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Originally Posted by Steelhead
I'm a light bullet, high velocity guy anymore. That said, I only feed my Whelen 250's, because why wouldn't you?
Because the 200 TTSX will penetrate as deeply as a 250 grain slug, the hole is still .358+ in diameter and 400+ yards is much easier with a bullet starting at 2800+ fps rather than 2500 fps. I like the 250s and if forced to use cup & core that's where I'd stay. However, the 200 TTSX does everything a 250 cup & core will terminally, and it improves the external ballistics of the Whelen rather dramatically--where's the downside? There are times when less is more and I think this most certainly qualifies.


Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Suck bullets simply suck.

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I hear you and I ain't gonna argue, but I'm still a 250 man with the Whelen.


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After two or three years of shooting a Whelen or three, I had the best luck by necking it down to take a .308 diameter 200 Grain Nosler Partition at about 2700 fps.

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I've used them both quite a bit and the Whelen just will not allow space in the safe for its much lesser sire. For smaller game there's not much to choose from, but on bigger stuff I see too much difference to choose the lesser cartridge......


Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Suck bullets simply suck.

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Well, my go to load in my .35 Whelen Mauser is the 225 gr. Barnes TSX over 60.4 gr. of RE15. Vekocity is 2710 FPS and they gather in .50 to .75" clusters at 100 yards. I've only shot one cow elk with it so far and it was one of the most spectacular drop a critter on the spot dead I've ever seen in 63 years of hunting. Shot my first deer in 1949 with my Great-grandfather's only M94 30-03 and it was in 2010 that I dropped the cow elk. Beem quite a fw deer, a couple other elks and one speed goat during all those years but none that I can remember went down as fast as that elk. You don't have to guess what I'll be using for elk this year. grin It may not be that Whelen but it will be a Whelen. I haven't taken anything with my Remington 700 Classic yet so maybe I'll take that one. I still have to take the Ruger M77 in the Whelen to my gunsmith's to have the headspace checked. Dunno if it was just a bad factroy round or if there is a problem but I did have a total case head separation with a 200 gr. Remington factory load in that rifle.
Someone commented that a persons load was what? 6 grains above book max? Doesn't surprise me a bit. Just another Remington screw up IMHO. Methinks the SAAMI specs are kept deliberately low because of all the old 1903 Springfields, 1895 Winchester and Remington pumps and semi-autos chambered to the round. I do believe the Whelen can be loaded a bit warmer than that. My load leaves primers nice and round, CHE and CRE are neglible and cases last a long time. What's not to like?
If I were to go with cup and core bullets, I'd just use any standard 250 out there. At even top veocity they should hold together just fine on most game. Maybe this year I might take the M700 with either the 250 gr. Hot Core or the Hornady IL, depending on which one the rifle likes. Might even try the Hornady RN just for spits and grins. Should work just fine for shots at 200 yards or less.
Paul B.


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The only slug I was disappointed in with a Whelen was the 280aframe. Pushed at 2350fps it showed minimal expansion on a couple of pigs so I gave up on it. One pig was shot at a quartering angle, hit the shoulder and exited a ham but left a pretty minimal hole. If it had not smashed so much bone I would really be concerned about it not opening up.

Seems like the 280 might need something like a .358WSM or .358STA to make it shine.


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That's exactly the sort of cartridge the 280 A-Frame was made for. I've shot it in the .358 Norma and .358 STA and they give it enough oomph to open easily. The slow twist of the typical Whelen doesn't help it open up, either.


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The beuaty of the whelen is it doesn't push bullets fast enough to really tax them, and it's enough gun to get the job done. Pick a 225 or 250 gr bullet, work up a load with RL15, Varget or another suitable powder and put the pill where it needs to go.

I'm currently running 225 sierras in my short whelen (350 rem mag) because my load work was complete with one range session. One of these days I'll work up a load with the 250 hornadies and a-frames on the shelf.

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I have two Whelens. A Remington 7600 and a custom mauser. I prefer the 250 grain bullets. I shoot 250 Hornady round nose bullets from my 7600 using RL 15. My mauser loves Speer Hot Core and Nosler partitions also with RL 15. The whelen is my favorite big game cartridge to hunt with. I have killed bear and piles of deer with mine.

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Originally Posted by Whelenman
Originally Posted by efw
To what extent does rate of twist effect a Whelen's ability to stabilize 250s? Does that only come into play on longer bullets than that?

I've been thinkin hard on a 1 in 14" twisted mauser that appears to be priced right by a local shop.


Hmmmmmm and what shop would that be, pray tell? grin


Ha ha oh just a place I found while out meeting a friend for lunch recently... whistle

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The bullets I like for my Whelan are the 225gn accubonds and the 225 gn woodleigh. The accubonds are loaded with noslers load of 60.5 gn of Varget chronoed at 2,850 out of my Stevens 200 converted to 35Whelan with a 25 inch barrel. The woodleigh chronoed 2950 with 64grains of cfe223. Great powder for the Whelan (check out load from a disc).
Speer list 64 gn cfe223 with the 250 gn hotcore. Tried that at a chronoed 2,700 fps, now that gets your attention , a bit to much attention for me so I'll stick with the 225 grains.
Wish I could work out how to post a photo I would show you what an accubond looks like after penetrating over five foot of kudu front to rear and a woodleigh looks like after smashing both shoulders of a Hartman zebra. Neither went far 10 to 15 yards and fell over.
Great caliber for all Namibian plains game.

Last edited by 25epps; 12/22/19.
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For many years I used 225gr. Sierra Game Kings over IMR 4064 as my deer load in my Whelen, last year I tried a Ken Waters load that featured a 200gr. Hornady Inter-lok RN over IMR 4064. Accuracy was outstanding and a whitetail taken last year with a quartering shot @ 100 yds. produced a perfectly mushroomed bullet that retained 66% of its original weight. This load is now my go to load in my .35 Whelen.

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If I was only shooting deer and pigs, I would use the 180 TTSX

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I have been using the 225 gn Sierras over Imr4064 because they shoot best of the bullets I have loaded. The only one I have caught in a deer was a buck I called up and shot straight on in the chest. It was a perfect mushroom under the skin in a ham. They don't do as much meat damage as faster smaller bullets. There are other bullets I have yet to try. But these are very accurate and work for me. I have killed a bunch of deer with them.

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