35 whelen

[teddybaham]

really strugglein with this cal./gun trying to get the kinks worked out (cva apex) mount and scope issues. i aint giving up till ive done all i can do, but my main question is about sizing the brass. i hadnt had any FTF up until i used an old box of 200 gr. remington corelocts. called remington and they said they had soe bad batches a while back and this box was old and may have bee one. i had purchased some rcbs FL dies and reloaded some 200 gr. hornadys and some 200 gr. remmys to 2500FPS see how they shoot. tried a few all FTF. obviously i headspaced too short because of the light strikes. bad news is i resized over 100 peices this way, short. i had no way to measure the headspace till tonight as i purchased a hornady headspace gauge. note the measurements are off the shoulder if ur familiar with the gauge and not the measurements printed in a loading book. first i measured some unfired factory ammo from a box i know is correct as i fired half with no FTF (note with factory ammo only 1 old box cause issues with FTF this wasnt that box) the unfired rounds measured 1.966. next i measured fired rounds all measureing 1.970-71. so i measured some of the reloads or sized brass and got 1.961-63 the 95% majority 1.963 but a few varibles. so i took a few of the once fired brass from the good box and instead of setting the die on the shell holder like instructed with the directions i gradually moved down until i got a measurement of 1.968 .002 less than the form fired brass. Q? is this setting the shoulder back enough to be safe? are the other brass too short to fire form safely or should i buy new brass? and is the .003 thousandths short on the former reloads the likely source of my FTF's i did primes some empty cases and fire the short brass unleaded and they fired, but the gun was pointed down and there wasnt any weight(powder bullet) so it may have been why. Differnt primer maybe. using CCI large rifle 200. are these harder primers? any expert insight much appreciated thanks in advance teddy

[mauser98us]

Ok for the brass that was oversized for chamber,all is not lost Get a bullet puller,either kinetic or press mounted. Now pull the bullets out a bit,does not need to be too much. If your using the 200 grain Hornady's, I would pull the bullet  out to equal one or two meaures of the cannalure. Now set your bullet til the action just closes on the round. This should fire and give proper headspace. Now process your fired cases the same way without pushing the shoulder back. This would be a partial size on the case.

[topper88]

Ditto on what mauser98us said.  I got lucky and found an old set of .35 Whelen Lee collet dies on ebay.  I just neck size them after fire forming them once.  My full size die set are Lee also and am able to seat on shell holder when full length sizing.   There are plenty of former threads for ideas to fix.  Better luck and don't give up.

[teddybaham]

Ok for the brass that was oversized for chamber,all is not lost Get a bullet puller,either kinetic or press mounted. Now pull the bullets out a bit,does not need to be too much. If your using the 200 grain Hornady's, I would pull the bullet  out to equal one or two meaures of the cannalure. Now set your bullet til the action just closes on the round. This should fire and give proper headspace. Now process your fired cases the same way without pushing the shoulder back. This would be a partial size on the case.

none were oversized all were undersized i think this was a typ though and thanks for the info

[teddybaham]

so on my fired cases i shouldnt push the shoulder back .001 or .002 just leave them at that size? the new unfired factory measure 1.966, .004 less than a once fired brass, i figured meeting in the middle at 1.968 would make the shoulder longer than factory but not have the brass oversized per recomendation on instructions with the hornady headspace gauge which says size .001 .002 less so you dont overwork your brass.

[topper88]

You have the idea.  .001-.002 too long is better in a Whelen than too short.  The caming action of closing the handi will always seat the shoulder a thousandth or two. It's a shame that your dies size too short.  You will have to try different size thicknesses of washers acting as a spacer between the shell holder and the die.  For now seating the bullets out further till they engage the rifling and act to head space the round that way so it can be properly fire formed and then I would leave it.  Set your washers so you don't push the shoulder back.

[LaOtto222]

Here is the trick

1. back off the die one full turn and size
2. Test the sized case, it should be too long to shut the barrel comfortably
3. turn the die down 1/32 of a turn and re-size; check the fit
4. repeat the 1/32 turn and sizing until the case will just chamber
5. do one more case to test fit. If good then lock the die down

You have just sized the case for your chamber. You should re-size every time and get good results

Good Shooting and Good Luck

[teddybaham]

thanks guys ill give it a go!! and post the results
 

[oneoldsap]

    Plus you have learned sizing cases 100 at a time isn't a good idea , without fitting them to the rifle they will be shot in . I would also suggest giving Win. primers a try . I have a .243 Win Handi-Rifle that has it's own set of dies for the same reason .

[Jason F]

I found with my handi rifle when I start with 30-06 brass I put a .025 thousandth shim between shellholder and die works perfect every time