Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 35 Whelen performance

I got a Rem 700 classic last Christmas in 35 Whelen and finally got to hunt with it the past 2 weekends. I have been shooting all my life but just started hunting about 5 yrs ago. ( in my 30's) That being said, I've only taken a dozen or so deer/hogs here in TExas mainly with a 270. So the 35 Whelen performance was interesting to me.

I shot 3/5 animals (all whitetail deer) and 2 other friends used it to take a good size feral hog and small buck. Now here's the fun part, we recovered 3 out of the 5 bullets! This was fun and exciting! The other 2 (that we didn't recover) were double lung / pass through's. The three that we recovered were all quartering shots.

Is this common with the 35 Whelen and other medium bores? (or maybe just for the bullets I was using) Just wondering what others have experienced.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

What size and type of bullet did you use?

What bullets and speeds you running them? I've only shot a deer or two with mine but my dad fully perforated a broadside bull moose at 100 yards with a 250 Partition. Another bud of mine has shot a few more mooses and black bears with 250 Hornady. They haven't recovered a bullet yet.

I've put Hornday 250 IL's into 2 hogs & 1 moose, with none of the bullets recovered. Actually, the exit wounds weren't even all that big. I get the feeling the IL's are kind of hard, and are not expanding much.

I'd second the fella who queried about the bullets you're using. Maybe some 200's that are soft might well be retained in the game.

FC

Well... I reload 90% of what I shoot but... you guessed it, I did not load these. I used some custom loads my dad had gotten with the rifle. I don't know the brand but I do know that they are 250 gr soft lead nose (blunt nose) over 52 grs of BL(c)-2. They are not Nosler partitions so I'm guessing maybe core-lokts or hornady interbonds?

I've only got a few left and will load NPs after these are gone.

Out of 16 elk w/ 250 Nosler Partition's I have recovered 2. 1 elk w/ a 250 Hornady Interlok(NOT Interbond), no bullet recovery. A couple mule deer bucks w/the 250 partiton &/or 225Ballistic Tip, nothing recovered. The Whelen just kills stuff!!!
Cheers

The 35 Whelen has a long history of clean kills, excellent accuracy and moderate recoil.

A whole bunch of bullets are effective with the Whelen. It's tends to be an all everything cartridge. We are lucky to have it around.

Steve

the 338-06 and 35 Whelen are real similar to the 318WR and 333 Jefferys that had a hell of a reputation in Africa for deep penetration and killing critters really well.....the 35 Whelen has a heck of a reputation against the large critters of this continent for a reason....

I consider it a big critter killer. Better cartridges for deer.

Only a sample of one for me. Following up a wounded black bear (not mine) through some thick stuff, spotted the bear down but not out about 60 yards away. One shot through the neck/shoulder junction finished the job right away. Used a 250 hornady interlock, which lost the core and did not exit. MV was 2500 fps.

All I know is the 250 Speer hot-core is a go to bullet. I would use around 55-56 gr of vv-140 or Varget and would never look back.
This load hammers elk in the timber

The typical refrain concerning the 35 Whelen is that other cartridges would do just as well.

And I'm sure they would. But when it came to the tough stuff, the 35 Whelen is a clean killer that allows for dead deer, elk, moose and bear that would not have died so humanely or quickly.

Steve

I was impressed with the cartridge. Bear weighed in at 352 lb and an 18.25" skull. One shot at sixty yards with a 225gr Swift Aframe.

I did not no you had used the 35 Jorge. I like it and may get another one of these days. FWIW I think the 250 gr Hornady RN is softer by quite a bit than the 250 gr spire point. I used the 225 TSX most of the time and liked it.

This little fella tried the TSX out for me at 300 yds. Broke both shoulders and was found under the skin on the offside.

Shot a cow with my 35 Whelen @ about 130 yards, with a Speer Hot Core/250 @ 2600fps. Bullet hit behind the 3rd rib, and blew up in the heart. Recovered weight was only 56 grins. It did not hit any bone. Still a very dead elk. Shot another with a 225 grain Ballistic Tip @ 2750 fps, 200yds, bullet recovered weighed 206 grains. With Partitions, all have been pass thrus. Perfect cartridge for large game.

Jerry

Too bad they don't make that 225 gr Ballistic tip anymore. I sure wanted to try some.

lights outs, how'd I'd describe the 35 whelen.

when mississippi made the .35's legal for primitive season I switched from a .444. Never looked back. I really enjoy using the gun, an encore prohunter. Mainly use it all season.

added- encore prohunter with factory muzzlebrake and a 2.5# trigger by Hendershot in Utah.


Last year I switched from the hornadys superperformance to the barnes ttsx. no more deader but easier to find.

Dave

I sold mine, it was a Ruger and I don't care for plastic. Yours looks like a 700 Classic? I bought one when they first came out (waited a LONG time for one), but it came defective from the factory. The bolt locking grooves in the receiver were overcut and the rifle would jam if you cammed it over hard like on a fast reload. If I ever run across another Classic, I'll get it.

Only two cow elk so far with mine. Both traveled less than three feet, straight down. Rifle was a custom mauser, 24" barrel, 225 gr. Barnes TSX bullet. Bullets were not recovered. One bullet travels about two thirds of the way through one elk.
Paul B.

I know quite a few people using whelens. A couple of observations over the years with folks I know and here on the 'Fire: 1. I hear mixed stories on the 250 Hornady. Seems the spire point has less issues than the round nose. 2. 250 Speer Hot cor seems to get the job done. 3. 250 Partition have yet to hear of a 'failure'. 4. The 250 Nosler BT seems to be really accurate in alot of rifles. 5. 225 TSX seems to have a large following and 'kills stuff with aplomb'. Couldn't resist.