300 win mag vs. 35 whelen

[TexasEd]

I am looking at adding another rifle to my collection: The 300 Win Mag. If you were to have only one larger caliber rifle between the 300 Win & the 35 whelen what would you choose and why. I see the advatage to the 35 as larger caliber . Disadvantage factory ammo availabilty. At present I don't reload. I see an advantage to the 300 in that you can get ammo from Walmart to the a gun store and alot of choices in premium bullets. Hunting Deer, Elk and Boar. Thanks.

 

[dakotasin]

you won't go wrong either way. the 300 win mag is probably more versatile, but the whelen isn't going to be lacking killing power.

if you were a handloader, the easy answer is whelen so you could load up some 158 grain cast loads and have a ball... however, given you'll be shooting factory loads at full power all the time, i don't think it will make much difference. the whelen is probably more shootable as a range toy than the 300... the 300 will have a definite advantage in terms of reach, diversity of ammo, and ammo availability...

flip a coin and don't look back.

 

[CB900F]

TexasEd;

Now, if I've got this right, the question is; "what caliber between(and inclusive of, correct?), .300 Winchester magnum & .35 Whelen". Or, is it just a choice between the two?

If it's inclusive of the range between, then my choice is the .338 Winchester magnum. If it's the either/or option, then my question is at what ranges do you expect to use it? Shorter ranges, the .35 Whelen, longer reach-out-and-touch-'em-gun, the .300 Winchester magnum hands down.

900F

 

[JShirley]

The 7mm Magnum would be my choice for a do-everything rifle. I do, however, own two Whelens.

John

 

[browningguy]

Even though I own and shoot a .300 winnie, to be honest if you need more than a 30-06 then I would move up to a .338 Winnie. A better selection of bullets than the .35 Whelen, which I have also owned and hunted with.

 

[rangerruck]

I would look seriously at either a 323 ruger, or a 338 federal. ( or are those numbers reversed?). both are based on the 308 case, with a nice fat bullet in them.
Another good choice would be a 338(?) -06. You really don't need a lot of speed here, and the winmag doesn't make enough of a fps gain, to justify the recoil, as far as I see it.

 

[jbech123]

I would look seriously at either a 323 ruger, or a 338 federal. ( or are those numbers reversed?). both are based on the 308 case, with a nice fat bullet in them.

I couldn't think of 2 worse choices. Hard to find ammo now, nothing really new that other rounds don't have, likely impossible to find ammo 5 years from now. And when that happens, good luck selling the gun.

 

[jbech123]

For the original poster, is it a choice between just these 2 rounds?
They serve different niches in my opinion, so depending on what you do will lean you to one or the other. 300 win is certainly better for 400 yd + shots on game(which of course requires alot of practice), and great for really long range target work when a .308 can run out of gas.
The whelen often comes in a more compact package, will flatten anything inside 300 yards, more than amplefor what most people would ever do. It's only drawback is not being as well suited to really long range work.

 

[Brian Williams]

I would go with the 35 Whelen of the 2, but I would rather have a 358 Winchester.

 

[jmr40]

Hard to say since we don't know what other rifles you already own. Since you don't reload the 300 makes more sense. I would start reloading and go with the 35 Whelen, or better yet the 338-06.