Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .35 Whelen

I don't have experience with this cartridge but I am looking at one.

I'd like thoughts and opinions.

If it bleeds red, the .35 is your huckelberry. Spend some time with it, and you should have no problems out to 500 or whatever your comfort ranges are. Handloading will be a plus for ya...

...if you like long actions, nuttin better. A friend has a 7600 and uses 225 partitions...all but one deer has dropped in place and the one that ran only made it 40 yards...

So what do you plan to wrap around the cartridge?

Bob

I've got a #1 and a NEF. Love them both so well I'll have a bolt gun in that caliber ASAP. Trying to decide whether to go Rem 700 or barrel a Mauser. Shot everything from cast 180s to 250gr jacketed. Will try the Hornady stuff soon..

Remington 700 CDL

Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen one in anything other than Ruger M77 or Remington 700.

Thanks for the replies.

The gun comes with a set of dies and I'd like to try the Barnes Tipped TSX in 200 a 225 grain.

225 gr Gamekings.....Sharp knife.....hot grill.....salt.....pepper.....garlic.....baked tater.....glass or two of red

I had my Tikka .270 rebored to 35 Whelen, shot Barnes TSX 225 gr. into .7" groups with the first load I tried!

Kinda put a crimp into my long drawn out load work

When I think "35 Whelen", I think "moose".

Truly, one of the classic American cartridges ever developed. A lot more versatile than most folks believe, IMO. 180 to 310 grain bullets will give you useable velocities, depending on the application.

Got a chuckle out of GN308's post, as I too love 225 SGKs!

Here's my story on Townsend's invention. About ten years ago, I helped a relative build a 338-06AI. We never seriously discussed him doing a 35 Whelen. After he passed and I inherited that rifle, I wanted to put a Mauser action to use, so I built a 35 Whelen AI. And, boy am I glad I did. An extremely versatile rifle, and one that is a tackdriver with those 225 Sierras. I pretty much exclusively use those over Reloder 15. Terrific combo.

I have been shooting handloads through mine since I bought it.
Whenever Remington came out with it in the 700 Classic?
I had never really liked the Remington 700 but the cartridge fascinated me. A lot of the instructors at the Colorado School of Trades Gunsmithing school talked about what a great elk rifle it was.
One of them came to visit me on the farm where there were many woodchucks in the cow pasture. His rifle was a Springfield with a rebored barrel IIRC. He loaded up some Hornady pistol bullets to 2400 fps and made woodchucks into puree. Talk about versatility, everything from elk to woodchucks!
When I got mine I chronographed it and found out that I could make the Nosler Partition move out at 2681 fps. Which is about what the factory loads a 180 gr. in the 30-06.
That is very efficient if you ask me.
I can't imagine any animal that would need more than one well placed shot with the 225 gr Nosler at that speed.
I honestly feel like you can't go wrong unless you are an ardent antelope hunter.
whelennut

IME, 225 partitions, RL-15, then the knife, salt, pepper, etc.
Both my 35's are minute of Mouse to Moose, and trajectory is pretty much like the 180 "06" out to around 200 yds, then it starts to drop off a little quicker at 300yds. Its an easy cartridge to load. Recoil is a bit heavier than an 06" but doesn't beat the snot out of most folks. I took a dandy Canadian moose the year before last with this cartridge in a 700 "classic".
IIRC they came out in '88. In fact I like the cartrige so well I bought a CDL in it and had factory iron sights installed on it and dropped it into a synthetic stock. It's noticeably lighter than the "classic" even with the 2" longer barrel but, it balances well. I haven't weighed either of them and frankly it doesn't really matter to me. They both wear Leupold VX-3 1.5 to 5's which I have found to be almost an ideal scope on these rifles in the timber to open clear cuts where I hunt.

Great cartridge for big critters. If you are primarily hunting deer there are a WHOLE bunch of other better cartridges.


I'd rather hunt deer with a 243 than I would a Whelen.

Moose and 45-70....

You mean, like this one?








You mean, like this one?





This rifle loves 250 grain Interlocks over RL-15. I got very little expansion on the moose at 222 yards, but it sure dropped him. My hunch is that 225's would do me just as well, flying faster & flatter. It's just so hard to try working up another load when the 250's make this my most accurate rifle.

A Whelen is easy to become smitten with, but I'd agree that I'd rather shoot a smaller cartridge if my quarry were deer-sized or smaller.

FC

+1

Awesome cartridge......

What are you waiting for?

Have a Whelen in a tang safety Ruger M77 and reload it with IMR4320 for Speer and Hornady spitzer 250 grain bullets. Application - Moose, Black bear and Elk.

Good luck with your Whelen

The Whelen makes for a dandy deer rifle too. Those big bullets don't blow pieces of the deer all over, and I actually get LESS bloodshot meat with a Whelen 200gr bullet than a 30-06 with 150s or 165s.