35 Whelen Ackley Improved

[panhandle]

Does anyone have any experience with this cartridge or have loading data for it?  I would like to build a 35 cal. rifle and have a long action Ruger 77 that could be rebarreled.  Thanks for you imputs.

Panhandlepr

[one eye joe]

I had a scout rifle in the .35AI Whelen. We built it to try to duplicate regular Whelen velocity out of a 19" barrel. It is a good round, and the shoulder seems to help with headspacing. I had a regular Whelen (Rem. 700 Classic) that  I had a lot of problems loading for because of a headspacing problem. Anyway, I may have some data in my desk. Let me know what bullet weight you are interested in, and what powders you hope to use, and I will send what I can find. jdowning@goquest.com.

[Robert]

I had ER Shaw rebarrel one for me, and I absolutely love it.  You can use standard load data...+5% or so.....but there is no need to increase the loads....the Ackley is not neccesarilly about more power, and faster isn't always better.  I took my Elk this year at 240 yds with a 200 gr Hornady...straight through the heart.  I experimented with a lot of heavy bullets....but decided before my hunt to go with 200 gr bullets to get more velocity/less recoil.....It was a good decision, I have meat in the freezer.  I will stick with 200's for a hunting bullet for Elk and deer.  If I ever get to go for Big Bears or go to Africa, I would consider heavy bullets, but 200's are plenty for anything in Continental USA. IMHO