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To: w1n1
This is a For What It's Worth Reply; The last I'm going to say is which caliber is the must have/ stock up on, but what I will say, is back when I was shooting at least once a month, at the range or else where, I had a 25-06, a O1-A3 30-06, and a 35 Whelen wildcat rifle. (Wildcat means you have no choice but to load {make} your own, but now 2015 I believe some of the major manufacturers now offer this caliber.)

The short of it is that all three rifle's above can use the SAME BRASS, if your a hand loader/roll your own. (But of course you have to size the brass to each caliber respectively.)

The .35 Whelen was designed by Colonel Townsend Whelen in 1922 while he was commanding officer at Frankford Arsenal, the huge US Army ammunition plant near Philadelphia, Penn. James V. Howe served as chief toolmaker and gunsmith on the project, but left the next year for New York--at the recommendation of Whelen--to partner with stockmaker Seymour Griffin in forming the famous gunsmithing firm of Griffin & Howe.

If anyone reading this has ever wondered just how many times can you reload a single brass cartridge, I would reload until there was a significant crack in the case, usually after somewhere min 20 times up to approx 25 times or more. It should be noted all of my rifles were bolt actions, and I would only "NECK-RESIZE" the cases, so as to get the longer life out of the cartridge(s.) Also by neck resize(ing)only; the brass was therefore a custom fit to each rifle.

The usual disclaimer here: "I'm not an expert, and don't advocate anything that could be perceived as DANGEROUS." Oh, and also don't try this at home, I think I'm covered.

If you are a semi-automatic rifle guy, you will have to do a full length cartridge re-size(ing), and I have no idea if this will diminish the amount of reloading a brass cartridge. My guess is, that it would diminish the amount of times, just have no personal knowledge reference reloading a single brass cartridge; full length cartridge re-size(ing.)

The .35 Whelen (Built on a Mauser(s) action) is a poor mans 375 H&H (Ballistics's are the same {approx 95 % plus} out to the first 100 yards.) .375 H&H was considered too large for most American hunting.

Some draw back(s) against the .35 Whelen, (if the SHTF) was the muzzle flash in daytime (WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE,) and I was usually the LOUDEST rifle in / at the shooting range (outside no least), everyone would turn and ask "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU SHOOTING, A CANNON?"

Just some thoughts on the subject of when the SHTF, and just maybe a different approach to the subject matter.

And remember boy's and girl's, KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY!!!

81 posted on 12/14/2015 3:10:11 PM PST by Stanwood_Dave ("Testilying." Cop's don't lie, they just Testily{ing} as taught in their respected Police Academy.)
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To: Stanwood_Dave

Came here to post a similar thought. Except I went 308 since you can use the cartridges you mentioned and then some to form a 308 case.
I also wanted to mention casting bullets as a way to extend case life as well as using less powder. You can even reuse primers if you are careful and have access to strike any where matches or know the composition of the white tip on the match head.


152 posted on 12/14/2015 6:31:58 PM PST by DirtyPigpen (Semper Fi)
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