# Problems with my 35 whelen



## Nathanwild

I got a single shot Handi rifle from H&R that is a 35 Whelen about a year ago and I just cant get it to shot right. I have tired several different scopes on it and i cant get it to shot with any accuracy. I don't know whats wrong I don't know if there is much that can go wrong with a single shot. any ideas of what it might be?


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## Critter

What are you calling accurate? I am not familiar with that rifle but on my Ruger #1 22-250 if the forarm screw is too tight accuracy will go all to _____ But with it set up right it shoots sub moa all day long at 100 yards.


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## gwailow

What ammo did you shoot from it? I know the HR 35 Whelen has issues with some ammo....


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## Loke

First of all, the Handi Rifle is not known for its stellar accuracy. Neither is the 35 Whelen cartridge. If you are getting 2" or better groups at 100 yards, you are doing better that any reasonable person should expect from that rifle and cartridge combination.


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## gregkdc

Handi’s can be accurate but they are finicky at the same time. 

The first thing I would check is to make sure there is no oil on the latch and latch shelf. Apparently this small amount of oil can make so the gun doesn’t close up consistently and effects accuracy.
Also have you tried floating the forend? This can easily be done by taking the forend off and place either a rubber washer or grommet onto the forend lug. When you screw it back together this should lift the barrel off of the forend.
Last because of how they are made some handi’s never shoot well. I have a .30-06 handi that no matter what I did I couldn’t get it to shoot less than 3” at 100 yards. When I started reloading I found out that the chamber of this gun has an excessively long throat. It is the consensus of many handi owners that if you get one of the handi’s with a long throat that the gun will never shoot well. 
I have thought about rechambering my gun to something like a 300 mag so that most of the throat will be cut out but that is just another project on my to do this. In the mean time I bought a marlin XL7 and have no problems getting decent groups.
All the info I just gave you can be found at the graybeard outdoors forum.


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## ultramagfan2000

that's a bummer deal man I have a handy rifle in a 45-70 and found out the thing is a phenomenal for accuracy.


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## Squigie

Loke said:


> First of all, the Handi Rifle is not known for its stellar accuracy. Neither is the 35 Whelen cartridge. If you are getting 2" or better groups at 100 yards, you are doing better that any reasonable person should expect from that rifle and cartridge combination.


Oh, come on...
Don't blame the cartridge. There's nothing wrong with .35 Whelen. 
As far as "inherent accuracy" goes, it actually has an advantage over smaller calibers and smaller cartridges, due to the ease of manufacturing the larger components and loading the ammunition with tighter tolerances (resulting in better consistency). Large caliber barrels are also easier to keep bored straight and rifled with better consistency, than smaller calibers.

When you see "Handi-Rifle" and "problem" in the same sentence... the problem _is_ the former.

H&R single actions have had a lot of variability in their quality and fit for about 20 years. Some of the actions are so loose, it's amazing they let the rifle out of the factory. Others can be so tight, they barely lock up or don't do so consistently.
Accuracy on the 'tight' rifles is generally pretty decent, and gets better with a little wear.
Accuracy on the loose rifles is generally pretty bad, and dives to abysmal with an inconsistent rest/hold technique.

The only way to fix a rifle that is loose when locked up, is to send it to H&R for barrel replacement, or have a gunsmith re-fit the barrel lug (by adding metal with a TIG welder, before re-contouring and hand-fitting it to the action).

In addition...
H&R was having some problems with headspace in their .35 Whelen models, a few years back. They were cutting the chambers too large and too long; resulting poor accuracy, difficult extraction, and in inconsistent ignition - if they would set the cartridge off _at all_. The problem was made worse by loose lockup, on rifles so-affected.

If your rifle doesn't lock up tightly, it isn't likely to ever show impressive accuracy.
If it does lock up well, start looking at the other possibilities: rest/hold technique, scope base, rings, excessive fouling in the bore, etc...

(I don't hate Handi-Rifles. I have owned several, and still have one. I'm just a realist.  )


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## 35whelen

i thought about getting a handi in .35 whelen. but i was put off by the headspace issues id read about. I love the whelen cartridge though. a fine elk cartridge with less recoil than a .338 win. hope you find something that works in your rife. if you get it squared away it'll be a great light weight rifle with plenty of punch and out to 300 yds. it'll pack .300 win energy with .338 win bullet weights in an easy to carry package. wish i had some more input, but dont give up on the .35 whelen.


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## 35whelen

anything you can do to improve the trigger wouldnt hurt. my handi .45-70 has a lousy trigger but it's an accurate gun. maybe a recoil pad too?


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## Loke

I'm not blaming the cartridge, just the manufacturers of the components. When is the last time (or first for that matter) that you heard of the 35 caliber anything being used for competition shooting? Neither has any of the manufacturers. So why would they put in the extra time or effort to build a match grade 35 caliber anything? 2 minutes of angle is more than good enough for the ranges that the Whelen was designed for. It was designed to be a short to medium range (out to around 250 yards) thumper of medium to large big game. It serves that function quite well.


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## 35whelen

Yeah, it's not a longrange cartridge for sure. point blank range with a 250 gr bullet at 2500 fps is 300 yds, but it nose dives after that quck. Youre right loke, you wont be drilling bulls at 500 yds with it. 2" isnt bad at all for the whelen. Id think it could do better though. not much love out there for the .35s


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## Nathanwild

well I took it out yesterday after cleaning it and floating the barrel with a rubber wash. it seemed like it had some improvement. its just really weird because for awhile it was working great. I could have a 5 shot group at 100 yds you could put a dollar over


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## 35whelen

what loads are you shooting? could it be the scope? recoil would really rattle it on that light gun maybe. glad it's improved for you anyhow


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## Nathanwild

I have been using hand loads with speer tips and I have also tried the hornady superformance it did well with the superformance awhile back I don't know what has changed. I have also tried 2 different scopes and a red dot.


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## paddler

Mine shoots about 1.125", 5 shots. I found my target dated 4/8/90. Speer 250 grain, 56 grains of IMR4320, CCI 200 primer, R-P cases. Chronographed at 2446 +/- 11FPS. The group was strung horizontally, my target says 45F and windy. Vertical dispersion was ~0.5". Nothing wrong with the Whelen, it was designed for hunting and is very efficient.


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## Nathanwild

I want to use mine for hunting. I like the idea of the big bullet for bringing down an elk but I just want to make sure that I can put that bullet in the right spot. I don't want to be shooting it more than 250 yards. Im not willing to take the risk out of my own choosing.


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## 35whelen

hope you get something that works for you. im glad there're utah hunters using the whelen


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## Nathanwild

yeah I really like my 35 Whelen when it is working right. I am sure that it would do a good job with elk and deer.


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