I believe I’d rather have a .35 Whelen, if I felt I needed a bigger bullet than a .30 caliber, and didn’t want magnum recoil.
Also hard to fault a 200 grain bullet from a 30-06, if more power is the point.
What was it about your .338-06 that makes you feel a .35 Whelen would be better?
If the point of the .338 is a larger diameter and wound channel than a .30 caliber, the .35 is even more of the same.
Admittedly the cartridges are very close and I doubt one could tell much difference on game. The advent of today’s superb premium bullets, such that smaller diameter bullets are much more capable today than, say, 40+ years ago, has taken some of the shine off the larger diameter calibers. Back then, the solution was larger diameter and heavier bullets. Today, they are much closer in practical effects.
