Thanks for the tip, that's a great idea and good to know! Price is much more palatable
35 Whelen recommendations
- Thread starter Fyn
- Start date
I built a beauty 35 around the idea of 225-250 grain loads. Went with a 22" barrel from KS with a 1:12 twist and getting an average of 2600fps at the muzzle with the Remington Corelokts. Thankfully it shoots tight clusters and does a great job at dropping any game with the factory loads as I can't find bullets to work on developing a load.
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Thanks for all the responses guys, placed my order in for a JC barrel. Went with a 22" 1-12 twist, #4 contour.
Picked up a stainless lefty 700 action on here. Found some bottom metal and ordered most of the parts I'll need.
Haven't decided on a stock yet
Picked up a stainless lefty 700 action on here. Found some bottom metal and ordered most of the parts I'll need.
Haven't decided on a stock yet
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Been looking at those actually. I have pretty minimal experience inletting/bedding, are they overly difficult to finish?
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Just another comment on bullets for the .35 Whelen. I've taken about 20 elk and some moose with mine, and a few smaller critters. It's been very reliable if correct bullets are matched to the intended game. I have only had two unsatisfactory bullet performances.
Most shots were elk with a variety of 250 grain bullets at 2500 fps muzzle velocity. Those shots were all from 15-150 yards, always resulted in adequate expansion, deep penetration, even when heavy humerus bones or humerus/scapula joints were hit on the way to the vitals. I really like the discontinued Speer Grand Slam 250 grain on big bull elk. But the Hornady Interlock SP and RN and Speer Hot Cor SP expand a bit more while still holding together and penetrating deeply. They are less likely to exit than the Grand Slam though. I like two holes when hunting big animals in thick bush. Elk hit properly through both lungs generally ran about 20-30 yards and dropped.
As much as I like the old Speer Grand Slam for elk, it's too tough for deer. I once shot a whitetail buck with a 250 GS at about 180 yards. Hit too far back, bullet just clipped one lung, through the diaphragm, and liver. Wound was small and narrow with such little resistance. I had to track that deer for more than an hour and for a KM or so before finishing the job. A lighter constructed bullet, or even a Hornady 250 RN would have expanded quickly enough to shred the liver and finish that deer quickly.
The Federal TTBC 225 grain is very good too, but not available as a hand loading component. Took two bulls with it, very satisfied. I've not used the Nosler partition in this cartridge, although it's always a good choice. I've only shot one elk with a Barnes all-copper bullet, it worked as expected.
I wounded and lost an elk once that I shot with a 225 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip - I expected similar penetration as the 250 grain Grand Slam bullets that I had been using, and the shot I chose to take, angling from the rear / left side failed to penetrate the rumen to the vitals. A very bad decision on my part, but I won't use those bullets again. The currently made 225 grain Nosler Accubond would have been a better choice for penetration - and not shooting through the rumen!
The other failure was a Sierra 225 gr. Boat tail. I shot a nice little whitetail buck through the centre of both lungs at a range of just 10 steps. Impact velocity would have been over 2600 fps, but that bullet failed to expand at all from what I could see from the tiny narrow wound channel. That deer ran over 200 yards before expiring and was a challenge to recover with no blood trail at all. I won't use Sierra 225's any more in my Whelen.
I also shot a lot of Remington 200 gr. CorLokt bullets, but after expansion testing I reserved them for deer, never did shoot anything bigger with them. They are not impressive penetrators and tend to shed their jackets. Same with Hornady 200 gr. SP.
Most shots were elk with a variety of 250 grain bullets at 2500 fps muzzle velocity. Those shots were all from 15-150 yards, always resulted in adequate expansion, deep penetration, even when heavy humerus bones or humerus/scapula joints were hit on the way to the vitals. I really like the discontinued Speer Grand Slam 250 grain on big bull elk. But the Hornady Interlock SP and RN and Speer Hot Cor SP expand a bit more while still holding together and penetrating deeply. They are less likely to exit than the Grand Slam though. I like two holes when hunting big animals in thick bush. Elk hit properly through both lungs generally ran about 20-30 yards and dropped.
As much as I like the old Speer Grand Slam for elk, it's too tough for deer. I once shot a whitetail buck with a 250 GS at about 180 yards. Hit too far back, bullet just clipped one lung, through the diaphragm, and liver. Wound was small and narrow with such little resistance. I had to track that deer for more than an hour and for a KM or so before finishing the job. A lighter constructed bullet, or even a Hornady 250 RN would have expanded quickly enough to shred the liver and finish that deer quickly.
The Federal TTBC 225 grain is very good too, but not available as a hand loading component. Took two bulls with it, very satisfied. I've not used the Nosler partition in this cartridge, although it's always a good choice. I've only shot one elk with a Barnes all-copper bullet, it worked as expected.
I wounded and lost an elk once that I shot with a 225 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip - I expected similar penetration as the 250 grain Grand Slam bullets that I had been using, and the shot I chose to take, angling from the rear / left side failed to penetrate the rumen to the vitals. A very bad decision on my part, but I won't use those bullets again. The currently made 225 grain Nosler Accubond would have been a better choice for penetration - and not shooting through the rumen!
The other failure was a Sierra 225 gr. Boat tail. I shot a nice little whitetail buck through the centre of both lungs at a range of just 10 steps. Impact velocity would have been over 2600 fps, but that bullet failed to expand at all from what I could see from the tiny narrow wound channel. That deer ran over 200 yards before expiring and was a challenge to recover with no blood trail at all. I won't use Sierra 225's any more in my Whelen.
I also shot a lot of Remington 200 gr. CorLokt bullets, but after expansion testing I reserved them for deer, never did shoot anything bigger with them. They are not impressive penetrators and tend to shed their jackets. Same with Hornady 200 gr. SP.
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This is a 250gr Hornady IL from my .35Whelen, that I retrieved from this bull moose.
For the record it was a handload at approx 2380fps, and about 150yd shot.
In the moose pic, where my buddy is holding the antlers, you can see the bullet entrance hole, which was in the left side, just behind the front leg.
And in the pic of the skinned moose the entrance hole is also visible.
Then the pic of the right side you can see the smashed rib, the bullet broke that rib and was recovered from the hide on the right side.
For the record it was a handload at approx 2380fps, and about 150yd shot.
In the moose pic, where my buddy is holding the antlers, you can see the bullet entrance hole, which was in the left side, just behind the front leg.
And in the pic of the skinned moose the entrance hole is also visible.
Then the pic of the right side you can see the smashed rib, the bullet broke that rib and was recovered from the hide on the right side.
Used quite a few of those, and the Speer versions. Work well at 35 Whelen velocities. 350 Rem Mag as well, they're practically ballistic twins. - dan
^ @ boxhitch: 166.3grs, and I failed to mention that it smashed directly through a rib on the entry, plus the rib on the off-side was a direct center punch through that rib.
166.3/250gr = 0.6652, so the bullet lost 33.48% weight.
166.3/250gr = 0.6652, so the bullet lost 33.48% weight.
In my opinion that Hornady IL performed almost identically to a few dozen Nosler Partitions I've recovered from big game.
'Interlock'... as it says the rear part of the bullet held together, penetrated deeply. Pretty much all the loss was frontal lead section and jacket material.
I've seen so many Nosler P's with the same look... like almost identical.
'Interlock'... as it says the rear part of the bullet held together, penetrated deeply. Pretty much all the loss was frontal lead section and jacket material.
I've seen so many Nosler P's with the same look... like almost identical.
Thanks for all the responses so far guys.
While I'm awaiting parts, curious what you guys are running for glass?
Obviously will vary based on use, but still curious.
I'm leaning towards something from Trijicon this time around, likely an Accupoint. Torn between something in the 1-4x range or a 3-9 (or similar). Only rifle hunt I have planned is likely another black bear hunt (overbait), so I'm leaning towards the 1-4x. I'm sure I'll sacrifice some low light performance, but I'm wondering inside of 50 yards on 1x if it would be substantial.
While I'm awaiting parts, curious what you guys are running for glass?
Obviously will vary based on use, but still curious.
I'm leaning towards something from Trijicon this time around, likely an Accupoint. Torn between something in the 1-4x range or a 3-9 (or similar). Only rifle hunt I have planned is likely another black bear hunt (overbait), so I'm leaning towards the 1-4x. I'm sure I'll sacrifice some low light performance, but I'm wondering inside of 50 yards on 1x if it would be substantial.
I have had a number of Whelens over the years. Currently a kimber Montana chambered in it.
The funny thing is I have never been able to get the accubonds to shoots. Not sure why?
I have had great success with 225 game king bullets and 250 hotcors. Both bullets hit game like the hammer of Thor and the animals just drop instantly. I have had 10 yard shots on elk and 368 yard shots on mountain goat all with the same affect.
I used to load with RL15 and varget but I think I have found the holy grail of powders for the Whelen using TAC. TAC easily pushes the 225gr at 2790fps from my 22” barrel and just slight pressure signs. The primers still have rounded edges.
I need to go back and try the accubonds with Tac and the elevated velocity and see if that makes a difference.
The funny thing is I have never been able to get the accubonds to shoots. Not sure why?
I have had great success with 225 game king bullets and 250 hotcors. Both bullets hit game like the hammer of Thor and the animals just drop instantly. I have had 10 yard shots on elk and 368 yard shots on mountain goat all with the same affect.
I used to load with RL15 and varget but I think I have found the holy grail of powders for the Whelen using TAC. TAC easily pushes the 225gr at 2790fps from my 22” barrel and just slight pressure signs. The primers still have rounded edges.
I need to go back and try the accubonds with Tac and the elevated velocity and see if that makes a difference.
