Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Let's Talk 35 Whelen, Who Loves Them?

I have a Remington 700 Classic with 22" barrel.
I had an instructor in Gunsmithing school that had an old Springfield bored out and he shot lead bullets in the basement with it.
He also loaded pistol bullets in it and shot woodchucks at a farm I was renting.
That was so impressive I had to have one.
I took it to Alaska on my 10 year anniversary and shot caribou with it.
I loaded the 225 gr. Nosler Partitions at 2700 fps using IMR 4320.
I killed one bear that acted like I hit it with a piano.
It is my favorite deer rifle.
I have tried a lot of bullets and last year used the 250 gr. Speer with Varget.
It is very effective on deer leaving a big, short, blood trail.
225 seems to be much more accurate than 200 grain
but they all kill well.
It throws the 225 as fast as a 30-06 throws a 180 gr. What more could you want?
I have only recovered one bullet and that was on a huge buck quartering away it was a 200 gr perfectly mushroomed.
whelennut

Not quite. It'll shoot 225's about the same speed at the muzzle as a 30-06 will shoot 200's, about 100-150 fps slower than 180's. And with 225 gr .358 bullets having a BC of around .430 vs about .588 for 200 gr 30-06 bullets ( comparing Nosler Accubonds) the 30-06 has the edge at around 100 yards. The gap widens as range increases.

I had one of the Rugers in 35 Whelen for while and my brother had the 7600. There is no doubt it will kill stuff and is a fun round for those who just want to be different. But there is a reason it never has, and never will become mainstream.

I came to the conclusion that the recoil was just out of proportion to the performance. Both 35 Whelen and 300 WM shoot comparable weight bullets to about the same speeds, and with comparable recoil.

If I'm getting 300 WM recoil, I'll shoot the better bullets available in .308 caliber. Or drop down one bullet weight in 30-06 and get about the same performance with a lot less recoil.

Ruger 77 w 225gr Swift AFrames. 352lb 18 1/4" skull.

Is this a pig thread? (What a hog! Nice.)

Here's a real Whelen dink

......buzzkill

If left with only one choice for an all around big game rifle it would be the 35 Whelen. I love my 300 H&H and my 400 Whelen but would choose the 35 if I could only have one.

I've taken three caribou with mine and 250 grain Partitions. Only recovered one bullet that traversed the full length of a caribou and came to rest in the right ham. Two dropped at the shot and one was a broadside 250 yard shot. That one went weakly, about 100 yards in a half circle, painting a blood trail that looked like it was made with a paint roller.

The 35 Whelen has a lot going for it as an all around big game round. Recoil is modest, some great bullets available and it pegs out the coolometer.

I have one in a 700 KS and a 7600.

I've killed a couple deer with various Whelens over the years but I'm pretty much over that. And I much prefer the 225s to keep things light on the back end.

Mine flings the 225 TTSX, 225 Northfork and 225 Accubond all pretty much the same.

Gee, boys, thanks SO MUCH for the left-handed compliments...

I have shot my 700 classic a lot. Not killed anything with it. It shoots ANY bullet about an inch and a half...every pistol, lead, fancy pants and pulled 35 Remington RNs...(except some nice looking 286 RNs that shoot patterns and Sierra 225s that go bug hole). I suppose that kind of user-friendlyness is a good thing!

If one is just going to use 225gr bullets I see no reason to pick this over the .30-06.

I ignored the 35 Whelen for many years, just chalked it up as some old outdated cartridge that was only good for "brush busting." Then in a just a couple days I talked with Matt Bettersworth at Hill Country Rifles about a build and he suggested the 35 Whelen. He mentioned that he had hunted extensively with it and I should look into it. A few days later I called Nosler customer service about something and somehow got on the subject of a 35 Whelen. The gentleman on the line stated that it is very popular with the crew at Nosler and that many of them hunt with it as one of their main rounds. Both parties suggested that it was not just a short range round and with modern bullets like the Accubond and TTSX it was 400 yard elk rifle.

So I got curious and did some research and played with some ballistic calculators. I was surprised to see that it stacked up very well against a 30-06 with a 180 grain bullet. Here are a couple screenshots I took of a online calculator I just found just to give you a idea of the ballistics. This is with a 200 yard zero and each bullet leaving at 2700 fps.




So I said what the hell and bought a used 700 CDL in 35 Whelen, picked up a box of 250 grain Core Lokts and a box of Nosler Trophy Grade ammo with 225 Accubonds. Got on paper with the Remingtons and then zero'd with the Noslers shooting right around 1" at 100 yards and left for Montana for a Elk/Mule deer hunt outside of Butte, MT. Ended up getting a small bull that literally dropped in his tracks when hit. My dad used my rifle on a cow with the same results. We both were pretty impressed. Also recoil doesn't seem any worse than a 30-06 with 180 grain bullets.

The 35 Whelen has since become my primary round. It gives me warm and fuzzies and that is important. It is a round I just want to shoot. For me, hunting it more than just pulling the trigger. I love all aspects of it including the research, load development, range work, history of the round, etc. Is it better than a 30-06? Who knows and I don't really care. For me, it is the round I prefer. There is just something about that big .35 caliber bullet that holds my interest. Life is too short to hunt with boring calibers!

Run the 250's in a 7.2# rifle (with scope) and get back to me on the reasoning.

Just joined the club myself.

M70 Classic SS (BACO/S.C.)
Micky Edge Win M70 New Hunter pattern speckletone
PacNor SS #3 1:12" 3 groove @ 22"
Timney MOA trigger
7# 9 oz scoped

Still breaking the barrel in while working up loads. Focusing on 200 TTSX and 250 Horny/Partition for now.

I have hunted with the .35 Whelen and 225 gr. bullets for the last 20 yrs. with complete satisfaction. I also shoot cast bullets and .357 jacketed pistol bullets, it shoots them all very accurately. My powders of choice in the Whelen are IMR 4064 and RL-15.

I've owned two, still have one. I've never connected with one I kept, I put a couple of deep gouges in it one hunting trip when I took a spill. I never really liked the stock so I sanded it down to remove the gouges, and worked on the stock a bit. Opened the grip a bit, but I'd like to do more and think it's beyond my limited skill. One of these days I'll put it back together and actually hunt with it.







[img]http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r155/taylorce1/35%20Whelen/P1000449.jpg[/img]

I am a fan of the 35 Whelen cartridge. I used one exclusively for hunting whitetail for several years with excellent results. The accuracy from the rifle, a Remington 700 Classic, was quite good with 250 grain bullets.

I hunt with a Ruger K1-A, 35 Whelen. I use it for mid-range elk hunting. Knocked the heck out of a cow elk at 135 yards a couple of years ago.
I tend to gravitate to nostalgia chamberings that still do the job and the 35 Whelen is one of them along with 300 H&H, 348 Win, and 444 Marlin. All used for elk at varying ranges.

Dave

With heavier bullets it is good choice for: elk, moose, brown bear, bison,.....for smaller game there are better choices. I bought .300H&H on the only hunting rifle. While there is nothing wrong with that for smaller deer species and game calibers like: 7x57, 6.5x55, .308, .270 would be better choices. Thinking little deeper best choices would be: .308, .270Win and .30-06. My friend went hunting in "Tinyville" Colorado and tiny supply store that only had: .223,.308, .270, .30-06 and ,300WinMag in stock.

Weight doesn't make a bullet good or bad. I'd like to know how many brown bears you've killed with a Whelen using 200 grain bullets versus 250 grain bullets and describe your results.