Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 338 federal or 35 whelen for a new hunting rifle.

Between a 338 federal and a 35 whelen which would you choose and why? I'm pretty much set on getting one of the 2 from Montana rifle company. I understand that it can take up too 20 weeks to get the rifle from them and I'm not worried about that. I do not reload but am seriously considering it. The game that I'll mostly be hunting is deer. Also is it difficult to get started reloading?

.35 Whelen, a great classic round that is very versatile and is a hammer. Easy to reload, too.

Whelen, will shoot the 250 gr.s with umph, 338Fed, not so much. The 35 Whelen is just more for the same money.

I suggest you get a hold of a loading manual and you can learn how to reload while waiting for your new rifle.
It is a rewarding hobby.

I chose the 35 Whelen and do not regret it.
It doubt that the deer will know the difference.
There is no reason you can't have one of each.

whelennut

First, welcome to the 'fire.

Now get ready for "abuse".

Some will ask why those two calibers?

I'd suggest a 9.3x62, just because it's said it will do anything the other two can..........and more!

Geno
PS, nah, your two sound like reasonable choices.

If you want an AR-10, then sure, .338 Federal.
For wood and steel, Whelen and a set of dies.

If you wish to skip the reloading, .338 Winchester Mag.

I had a 9.3 at one time. Wonderful cartridge but I LOVE the .375 and sold the 9.3 because it was doubtful it would ever see much use. I probably owned a half dozen or more .375s and it just never fails to impress me.

another vote for the whelen. when you start reloading you can use pistol bullets for cheap practice.

Ed

Great point about being able to use .357 bullets for plinking loads, if you do start to reload.

I'm voting for the Whelen as well. I have two of them, my favorite rifles. They put really big holes in elk.

Welcome.

I made my rifle in 35 Whelen and it has done all i have asked of it.
The longest shot on a whitetail deer is 300 yards.

On coyotes the 200 grain bullets or lighter will do a darn good job.
While the factory loads are somewhat slower they will kill.

Neither.

I've had 35 Whelen, 338-06 and looked hard at the 338 Fed numbers. I wouldn't touch any of them. For what you want to do most any of the 26-30 calibers would be a better option.

If you truly need anything bigger than 7mm or 30 caliber nothing in 33 or 35 caliber is enough bigger to matter.

.35 Whelen and no,it is not difficult to get started handloading.

35 Whelen.

I chose the .35 Whelen more than 25 yrs. ago and have been very pleased with that decision. It worked fine on whitetail deer and off season I shoot cast bullets and .357 handgun bullets. The Whelen is very easy to load for not fussy in the least.

I have made rifles in both those calibers as well as the 9.3X62, 9.3X57, 338-06 and 358 Winchester.
In the modern Montana actions I would probably not advise using the 9.3X57 because the feed lips and magazine need a bit of work to make it feed. The 9.3X62 is all the 35 Whelen is and more, (as Valsdad pointed out) but that is not important to the deer hunter of America. In fact for deer, of the 2 you mention and the others I mentioned, I'd probably go with the 338 Fed because it is the least powerful, and still enough for elk and bear. None of these calibers are for wimpy school girls or tiny deer.

In most cases, my custom builds have been on Mauser actions, so the 9.3X57 is a real gem for them, but on US made actions it is more labor intensive to make work, In KAR length M98 Mausers its a simple re-barrel and you have a wonderful shell to hunt about anything with. I prefer the 9.3X57 to the 358Winchester,(another one to think about) but it won't reach the levels of the 35 Whelen or the 9.3X62.

If you are looking for the lightest weight rifle the 338 Fed is going to be good, as it uses the shortest and lightest action. If you want a more powerful rifle the 35 Whelen is going to beat the 358 Win and the 338 Fed but still comes up short of the 9.3X62 in power and also in bullet selection.
Most of the .358" bullets made today are not as heavily constructed as most of the .366" bullets you can get. The reason is that the largest part of the sales made to hunters using the 35 cal are for deer, and most .358" bullets have deer in mind as the target. Not all. There are bullets that are available for larger heavier even dangerous game in .358", but less then in the .366". For elk and larger, look to Nosler (Partitions) Barnes, and Swift for your 35 caliber.

So before making your choice you should realistically ask yourself what the rifle will be used for. It's best to get the best tool for 95% of the game hunted, not 5% of the game hunted. Where do you live and what do you hunt? If you hunt with that rifle for the next 40 years, how many times will you kill elk, or big bears, or moose, buffalo, or go with it to hunt plains game in Africa? If these things are on the bucket list, but not on the schedule more power is probably not only not desirable, it may be detrimental.

Many American shooters buy a new gun on the basis of "power" or velocity, when they would be happier down the road if they had bought one that fit the bill perfectly instead of fitting a bill that didn't ever really exist.

And to add to your dilemma I would also tell you to look at the 338-06.

Lastly and probably most importantly, Handloading for any of them is easy and you should get into loading your own ammo no matter what you choose. You can shoot 2X as much for the budget if you load your own, and shooting is the thing that makes men good marksmen. Practice with larger centerfire rounds is very expensive if you don't reload your own ammo.

So, looks like the jury has spoken.

Post pix of your new Whelen when you get it.

Now he'll go out and buy a .257 Roberts.

i have both but would go with the whelen. nothing wrong with either but the whelen cool factor is uber. looks like a mini 50 BMG.

If you are just going to kill deer, that would be a fine solution.

Whatever floats your boat. Both are overkill for Deer. As such, no rational argument is very important. Get the one you like and go hunt. I have a 338-06 and a 338 Fed among others and the -06 stays in the safe.