Tell me a little about .35Whelen.

S.Crockett said:

In particular the M600 was ahead of its time, especially in the looks department.

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My M77 is a bit behind the times with it's looks, but Grizz won't be laughing when the muzzle is pointing his way. Peep sights, 20" ER Shaw barrel, and 300 grain Barnes bullets. She ain't no joke! I had it up for sale or trade a while back, but it's a keeper and I'm glad I've still got it.

Ugly Sauce said:

My M77 is a bit behind the times with it's looks, but Grizz won't be laughing when the muzzle is pointing his way. Peep sights, 20" ER Shaw barrel, and 300 grain Barnes bullets. She ain't no joke! I had it up for sale or trade a while back, but it's a keeper and I'm glad I've still got it.
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Sweet set-up! That looks like a serious “working rifle” for the homestead. Definitely a keeper.

My M600 is the peep shooter while the M660 runs the fly-weight 2.5x Leupy. Great to have two grab-n-go options in .350RM.

Chuck R. said:

Risking more thread drift, but brass is easily fixed, by just converting a standard belted mag. I bought a boat load of 7mmRM once fired brass off of this forum a while back.

Chop saw with a .350RM jig (same saw I used for .300AC):

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Stages of forming, to include forming/practice loads using a Hornady .357 180 grn:

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Now bullets are another story altogether..

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I've made them too, and I couldn't tell any difference between them, and factory.

DM

S.Crockett said:

My M600 is the peep shooter while the M660 runs the fly-weight 2.5x Leupy. Great to have two grab-n-go options in .350RM.

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I had a small 2.5-4X on it for a while, but I like the way it carries better without it.

My great uncle had a pre64 model 70 in 35 Whelen i do not know if it was factory chambered or not .He shot many white tail in newyork state with it.

I had one a few years ago,but I got an offer for it that was just too good to pass up so it went away.I loaded either the Sierra 225 or the Hornady 180 SSP bullet.A Whelen will send a 180 grain bullet a good bit faster than a 30-06 can.Out to 300 yards it's still moving faster but after that the 06 will pass it because of the BC.The one I had was a M700 that I put in a very light synthetic stock and it was plenty accurate and powerful,but the recoil was pretty close to my limit.In the OP's situation there's not a better choice.I kinda was left with a hole to fill because I liked the 35 Whelen a lot for hunting whatever I wanted to,so right now I'm building a 338-06 in a very light M700 with a 20 inch barrel.The stock and barrelled action weigh about 6 pounds.Add a scope,sling,and a magazine,it's going to be about 7.5 pounds.

WVRJ said:

In the OP's situation there's not a better choice.

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Kind of says it all. The .35 Whelen will do everything and anything. (or the.350) Of course opinions will vary, some will say "this or that" is better, and so on. Some (many?) cartridges will out-range it, but I personally don't know why anyone would shoot at game beyond 300 yards. Yes people would, and can, and do, and have their reasons...but...!!! However, don't mean to open that can-of-worms.

I like heavy bullets in a .35", but the 200's and 225's are good, maybe perfect for deer, loaded down a bit. I'm not sure I'd find a reason to load something as light as a 180, although loaded down for recoil reduction might be a reason. Sending it into the 3000fps zone (or close to it) does not make sense to me, but sometimes I don't have a lot of sense. !!!!

I have a custom 35 Whelen built on a Mauser Mark X action. Since Hornad y raised the prices of their 35 caliber jacketed bullets out of sight all I've shot thru it are cast bullets. I brought a box of 1000 cast round nose 215 grain gas checked bullets. I don't remember the name of the commercial caster, or the powder charge I used off the top of my head, although I imagine its in my shooting journal. The groups were in the range 2-3". For the scope sighted in at 100 yards it will routinely hit a 6" gong at 200 yards by holding at the top of the gong. Its fun and pleasant to shoot, but heavy and I wouldn't want to carry it in the field all day.

Bob Meyer said:

Its fun and pleasant to shoot, but heavy and I wouldn't want to carry it in the field all day.

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That's why I love my M77, it's just a tad over seven pounds, makes for a great trekking rifle in grizz-land. I'd like to shoot some cast bullets, will have to get around to doing that. I'm lucky to have a good supply of Speer 250 grain bullets, and some 200's, but of course I don't shoot those for fun. I was thinking I only had about twenty of those Barnes 300 grain bullets left, but I checked and there's like 75 or so. !!! Bonus. So I think I shoot some of those just to check my sights. I don't remember the recoil being "too bad" with those. Not pleasant, but the .338WM I had was worse.

I think it is an unnecessarily punishing round to shoot unless you load it down, but then - what's the point?

I think you need to learn proper shooting form. I do not find the 35 Whelen or any 35 caliber round without a belt to be punishing but then I don’t find a 470 nitro express to be punishing unless you happen to be in front of it. Maybe this is just a correction from the magnumania of the latter half of the 20th century. Now the 6.5 man bun is considered the caliber dujour. To each his own.

Hokkmike said:

I think it is an unnecessarily punishing round to shoot unless you load it down, but then - what's the point?

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Again, I don't think it's too bad, certainly manageable for sighting in. I've found that when shooting at live game with any rifle, I don't feel any recoil. I've often thought I had fired a squib-load. I'm pretty sure I won't feel any recoil when Grizz is breathing down me neck.

9x56MS said:

I think you need to learn proper shooting form. I do not find the 35 Whelen or any 35 caliber round without a belt to be punishing but then I don’t find a 470 nitro express to be punishing unless you happen to be in front of it. Maybe this is just a correction from the magnumania of the latter half of the 20th century. Now the 6.5 man bun is considered the caliber dujour. To each his own.

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There is also the difference of shooting from a bench and standing shooting positions. My 338 m77 was a little bit uncomfortable at the bench, didn't want to shoot more than 5 or so, but standing I'd willingly shoot two boxes of ammo through it. Some people only shoot from the bench. I personally believe they need to get out more...

adcoch1 said:

There is also the difference of shooting from a bench and standing shooting positions. My 338 m77 was a little bit uncomfortable at the bench, didn't want to shoot more than 5 or so, but standing I'd willingly shoot two boxes of ammo through it. Some people only shoot from the bench. I personally believe they need to get out more...

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Yes I'm guilty of that. I'll sight my hard-kickers in, shoot some groups from the bench, but don't really try any off-hand shots. I should. I think those stand-up shooting benches are a good idea, and they lessen the felt recoil a bit. With my ML's I do shoot some from field positions, but never just standing unless I'm bracing against a tree. My .62" rifle and 11 gauge musket are not soft-kickers, actually kick pretty good, but not so sharp like modern magnums.

With my .338, (kind of wish I still had it)(but would have no use for it, as I hunt with muzzle-stuffers now) I could get three good groups out of it, and then the groups would get...bigger. !!!

Not many game animals shot from a bench. After sighting in or confirming zero get off the bench and practice hunting position shooting. Standing supported. Sitting, kneeling and off hand until proficient.

9x56MS said:

Not many game animals shot from a bench. After sighting in or confirming zero get off the bench and practice hunting position shooting. Standing supported. Sitting, kneeling and off hand until proficient.

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Oh I don't disagree, just guilty as charged. Sitting and kneeling I'm okay at, standing/off hand is what I've neglected. I shall do better. Just something I forget to do, or put off. But I do need to do some shooting with my Jeager, and I'll be shooting the .350 to make sure it's sighted in. As it's one of my Grizz repellent rifles, I might want to be more proficient shooting it off hand. Grizz ain't gonna let me sit or kneel!! If that ever happens, it going to happen fast. !

Ugly Sauce said:

Oh I don't disagree, just guilty as charged. Sitting and kneeling I'm okay at, standing/off hand is what I've neglected. I shall do better. Just something I forget to do, or put off. But I do need to do some shooting with my Jeager, and I'll be shooting the .350 to make sure it's sighted in. As it's one of my Grizz repellent rifles, I might want to be more proficient shooting it off hand. Grizz ain't gonna let me sit or kneel!! If that ever happens, it going to happen fast. !

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The best practice for offhand shooting is bird hunting especially grouse pheasant and woodcock although jump shooting ducks is also good. Most game shots I use whatever is near and handy for a steadying rest. I am a still hunter and so take quite a few offhand shots. For this a gun equipped with a peep sight or low powered scope offers the best sighting equipment but even more important is a gun that fits the hunter coming to shoulder with the sights aligned. Just one old hunters opinion.

Truth. I've done a lot of bird hunting, and got pretty good with Grand-Dad's double barrel. Didn't do too bad with the Remington 11 I used later either. The Jeager I have is the most perfect fit of all the rifles I've owned. Probably using my measurements when Birddog6 made the rifle helps. !!! Ya think? The cast-off of the stock don't hurt either. It is truly a "close your eyes, throw the rifle up to your shoulder, open your eyes and the sights are lined up rifle".

The Ruger .44mag carbine is another one that pointed very naturally for me. I made quite a few good running and offhand shots on deer with it. That was my deer rifle for many years (first step up from my 7.7 Arisaka) and it took many deer, I really don't know how many.

Hey Mr. Farmer....learned anything about the Whelen yet? What's the verdict?

Armored farmer said:

Is it suitable for cast bullets?
What game is it well suited for?
Who's hunting what with it?

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I have been hunting with a .35 Whelen for the last 22 years now. It has been to Africa twice, to Alberta for moose and Montana for elk. Black bear in Minnesota and a large number of whitetail and mule deer. I have used it with both factory and handloads, as well as some custom ammo. It is typically a 350 yard and closer cartridge but my Alberta moose was taken at a laser ranged 410 yards with the now discontinued Federal 225 grain TBBC load.

My .35W is a Remington Classic and it is quite accurate with several different loads. I generally don't use anything but the 225 grain or 250 grain loads. 225 grain Sierra SP for deer sized game and the 225 grain or 250 grain Partition for everything else. The factory Federal 225 gr. TBBC was a great load

Armored farmer said:

I am committed to casting bullets and handloads.
Is .35Whelen a good candidate for that?

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Yes, in my opinion it is probably one of the best cartridges for that. With a gas checked bullet of 250 grains or so, you really aren't throwing them faster than a reasonably soft alloy can survive, and you have enough weight and meplat area for fast kills on large game. I built my whelen specifically for shooting cast with a few jacketed bullets on really tough game. My .02

Armored farmer said:

I am committed to casting bullets and handloads.
Is .35Whelen a good candidate for that?

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Yes.

22250Rem said:

When I got a CVA Scout V2 single shot rifle back in February, I noticed that CVA chambers 35 Whelen in that model. I wanted a woods cartridge and went with a 444 Marlin chambering. Same 25" barrel, muzzle brake, and 8 lb. weight listed for both chamberings. Figured I would throw that out there as I know there's a few single shot fans on this web site. Always thought the 35 Whelen was an interesting cartridge and there doesn't seem to be many new rifles offering it ?

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There have never been a lot of new rifle offerings in 35 whelen. But that doesn't lessen its effectivness. This round is not for the recoil sensitive or man bun crowd but if you need an anchor it right now round this may be for you.

I don’t have any firsthand experience with the Whelen, but it’s on my want list. I have a Rem700 I plan to have rebarreled to Whelen. I would use it to hunt elk in grizzly country (or at least that’s my most plausible excuse). I would probably smash some deer and pigs with it for fun, but it’s obviously overkill for that. If I ever get to go to Africa to hunt plains game, I might take it along. All of that can be handled by my 30-06, but something about the Whelen makes me want it as a bigger thumper.