Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Best 250gr .35 Whelen bullet? Pet Loads?

I am newer to reloading, my Dad did it for me for years until I moved 4 hours away. I have two .35 Whelens. My Ruger I have set up and rolling good with a 225gr AB Load. My 20" barrel Mauser I want to get up with a different load (Why? Just because....). I'm looking for to load a 250gr bullet in it. Used 250gr Remington factory so far in it with very good results both accuracy and terminal. Gun will be used mostly for NY and PA Whitetails, Black Bear if I ever get a chance. I realize I'm over gunned, but just really like the Whelen. I'd really like to find a 250gr Round Nose, but am not set on it.

I personally like the 225gr Partition a lot better than any 250gr bullet for stuff in the deer/black bear size.

I built my .35 Whelen 25 yrs. ago, I did extensive research into bullets, powders and loads. I found that IMR 4064 was my go to powder and after extensive range testing 225 gr. bullets my bullet of choice for whitetail deer hunting. With a 250 gr. bullet you start to be overgunned for the game you are going after, also recoil will be increased. These factors along with the accuracy and terminal performance of the 225 gr. bullet made it my preferred bullet. Get ahold of ken Waters "Pet Loads", lots of good info on the .35 Whelen, there's also a .35 Caliber website Google and you will find it. Good luck and good hunting the Whelen is a grand old cartridge with a great reputation amoungst real riflemen, it offers perhaps the broadest flexibility when it comes to bullet selection. In the off season I often plink with mine using cast bullet and jacketed pistol bullet loads. Easy on the rifle, the shoulder and most importantly these days on the wallet.

My Riger No. 1 loved the Hornady 250 gr SP ahead of either RL15 or Varget. Max loads were giving me 2500 fps which was a bit of a bruiser in that light rifle. Easily downtuned, though.

Consistent 3/4 MOA bullet out of that rifle (IIRC, the most accurate bullet I tried and I tried about all of them).

I'm interested in what you use. I have some 158 gr JFP's and Unique, Blue Dot and Trail Boss on hand.

With a 200-225gr. cast bullet I use a charge of 15gr. of Unique. With the 158gr. jacketed pistol bullet I use 2400. Other folks have used different powders, I just have Unique and 2400 on hand for pistol loads so I use them in the Whelen plinking loads.

The 250 gr Speer is a good one, my gun (24" barrel) likes Big Game with CCI 250's for 2550 fps. At the speeds a 20" gun will get there is no need for a premium bullet but that said the 250 gr Partition of course is great. There are lots of great powders that will work, Varget, Big Game, RL 15, IMR 4064, IMR 8208 and a whole lot more.

I don't think there is a bad 250 gr bullet for the Whelen. I used the Hornady SP for some years over RL15 or 4064. I trialed the RN version, but accuracy didn't match the SP. My go to load in recent years is the 250 gr Partition over Varget. All these have been accurate in 3 different rifles, all Remingtons. My velocities are a bit under max, running in the high 2400's.
Overkill is way under-rated.

When I had my TC Encore 15" 35 Whelen handgun I used 49.0grs. of IMR3031 with a Hornady 250gr. RN using Federal Gold Match large rifle primer. Chronographed average 2100fps. out of the 15" barrel handgun. I got 1/2" groups at 50yds. off bench with a 2x handgun scope. Sold it because of recoil.

I have had really good luck with the 250 Hornady RN and the speer 250gr Hot Core. I ran them both at just a touch over 2400fps out of my Rem 750. Accuracy was very good with both bullets but the speer has gotten the most of the work. I recovered on that shot thru a large driftwood log and it weighted 237gr. Its pretty impressive for a �cheap� bullet. I am now loading this bullet in my 358 win and have equally high hopes for it in this cartridge.

My 35 Whelen likes any 250 grain bullet over 56 grains of 4320. I've been running 250 grain Partitions but the 250 grain Hornady RN would do just as well. The Partitions open up just fine on caribou cows which are similar in size to the average whitetail buck.

I never got the overgunned/overkill mentality. If a guy likes to shoot a 35 Whelen, or for that matter, a 505 Gibbs, and wants to shoot his whitetail with it, who cares. The only things that matters are selecting a bullet appropriate for the job and being proficient enough with that rifle to deliver a good shot on the intended target.

Don't worry about being "overgunned", just have fun with that Whelen. I have to agree with one of the earlier posters, there are no bad 250 grain bullets in the 35 Whelen.

A worthy subject that comes up from time to time, link here
And Here

With my Remington 7400 autoloader, good results with the 250gr X bullet and Reloder15 on elk using the data in the Barnes Reloading Manual No. 3 (57.0gr listed as maximum). Unfortunately this bullet has been discontinued and I now load the Swift 250gr bullet.

I usually run the 200 gr. Interlock in front of RL15 in my 700 CDL. Tried some 250 gr. Speers and the recoil was quite noticeable.

Mine liked 4064 with the 240s, and the Speer and Partition shot to the same POI over the same charge. With the Hornady RN, H4895 was the powder of choice. Shot a little slower, but shot bugholes. I won't say the charge, since I don't recall exactly what it was.

I have had great results over the past 20 or so years with the 250 gr Speer and Partition as well as the 225 gr TSX. This all on the bigger critters like elk, moose, nilgai and a couple of lessor black bear. I have settled on the 225 TSX at 2700 fps pushed by RL-15 in my tweaked old tang Ruger M77.

Mart, same load for me 56 Gr IMR 4320 RP Whelen Case CCI Std primer, Speer 250 Gr. Or RL 15 around 56 Gr same components.

Prefer the 250 gr in the Whelen and usually get pass through s on Moose.

Pick your 250 grainer and stuff it on top of a case full of 4064, then go kill stuff. This has worked for me for a while now in my 20" barreled Ruger 77. I don't remember the exact charge and I'm not getting up to get my log book, but I know that it's Hodgdon's listed max and gives 2450fps in my rifle. I've used it with bullets from Barnes both originals and Xs, hornady sp and RN, Speer, and Wyoming Bondeds, works with partitions as well, and Corelokts.

I've used most all bullet weights that are commonly available in .358 and don't launch anything but 250s at game with mine anymore. Great cartridge that's easy on bullets and rough on critters.

I run RL15 and 250 PT/Speer's in mine interchangeably.. Accuracy is EXCELLENT. I haven't found the Whelen to be fussy at all. Hard to find a bad 250 for the Whelen.

I hunt whitetail exclusively with my Whelen, therefor I don't find the need for a 250 grain bullet and the increased recoil that come with it. When I first was developing a load for my rifle, I tried bullets that weighed 200,210,215,220 and 225 grains by several different manufacturers. Much research on the subject made my powder choice IMR4064, while nearly all bullets shot well the 225 grain produced consistent accuracy. For a hunting load I chose the Sierra 225 grain SPBT which produced satisfactory terminal performance on whitetails. I have also tried Nosler 225 grain Balistic Tip which shoots to the same POI as the Sierra. I have heard lots of good reports about RL 15 in the Whelen, I have a pound and plan to work up a load soon. All that said, I too have found that the Whelen is not picky about component combination. I like the versatility to be able to shoot jacketed hunting bullets, cast bullets and jacketed pistol bullets for plinking and practice loads. Easy on the rifle, the shoulder and the wallet. A winning choice all around and my go to choice in a deer rifle which can easily be loaded up for larger game.