35 Whelen recommendations

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Fyn

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Strathroy, ON
Had my first bear hunt this year, took a smaller bear with my 45-70, have zero complaints with how it performed.

That being said, I've always been intrigued by the 35 Cals, and I really prefer bolt actions. As such I'm planning on putting together a lefty 35 Whelen over the winter.

Probably planning on another bear hunt next fall, wondering if anyone could recommend any particular bullets to start with, specifically something that will perform but also hold together on short ranges (over bait).

Been doing a lot of searching and reading, but haven't found much related to shorter range shots.

(Also I realize bears aren't bullet proof or especially difficult to kill, however I like tinkering and enjoy playing with different combos and finding something I'm confident in)
 
As long as you're using rifle bullets and not pistol bullets there isn't a lot of options in 35cal that WOULDN'T be good bear medicine. I'm a big fan of the Nosler partition, they're available in 225 and 250gr versions for 35cal. Getting bloody expensive though...
 
Standard 225 or 250 grain SP's from Hornady and Speer are perfect for bears with the Whelen. However, the GOLD standard are 250 grain Partitions... the all-aroumd best bullet for the cartridge.

If you find yourself in a situation calling for 250 plus yard shooting, the 225 Accubond is your best bet.
 
I've never seen the need for a premium bullet in the Whelen. The standard cup and core perform admirably.
The 250 Speer or 250 Hornady Interlocks both perform well from 50 -300 yds
Moose and elk are my targets with the Whelen, but I have no doubt it would handle the bears too
 
hoytcanon said:
Standard 225 or 250 grain SP's from Hornady and Speer are perfect for bears with the Whelen. However, the GOLD standard are 250 grain Partitions... the all-aroumd best bullet for the cartridge.

If you find yourself in a situation calling for 250 plus yard shooting, the 225 Accubond is your best bet.
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Agree. Best choices IMHO. - dan
 
Depending on the rifle it's chambered in, the 35 Whelan is mostly a much "under-appreciated," almost in the Rodney Dangerfield class, cartridge.

Depending on barrel lengths, you should easily be able to achieve 2600fps with 225 grain bullets and 2500fps with 250 grain bullets.

The biggest problem with this cartridge, when it comes to hand loading manuals is that it was chambered in weaker action types.

This was a reall problem for companies such as Remington whose autoloaders and pump action rifles aren't supposed to be able to withstand a steady diet of pressures over 55K CUP, which most commercial bolt action rifles or good single shot rifles will easily digest and more.

I've had at least three different 35 Whelan chambered rifles. Two bolt actions, one a Remington 700 and the other a Win Mod 70, while the third was built on a Ruger No1.

I kept the Ruger No1 but ended up replacing the 35 Whelan chambered barrel with a 338-06 chambered barrel.

Nothing changed as far as real perfomance on game, other than the diameter of the bullets. None of the Moose or Bears shot with either cartridge would know the difference out to 300m.

My only reason for changing over to the 338-06, was the availability of good bullets in 35 caliber.

That was a long time ago, and the 35 Whelan barrel was installed on a No1 action, which belonged to a good friend as a birthday present from his lovely wife.

The 35 Whelan, even when loaded to the factory or manual specs is no slouch and capable of cleanly taking any game animal in North America and most places off shore.

Good 35 caliber bullets are usually available at any well stocked gun shop or online from several sources. It works best with faster powders than would be used in the 338-06, because there is obviously more bore capacity and it needs a bit faster powder to get pressures up for best performance.

My favorite charge utilized RL15 with 225 grain bullets and CCI 250 magnum primers for just over 2600fps from a 24 inch bbl.

Varget would work equally as well and seems to be much more readily available these days.
 
The premier powder from my testing was CFE-223... it gets velocities (with accuracy) that I could not achieve with the usual powders found in manuals for the Whelen. I have had half a dozen Whelens, but as I have downsized, I chose the .350 Rem Mag over the Whelen... not a good choice for most shooters, but I had a lifetime supply of .350 RM brass on hand when I made the decision.
 
Thanks for the responses guys, sounds like I don't need to be too picky.

Just made a deal on a variety of bullets from a member here. So that'll get me started.

I've actually got a fair amount of CFE223 I haven't been using, so thats good to know! I've got some other suitable powders as well.

I've yet to settle on a barrel length and contour yet. I don't expect this gun will see much, if any use past 200 yards (likely half that range), but obviously would like it to be a well rounded build.
 
Fyn said:
Thanks for the responses guys, sounds like I don't need to be too picky.

Just made a deal on a variety of bullets from a member here. So that'll get me started.

I've actually got a fair amount of CFE223 I haven't been using, so thats good to know! I've got some other suitable powders as well.

I've yet to settle on a barrel length and contour yet. I don't expect this gun will see much, if any use past 200 yards (likely half that range), but obviously would like it to be a well rounded build.
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yep shouldnt be fussy , they hit well- anything from 19-22 suits the whelen i rekon- not big speeds but thats not what ya there for..
hold on an let rip
 
Anyone have any experience using the (discontinued) 250gr Hornady RN? Picked up some on here, seems like it would make a great short range load. Got some 250gr SP and a handful of Partitions as well to try out.
 
Fyn said:
Anyone have any experience using the (discontinued) 250gr Hornady RN? Picked up some on here, seems like it would make a great short range load. Got some 250gr SP and a handful of Partitions as well to try out.
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The 250 RN's have been both accurate and effective in everything I have used them in, but of course, in .35 cal, all bullets are measured against the 250 Partition. The Partition is my go to bullet in .350 Rem Mag and .35 WSM. In the smaller .35's, I just use 200 & 225 C&C bullets. My
358/375 Ruger has moved to a new home, but the 225 Accubond was amazing in that cartridge.
 
Absolutely, I'll work up a load with the PT's I have and likely end up ordering some more when they're back in stock, bit of sticker shock with recent prices lol. Not like it'll be a real high volume shooter regardless.
 
Fyn said:
Absolutely, I'll work up a load with the PT's I have and likely end up ordering some more when they're back in stock, bit of sticker shock with recent prices lol. Not like it'll be a real high volume shooter regardless.
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Something I find that works satisfactorly is working up the load with the 250 Hot-Cors and then fine tuning the POI with a couple groups of the Partitions... I have never had an issue with the loading when switching bullets. I wouldn't do this with radically different bullet designs, but it works fine with those two... keeps a little more cash in your wallet, as you say, the Partitions are dear these days.
 
hoytcanon said:
Something I find that works satisfactorly is working up the load with the 250 Hot-Cors and then fine tuning the POI with a couple groups of the Partitions... I have never had an issue with the loading when switching bullets. I wouldn't do this with radically different bullet designs, but it works fine with those two... keeps a little more cash in your wallet, as you say, the Partitions are dear these days.
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There’s a solid tip thanks. Now sourcing Hot-Cors to do my initial load testing of PT’s outta the 300Wby 😁
 
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