fine.

I ran an oiled patch down the bore, and then took the lead bullet and rolled it between two pieces of metal until I reduced the diameter. I tapered one end, oiled it, then tapped in to the muzzle with a block of wood and a mallet.

I removed the bullet, and measured it.

It mic'ed out at .308.

I then got out my .30-06 dummy rounds, smoked the shoulder and neck and chambered it. Chambered just fine.

I then took it to the range, and loaded it with .30-06 ball ammo. The single round went OK, and the case measurements were good. Now, I shot it with 3 rounds for a group at 100 yards. The group measured just under an inch.

My friend had a .270 marked rifle, chambered in .30-06.

Check that bore diameter.
 
if it's not a bored out barrel I would think that at that range with keyholing that the crown is damaged and a bur is snagging the bullets as they are leaving the barrel and giving them backspin, is there anything like a burr or other jagged edge out of the ordinary visable near the muzzle?
 
Have you tried to put a bullet in the muzzle end to see how far it goes? If it goes in all the way you will know the problem.
 
I took it back today to the shop I bought it from. He gave me a new rifle and was good enough to give me a new box of Hornady Superformance to replace the shots I used sighting in.

He is going to shoot it this week with new type of ammo and see if that what it was. I will post the results
 
Did you check the head stamp on the rounds you actually fired? Any possibility 30-06 were packed in the 35 Whelen box by mistake? Just a WAG.
 
but be darned if I've ever seen one with each bullet hitting the target perfectly parallel to it!!



My thoughts, exactly. And all points toward the right, too.
The only thing I have on the place that keyholes is a 5.45x39 shooting 70 grain FMJ. It only throws a profile like that once in 20+/- shots. Sometimes point left and sometime point right(or up or down or ??)
 
You bought the rifle from a good dealer. He'll figure out the problem, or return it to the factory. Please let us know what the problem was, should you find out.

Good luck with the new rifle.
 
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