Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The 35 Whelen Is Dull & Boring

I have had a .35 Whelen for some time. It is a K(* 1943 action with a 22" Douglas barrel, iron sights and a 2-7 Leupold. I put it in a Choate 98 stock to lighten it up. With scope, irons, a peep slide in the buttstock, sling, butt cuff and scope covers it weighs 8lbs 8oz. It has a Decelerator pad on it.

I long ago settled on a load of 60 gr of REL 15 with a 225 Sierra Game King, 225 gr NPT or 225 TBBC (which I am out of except in discontinued factory ammo). Nosler says 59.0 grains is max these days so don't use my load.

The longest distance I have used it at was 235 yards. I sight it 3.5 " high at 100 yards and it hits 7-8" low at 300 yards.

Reading about the attainable velocities with newer powders has me thinking I should do some more load development. Though when shooting it I am not sure I want much more recoil.

I am thinking I will aim for 2700-2750 fps with a 225.

A 250 gr'er at 2,700 fps in a Whelen seems pretty nice to me.

That's a fast load for a 338WM, and damn close to a 358 Norma Mag. ( 250 @ 2,780 fps.)

The new powders available are amazing!

I’m a Whelen fan…but not sure I’d describe 225s @2725fps out of a 7600 with no recoil pad as boring. I never feel recoil hunting, but developing the load and my once a year confirmation that it is still on are not something I look forward to. Yes, I need to have the stock shortened and a good recoil pad added….but the list of things I need to do is long:)

Had the new powders been available years ago, I’m not sure I’d have gone down the 338 route.

Game hunted with my .35 Whelen has exclusively been whitetail deer at ranges +/- 100yds. therefor I load only 200 and 225gr. bullets. Extensive range testing has found that for 200gr. bullets the Hornady Inter-lok RN over IMR 3031 gives best accuracy and 225gr. bullet the best performer is the Sierra Game King over IMR 4064. I tried several other powders with both bullet weights but those two produced the tightest groups and best performance on game.

+2

Mine is a Ruger 77 with a JES rebore. Mine has not been as boring as some of you are reporting.

Getting it to shoot the 225 SGK has been no problem. It has been the most consistently accurate bullet over several different powders and multiple velocity ranges. I have kinda settle on a somewhat sedate load of 65.6 gr of PP 2000-MR that gets me close to 2600 in my 21" Rifle. I had ran it hotter with good accuracy but as time goes on brass life is starting to mean more to me then having to raise my gun an extra inch or two at 300 yards.

Light pistol bullets and a reduced load with a 200g Sierra RN to match .35 Rem ballistics were also easy to get to shoot well and a ton of fun to boot.

The fly in the ointment has been with the other bullets I would like to shoot...namely the 225 TSX and the 250 Speer. Results have been very inconsistent. Some days the loads would group very well...other days I would get fliers. The Speer seems to be the better of the two and I have a warm load with MR2000 at 2630 that shoots "good enough" and averages about 1.5 MOA. Unfortunately that means sub MOA some days and closer to 2 MOA others. Plenty good for killing big game at reasonable ranges but hardly good enough to satisfy the OCD in me. I got a Hornady modified case for my COL gauge and was shocked to find that I can almost push the Speer bullet out of the case before I contact the lands. The 225 sierra does fall out due to the boat tail. Bullets seated to mag length have to jump roughly 1/2 mile. I am thinking all that freebore is not helping my accuracy situation and am debating having the rifle set back and rechambered to play nicer with the 250 Speer.

35 Whelens have long leads

I have been exchanging measurements via text with my 'smith and it sounds like his reamer should get the 250 Speer close to the lands near my max mag length. I will have him verify all that in his shop before we tear into anything.

Ruger No. 1A light sporter in 35 Whelen paired with some 225 Nosler Accubonds. One shot and done, you either walk directly to whatever you shot or follow a short blood trail that was painted with a 5 gallon bucket. From big bucks, black bears, and hogs I’ve never had to make a second shot.

I don't think Hornady makes .358 180 grain single shot pistol bullets any longer.... but if you have or can find some they make for the most "decisive" varmint load I've ever seen. Woodchuck at about 30 yards basically turned completely into red mist. The only think left intact was the head.

If I had been any closer some of that mist would have landed on me.

I may have to dust off my Ruger M77 35 Whelen if I continue to hunt where Grizzlies are found. It was my go-to rifle for Bear, Elk and Moose, but I found a 7x57 with the right bullets could do the job with less bark and thump.

My first 35 Whelen (poor man's magnum) was a 1903-A3 Springfield with a 24" Buhmiller barrel. Stith mount with a 2.5 K Weaver. Weighed almost 10 1/2 pounds all in. Bought it from Leo Roethe, estate sale in Fort Atkinson WI. I struggled with respectable accuracy in it until a combination of 54 grs IMR4320 and Hornady RN 250 grain @ 2480 fps. It bagged my best Idaho elk, Ontario moose and wild boar

.My present 35 Whelen is a tang safety Ruger M77, 22" barrel. It favors 52grs IMR4320 with 250 gr Hornady SP PT, chrony at 2460fps. 5 shot groups 1 1/4 -1 1/2 inches at 100 yards.

I also had a Rem 700 classic wearing a Leupold 4x that shot small groups with factory Rem Core Lok't in either 200 or 250 grain. As others have commented recoil was stout...especially with the 250 grain. I shot groups with this Rem 700 Classic in prone from time to time and would always end with nice shade of purple bruise. The recoil pad on the Classic was hard compared to a Decelerator.

I do miss that rifle though. The Ruger 1A in 35 Whelen looks great to me.

I too have a Rem classic and also a Tikka re-bored by JES to a 35 Whelen

225 gr Partitions with a load of RL-15

Nothing fancy, but always gets the job done

I have had a 700 CDL, currently have a 7600 35 Whelen and a Ruger 77 tang safety 35 Whelen. My current go to's for those are the 225 Sierra in the 7600 at nearly 2700 with H4895 and 8208 with the 200 TTSX at 2900 or the 220 Hammers at 2830'ish with PP2000. It's been a great cartridge for me from deer to elk to include a couple of bear. Nice thing is it doesn't need anything fancy and most stuff seems to shoot great.

How's the accuracy with the Hammers?

They're great so far John. No real seating sensitivities that I have seen and they seem to run a shade faster than a normal cup and core of the same weight.

Hello Roundoak: Interested in your story about the 35 Whelan with the Buhmiller barrel. Do you still have the beast? Was it a bull Barrel, untapered? Did it have sights? Wondering if it matched roughly with my .375 H&H...

I bought a 700 Classic 35 Whelen new in '88 and have owned one other one that came from the estate of a good friend's father. The only reason I don't have one now is I have a couple of 9.3x62's. They are kind of boring working up a load - my last one really liked 225 TSX's and either Varget or RL15.

Oh boy …

I wouldn’t anticipate a response Buhmiller.

Mine is a 1941 model 70 converted to left hand. I sent it to Cliff Labounty to be rebored to 35 Whelen. Loves any 250 grain bullet and 56 grains of 4320. I tried some old 275 grain Hornady RN. They shot okay but not as well as the 250s. One of them made one bull moose surrender.

Three caribou fell to 250 grain partitions. All one and done.