Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .35 Whelen Bullets

For hunting I've always used Nosler Partition or Barnes bullets and have had nothing but good luck with them. Last fall a local gunsmith put together a very nice .35 Whelen for me on a Savage 110 action. With a healthy load of R-15 and Speer hot-core 250gr bullets it flat shoots, groups for 225gr bullets look like shotgun patterns though. Since I've never taken anything with Speer bullets I'm wondering how they hold up especially hunting in the foothills of Rockies, where you may see Elk, Deer, Moose and Bear all in the same morning. But, at almost half the cost of 250gr Nosler Partitions the hot-core become awfully attractive. However if they kerblang on the way in, that's NOT really cost effective.

The Speer hotcore and Hornady 250 interlock are great slugs for the .35 and were designed with those velocities in mind. I have never had either one fail to expand or do adequate damage.

I wouldn't hesitate with that bullet. I have a 350 Rem mag which is very similar and would have no concern with that choice on any game in North America.

The modest velocities delivered by the 35 Whelen make the Speer or Hornady 250's an excellent choice for any big game. A premium bullet will not bring one extra bit of performance to the field in this circumstance. My Whelens have taken whitetail & mule deer, moose, & elk with complete success.
That 250 grain bullet is flat deadly, and if you can shoot that far, will be deadly out to 250 or 300 yards.
Having said that, I hunt only with Partitions when using a 270, as I think that higher velocity can take advantage of the design. When I hunted with a 6mm, I used Partitions for the same reason. In those instances, (3,000+ fps) I believe a premium bullet is worthwhile.

John Galt, I've carried two diff 35 Whelens alot of miles and killed many deer and a few elk with them. My thoughts, practice with Speer HotCor and hunt with 250 NosParts. Some would say the NP are made for the "big 35s", whatever that means. But the 35Wh is as fast at 50yds as the 358Norma at 175yds. And I'll not hesitate to shoot an elk with either of them cals at either of them distances. The NP will hold up to that close in shot, also expands nicely at 175yds from a 35Wh.
Premium bullets ain't the expensive part of this game. Lotta guys looking for ways to reason themselves into being cheap, let's not be one of them. Shoot the good stuff and you won't be doubting your loads. That peace of mind on a November AM is worth it right there.

Nosler Partition is an adequate bullet, but it hardly qualifies as a "premium" in today's boutique bullet marketplace.

On the other hand, the 250 gr Hornady Interlock is fully adequate in the Whelen as well. While there is no particular virtue to being "cheap" about buying bullets, there is also no particular virtue to spending more than is necessary to gain no additional performance on game.

I've killed impala, mule deer, caribou, kudu, gemsbok, cow elk, and big bull elk in Alaska, Africa, Montana and Wyoming with my Whelen, using Speer HotCores, Speer Grand Slams, Hornady Round Nose Interlocks, and Woodleigh Weldcores. I have friends who have used everything from Winchester PowerPoints to Sierra boattails to Nosler Partitions to who-knows-what. The ultimate result seems to be that when you launch half an ounce of lead and copper at 2500 +/- velocity at critters, they tend to keel over dead.

I don't get too hung up over it any more in the Whelen -- I shoot Hornady RN's because they group in an inch at 200 yards.

Stuff dies.

Dennis

.338 Federal you must read minds. That was the conclusion I was coming to as well. Now if only Barnes would bring out one of their tipped bullets in 250gr.

Dennis, not disputing the rest of your post, but at least in my mind the Nosler Partition will always be a premium bullet, and almost always THE best choice for any given situation. How can you not go with a bullet that uses 1/3 of its weight like a good soft point and then turns into a wide meplat solid?

Try the new Nosler 250 Accubonds. Hits hard like a PT, flys like BT. I have started shooting the in 225 Accubounds in my 35 wheelen. My gun does not like 250's anything. If Nosler makes the Accubond in a cal. I own I shoot them now, If not I am right back to PT. Let's see, $650 for the rifle, $500 for the scope, and you want to cut corners on bullets? (SMILING)

Just gotta say that "more expensive" often does not equate to "better." This theme crops up way to often.
Further, some of us shoot quite a bit. This might mean buying 500 or 1,000, maybe more (the true loonies), bullets at a time. Cost difference for 500 250gr Sierras vs Partitions: $248. That's not chicken feed to some of us. Certainly contributes to being able to shoot more often, particularly now with the significantly higher cost of all components.
Since I have first hand experience on a couple dozen head of big game that has been entirely satisfactory with "standard" bullets in this caliber.
Having said that, are Partitions ever a bad idea? Heck no!

My Whelen likes any bullet of any construction and weight. It's accounted for several elk with the 250 grain Hornady SP. But a Partition or Speer would work just as well.

Heck no! Never a bad idea to use Partitions on game. Not a bad plan to practice with cheaper bullets either. That is why in my previous post I mentioned that exact thing. Several years ago when 250NPs were introduced I discovered that 250 Speers strike at exactly same point at 300 yds as Partitions, using exact same charges and OAL. That's handy in my gun and may be in others also.
It's still hard for anyone to make the case that cup-n-core bullets work BETTER than Partitions on game. Many are stating that cheaper bullets work "just as good". Would the same guys be using c-n-c bullets on game if they cost same as NosParts? I doubt it.

Yes...I would. I shoot mostly TSX's at game, with an occasional foray to Woodleighs -- both of which cost more than Partitions. But if I don't use a "premium" bullet, I use Hornady Interlocks. Or Speer HotCores.

I do think that good cup and core bullets, like Hornady Interlocks, work "better" on game than Nosler Partitions -- because they expand and hold together without blowing the front end off the bullet. The 300+ lb boar I just drilled through the neck and out the off shoulder with a 200 gr .338 Interlock at 2750 fps proved that point nicely. Dead pig, total penetration, no blown-apart bullet parts.

The only bullets I like less than Partitions are Sierras and anything with a plastic point... .

Dennis

They're all a sample of "one", but they are real "used" bullets:

(all 358 Winchester launched)



Moose; +/- 50 yards, 250 Hot Core



Moose; +/- 300 yards, 250 Hornady, 225 Barnes XFB



I pulled this 200 Core-Lokt SP out of a caribou.




The single Ballistic Tip that has really failed in any meangful way to impress me has been the 225 grain 358 bullet. It "varminted" a fox out of my 358 at less than 50 yards. Among the field of fox bits - and the two halves of vole that the bullet cut in two as Reynard held it, I found the ball of fluff (fox hair) containing the BT jacket.


I have used the 225 X quite a few times on several moose and other animals. I am willing to say that it works significantly better in general than other cored bullets have; much faster kills- less meat destroying trauma.

And while I haven't been the biggest fan of the Partition in any caliber, as bullets go which can do it all over a very wide range, I would say there are few bullets which can go head to head with it. It may be old, but it's still a good one. I would never spend the entire bullet budget on spendy bullets though. 10% on good stuff and 90% on practice stuff works about right for me.

And I had a 225 Ballistic tip fired from a Whelen fail to expend going through a deer. Took 5 minutes for the deer to tip over and there was a neat little 35 caliber hole through both lungs, otherwise no damage.

I know a guy here in Alberta who shoots moose and grizzly with his .350 Rem Mag using 200gr Speer HC bullets. He gets exit holes most of the time. The 250gr will have no problems achieving full penetration IMO. If you are unsettled about it at the end of the day, just use the PT's or TSX's or some other premium or semi-premium bullet for hunting, and load up a cheap bullet of the same weight and shape for practice in the off-season.

Yeah, good 250 grain cup/core bullets do fine at Whelen velocity.

but

I'll pay the extra few bucks for the confidence that comes with having an even better bullet in my rifle when 'ol mossy nuts steps out of the timber on the other side of the meadow.

I prefer cup/core bullets in the Whelen for all big game. The only reason I use premium bullets is when velocity is 2900+ fps.

I've killed a 6x6 bull elk with the 250 speer HC (complete penetration through the shoulders) and a small 4x4 mule deer with the 250 grand slam. Both animals dropped at the shot.

Unless I go after brown bear/grizzly bear, I will use 250 speer for everything. Still, I wouldn't have any concern if I had to use the 250 speer bullets.

I use cup/core bullets when deer are on the menu and I'm not in big bear country.

The thing is, I do most of my elk hunting where the griz have figured out that a rifle shot means a gut pile at minimum. In the highly unlikely event I have to keep one of the buggers off me at close quarters I will have a bullet in the chamber that will smash anything it hits.

Maybe a 250 gr Hotcore would do it. I dont know. A 250 gr. A Frame will.

JG

Either the 250 Speer or Hornady will do the job.

WN