Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 35 caliber advocate

There has be a serious amount of discussion on this page concerning 35 caliber rifles .

I know Bryce Towsley is an advocate and even was developing a 35 wildcat years ago .

Does he frequent the campfire ?

Maine_Rifle,

I purchased a nice Remington Model 660 in .350 Remington Magnum last year. I've been handloading 180-grain .357 Magnum jacketed bullets over 3031 powder. The loads are light to moderate and fun to shoot at paper.

I fired some Remington factory 200-grain loads a few months ago and shortly after the Japanese earthquake hit. A coincidence - maybe. They get your attention in the little carbine!

I just received a message from Midway USA today that my backordered .350 Magnum brass was in stock, so I ordered 200 cases.

I have a 358 Win and 35 Whelen and love them both.

.358 Win and .35 Rem for me, love'em!

I've got some respect for my Whelen, and my 358-WSM.
What's not to like,<Grin>.

358 WSSM here....love it.

I'm happy with my 35rem and 358STA.

A pair of 358 Wins for me

358, wasn't Bryce on here with load data for the 358 WSM not too long ago? I have a hard copy of that, it's what I used to get my good-shooting load, 225 Partition at 2,950.

I "had" a BLR in 358 Win it was a great shooter but make the mistake of selling it and buying a new stainless blr in .358 which I never warmed up to so it went down the road.

Currently shooting Tikka T3 in 35 Whelen that started out as a .270 win before the rebore, it is a great shooting gun and I will not make the mistake of selling this one!

I run the Winchester and Norma versions; caribou, bear, moose....they work.

35 Whelen in a "Rodney Dangerfield" rifle...

I like this subject. Currently have a 35 Whelen, having 99 converted to 358Win. and was thinking 358NM but 35 WSM sounds interesting can anybody lead me to the specs. on it? thanks Cheers NC

I don't have the specs but all it is, is a .325 (or .300) WSM necked up. Redding makes the dies.

Ruger 77 in 35 Whelen. Swapped a Rem 760 in 35 Rem for it. Now wish I had just bought the Whelen so I would still have the 35 Rem too. Slow on the learning curve?????? Could be, could be lol.

What's not to love. I have a 700 Classic in 35 Whelen and a Winchester 94 on 356 Win.

yep...however mine is the 7mm WSM necked up because i rebored SS M70 7mm WSM, but the .300/.325 WSM necked up would make more sense if one were to re-barrel...

Oh, so you got one of those "Rodney Dangerfield" rifles, too.

My 700 Classic is the only rifle I have not needed to glass bed. It shoots just fine the way it is. It seems to prefer the 225 gr bullets.
whelennut

Yup, that's what 358WSM did, and what I did. .325 brass necks up easy, with one pass.

I have an MRC 1999 stainless in .358 Win with both a Serengeti walnut stock and a MacMillan Edge (green with black web). It is one of my favorites - I even took it to Africa for plains game with 225 gr partition handloads. I mounted a 3-9 Leupold Compact scope in silver finish on it.

[img:left]http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx74/vanstra1/MRC358.jpg?t=1298649492[/img]

For some reason, the picture won't upload...

As do I. And trying to get pointer to get one before this fall...

I have a 35 Whelen that I built at school. It's on a Howa 1500. Would love to do a 35 Newton someday on a modern action. New brass is out there, which makes things easier.

Didn't Mr. Towsley's wildcat essentially wind up as a 358 RUM?

I like the .35's quite a bit myself. It's too bad they seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle.

Love the .35s. I have a Remington Classic .35 Whelen and a BLR .358. Will someday get a .35 Rem. Bryce Towsley used to post on here occassionaly as UMT something or other. I have not seen him in a while.

Lou

IIRC, Bryce Towsley was on here for a while.... But some of the smart-aleck a-holes on here pizzed him off and he left... Too bad, our loss...

Yep. It does the job with a certain style. Good rifle/caliber.

Have had and loved the 35 Whelen, 350 Rem Mag, 35 Rem, and now only have the 358 Win left.

Started with a 358 Norma in the 70s and fell in love with the 35. I had my 721 rebored to 35 Whelen and purchased a 760 in 35 Rem, and just bought a savage 10 to build a little 358 carbine.

Erich

My first .35 caliber (many years ago) was a Marlin 336 which I still have. Since that time I've aquired a Remington Model 14 (.35 remington) and a Savage 99 EG in .358 Win. which I will likely own when I die.

Over the years I've had a few other .35's pass through my hands. These included a .351 Winchester (interesting rifle, but not so useful cartridge), a .357 Mag. lever gun (kind of nice to carry with a .357 revolver, but just a bit too weak compared to a .44 magnum that could be had in the same rifle).

I also owned a .35 Whelen that I foolishly traded for something I really didn't need......a truely great cartridge that I will replace some day. I tried a .350 Remington Magnum for a while, but found it to be an akward and complicated way to reproduce Whelen ballistics......not a very well thought out cartridge in my mind.

I always wanted a .358 Norma and still think it is a great round, but a good deal on a .338 Magnum filled my needs in that niche. Since then I just can't justify the high price wanted for the few Normas I've run across......but if ever I find one at the right price I'll likely jump on it.

I've owned at least one .35 caliber rifle since I was 16 and have always found the caliber to be in the "Goldilocks" zone.....not too big and not too small....in every niche from the .35 Remington to the big Norma round. The 35's kill better than smaller rounds in their class and don't beat you up as much as larger ones.

Lets see a Remington 7600 in 35 whelen, 2 600s in 350 rem mag. One 660 in 350 rem mag, a remington XP100 in 350 remington mag. One original browning blr in 358, a new stainless takedown blr in 358. One ruger 77 Mk II all weather in 350 rem mag and finally a contender in 35 remington. Some people say I have a problem. I could do everything with the just the Ruger. Load it down or up. I can even go heavy as the mag box is long. But what fun is just one 35 caliber rifle.

35 Caliber ! This is how I feel about the caliber

Rem 700 358 Win ( E R Shaw build 20" )
Rem 600 358 Win
Browning A-Bolt Hunter II Ultralight 358 Win ( Grice )
Ruger RS Carbine 358 Win
T/C Encore 24" 358 Win
VZ-24 24" 358 Win
T/C Encore Handgun 15" 358 Win

Model 7 CDL 350 mag
Rem KS 350 mag
Rem 660 350 mag

Sold my 35 Whelen a while ago. Now every thing is short action. I have a few on the auction block right now just to reduce the numbers. Can't begin to hunt every thing I have. i would say from the list that the 35 cal is OK.

Ken

firarms44 is NH's leading 35 caliber advocate.....he has so many 35 cal rifles, I was stunned to learn he actually owned a 30/06

Ken no more Whelen's?

I'm just a .35 piker in this crowd!

Had a .358 BLR, traded off towards something. It was a good rifle and gave me a truly spectacular open-sights kill on a doe at 125-150 yards. That was cool

So I had my M7 rebarreled by PN and that's my only .35. I love It. While I don't consider it JUST a short range round, since it'll do fine out to 350 or so, with that said.... it is one HELL of a short range round! Enough velocity for some shock effect, enough oomph to convince the deer that it's all over, right now.... enough bullet for a heck of a blood trail if it comes to that.

And very minimal bloodshot! It's pretty much perfect for where I kill most of my blacktails.

My '06 likely becomes a Whelen on it's next barrel...

That would be me....only used the 35 Rem in a marlin lever;and I came across a supply of 250 gr Bitterroots, so decided to build a rifle around them;got Butch Searcy to get me a 12 twist Krieger,and hung it on a pre 64 H&H action,with Brown stock and necked up 8mmRem Mag brass...92 gr RL19 gave a bit over 3000 fps....

It was a bit much of a good thing, but really left a 338 in the dust...

357 Maximum for me

I recently joined the .35 group with a 700 Classic in .35 Whelen. The big surprise is that this thing is more accurate than I expected. Regularly shoots cloverleaves at 100 yards. Worked fine on my bear last week.

model 700 classic 350 rem and a 77 ruger in 35 whelen for me!

Here you go:

Forgot about that...a couple of weeks ago I ordered a .357 Max barrel from MGM for my son.

I would like a 358STA... as soon as it is nolonger a wildcat...


Or a 358 Ruger...


When they make it

A 358 Winchester, 35 Whelen Ackley and a 358 Norma round out my 35's, all built on pre 64 actions.

If you love something, set it free?

i have a custom 358 norma and a 7600 35 whelen going to buid a nice 358 win soon

I have a .358 Win., a .350 Rem. mag., a Whelen and a .358 Norma. You know what they say, don�t you? The .35 caliber was designed for hunting rifles and all of the rest of the calibers were made for guns. CP.

I'm collecting parts for a 358 Nukalpiaq (375 Ruger to 358.) If damn gasoline didn't cost so much, I'd be further along.

After thinking about this for a bit, I've had a few 35's - 350 RM in a 15" Encore pistol, 35 Whelen built on a VZ 24, 35 Rem in a Contender pistol. I dig the 35's.

I'd like to get another 35 Whelen or possibly a 9.3x62 in a SS config.

Surprisingly, the 35 Rem in Contender makes a handy thumper. Hoping to test it on a deery creature this fall. Have some Speer 220's flying well in case I run into some gigantasaurus deer.

.358 Win and Whelen in the stable. Had a Norma but sold it....my mistake. In need of a .35 Rem.... I like the .35's, every one I've had has been easy to please...they all shot great.

Yes Bryce is an active member on here. I was talking to him on here about the .358 Win and the 35 Whelen just two weeks ago. He's a great guy and very knowledgable and helpful.

35 Rem and a 358 Win in the safe. Really like them both.

In southern Europe, mostly in France and Greece but also Spain and Potugal the 35 caliber is appreciated by driven hunt hunters. Mostly 35Whelen Remmys. For year Remington made the 7400 and 7600 in 35 Whelen for our market. At that time it was no more a proposition on their US regular catalog. Hi own a 7600 carbine, one H&R single shot in 35 Whelen and a Winch94 big bore AE in 356



The H&R is used when leading dogs after wild boar, heavy but safe, tough and poxerful with 250 grs corelokt...Aimpoint is good from 0m to longer distances. Here with Fed and Rem factory cartridges
[IMG]

Currently:

A 7600 carbine: .35 Remington
A 7600: 35 Whelen
A Savage 99 (rebore: .358 Winchester

My jury is still out on the 99 staying in the stable. I'm trying to find a reason to keep it around but always seem to reach for a pump or bolt action.

George

Just really don't have the need for more than the 358Win. If I want to do something that the 358 can't I'll pull out the 280. All are great rounds, I have hunted and killed with them all but money for more projects had to come from somewhere.

Pointback, I have an original .375 Ruger necked to .358.... It's called a .35 Newton. Mine was made in 1916....

What's a 225 clock in one of those?

Shazzam!

I haven't fired it as yet... I just finally got a set of dies... (Dang hard to find...) All reloading data that I can find printed on it, indicates that ballistics are almost a virtual twin to the .358 Norma... So close that I believe one can use .358 Norma starting loads and work up from there...

I seriously doubt that I will push the envelope, however... As I am dealing with a rifle manufactured of near 100 yr old steel... I'm thinking 150-200 f.p.s. above the .35 Whelen should be easily accomplished... And in reality, Whelen + 100 f.p.s. should easily take any game here in N.A. And if I need more, I still have a .375 H&H and a .416 Rem. Mag.

Thus, I think a bit of conservatism is in order... ("Discretion being the better part of Valor..." )

GH

Just acquired a Super-16 barrel for my T/C contenda. It will do some deer killing this fall. It shoots the Speer 180 FPs rather nicely with 4895.

Mine likes H322 under the 180 and H4895 under the 220. Kill anything yet with the 35 and either bullet?

I have two 35 caliber rifles. One is a Remington Model 141 chambered for 35 Remington. It is an interesting and well made old rifle that I enjoy shooting. The other is a Remington Model 700 CDL chambered for 35 Whelen. It is my second Whelen and I have much respect for that fine old hunting round.

I have a 700 Classic (much used), a 7600, and a Marlin 336 in 35 Rem. I used to have a Rossi 357, traded away for other good stuff. I am currently recovering from a no-tags-this-year induced bout of "sell it all and use the 270"-itis. One day at a time.
Love them all.

In my youth played with a 35 Rem in a Marlin; since have had a Rem KS in 35 whelen, a Whelen AI, a 660 350 Rem all of which have gone Down the road. Came upon a Serengeti Awalkabout in 350 a year or so again am reminded again what a great littl cartridge this is.

You get a 35Whelen and can load down to cover the little ones and load normal to take care of the rest of 35 cal business. Spend the excess hunting. Magnum Man

kalik et al - I no longer have any 35 cals.

I have had 2-3 358 Win; 1 Sav. 99 at least 1 BLR maybe 2.
I found them to be GREAT short to MEDIUM range deer rifles. Sudden death on whitetails.

Here in Ark. we have a good black bear population BUT there are TOO MANY booby trapped pot fields close to bear habitat. I like my feet and legs and hunting too much to risk them.

The 358 Win OR 35 Whelen make GREAT bear guns too.

I had a 35 Whelen made on a Rem 760 BEFORE Rem. brought out the 7600 in 35 Whelen. The MAIN reason I let it go was, there was a lot of RUMOR that IMR 4320 was going to be dropped. That never happened BUT... now I miss it tremendously.

Given my hunting habitat, I would like to have another 35 Whelen.
I would RATHER have the one I made than a new one & that fellow will NOT sell it back to me.

In 358 I like the 180 Speer FN & 200 HSP.

In the 35 W. I only used the 200 HSP BOTH WORKED GREAT ! !

Yes!

Marlin 336 in 356 Win
Ruger Frontier in 358 Win
Rem 760 in 358 Win
Rem 700 Classic in 35 WHelen
Mauser 98 in 35 Whelen
Rem 673 in 350 Rem mag

Was interested in a 35 Sambar (358 WSM)or a 358 Norma until I discovered TAC powder for my 350 Rem mag. With 225 gr TSX's at 2800 fps, why more?

I am currently in the works of a .350 Rigby Magnum, being built on a 1909 action!

Sounds very cool...what is it?

Well, I had a 35 Rem in a 336 and a 350 RM in a custom shop M7 in a full stock..may be the most beautiful rifle I have ever owned.

I now have: Rem 700 Classic 35 Whelen
Ruger 77 RS 358 with a 18.5"bbl.

I always wanted a 356 lever in a Marlin or 94 Big Bore..never found one but did buy a bunch of brass in anticipation

There is something to be said for frontal area, and the 35's can really deliver the "Thump"

Curious to try the 180 Barnes TTSX in the .358

Is it available now.?

I tend to go the other way... "If I only had a .358 Norma, I would have seen more game. I need to buy something new."

SS Hawkeye .358, and a 700 Classic Whelen.

edit: Whoops, I see that you meant "no tags drawn", not "no tags filled".

A classic British cartridge introduced in 1908, was a populer hunting round in African and Asian countries. It has a case capacity greater than the .35 Whelen but similar ballistics as the .350 Rigby Magnum was loaded to lower pressures. The case is basically a necked-down and beltless .375 H&H Magnum.

The ballistically-identical rimmed version of this case was called the .350 No. 2 Rigby. Both utilized a 225 grain bullet. While light for a .35 cal. game rifle, the intent was to provide a higher velocity projectile than the cartridge's proven predecessor, the .400/350 Rigby.

re the 350 RIgby Mag...would you load it hotter than the original loadings, in a modern rifle, w/ the latest powders?

Or keep in vintage?

With capacity of a 35 Whelen, you could push a 225 gr bullet at 2750 fps or more, easily, if the rifle is up to it.

With the new brass and action I will run it a little hotter...but it worked just fine for many years.

NK K9 Looks like you should pick up another 7600 in 35 rem and have it rechambered into 358 win ...... triple threat of fine remington pumps !

Great reply to this thread , cannot beleive the manufacturers cannot acknowledge the popularity of the 35's .

Presently in stable I have (1) 358 win in a 7600 pump ... (1) 35 whelan in mod 700 LH MTN .... (1) RUGER NO 1 IN 35 whelan....TC Contender in 358 Bellm and not a one is fussy about load .

Can anyone pass on Bryce's call tag ..... sometimes it is hard to recognize who's is who on this site ?

Yup - Model 7 CDL 350 mag. & Model 700 CDL 35 Whelen.

L to R .358 Win
180 TTSX, 200 TSX,200 Hornady RN,200 Win Silvertip,250 Hornady Spire,250 Hornady RN

35 Whelen 225 TBBC

Awesome picture!

200g TTSX right?

180 TTSX load from Doubletap

Hmm thats a bullet I could be interested in.

Ya, that's an interesting one.

The 225 Partition has been working great for me and I've got enough loaded to last a looong time, thinking I'll resist the temptation <g>. My .358 is one of my few rifles on "lockdown"; I don't mess with things too much. Just go kill deer with it.

I can't complain about the 225NPT. I am shooting it in front of 48 or 49g of TAC. Its accurate and I still have something like 18 bags of seconds( and one box of firsts). I will likely be taking it on my moose hunt this September.

Thanks for that pic Thumper..!

I am VERY pleased that Barnes is doing that 180 TTSX .

Classics ? How about a 35-375 Griffin & Howe (built on 375 H&H case) in a real magnum Mauser ? Written up in Pet Loads. No slouch and today even better.
Room for 310 gr Woodleighs, serious "anything in North America" rifle for sure.

Is the bullet available on it's own? Cannot find it listed anywhere including Barne's web site. I have nearly a thousand 358 cases don't need to buy loaded ammo. I have been shooting 200 grain hornady and 200 grain TSX. But damn that 180 would really turn the 358 into a flat shooter.

I kept hoping that Remington would chamber the 700 Classic
in 358 Win, but it never happened.

Having all those 2nds is a great thing! Have you priced those 225's lately?!

I've carried mine a few times elk hunting, but never got to stick an elk with one of those NP's. I did manage to stop one in a spike buck last year; that surprised me! A quartering-away shot and it kind of "rode the spine" for a while there.

Tell you what, a fully-expanded .35 cal Partition with the front end all torn up and jagged is a BRUTAL-looking thing. That gonna leave a mark, as they say.

Not sure if they are available yet. I can't find any, but that doesn't mean that they might not be out there somewhere. If anyone wants to call Barnes and let us know that would be sweet. I haven't given them a test drive yet, but the 200 TSX shoots darn near bug holes so it's gotta at least match the accuracy of that bullet for me to change over. Funny enough my gun loves the 250 RN too. The rest of 'em are just for Sh*ts and giggles.

Me too and when I lost hope I had one built from an old TI. And of course when I sent the build away to the smith Ruger announces they are making one, then Kimber comes out with the 338 Fed. Still glad I have it on a 700 though.

I emailed Barnes about the 180 grain. This was the response.

"We do make the .358cal 180gr TTSX. As of right now it is only produced to be loaded into the VOR-TX and Double-Tap, and not available as a reloading component."

That sucks. Could never figure why a bullet company would do this. They could easily make a bunch more money. Sure they make more money on loaded ammo. But they are losing a lot of sales of reloaders that refuse to buy factory ammo. Oh well I am sure hornady appreciates my business.

Well thanks for inquiring about that bullet Mike.

Maybe a few hundred phone calls in to Ty would help them see the light.

Ever seen Barnes was bought out I have not been able to get through to TY. I have tried his direct email never have the time to call during business hours I have gotten no response to emails.Did not try his email this last time as I have misplaced it. Seems like all email inquires are going to a central customer service center now. In the past I would email and Ty would respond with a several paragraph if not page response. Now it is just a sentence or two from some customer service rep. I am hoping we will see the bullet soon as I would think the hold up is loading data. The factory loads are probable using a powder not available to reloaders.

Thanks for the info!

The 350 rigby has a powder capacity almost identical to the 358 Norma Mag.

My first 35 was a 35 whelen ackley on VZ-24. The friend of a friend who chambered it didn't do such a hot job, and it would only group when pushed too hard. I was offered the loan of a 350 Rigby reamer, and a real gunsmith did a clean up on the action, opened the bolt, rechambered the barrel and recrowned it for a modest $100.

With that 24" 1-14" barrel it would group three hornady 250 gr rn under 1" when loaded with 66gr of varget for 2700 even at the chrono. Spitzers would group 1" and change for 3 with the same load. I tried H-4350, but groups were a bit larger with the same velocity. The hornady rn is really too soft for those speeds, one nearly decapitated a small doe I neck shot at 10 paces.

But after a week long hunt on Montague Island, I concluded the gun was too heavy, blued steel isn't the best for salt spray, and bouncing around an inflatable will ding up a wood stock. Not to mention Bertram brass is soft crap brass, and forming 350 rigby cases from 375 H&H brass isn't the easiest task as you have to lathe turn each case to cut off the belt, cut down the rim, and deepen the extractor groove. That and a full length pass doesn't always set the 45 deg shoulder all the way back. If you don't set the shoulder back on the first pass, you won't set it back by running it through the die again. I'd say the 358 Norma is a much more practical round, doesn't need a true magnum length actionm, an oddball bolt/extractor, and brass can be easily formed from 338 win mag cases.

I replaced it with a ruger all weather 350 rem mag, I give up 25 gr of bullet for the same velocity, recoil is tollerable, and ruger allweathers are one of the best utility rifles made. Turns out my first handloads ended my load development, 59 gr Varget under a 225 sierra also shoot sub moa for three, good enough for a hunting rifle.

I'll play

some marlins in 35 Rem..336a and sc, and a Rem 141
Whelens in Ruger 77rs boat paddle stock (limited run?), 700 classics, and a rebored 760 from Barsness, and a rebored Savage 110 that was a heavy barrel 06

358 in Savage 99, 2 Hawkeyes, and a nib Ruger frontier

I may be forgetting something, or I may be an addict...Helllppp

Found a pic of the 350 before I sold it

Anyone have a 358 Norma? Sounds like a great round

I have a 358 Norma Mag and love it. The rifle I have is one of my favorites and that cartridge is, too. Just something about a 358 Norma Mag that I love!



Though, it has been sitting in the safe for close to two years as I've been doing all my hunting and killing with a 300 Ultra, but that's gonna change this fall.

Rifle has a 26" tube on a classic model 70 action and shoots 225-grain Swift A-Frames at over 3000fps and recoils less than a 338 Win. Mag. shooting the same bullet at slower speeds...

Quality Cartridge is making 350 Rigby brass, much better than Bertram! That is the route I a going. I like the 358 Norma and actually, had one...I just like the mystic of the Rigby!

Wow...

Bearstalker Again, pic and report.

Having launched that same 224 A-Frame at 2930 fps outta my 358-WSM into a north bound Bull Moose, I can testify to the effectiveness of the 358 Normas' level of performance.