I’m fortunate to have participated in several driven hunts for game and been on dozens of wild hog hunts. While a bolt action may be the preferred weapon for most types of hunting situations, I began to feel that a semi-automatic rifle may be the best choice for fast shooting conditions. Let’s take a look at what may be the best rifle and caliber for hunting wild boar.
I love a good-looking bolt action or single shot rifle. The single shot especially has a lot of charm, and it makes me feel like even more of a hunter when I take to the field with one. However, after several driven hunts in Europe and many wild hog hunts in the US, I have come to realize that sometimes there may be a much better tool for the task. On a driven hunt, the game may come from any direction, and rarely does it present the classic standing broadside shot. Most often, the hunter is surprised when game bursts out of the cover and may only be presented with a brief shot at a fleeting blur of squealing brown, racing through the underbrush. Confident I could take most game in the world with a 50 yard broadside shot using a 243 and good bullets, the aforementioned scenario calls for more.
On driven hunts, where the landowner may be overrun with pigs, his desire may be for the hunter to harvest as much game as possible. For this task, I feel the semi-auto hunting rifle is the proper tool for the job. And while a 270 can take a lot of game in many circumstances, I want more than even what a 30 caliber can deliver. For this task, Remington comes to the rescue with the model 750 Woodsmaster in the classic 35 Whelen. When I began this article, I thought I could handle the loading process just as I always had done in the past. Many new things were learned though that will benefit you, and can readily be applied to your success when loading for a semi-auto.
Chapter 1: The Cartridge and Test Rifle
Click for LOAD DATA SHEET
The 35 Whelen was first used as a wildcat cartridge in the early to mid 1900s. “Wildcatted” means that it is not offered by a factory as a standardized cartridge. It has to be custom chambered in a rifle, and the shooter would have to assemble cases by modifying an already existing one and, of course, assemble the ammunition on his own. The Whelen...
was adopted as a factory round over twenty years ago by Remington, so ammo and brass is now readily available. However, cases can be easily made from 30-06 brass by simply running into the FL sizer die. The Redding dies I used contain a tapered expander plug in the FL die. Running new ‘06 brass into the die opens the necks to the proper size, giving you ready to load brass in one simple step. This does produce a case just slightly shorter that factory Whelen brass, but this will cause no problems for the handloader.
The gun can be had in either a short 18-5 inch carbine version, as chosen for this evaluation, or the rifle style with a 22” barrel.
The Remington 750 is an updated version of the earlier model 7400. Improvements have been made to the gas portion of the rifle, to make the gun less sensitive to cycling port pressures, and some internals have been Teflon coated to improve cleanliness of operation. The gun can be had in either a short 18-5 inch carbine version, as chosen for this evaluation, or the rifle style with a 22” barrel. Both come with a very pleasing walnut stock, and an excellent recoil pad that makes the larger Whelen indistinguishable to shoot in comparison to a 30-06. The 750s gas system and automatic cycling of the action, makes the gun much more pleasant to shoot than a bolt gun, with obviously faster second, third, fourth or even fifth shot capability (four rounds in the magazine, plus one in the chamber). This feature is why the 750 excels for use on fast, close quarter shooting, or for taking more than one hog out of a group.
The shorter barrel of the carbine may produce perhaps 100 fps less velocity than the rifle version, but inside of 100 yards, it would have no measurable difference on game. For my testing, I mounted a Trijicon 3×9 scope with their excellent self-illuminated aiming point. Set at 3 power, it would excel at fast close range shooting, while capable of a 200 yard shot when turned up to 9. I mounted it using Warne 2-piece bases and steel quick release rings, allowing for easy removal should the hunter choose to use his open sights..
Chapter 2: Reloading Components Tested
Both Remington 35 Whelen brass and new Hornady 30-06 were used in developing loads for the rifle. There were virtually no resultant differences in case capacity between the cases when bullets were seated to...
identical lengths. Formed cases were perhaps 0.010” shorter than factory Whelen brass. If crimping bullets, it would be best to standardize on one case or the other. I ended up using Whelen brass where the bullet had a crimping groove and Hornady ‘06 brass when no groove existed. In order to get consistent crimps, you must regularly check case length, retrimming as the brass grows over time. In this rifle, trimming was required after three full-power loads had been shot.
The powders tested included: from Accurate 5744, 2520 and 4064, Hodgdon H4198, H322, H335, H4895, Varget, BL-C2, H380 and H414. IMR was represented by their 4198, 3031 and 4895; Winchester by 748 and 760. In Vihtavuori, N550 was tried. All loads used the Federal 210 Large Rifle Primer. QuickLOAD was used to help identify possible starting charges.
I tested from Hornady their 180 grain SP, 200 SP, and 250 grain in both the traditional round nose, and the recoil-proof soft point where the lead core stops at the end of the jacket. Barnes provided 200 and 225 grain TSX bullets. Nosler sent me 225 AccuBonds and 250 grain Partitions and factory loads with the same 225. I also tested the only Remington factory round at the time which features their 200-grain Core-Lokt spire point bullets. Some A-Square Dead Toughs in a 275-grain weight were also obtained, as their very unique construction should offer the ultimate in an expanding, deep penetrating bullet. The 35 caliber is unique in that the shooter can also load inexpensive .357 pistol bullets for low-recoil practice rounds; but I found out early on, that was to not be a viable proposition in a semi-auto rifle./p>
Chapter 3: Results and Recommendations
From the very beginning, I thought this would be like loading for any bolt-action rifle, in that I could just refer to loading manuals and make use of QuickLOAD to come up with my beginning loads; but right away, this proved to not at all be the case.
A gas operated semi-auto rifle makes use of a small portion of the propellant gas to drive and cycle the action for extraction and feeding of a new round. A vent hole in the barrel, perhaps one-quarter of the way down from the chamber, bleeds...
off a small portion of the expanding gas. At that point in time, the pressure cannot be too low or too high in order for the action to cycle properly. I was very frustrated while trying to develop MELs (Moderate, Effective Loads) using the 180-grain Hornady SP bullet. Light charges of the faster burning powders, like Accurate 5744, Hodgdon or IMR 4198, would not cycle the action, nor would heavier charges of the same powders, nor even heavy charges of medium burning rate powders. I also tried IMR 4227. The velocities were actually quite high, but consistent functioning could not be attained. Brief trials with 158-grain pistol bullets were also a dismal failure. Finally, I gave up on lighter bullets altogether.
It has a very good reputation as a hunting bullet, and would do well on medium to heavy game out to 200 yards.
When I tried to do the same with 200-grain bullets, I initially met with great failure. I was eventually able to obtain satisfactory results with H322, but it took some doing. Fortunately, I live in the country and can shoot right outside of my reloading room where a chronograph is set up. This was a blessing, and I had to shoot almost 300 rounds for function testing before I could come up with the 80 or so load combinations to shoot for accuracy. If a handload will not properly cycle a semi-auto, it really does not matter if a load is accurate or not; that is why the function testing came first.
Guilt-edged, bolt action accuracy was not obtainable with many loads, except those featuring the very traditional 250-grain Hornady round nosed bullet which the rifle seemed to take readily to. Because I spent so much time and effort developing loads that would cycle the rifle, I still listed combinations that shot into over 2”, as they may
shoot much better in your rifle. The value of all listed loads is that they will reliably function the 750. Looking back, this is not a rifle for long distance deer or elk hunting. So a load that delivers a good, deep penetrating hunting bullet into a 2” or less group at 100 yards is just fine for driving through a large hog, black bear, elk, or moose at woods distances.
Both tested factory rounds did quite well in the carbine. The Remington 200-grain Core-Lokt averaged 1.5” and 2,450 fps. It has a very good reputation as a hunting bullet and would do well on medium to heavy game out to 200 yards. The Nosler Custom...
ammunition featured a 225-grain AccuBond bullet, at a very respectable 2,431 fps. With bonded core construction and sleek aerodynamics, it should penetrate very well and still be capable of medium to longer range shots. Groups with it ranged from 1-1/4 to 1-1/2” for 3-shots at 100 yards.
A combination of the 200-grain Hornady SP and H322 duplicated the Remington factory round for both accuracy and speed. Heavier charges of BL-C2 or H4895 drove the same bullet 150 ~ 200+ fps faster with almost the same accuracy. The deeper penetrating 200-grain Barnes TSX shot slightly faster over IMR 4895 and was more accurate with 1-1/4” groups; with 748 and IMR 3031 also delivering more speed with good accuracy. Very accurate loads for the 225 Nosler AccuBond featured IMR 4895 and BL-C2 for less than 1.2” groups. Faster loads used N550 and IMR 3031 but produced slightly larger groups. Great hunting loads were assembled using the deep penetrating 225-grain Barnes TSX over Winchester 760 or H380 powders. Most certainly these rounds would completely penetrate large game at most angles while still shooting flat enough for a 200 yard shot.
All feature the same point shape and weight in each caliber, so the trajectories are identical when loaded to the same speeds.
The 250-grain Hornady round nose proved to be the most consistently accurate bullet in the Whelen, with five powders shooting under 1.2”- 760, IMR 4895, 748, BL-C2 or IMR 3031. The top loads with BL-C2 and IMR 3031 produce almost 3,200 ft. lb. with a traditionally shaped woods bullet. This would be an excellent combination for a driven hunt for game large or small. The spire point version of the same bullet was not quite as accurate, but it still shot very well with BL-C2, N550 or H4895 powders. My carbine liked the 250-grain Nosler Partition over H4895 for 1.1” groups at just over 2,300 fps. This would be a great combination for hard angling away shots on large game out to over 150 yards or more. BL-C2 and H322 also produced good speeds and accuracy with the heavier Partition bullet.
Lastly, I was able of obtain some 275-grain Dead Tough bullets from...
A-Square. They offer an industry unique approach to hunting bullets with their Triad of the Dead Tough,
Lion Load, and Monolithic Solid. All feature the same point shape and weight in each caliber, so the trajectories are identical when loaded to the same speeds. The Dead Tough is designed to offer quick but limited, controlled expansion in light or heavy game. The Lion Load is designed to debride- or break up- in a very controlled fashion in soft prey animals (lions or leopard), causing massive, moderate depth destruction. Finally, the Monolithic Solid is for extreme deep straight-line penetration in thick skinned heavy dangerous game with bone-breaking capabilities. The benefit of A-Square’s three offerings is that a hunter can carry all three in the field and be capable of taking any type of game with the same rifle without needing to re-sight their rifle. While I did not have many to test, I did obtain very good results with the 275-grain Dead Tough using IMR 3031, H4895, or N550 powders- good for 2,100 to almost 2,200 fps. Though a very heavy-for-caliber bullet, recoil in the Remington 750 was perceived to be mild, allowing for quick follow-up shots if required.
Chapter 4: Summary
The greatest challenge loading for this semi-auto hunting rifle proved to be developing loads that would reliably cycle and feed the action. All successfully functioning loads for the tested rifle have been listed to assist you in working up loads for your 750. A bolt action rifle would not allow for the taking more than one, or perhaps if lucky, two hogs in a herd situation. The Remington 750 in 35 Whelen may be the perfect tool for the driven hunt or the collecting of many wild pigs in one sitting. The semi-auto operation softens the recoil felt by the shooter to the extent that a hunter now comfortable only with a 308 or 30-06 will still be confident when shooting the larger caliber Whelen throwing a 250-grain bullet.
In cases such as this, size does matter, and I would take a semi-auto 750 in the Whelen any day, over a bolt rifle in the same or smaller cartridge.
Perfect shots or perfect bullet placement cannot be guaranteed during a driven hunt, or when a group of several hogs present themselves in the woods. The Whelen excels in that it delivers a far more substantial blow than the 30 calibers can. The modest velocities of the Whelen do not require...
premium bullets, though they are available and can enhance penetration even more. A hunter on a mission is capable of quickly taking multiple head of game with a rifle capable of rapidly delivering a decisive blow. In cases such as this, size does matter, and I would take a semi-auto 750 in the Whelen any day over a bolt rifle in the same or smaller cartridge. Using the proper tool for the job is a very appropriate phrase in this situation.