Advice for first build in 35 Whelen?

Potshot21

Potshot21

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Hello fellow gun nut!

I've recently purchased a Savage 116 donor action and am looking to transform it into a 35 Whelen.

This will be my first build of this extent and am looking for words of advice for a guy going down this road for the first time and with no prior experience with the 35 Whelen.

I chose 35 Whelen due to what seems to be very high opinions of the round and the action I have being long with a .473 bolt face.

Any information is appreciated!
 
Build a .338-06 instead.

It will out perform the .35 Whelen in energy and velocity at all distances, getting even better at longer ranges.
 
I have had two 35 Whelens. Wonderful caliber.

One thing I liked about it was that I loaded plinker ammo with 158 and 180 gr pistol bullets. Quite cheap compared to rifle bullets. As a result, I was well-practiced when I went hunting.

I found the 250 gr Sierra to be accurate and effective.
 
guntech said:
Build a .338-06 instead.

It will out perform the .35 Whelen in energy and velocity at all distances, getting even better at longer ranges.
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I agree 100%. Also weight for weight .338 calibre bullets have better ballistic coefficient than .35 calibre bullets which translates to slightly less bullet drop and wind drift.
 
guntech said:
Build a .338-06 instead.

It will out perform the .35 Whelen in energy and velocity at all distances, getting even better at longer ranges.
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This is very true but the 35 Whelen cartridge is still being produced commercially, albeit in very limited runs.

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Potshot21 said:
Hmm I had not considered that calibre, it must basically be a 30-06 necked to .338 I'm assuming?
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Yup, but it's a handload only option other than the odd box of Weatherby 338-06 A Square that shows up on occasion

I really like the 338-06 and there are more specific built 338 cal rifle bullets available than there are 35 cal. If you handload, the 338-06 would be the way to go IMHO.

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I do reload, so ammo isn't an issue as long as components can be sourced.

I have a couple of mainstream calibres for 338 (Win mag & Lapua) as well as a 35 Remington. Also powders and such for 30-06 and the like.
 
Potshot21 said:
I do reload, so ammo isn't an issue as long as components can be sourced.

I have a couple of mainstream calibres for 338 (Win mag & Lapua) as well as a 35 Remington. Also powders and such for 30-06 and the like.
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In rifles with equal barrel length you will find that 225 grain and lighter bullets will virtually equal what the 338 WM can do. 250's and 275 usually launch 200-250 fps less than the 338 WM. My current 338-06 load is a 210 TTSX @ ~2850 fps.
 
I suggest at least a 1:14 twist, with 1:12 being preferable if the real heavies (e.g. 310 gr) might be considered.

As for this:

guntech said:
Build a .338-06 instead.

It will out perform the .35 Whelen in energy and velocity at all distances, getting even better at longer ranges.
Click to expand...


No doubt you're drawing this from load data that loads the 338-06 and 35 Whelen to different pressures. Nosler load data show the opposite conclusion, but I know that others (e.g. Hodgdon) support what you've stated. You have to look at the source. Even if the pressures are the same, are the bullets of the same design or is the 338-06 favoured with better BC bullets. In other words is it "Apples to Apples"?

For example, I've seen published load data for the 35 Whelen that has a 180 gr bullet with an MV the same as the 30-06 (~2900 fps) which is absurd, and the 35 Whelen with a 250 gr bullet topping out at 2450 fps, when 2650 fps is easily reached with the right powders at the right pressure (~60K psi). The reason for these low numbers is that for some reason some load tables keep the 35 Whelen to ~55K psi, while the 30-06 is at 60K psi and the 338-06 is at 63K psi.

That said, the choice of bullets is much better in the 338 Cal than in 35 Cal. You didn't state the purpose of the 35 Whelen, but it's usually safe to assume that it's hunting under 300 metres. If you're looking at shooting at ranges that exceed 300 metres, you'll see the down-range advantage of increased MV in the 35 Whelen lose to the better (lower BC) bullet choices available for the 338-06.
 
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guntech said:
Build a .338-06 instead.

It will out perform the .35 Whelen in energy and velocity at all distances, getting even better at longer ranges.
Click to expand...

Nosler data does not support that statement, certainly not in terms of muzzle velocity. Same case, loaded to the same pressure, same bullet weight, the larger bore should be faster (at the muzzle anyways). No magic pixie dust, just physics.
 
Pat Brennan said:
Nosler data does not support that statement, certainly not in terms of muzzle velocity. Same case, loaded to the same pressure, same bullet weight, the larger bore should be faster (at the muzzle anyways). No magic pixie dust, just physics.
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Never owned a 338-06 it does sound attractive.
I have killed game with the 338Win and the 35 Whelen .
Bought the 35 on a whim in the early 90's. Compared to the 338 the Whelen seem to have better knock down ability. Used 250gn bullets in both.
The 338 acted more like a 7mag with harsher recoil.
My experience (of course limited) is that serious knock down power starts at 35 caliber and 250gn bullets.
I doubt a hunter will find any difference in knock down ability between a 338-06 and a 30-06 with a 200gn AccuBond, the 30-06 will be easier to shoot and range better.

Yes, the 338-06 will have a better trajectory than a like 35 Whelen, it is generally done by using lighter bullets, 180gn -225gn.

The 35 and above calibers is about power , not velocity, not banjo string trajectories.

A large cross section (35, 36 and 37 caliber) 250gn + bullet at 24-2600 ft/s gets the job done, noticeably more so than the 33's and below.
 
I like the 35 Whelen but I was shooting a lot of cast bullets so in my opinion I'd take it over the 338-06. I used a custom mold from LBT that cast flat nose slugs at 250 gr and these performed extremely well on deer. Lots of good reasons for the 338-06 but if your shooting out to 200 yards I don't see the "flatness/wind" advantage as being all that great and I prefer having a much larger bullet diameter. Just me, go for the Whelen.
 
One thing that I appreciate with the larger bores, I have .375 and .458, is that a heavy cast bullet is actually pretty damn good. In the .22, .243, 6.5, .270, etc... you are at a huge disadvantage shooting cast unless it’s just for fun or small game.
 
i owned a 35.whelen , shot my first bull, in northern b.c. it did the job.(really well} 220 grn, cor-lock, round nose... but, i'm not a hand loader so went back to the 30-06, and still like it....but i kinda miss the whelen, lol!
 
Potshot21 said:
I'm kind of interested in hearing about the 9.3x62 as well. The differences between all these cartridges seems to be purely bullet diameter.
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Since you asked......

The differences between the 35 Whelen and 9.3X62 are slight. Although the 9.3X62 has slightly more case capacity, both can be formed using 30-06 brass. The 9.3X62 could be called the "Metric 35 Whelen". Both offer readily available dies, brass and bullets, however:

- the 9.3X62 produces slightly higher Muzzle Velocities (MV's) than the 35 Whelen for a given bullet weight at the same pressure; and
- there is a significantly better choice of bullets for 9.3 mm vs. 35 Cal.
 
Mauser98 said:
Unlike the .338-06 crowd, users of the 9.3X62 have more class than to derail a thread about the .35 Whelen.:)
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The original post:
This will be my first build of this extent and am looking for words of advice for a guy going down this road for the first time and with no prior experience with the 35 Whelen.

I chose 35 Whelen due to what seems to be very high opinions of the round and the action I have being long with a .473 bolt face.

Any information is appreciated!
 
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