Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 35 Whelen for Elk, Bullets?

My 35 Whelen shoots both the 250 Speer and 250 Hornady into less than 2" @ 200. Any idea which might perform better? Both loads are right at 2600 fps. 1/14 barrel.
Thanks in advance

If you're stuck on 250's I'd try the Nosler Partition, otherwise I'd use the 225 TSX and not look back...

I would agree with Brad on this one.
I only shot the 225 gr PT's in my Whelen for WT Deer and Black Bear. If you are going to use a 250 gr, go with the Nosler PT for Elk. With a MV of 2500 fps and a 200 yd zero, you will be 10" low at 300 yds with 1950 fps and 2100 fpe. More than enough expansion and penetration for Elk.

Regards.

JD338

Heres another vote for the Barnes 225 grain TSX.

BigBullet

And one for the 225 Bearclaw.

Actually I have a 250 gr Speer hot core from a really dead moose downstairs and it worked fine.

The Bearclaws make a huge difference in every round I have shot something with so I have switched to them for bigger stuff with my '06, 35 Whelen and 338.

To tell ya the truth, both the Hornady and Speer make great bullets at 2,600fps and a premium is not needed. Is the Hornady a Spire Point? If it is i would probably pick the Speer as i like its shape better.

Both of those bullets will kill any elk standing out to 300yds from a Whelen.

Todate I've used my whelen on 2 hunts and have taken 3 animals with it. I LOVE it!! I'm using 225gr TXSs.

10at6 - My .35 Whelen shoots both the 225 and the 250 grain Noslers very well and they've performed great for me. I haven't looked at the TSX's yet but it sounds like another good possiblility. CEJ...

I've killed elk, caribou and mule deer with 250 Speer Grand Slam and Hornady 250 RN Interlock bullets without the hint of a problem. Starting velocities ranged from 2350 to 2550 fps, depending on loads. I presume the bullets have held together well, because the wound channels were efficient and the animals all died forthwith -- but I haven't recovered any of the bullets. (Well, OK, there was the one finishing shot through the neck that I found because the ground under the prostrate buck's neck was very hard...it was a 250 RN Interlock, and retained 201 grs weight with a perfectly intact shank and mushroomed nose.)

I'm not a Partition fan, and I've never seen the need to go super-premium when bullet weights exceed half an ounce -- but it makes some people happier to go there <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

I've never had a Whelen, so I haven't used either. But I've read time and again that the 250 speer from the Whelen is an EXCELLENT bullet.
FWIW.

I've had great luck with the 250gr Speer hotcore. You'll be more than fine for elk. Took a large bodied bull moose last fall at 251yds with the 250gr Speer @ 2550fps from my 35 Whelen... and it punched right on through.

Here is a 250gr speer beside a few 225gr TSX's... looks awfully similar to most recovered Nosler Partitions to me....



280_ACKLEY

Hornady Hornady Hornady, Speers are't bad either, but are a bit more difficult to get to shoot well in my experience. You simply DO NOT need a premium in the Whelen....EVER. 250 grains of bullet is a LOT of bullet and elk sure as heck are not hard to kill when hit remotely well. If the range is over 250 yards with the Whelen, you may not get expansion with the TSX, inspite of what they advertise at Whelen velocities. I have had bad experiences with TSX's when velocity drops under 2,200 fps.

The Hornady will always penetrate, mushroom and stay together. I wouldn't bother with the partitions in the Whelen either. I personally feel they will pencil through if the range is beyond the 200 yard range at Whelen velocities. Flinch

I've always had very good luck getting Hornadys to shoot well, and my CDL Whelen will consistantly lay a magazine full into a MOA with R12/R15/H4895/IMR4895/H BLC-2.

I killed a fair size bull very dead with them at 278 yds last fall, and he was pretty well wrecked inside.

For what its worth...
I have been hearing rumors from some 35 caliber loonies that Speer has changed the jacket on its 250 grain 35 caliber bullet, resulting in less penetration- These same people however, used to swear by the 250 grain Speer projectile.

Royce

I've been using Speer 250's of recent manufacture, and have not yet recovered one on game.

I put one to a substantial test last spring... and it delivered.

Shot was less than 20yds, on the largest bodied black bear I've taken to date (only 6'4" long... but the heaviest blockiest bruin I've shot...).

Bullet struck just above the joint, and took out 2" of bone and angled through in straight line exiting the rear rib cage on the off side.

Straight line penetration, excellent wound channel, and plenty of smashed..... seemed to penetrate well.

Shot on my moose was 251yds broadside... not a challenging shot, but enough to suprisingly enough I've seen that same shot stop a 180gr slug from a 30-06... moose hide is tough. The 250 Speer punched a nice 1.5" exit hole.... and the meat is tastey <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Can't say if they are less bullet than they were a few years ago... but certainly still of robust design.

280_ACKLEY

I made it a point to use the whelen and 225 tsx on deer this year to see if expansion would be an issue. Broadside shot through the lungs made a big hole and jellied the lungs pretty good. Granted that was at probably 2500fps impact, but deer arent thick skinned...

I had a friend that had a failure to expand with the 185 tsx in the 338 win mag at 80 yards on a bull so maybe it does happen once in a while even at higher velocities?

I am planning on taking my Whelen for a elk hunt this coming fall as well. I have taken 15 animals to date with the Federal 225 gr. TBBC and consistently had great luck. It appears that this load has been discontinued. I have tried the new Nosler Custom loads and have been pleased with the accuracy of both the 225 gr. and 250 gr. loads.

I've shot 8 elk with the .35 Whelen, 5 elk (and one moose and one caribou) with the 250 speer GS, one elk with the speer 250 psp, one with a Hornady 250RN, One with Barnes x 225. All were loaded to 2500 fps. All exited, except one of the GS (lengthwise through a cow as it she towards me at 150 yds, found under the hide of the ham) and the 225 X, which broke both shoulders and a rib on a bull broadside at 80 yd, found under the hide of the far shoulder. I want my elk bullets to penetrate fully because we hunt in dense bush and have no tracking snow during our early season here is Saskatchewan. I like the Grand Slams, but I think any regular 250 grain bullet will do as well. The only elk I'ver ever lost was shot poorly with a Nosler 225 BT. My fault, but I won't use that bullet on anything big again either. I think the 200 grain bullets are a poor choice for elk in our type of hunting, similar to what I read about stalking in the 'black timber' of the American rockies.

Well, I wrote about this before but since the topic came up again... I have had excellent results with Nosler Partions, 250gr, at 2500 fps in my Whelen, both on elk and bear and in Africa. I tried 250 gr. Speers and they failed to preform anywhere near as well as the Noslers, in fact they were terrible. My shots on the elk are generally at close range, I hunt northslope black timber..

If you hunt in the nasty stuff you will get quartering shots or shoulder only shots. The Partitions have wacked down gemsbok, eland and elk with broken shoulders and torn up lungs often with complete penitration and two busted shoulders. The Speer broke the shoulder, but failed to penitrate into the rib-cage. Will I give Speers another try, not likely.

If you only get one shot are you going to turn it down if it is less than ideal? What if you think it's good to go but the animal is turned more than you estimate? If you only get one shot why not spend an extra 30 cents on a bullet that will work no matter what.

HunterMontana,
do we assume you mean you feel the Speer PSP "hot cor" are terrible, or the Grand Slam? If you mean the GS, it doesn't match my experience. One other reason I use the Grand Slam is that the protected tip doesn't get beat up from recoil in the magazine of my M700 Rem. as other exposed lead bullets do. I like the Nosler PTN in other guns, they always work well. I will try the 250 Noser in a Ruger #1 that I just aquired. And since you asked the question, we all have a responsibility to turn down shots that are marginal, and shouldn't rely on a "big gun" to take shots we know are iffy. We owe that to the animals we hunt.