Ruger #1 .35 Whelen misfiring

[HollicaSnooze]

I am having some trouble with my newly acquired .35 Whelen Ruger #1-S (a Lypsey's special edition). My handloads, using new, Remington brass and Woodleigh bullets, are misfiring on a regular basis. Primers show an indentation, but only 1 out of 5 rounds will fire. Thinking it was related to a less than abrupt shoulder on the virgin brass, I seated the bullets a bit long . My thought process was that the the ogive of the bullet would engage the lands, thus arresting movement of the loaded cartridge when the firing pin strikes. This improved reliability incrementally, but the problem is still pervasive.

My next step would be to try some factory loads and compare....

Can anyone shed any light on this for me?

[Hairtrigger]

Improper primer seating or bad primers?

[quickdtoo]

Remington 35 Whelen ammo is notorious for causing the same, so I wouldn't recommend trying it.

I had to dispose of over 200 Remington 9½ primers due to a similar problem a bunch of em wouldn't fire, so I got rid of all of the rest of that lot.

If it's not defective primers, seating hard into the lands from what I've researched works sometimes, but forming a false shoulder on the case and then neck sizing it to desired headspace should solve the problem. For the Whelen, I'd run the brass onto a .375" expander, then neck size, IE: partial full length size, accordingly, see if that eliminates the problem.

The pic below is of .375H&H brass, used a .405" expander on it.

Tim

Right to left, Factory brass, expanded neck, partial neck sized, final neck sized.
 

[HollicaSnooze]

Hmmm.....Quickdtoo, you have my melon going......it could very likely be the 9 1/2 Remington primers......that would be an easy fix....haven't noticed them, however, giving me problems with the .35 Remington...

Were I to try the try the latter fix you suggested, do I just by a .375 expander ball for my standard .35 Whelen Redding dies? I did notice that the shoulders in the brass that is  once-fired seems a bit more abrupt and better formed....

[quickdtoo]

I'd get a Redding tapered .375" expander for your sizer die. A standard sizing button will work too, the tapered just works easier. Just remember to remove it once you do the expanding. This is a one time thing, once the brass is fireformed to your chamber, the problem is solved, until you buy new brass, anyway.

If you have any .375" die set like 375H&H or 375 Win, they should work too, I use a .30-06 die set to expand .280 Improved necks for fireforming.

Tim

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=884360

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=0007641373

[HollicaSnooze]

I will check my .38-55 dies to see if the plug is tapered......also have a set of Hornaday 9.3 x 74R dies (.366, of course), would that fall be too small in diameter?

So the procedure would be to run the brass over the larger diameter plug, then to neck size (thus creating a more abrupt shoulder)?

[quickdtoo]

That's the idea, you'll gradually adjust the sizing die down into the press until the newly formed shoulder is low enough to just chamber the round.

The 9.3 isn't enough, you're only increasing the inside diameter from .358" to .366", I don't think that would create a very good shoulder, but the 38-55, is .377", so it should work fine, just be sure to lube the inside of the neck good, I use Hornady One Shot with no problems. Dunno if you have nickel brass, but it doesn't work, I got split necks trying to neck up 30-06 to .338".

Tim

[hellacatcher]

I know it is a different gun, but I have never had a miss fire with my Rem. 700 in a 35 Whelen using either factory loads or my reloads using Rem. brass

[jrchurch254a]

I had exactly this same problem with my Ruger M77 RS in .35 Whelen.  I found out that when I used new brass I had to full length size the casing.  For some reason the shoulder of the brass is too rounded and will "give" forward in the chamber if it isnt full lengthed.  Once I have shot the brass all I do is neck size and I havent had any problems since, no misfires at all.  I also use magnum primers but I dont think that is necessary but hey, if it works why change.

Good Luck,
John

[JerryW]

I have the same rifle and had the same problems, I tried everything including false shoulders.  I ended up returning the rifle to ruger and they installed a new breech block assembly which cured all of my problems.
JW

[davem270win]

I had a misfiring problem with a MD77 in 35 Whelen. I switched from CCI primers to Federal and that seemed to fix the problem. I had no problems with Remington Factory loads.

[HollicaSnooze]

The fact that an occasional round will fire leads me to believe that I am fairly close....I may just try switching primers to see if that makes a difference. Would hope that I can avoid sending the gun to Ruger to service it....

I may also try neck sizing some of the once-fired brass since the shoulders seem more pronounced now.