Remington 700 cdl sf limited in 35 whelen

Took the rifle for a round yesterday evening. All I had on hand was the hornady Superformance in 200 grain and the federal fusion 200 grain. Both shot about 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards. Will be getting some heavier bullets to try today and see if I can tighten the groups up a bit.
 
How was the trigger pull on your rifle, Boogershooter? How was the workmanship? I could live with 1 1/2" groups on any rifle intended for hunting big game. Tighter is always better but sometimes group sizes are over-hyped.
 
I have to say that your wife is a tougher man than many I have seen on this site snivvliing about the recoil of a 30-06 being too much.

My wife likes to shoot, mostly pistols, she has no problem with a 44mag loaded hot. Just wish I could get her into the mountains to hunt. No toilets up there so I'm on my own come hunting season.

I think 35 Whelan is a very interesting chambering. I think MDL700's have gotten a bad rap. If you handle,cycle. and thoroughly inspect it before buying I don't see how an experienced shooter would be disappointed by it.

I think you're a lucky fellow with a gem for wife.
 
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Dg, the fit and finish on the rifle is very nice. No complaints there. I found some 225 grain bullets today. Accuracy didn't improve much. Maybe next trip I will try some different brands. I witnessed something very strange today with the 300 weatherby mark V. I've been shooting the the 180 grain tsx's. I had only 5 rounds left so I picked up a box of the hornady 180 grain. I shot the tsx's into a half inch group at 100 yards, normal for this rifle. When I swapped over to the hornady's my group opened up to 5 inches. After letting the barrel cool for a hour I tried a 3 shot group. Again 5 inches. I checked the rifle and scope to make sure nothing had came loose, everything tight. 3 different gunshops later I couldn't find any other ammo to try. Ordered two boxes when I got home this evening.

Handler, thanks for the kind words regarding my wife. She's a hunter thru and thru. Just hope our 6 year old baby girl turns out to be too. She loves to shoot but hasn't gotten the urge to shoot anything but squirrels so far.
 
I can't remember if you're a reloader, or not, BoogerShooter; but, in my .35 Whelen, I've had excellent results with Hornady 200 gr SPs on top of H4895.
(Not a Remington.)

The load that I worked up is currently averaging better than 1" at 100 yards. (Generally ~0.850" or better, but I occasionally throw a ~0.950-1.1" group.)

I could probably tighten it up even more with a little bit of fire-lapping (super-rough barrel), and a better scope (recycled 1970s Tasco 4x!).
 
i own and shoot a ruger#1-A and a remington 7600 pump in 35 whelen. i used a 9.3x62 in africa to shoot a cape buffalo and it did the job. i think the whelen would have done just as well with the same style bullet. 35 whelen-.358, 9.3x62-.366. not enough difference for me to have a 9.3x62. get the whelen. eastbank.
 
Frank, the other two 35's I have ( h&r & cva ) both like the hornady Superformance 200 grainers. This remington doesn't. I will find something it likes before season.

Tide, I have a 338 federal and 338 winmag. Love them both so I'm sure at some point I will end up with a 338-06 but as of now I'm not reloading. Too many kids running around to get into reloading just yet. I have a good buddy that loads for some of my bench guns. Occasionally he will hand me a box for one of my hunting rifles and say hey try this out. Sometimes he nails it and sometimes they do worse than factory. He loves to try new recipes and I love to shoot so we have a good relationship.
 
Boogershooter. I shoot three rifles in .35 Whelen. Probably the best load I've found is the 225 gr. TSX over amax load of Re15, Remington brass and WLR primer. The load shots .50 to .75" groups from the bench depending on how wellI shoot. I won't give the charge as it's above book max loads but at 2710 FPS it really hammers elk. That load is fine in my custom Mauser but is a bit too warm for the Ruger M77 and Remington 700 Classic.
I think that as you do have access to a handloader to help you, you might want to look at something like a 225 gr. Nosler Accubond at about 2600 FPS. Possibly a 225 gr. Sierra might be good for deer. I don't hunt deer anymore, only elk so I do prefer the heavier bullets. Haven't really seen the need for 250 gr. bullets although the Remington load shoots decently in my rifles. Federal has a 225 gr. trophy bonded bear claw load for the .35 but that's a pretty tough bullet. Speed IIRC was around 2660 FPS advertised.
I do understand having a bunch of kids running around. Raised four myself. I was lucky. I was reloading long before I married. ;) Enjoy that .35. I love mine.
Paul B.
 
Paul I sure appreciate the info. My 300 weatherby loves the 180grain tsx's but I truely don't know how tough of a bullet it is so I only shot hogs with it. The hornady rounds I shot thru it yesterday were 180 interlocks. Shot like crap. If you can enlighten me on how tough or soft the tsx's are I certainly would appreciate it.

I picked up a box of fusions and remington core locks to try 2moro in the 35.
 
Yo Boogershooter, I reload for 300WBY and swear by 180grTX. The Barnes bullets are solid copper and much tougher than any cup and core bullet that I know of. The accuracy in my rifle is excellent and they have never failed to penetrate, so I can't say deformed they were, but 4 mule deer never took another step in this world.

Another bullet that I have had good groups with is Hornady 190grJSPBT. Not nearly as expensive as a Barnes bullet. I haven't hunted them yet, but the accuracy is there.
 
Handlerer2 I've had the weatherby for 19 years. I shot the remington190 gr sp's up until the last couple years. Remington doesn't make them anymore. I think the tsx's are a Lil softer than the TX. It performs well on hogs but what doesn't? I didn't know if they would expand on a 180 lb deer. I ordered 2 box's of the tsx's but it sure hurt the pocket book.

I just turned my range lights off. The 35 whelen shot the remington core locks pretty decent. Just over a inch. They will work for this season. Nothing like hitting big steel plates with big heavy bullets.
 
Do the tsx's you're talking about have an open tip or a blue tip? All the Barnes bullets that I know of except the Match Burner target bullets are solid copper. They are designed to open about half way, the edges are razor sharp and are supposed to open even at 1400fps, which is way out there in your WBY.

I have read about an instance where the triple Shock, the one w/o the plastic tip failed to expand. This was attributed to tthe opening at the tip fouling, becoming plugged with matter on impact. In the tipped version the tip is driven into the cavity of the copper bullet, forcing it to open quickly.

All of the versions are considered tougher than common cup and core bullets. You could check their website for the expansion videos, they are quite fascinating. I like the ones where they shoot the graped with thier varmint bullets. The 180gr they shoot into ballistic gel at about 3100fps, and they expand as designed.
 
Boogershooter. I can't comment on the X bullets as I've never used then. The TSX bullets are the X bullets improved. ;) The TTSX is just the TSX with a plastic tip. I haven't used then because my LGS doesn't carry them but only the TSX.
As I mentioned earlier, I've only shot elk with the and while most had been broadside or slightly angled shots, on elk was hit just behind the short ribs and the bullet exited between the shoulder and the neck. The insides were a mess.
My son in law and I both have Winchester M70 Featherweights. His gives tight groups with the 100 gr. TSX but mine not quite so good. He thought his scope was off so we fastened a beer can found on the ground to a roughly 18" thick pine tree and he shot at 50 yards. The can never moved. He shot again, still the can did not move. He asked me to try and the can finally fell and had there hole close together. Checked the tree and all three bullets had passed clean through.
I'm also playing with a 140 gr. TSX in several rifles chambered to the 7x57 Mauser round but so far accuracy has not been all that good. From what research I've done, they can be fussy regarding seating depth so that's what I'm working with now. Then again, some rifles like them and some don't. You can only try them and let your gin tell you what is likes.
As far as using that 225 gr. TSX on the great bears? I wouldn't hesitate. I think they're that good in a .35 Whelen.
If those don't work, look at the 225 gr. Nosler Accubond or Partition. They'll work too.
Paul B.
 
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