Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles New Whelen vs. doe

Well, my new Rem CDL Whelen won decisively in this matchup, though the odds predicted as much.

The load was a 250gr Hornady SP and a close to max load of RL15 per Alliant's manual. This combo does a little better than 2600 fps from my 24 inch barrel.

I've shot a number of deer with my .375 H&H and a 270 gr Hornady at 2700 fps, and I they've never caused the damage that the 250gr .358 bullet did.

The doe was shot through the heart at 40 yds. Bullet entrance in the chest cavity was 2 inches in diameter. The exit hole in the chest was 4 inches! Penetration was, of course, through and through, and the doe was pole-axed. (An aside: There were two of these same-sized does running together, and my father-in-law shot the other one a few seconds later with a Rem factory green box 165gr straight through the heart, and that one ran about 40 yds.)

Based on this ONE experience, <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> I'd have to say that 2600 fps might be approaching the limits of this bullet. It certainly appears to have expanded adequately on this smallish deer. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to point it again at any sized deer or any elk I wasn't going to shoot in the tail. But if bear was on the menu I'd pick a tougher bullet, or slow this one down a bit.

I have pretty much settled on 250grain Partitions for all my Whelen critter whacking. Tried some others for fun, but I am back to the NP. Has worked wonders in the last 15 years.

I tried the 225tsx out on a buck this year. I use the rifle for elk too. My only concern was the bullet may not open up fast enough at ~2600 fps impact velocity on a deer. It did, performance was awsome. Sounds like you had good performance on deer, on elk maybe a tougher bullet would be in order. Thanks for the report.

Nice report. I think you are correct in figuring to tame the load down a bit. A 2" entrance wound indicates the bullet is prematurely expanding.

Yes, it was definately expanding rapidly. I do think that there's enough lead there so it won't stop inside any deer I'm likely so see. If I had hit the shoulder it would've been gone though...

I would rather not switch to a premium bullet, but I guessing that most of these .358 bullets were designed with the .358 Winchester in mind.