Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 35 whelen barrel length?

Would there be any reason to have a 26 inch barrel on a rifle in this caliber?

Dunno what good it would do.mine have 2" and 24" barrels and work just fine. I can see a 26" barrel on a magnum but on the Whelen??? I seriously doubt what little velocity increase there would be would mean much.
Paul B.

The Whelen is very efficient, using medium to medium-fast burn-rate powders. A longer barrel is going to give you a few more fps, but only a few. Rifle weight and balance is more a consideration, and that is going to depend on stock configuration, barrel taper, etc. I'd not go beyond 24" for any reason, and likely, 22" would be better for balance.

To me, one of the joys of the Whelen is not having to swing all that extra steel around. 20" for me. If I think I need more reach I have a 24" .300 WM.

20” to 22” should be good, I’d never go over 24”. JMO. memtb

I used 20.75” and wouldn’t change it.

22" on mine - #3 Pac-Nor contour. It's a bit light on the fore balance. #4 would be better.

22” hart rem sporter on mine

Mine's a 23" and I like it.
Regarding the original question, I don't think a lot of performance would be gained from a 26" barrel, but if the owner wants one, that's all the reason that's needed. Might "hang" a little better for offhand shooting maybe?

Regards,
Rex

I would think if you wanted more velocity, step up to a magnum. I had a 1903-A3 Springfield with a 24" barrel and a 2.5 K Weaver scope at 10.5 pounds. Wished it had a 22" barrel. My Ruger M 77 with 22" barrel, just right.

I saw one for sale with a 26” barrel and y’all confirmed what I was thinking. Thanks for your input.

It's pretty simple to get it cut and re-crowned if you like the gun.

My 2 are 21.5" and 22".

My vote is 22", but if you will be hunting open country, more velocity wouldn't be a bad thing. I have one 25" and the second one I went 22". 22" is handier in my opinion.

I would have no problem with a 26" barrel as long as the rifle balanced well

My Whelen's barrel is 24" and I have considered having a rifle with a 22" barrel rebored. I wouldn't go shorter than 22".

And on and on and on.

The .35 Whelen is not a flat-shooting round in today's world, despite advances in powders and higher-BC bullet. Another 100 fps (which is about what is obtained from 26" barrel over a 22") will make it shot about 1-2" flatter at 300 yards. It won't hit big game it the vitals more certainly, or but apparently that's not what's become important since we all acquired "personal chronographs."

The first person I ran into who decided to make the .35 Whelen a "long range" round was one of a dozen other guys in a caribou camp in Nunavut Territory almost 20 years ago. The rifle he chose to bring was a custom .35 Whelen Improved with a 26" barrel, which he claimed got 2700+ fps with a 250-grain spitzer. This did kill a caribou bull quite well, but in my experience even really big caribou are killed neatly with a .22-250.

Sorry to sound so non-impressed with 100 fps, but apparently can't help it.

I’m trying to think of a single animal that required more than one shot from mine but I don’t think any did. Mine has a 20” barrel.

I first ried mine with a 24" barrel. I didn't care ffor it for the intended use. so I had it cut to 22". It was better, so I had iron sights installed. I realize now I should have cut it to 20" for my purposes. Elk hunting in the brush of the Oregon coast.
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When Redneck built a 35 Whelen for me on a Winchester 70 Classic we settled on a 22" Pacnor #3 barrel.