Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 35 Caliber Bullets For Deer And Bear ???

Rich - Check out Whelen Brown's site @ 35 Caliber.com. There is a lot of info there on bullets and thier performance.
I have both the 350 mag. & 35 Whelen. I've loaded the 200 Horn. SP, 225 Sierra GameKing, 220Speer FP, and some older 200 gr. Core Lokts - marked 350 SPCL. I suppose Remington made these a little thicker for the 350 mag. and that is why they are marked that way. Any ways - these all shoot about the same in both rifles, The Sierra being a little more accurate. These 35's are a lot of fun to load for and a lot of fun to shoot. Enjoy.

I like the 250 grain rn Honaday for my Whelen, and 200 grain rn Speer for my 350.

225gr Partition or 225 TSX

In my experience, the 225 Sierra is very soft. I think the Hornady 200 is the best bet as far as price, accuracy and holding-together-on-a-budget. aka Poor Man's Partition.

Of course you know the Nolser 225 and any TSX are going to penetrate like all hell. It's like 358 days and counting for you, isn't it?

Any field experience on this bullet would be appreciated. It shoots lights-out in my 35 Whelen AI, but I haven't (yet) used it on an animal. Thanks.

Just as a data point, Sierra told me in a phone call that the 225-gn was a fairly hard bullet- probably "too hard" (a quote) for my .358 on deer.

Couldn't say if I agree as I never shot one with it... since the manufacturer kinda advised against it and all... but I do shoot lots of them as a practice bullet and they are super-accurate.

Rich,

I've killed deer and bears with a good variety of 35 cal. bullets.
They've ALL worked. Find something that shoots (which more than likely will be all of them) and go hunting.

For deer most bullets will work. The 225 Sierra is an interesting bullet. It does indeed have a fairly tough jacket. So tough that getting them to expand at under 1900fps is a bit of an issue. At higher speeds it can core separate at the drop of a hat as the boat tail shape and NO bonding mechanism make them failure prone. Then again when conditions are just right the jacket will support a huge mushroom.

It's the most inconsistent bullet I have ever tested. I use my Corbin cannelure tool and put a double cannelure near the base of the bullet. This pretty much locks the jacket and core together. It doesn't help long range expansion.

I have pretty much switched to the 225 Nosler Partition as my go too bullet for everything. They expand down to 1700fps and penetrate well at all ranges. Deer to moose with one bullet. Why not?

It'd be hard to argue the 225 Partition for anything/everything.

Of recent, I'm doting on the 225 North Fork - I love everything about them, except the price.

I'm a bit of a .358 Win. junky, & have a wide assortment of 35 caliber bullets. Most are now being used up in practice rounds. For hunting purposes, I load 3; all in front of TAC with a mag. primer.

The most accurate is the 225 Sie. I have never recovered one, but neither have I ever hit heavy shoulder bone with this bullet.

My second load uses the 225 Partition. This is probably the best for all around use.

The third load is my insurance when in big bear country. It's the 250 gr. Sp GS at just over 2400 fps. This bullet is no longer being made, so I'm hoarding my remaining supply.

The 225 Sie. seems to be a bit of a mystery, in terms of toughness. Some say too soft, some say too hard. Even Sierra can't get their story straight. A poster above was told by the company that the bullet is very hard. I was told by a sierra tech. that it was very soft. But because it was designed for the 35 Whelen, it would probably do well in the .358 Win. One thing seems certain. It appears to be the most accurate bullet available in many, if not most, .358's.

Jim

I looked at my notes from 10 years ago and found I had dispatched 2 deer with the Sierra 225 from my .358's. One at 125 yards and she ran 25 yards the other at about 50 yards and she ran about 50 yards. Both shots were tight behind the shoulder, muzzle velocity was 2474 and 2464 fps respectively, and were complete pass throughs.

In the Whelen for deer / black bear / elk its a no brainer for me. 250 gr. factory pointed Core Lokt. Shoots little groups in my Ruger, always gives a nice exit hole, and doesnt blood shot a bunch of meat. The right bullet at the right velocity. (MV = 2425)

I'd use that load on a moose but probably not a big bear, but then on big bear I'd rather have a 338 or 375 anyway.

Looks like Barnes is adding the 200 TTSX in 2011. That ought to work for just about anything...

Kimber', where did you get this info? The website doesn't say anything about a 200gr TTSX........Though I'm keeping my fingers crossed!! My only complaint with the excellent 200gr TSX is the really low BC (.284). It sheds velocity very quickly and prematurely falls below the reliable expansion window of the monolithic design (about 2000fps in my experience). This relates to about 300yds as maximum range with reliable expansion for the .350 if started TAC or similar.......

The 350 Rem is capable of considerably more range and is clearly "hamstrung" in this area by the standard TSX! A 200gr TTSX is definitely a step in the right direction but add a boattail as well, get the BC up to .350+ and it would be the most perfect all-round 350 Rem Mag bullet imaginable...........Though I'm not going to hold my breath!


X-VERMINATOR

Read it somewhere -think it was on as real as it gets.

You guys got me on the claim of the 225 Sierra as being "soft". I can't relay all of my conclusive evidence as to why I came to that conclusion.

I only shot one head of game with it, the aforementioned sheep at 297 yards. And it died on the spot.

Just from all of my target practice at the range and recovered bullet jackets from steel, sand and gravel, I was not really impressed.

And granted, steel, sand and gravel are NOT critters. So I shouldn't have said anything. They just gave me a weird vibe of softness and I never warmed up to them, like a 243 Winchester or anything Speer bullets. They just came across as soft and a BC of -400 or so. Short, stubby and easily outclassed by other bullets.

My bad. Was just my opinion. For $3 extra bucks, I'd choose something else. Always impressed by a Hornady Interlock by comparison for similar bucks.

....and let ME say, the Sierra tech told me it was probably too hard for a .358
because it was designed for Whelen and .350 speeds. I'd not say that this equates to "very hard".

It's real hard to argue against the 225-Partition as an all around bullet for .358/Whelen/.350. It's a great bullet. Good BC, soft front, penetrates like bad boy, ain't going to blow up and fail no matter what, isn't too long for a 2.8" action, etc.

[bleep] aren't cheap though.

I would never criticize anyone for using Partition as I have been a fan of them for a long time. I see no down side, except perhaps the cost.
However....
I started using a Whelen In 1987 or 88. It continues to impress me with it's effective performance on game. I have used it on whitetails, muleys, moose, & elk.
I have come to believe that the modest velocities of the Whelen, make of any of the standard (200-250gr) Hornady, Sierra, Speer, etc offerings, good hunting choices. I have yet to recover a 250 gr HornadySP (my go to bullet) from a game animal.
I used Partitions in the Whelen on a few hunts, with no disappointments. Ditto for the 200 & 250 gr Hornadys. As I do try to shoot a lot, and the Hornadys have worked every time, I have yet to see a downside in using them.....period.
Tho I have never used them, I would bet that you could use a 250 gr RN, to 300 yards out of a Whelen, and any game animal would be just as dead.
As you creep towards 3000 fps, and above, the Partition really begins to shine, not likely with a Whelen. I am also a big fan of the 270, wherein the Partition does gets the nod, most of the time. Which rifle goes on the hunt often depends on my mood, or the particulars of that day.
My confidence in a 270 loaded with Partitions, or a Whelen loaded with 200 or 250 Gr Hornady's is very high, for most situations.