Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tell me about the 35 Whelen

Lot easier to buy ammo for than my 350 RemMag. Not my first choice for eastern deer, but don't let that stop you if you want to use it. Have always thought it would be a great black bear caliber, but haven't used it on bear myself. There's a nice Rem 700 Classic in the classifieds (not mine). Nice gun loony choice for something different than a 30-06. Like said above - 35 Whelen and 350 RM are essentially ballistic twins, one for long and one for short actions. Would probably buy the 35 W if shopping today because of ammo availability, but I bought my 350 RM in 1985 and plan to keep it a little longer. If you're a handloader the 35 Whelen may handle 250 grain bullets better.

I bought my 35 Whelen as soon as Remington made it a factory round and offered it as a 700 Classic.
I have never regretted it.
One of the local gun shop loonies hunts elk every year with a 6mm Remington just to prove something.
For my own use on moose, black bear, elk, caribou
where you may stumble onto a grizzly or hunting deer in the woods where a twig might get in the way just as you touch one off, I think it is about as good as it gets.
I Have never found a bad load for the 35 Whelen.
You may not find it in the manuals but 56 grs. IMR 4320 is a darn good match with a Nosler Partition at 2700 fps out of a 22" barrel.
I have also found Varget to be just as good.
Factory ammo is much cheaper than belted magnums.

AND if you run out of brass you can go to any rifle range and pickup either .270 or 30-06 brass and just run them through your 35 Whelen die and you are good to go.

I know 30-06 users get but hurt and they are just jealous they can't get 250 gr bullets at 2500 fps.
Get over it!
whelennut

Don't forget the 358 Norma mag

I don't own a 35 Whelen but probably would if I didn't already own a 358 Win and a 9.3x62. My Ruger M77 358 Win with 225 grain NP's is one the most accurate rifles I own. My 9.3x62 with 286 grain Norma Oryx or NP's is an extremely hard-hitting caliber (I've not taken game with the 9.3 but have with my 358 Win). I can't imagine that the 35 Whelen wouldn't perform equally as well for hunting most game in NA.

I have a 338 WM as well. I bought a 35 Whelen because I liked the rifle...build specs where perect for me.

I'm just having a hard time giving up the 338wm.

Im in the process now of having a 35 whelen built

My experience exactly on 20 years of moose and black bear. A 250gr bullet between 2400 and 2600 fps just staggers big animals the the 30 caliber and below bullets just can't do, flight distance being important on big animals.

I love the 35 Whelen. I got one several years ago just as a novelty. Decided to take it elk hunting. It was a long hunt and it came down to one shot, at approx 200 yards. The elk was broadside. I hit him square in the shoulder with a 225 grain Accubond and it fell so fast I thought God himself slammed him on the back. Nobody even spoke. We all just sat there looking like window lickers with our mouths wide open. I'd never seen an animal shot that dropped like that. I've since used it on several more elk and at least in my limited experience it hit damn hard and drops them fast. I like it, it gives me warm fuzzies, and makes me sleep well at night so I will keep using it over my 30-06's.

Seems as though others validate my post--S H not withstanding !!

Originally Posted By castnblast
I have used my various .35 Whelens as my primary elk rifles for 20 years or so. Have taken something like 15 or 16 elk, and a couple moose with mine. Shot a few elk with .308, .30-06, 7x64 .270 & 8x57IS.

I really do notice a difference in "Killing power" between the Whelen and lesser cartridges,...

Originally posted by Axtel:
My experience exactly on 20 years of moose and black bear. A 250gr bullet between 2400 and 2600 fps just <<staggers>> big animals the the 30 caliber and below bullets just can't do, flight distance being important on big animals.
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I killed several WT with my Whelen and I saw WT moved sideways as if punched. One buck went STIFF legged like an ironing board and took 2 straight legged steps before falling over sideways.

Jerry

I have used a 270/280/7RM on lots and lots of BG for the last 35 years. I have always wanted something bigger but none of the 338's stayed around for long. Their recoil is too violent.

Since building my 35 W I have completely lost the urge for any other medium. I like it much better than the 338 or 375 bores. Very easy recoil wise.

Mine has a 1-9.5 Benchmark. Will group three into .550. It likes Varget and either 225 Sierra or Northfork Bullets at 2750. Much easier shooting than any 338 or 375. I don't see the reason for a 9.3-62 if you live in the US.

I keep telling y'all it's the Chuck Norris of rifle cartridges!

I would not hesitant to use it to brain an eley with a Woodleigh solid.

Planned to take mine on a lion hunt but that is problematic for reasons unrelated to the 35 W.

+1

I have had 5 or 6 .338's which are gone, thankfully. Same fate 3 .375H&H's. Gone too are the Wby and Ackley.
The KEEPER: 35 Whelen.....
225 North Forks at 2750 easily with Varget. My choice for lion buffalo and with Woodleigh solids eleys. The African ph's call it the american 9.3-62!
Mine has a Benchmark 1-9.5 twist cm bbl 22", perfect.

With 225 Sierra it is about like a 30-06 with 180's. Good to 400 but when it lands it is bigger and heavier.

One of my long time hunting partners only has two rifles...a .270 Browning for long range and .35 Whelen 7600 pump for short range...almost all of his deer and the one moose have been taken with the 7600.

He has one load for each gun...the .35 gets the 225 Nosler Petition. All deer have been one shot stops. No shots were over 75 yards. The 900# moose took three at about 35 yards...only walked a few yards before he dropped.

Bob

As much as I like the '06, I would not want to be without a whelen. Bullet placement makes most any caliber reasonable to the game hunted a killer but the 35 seems be an "any more questions" hammer.

i love 35's

i have a 358win, not a Whelen but still a good cartridge.


if you are dead keen on a 35cal and you are a confident reloader, there is a fantastic wild cat built by a aussie shooter Ted Mitchell called the 358 Mitchell Express, it out does the Whelen by a considerable margin that makes it worth doing 150-200 fps gain !!! the parent case is a 8x57 necked up with body taper reduced and a 40deg shoulder

Ted shoots buffalo and scrub bulls with it, has a small cult following in Aus

i would like to build one at some stage

Battered Sav's 185gr ACP's make any 35 a destroyer

I love just about all 35s, but stout 358Ws do as much as I'd ever care to do with a Whelen, unless I went to a heavier rifle. I have '06s and other stuff, and if I used a Whelen for primitive in MS and LA, I'd probably AI it and load it mild....just to stave off single shot headspace issues and save my shoulder on deer and hogs....hence my love for the 358 in ALL....single shots, levers, and bolts. When I can run 225s and 250s to 2400+ from a .358, a Whelen ain't gonna get me much gain for the increased pain. JMO. 358 has less body taper and a better shoulder, naturally, but factory loads from Hornady and Winchester are a tad mild, like the Whelen. I load some stiffer/more appropriate stuff, but I have some double tap 250s someone on here sent me, that promise 2425fps, on the box. I'll probably put a pad on and burn them for the brass....the longer 200-225s will do as much as I foresee a need for. If I was shooting moose/elk/Griz past 200 all the time, it might be worth it. Everyone should have one good .35....no matter how much you'll hear about some 30 being jet as good or more versatile. Who gives a chit? I ain't in it to limit the # of triggers I can pull, just because of some practical ballistics argument for having less guns based on their 'versatility'. A 158gr HP at 3k plus, upside a coyote's head is damned fun. Versatile? Could be.