Making 35 Whelen brass

[TRexF16]

That's your answer. Google "Cream of Wheat fireforming" and you'll find a lot of other hints to use this technique.

 

[Alibiiv]

As some have replied on here, the cream-of-wheat system and some handgun powder will make them. Also I have annealed, cleaned and then used a Sinclair mandrel die n the past. One shot and one and done.

 

[greenejc]

ok so my lovely wife got me a 35 Whelen barrel for my bday. I was checking around trying to find a set of dies , and lo and behold my two local sources don't have them. I try my best not to buy anything offline but may not have a choice.

While searching around I thought why not get a tapered expander and just use it in a 30-06 sizer die . Am I thinking totally wrong?? Everything I've read on making Whelen brass says just use 06 cases and run them through the 35 die. I'm not sure if this is feasible. Or am I missing something? Hopefully someone on here has experience with the Whelen and can steer me in the proper direction. Thanks in advance.

Lee has 35 Whelen dies with a tapered expander, but any 35 Whelen sizing die is designed to neck up 30-06 and will work. Any 30-06 brass will work for necking up, and just needs to be trimmed and uniformed at the neck mouth after expanding the neck. They currently have sets in stock, which is a seasonal thing, and they cost about $47.00 with the shell holder and powder measure included in the die set. They also have the factory crimp die for the .35 in stock, and I would recommend you add that to the sizing and seating dies as it is very useful. I have two separate sets of RCBS dies which I acquired around 2005 and have used extensively for my loads, and a lot of Greek milsurp brass which I have necked up.

 

[greenejc]

That's your answer. Google "Cream of Wheat fireforming" and you'll find a lot of other hints to use this technique.

I simply load the case normally after I have necked it up. I have my dies set to just touch the shoulder of the -06 case and then I check the case after trimming to see that it chambers with a slight crush fit. If it chambers, I just load the brass normally and fire it as if it were new brass. It works just fine that way, and is accurate with both Sierra and Speer bullets out to 600+ yards.