.35 Whelen bullet penetration & expansion test with pics

[bcsteve]

good work Steve....I have a Whelen here that I haven't blooded yet...this is good info.....looks like "premium" bullets aren't really necessary for most work.

PS..that must be one heckuva Whelen you've got there...that's a lot of 35 cal shooting..,how's your shoulder?

That was last year test that someone dug out of the moth balls so my shoulder is fine . Seriously, with the weigh of the Ruger MKII and the excellent recoil pad on the Hogue stock, it's a very easy rifle to shoot even with full power loads. I even realised that I wasn't flinching with this moderate kicker when I was having issues with misfires for a while .

As for having a heckuva Whelen, the guy who rebarreled it did an excellent jop

 

[Longwalker]

I've shot ALL those bullets through bull elk - loaded in my .35 Whelen at 2500 FPS. They all killed well and exit unless a lot of heavy bone is hit. I like the Grand Slam the best, just because of it's nose shape ( doesn't deform under recoil in the magazine) and it shot better groups for me than the X bullet. Any decent 250 grain 35 cal bullet will generally hold up when hitting heavy bone, unlike many smaller/lighter slugs. I really like my Whelens for hunting elk and moose. Over 200 grains, you really can't make a bad bullet choice.

 

[bcsteve]

Thanks Longwalker. Shooting newspaper is fun and gives a good idea on how bullets compare and might react on game but their is nothing like real experience on flesh and bones. Both Speers Hotcore and Grandslam were very accurate in my Whelen producing groups under an inch at 100yds. I did end up going with the TSX for it's excellence accuracy (a little over 1/2" at 100yds), little faster and flatter and of course the 100% weight retention. Oh yeah, they also look cool! .

 

[SuperCub]

Good job Steve
I have hunted with a 358 Norma mag for over 30 years,it has been my main rifle and has dropped a lot of moose.I used to try a diff bullet every year just to see how they performed on game,the bullet that i use now is the 250 Speer hot core.It works just as good as any other bullet out there and the price is right,you can go to the range and burn up a box of bullets and not break the bank.I have shot moose at 30 yards out to 250 yards and all the speers end up about the same,all weigh over 170 grains.Muzzel velocity on my Norma is 2850 fps.so when you can retain 170 grains of bullet weight on a 30 yard shot its pretty hard to knock the speer.

My experience with the 250 Speer Hot-Core spitzer has been the same as River Rat's 358 Win, 35 Whelen, 358 Norma mag; works in them all.

The only rifle I have ever seen them fail in is one of Bevan King's 35-404 Imp when driven at 3300 fps!

Ted

This is the kind of testimony I listen to.

These fellows have actually done it, many times, and under alot of different circumstances. Armchair experts (like me) can learn alot from fellows like this.


.

 

[woodchopper]

I've shot ALL those bullets through bull elk - loaded in my .35 Whelen at 2500 FPS. They all killed well and exit unless a lot of heavy bone is hit. I like the Grand Slam the best, just because of it's nose shape ( doesn't deform under recoil in the magazine) and it shot better groups for me than the X bullet. Any decent 250 grain 35 cal bullet will generally hold up when hitting heavy bone, unlike many smaller/lighter slugs. I really like my Whelens for hunting elk and moose. Over 200 grains, you really can't make a bad bullet choice.

I have gone with Nosler accubond (in a 300WM) after finding that the recoil was deforming the exposed lead on the bullets in the magazine. Oh and I'm also going with the 200grn bullets.

also I have no bullets to compare as all the shots were clean thru.

 

[303carbine]

I have gone with Nosler accubond (in a 300WM) after finding that the recoil was deforming the exposed lead on the bullets in the magazine. Oh and I'm also going with the 200grn bullets.

also I have no bullets to compare as all the shots were clean thru.

I find that having the lead tips deforming a bit does not hinder accuracy at all, where you will run into problems is when the base of the bullet is deformed.

 

[woodchopper]

I find that having the lead tips deforming a bit does not hinder accuracy at all, where you will run into problems is when the base of the bullet is deformed.

for hunting I agree, the little bit of flattening is not going to make a huge difference, but I'm just being annal and like my pointy bullets pointy

 

[2fat2fly]

Not sure, but think I would prefer a bullet that comes to rest beneath the hide on the far side - to one that exits. The former would indicate that all the energy was expended withing the animal - while the later might provide a better blood trail.

That is my preference. Some critters just don't know when they're dead, and a big exit hole makes for easier tracking.

 

[luv2safari]

I'm new here, and I'm glad to have found this older thread! It is absolutely GREAT! It opened my eyes a bit to Barnes' new bullets. I used some early Barnes X Bullets and found them to be

I AM going to try the new flavor now.

 

[bcsteve]

If you like this post and report on Barnes bullets, take a look at my "Huge CGN .264 bullet test" thread. It has 23 different bullet if I recall including old X and newer TSX bullet.

 

[Johnn Peterson]

Good post & great pictures. Well done!

 

[Jeff/1911]

Hey Guys,

I was just out to the range today to try some loads I made up with the 250 grain Speer Hot Cor's in my Whelen...and they shoot really well.

I was using a near max load of BLC-2 and they were grouping very nicely...glad to hear they kill game! Here's a representative 100 yard 3 shot group.