30-06 to 35 Whelen brass

Mark T

Hey guys got a question about resizing brass. I just bought a new 35 whelen and have a ton of once fired '06 brass and want to resize it (don't have the '06 anymore). I ran 1 thru the die and found the case is shorter than the factory whelen. It measures 2.460" as opposed to 2.494" and the difference to the front of the shoulder. I have reloaded for alot of years but never reformed brass and want to do it right. Do I have to "fireform" these to get the proper dimensions? Any help is much appreciated. Mark

Mobuck

Only way to know is try the fit in your rifle. Overall case length is not a big concern as long as all cases are the same. According to the manual I read, headspace should not change. 30/06 brass is selling pretty good right now so maybe you could sell your stash and buy new Whelan brass. If the problem is actually a headspace issue with the expanded 30/06 brass there is a way to address it but you would be wasting a lot of time when you could buy new brass.

MIKE WISKEY

just think about this, you are forceing a .35 expander down into a .30 hole, this forces the brass back towards the case head (if it doesn't buckel the shoulder first). you could try fireforming (about 15 gns of red dot or similar and a piece of tissue paper), this will force the brass forward.

HandLoad

My Father used to fireform brass for his (Now, My) .35 Whelen AI. Used waste powder, about ten to fifteen grains, then topped the shell off with Cream of Wheat, and stuffed in a wad of toilet paper to keep it all in till he touched it off. Worked real well.

FWAddit

quote:Originally posted by HandLoad
My Father used to fireform brass for his (Now, My) .35 Whelen AI. Used waste powder, about ten to fifteen grains, then topped the shell off with Cream of Wheat, and stuffed in a wad of toilet paper to keep it all in till he touched it off. Worked real well.



I've done it both ways with good results. I don't recall now whether the fire-formed necks were longer than the die-expanded ones or not, but they were both a little shorter than the cases I started with, especially since they needed just a bit of trimming to square up the necks. Both kinds worked fine , though.

jonk

I wouldn't worry about it. If you aren't getting neck splits and it chambers, make the first load a light one (maybe with a cast bullet) to snug up the brass to the gun's chamber.

A case shorter than spec doesn't hurt anything, but it isn't optimal for that last bit of accuracy either. I use 8X57 Mauser brass to form 7.7 Jap and that's 1mm short. Doesn't hurt anything.

oneoldsap

A tapered expander button is a good thing . I have made Whelens from 06 brass in my Redding dies with no issues what so ever . Redding puts a little more taper on their buttons . I also make .358 Win. from .308 . [:D]