Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .35 Whelen

The 35 Whelen makes an effective varmint rifle as well!
I didn't see any deer but I saw some coyotes!
I like it because I can use the same rifle for deer, bear, caribou, elk, without changing loads. The Helen Keller bloodtrail is a good thing too.
whelennut

I agree....

I had one put together about eight years ago with Africa in mind. It worked well, even on 1800 lb. eland. More than I need for hogs, etc., but it sure is rewarding to see it put the smack on stuff.

I did not receive my notice that hell has frozen over, cant say I ever thought they would agree on anything.

I love my Whelen, 250 Hornadys for almost everything but Im glad to see the TTSX now offered for it, need to work up a condor load.

Spent the first couple decades of my big game hunting career using a 270 and a brief affair with 6mm Rem. I have always admired the "classic" writers & cartridges, so bought my first Whelen when Rem introduced it in 1987 or 88. Since a 35 cal 250 gr bullet is so different, on paper, than a 130 gr 270 bullet, I expected to see a difference in the field,. I didn't. I was pretty happy to discover that the Whelen, produced a high percentage of "270 kills" ie DRT.
While I prefer Partitions in the 270, I have found the plain ole Hornady 250 grain to be absolutely, totally, completely adequate with the Whelen's more modest velocities. If you happen to be a fan of the 200 or 225 gr bullets, well, they get the job done just about as well. Which is to say....very well.
I could not disagree more with the statement that there are lots of better cartridges for deer.

While I'm not a fan of the .30-'06, I do love its many offspring.

To my way of thinking, a gent equipped with a .35 Whelen and a .25-'06 is about as well-equipped as one can be for shooting all manner of game, big and small, near and far.

Big thump with manageable recoil out of the .35, and a flat-shooting death ray with hardly any recoil in the quarter bore.

Best of all worlds.

You would have to be a fool to hunt with a 35 Whelen! Too old, inept,and has a rainbow trajectory. No good no how!

That's all I have to say about the 35 Whelen!

The lack of a shoulder to headspace on is the biggest concern. A rather problematic cartridge.

Same here.

You have to be kidding? Or inexperienced with the cartridge.

I'm guessing INexperience. Trying to be nice.

they suck..... that's why i only have two of them...

Once again, all the feedback is appreciated.

For clarification, the applications I'm considering are elk and black bear with a possible Africa hunt in the future.

Honestly, I don't "need" the rifle, but it's seems to be a very versatile cartridge with a neat history, and when looking at medium bores, this one really seems to fit the bill.

I've looked at a .338 Lapua and a .340 Weatherby, but this board and opportunity have made me reconsider in the direction of a Whelen.

Also, based on previous posts, the Whelen sounds like a really good 300-500 yard gun. Is this correct or do I need to view it as a <300 yard rifle?

Now you get to hear from Swampy's brothers about the 300 yard limit...

The .30-06 is a really good 300-500 yard gun. It feeds, functions, and fires every time.

Jeez, you really are a dipstick.

BP...

I took my .35 Whelen to Africa in 2006, and shot a kudu, impala and gemsbok. As expected, they all fell over nicely. It's like a lot of other fine cartridges -- it will likely do far better than the shooter can perform, all things being equal.

As far as people who somehow think .35 Whelens face some issue with chambering -- that just demonstrates that some people don't know chit.

Dennis

I'm not sure you understand what we are talking about. And while the .06 is a fine offering, there are others I prefer to shoot beyond 300 yards.

Plus, I have enough guns in 30-06 so buying another would be grossly uninteresting compared to a new chamber that I know little about in a medium bore.

For me, shooting is as much about learning new things in ballistics and accuracy as it is about actually killing something.

.30-03 and .30-06 have parented a few good cartridges. The .35 Whelen and the .338-06 both offer nothing over the parent. I understand exactly what you are talking about.

How do you determine on caliber alone that it feeds, functions and fires everytime? Are you assuming that no one has ever made a junk firearm that happened to be chambered in 30-06 ? Your posts get better each and every time.