the .35 Whelen for extended ranges?

WhelanLad

WhelanLad

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Hey you blokes, some will know ive fallen in love with the Kimber 7mm08 of late and have since sold the Long Range rig in .270 Winchester so im a bit light in the Cartridge department at present with the Ruger #1 303 sitting down in the Gun store for sale.

Today I grabbed the Ruger M77 Hawkeye out of the Safe and 4 rounds, went to the back paddock and stuck a Target a4 sized onto a tree about 200m away.

the Rifle has a 3-9x40 burris fullfield scope and Im firing 250gr Hornady SP...

my current POI is about 1 inch high at 180m/200y and seems to get their in reasonable time! I expected a bit of lag between bang an thwack..

What I would be interested in discussing is how capable is the .35 Whelen for ranges of say 300m? even a bit further?


Realistically is it worth trying to set this thing up for the longer ranges but keeping it as an 'All Rounder', which it shines at under 200m...

GO

cheers
WL
 
i did this with my 9.3x62 .
i cut a improved chamber that increased capacity by almost 10 % and i modified the magazine and action to seat the bullets out as far as possible ( somewhere around 3.55 inches ) .

then i found the bullet with the highest ballistic coefficient ( 250 grain nosler accubond ) .

it is late right now so i don't recall off hand the exact numbers of bullet drop , but in a nutshell , with it shooting 1 inch high at 100 yards , i can pretty much hold the cross hairs dead on out to 300 yards , and if i put the cross hairs on the top of the back of a moose / deer it is good to at least 400 yards . ...... very similar to what a guy would get out of a 30-06 180 grain bullet .


so to back up to the 35 whelen , i would find the bullet with the highest ballistic coefficient , maybe go for a 200 or a 220 grain ( something lighter that can be seated farther out of the case making more room for powder ) .

then practice practice practice with life sized targets out to the ranges you expect to be shooting at ...... this does many things but mainly helps a guy get used to the sized difference of a animal at the various distances .

hope this helps
 
I consider my 9.3mm a 300 yard max. rifle. By the time the bullet gets that far, especially the heavier ones, it's really starting to run out of gas. I zero for 175 yds, which puts me 6" low at 250, and a foot low at 300. Easy to remember. Lighter bullets will flatten that out a bit, but a .270 will flatten it out even more if I wanted a light bullet.
 
yep there is no doubt there is faster,lighter cartridges and calibres out there to do the deed but most of those from here on in will weigh in at around $1000 , which just isn't an option for now.

For what I have in the Safe, without messing around with the Kimber (great lightweight mountain gun) wich is set up for mostly point and shoot but is pretty capable for a long range 'crack' at an animal if it must.. I am a little sceptical to throw on a bipod and push the 2-7 out too 300 more often than not and Heck, im having a decent time trying to hold er steady an hit the same spot!

Not unlike the 'heavier' Ruger 35 Whelen, its a real dream to shoot and I have minimal trouble putting a couple next to each other.. Although at present I have Old brass load anda New brass load, which there seems to be a different POI but only minor and not guna worry about it this time round, use them as plinking and some range time out at 300m.


There isn't a huge choice of .358 projies to begin with, although il do some research on whats available to me, it will seem Woodleighs and Remington Corelokt 200gr are readily available, with the 200gr being nice and cheap for this project , aiding in bit better trajectory..
however, are these for the 35 Rem or will it matter little and maybe work well at longer ranges?
200gr SPCL 358 rem corelokt - flat based with a semi round nose.. which looks to be tube mag friendly..

https://www.usedguns.com.au/Product.aspx?p=59713
 
The Whelen is certainly a fine cartridge. It offers us the basic trajectory of the .308 Winchester but with a wider frontal area and a generally heavier pay load. It works exceptionally well as a woods cartridge where raking shots may have to be taken, but has reach when we need it. The Whelen can also be forgiving if we make a mistake. That said, the Whelen cannot overcome major accuracy issues and certainly cannot overcome the habits of fools. To obtain good performance, we must start with a sound platform. Rifle bedding issues must be addressed and triggers smooth while ammunition should be selected based on a combination of optimum power, bullet construction and accuracy. Shooting technique must be sound while the hunter also needs to have a thorough understanding of bullet drop and wind drift - if the Whelen is to be fully exploited at range. One cannot simply zero a .358 caliber rifle to strike dead on at 100 yards and hope to hit the mark at 250 yards or beyond

- ballistic studies
 
burnt_servo said:
i did this with my 9.3x62 .
i cut a improved chamber that increased capacity by almost 10 % and i modified the magazine and action to seat the bullets out as far as possible ( somewhere around 3.55 inches ) .

then i found the bullet with the highest ballistic coefficient ( 250 grain nosler accubond ) .

it is late right now so i don't recall off hand the exact numbers of bullet drop , but in a nutshell , with it shooting 1 inch high at 100 yards , i can pretty much hold the cross hairs dead on out to 300 yards , and if i put the cross hairs on the top of the back of a moose / deer it is good to at least 400 yards . ...... very similar to what a guy would get out of a 30-06 180 grain bullet .


so to back up to the 35 whelen , i would find the bullet with the highest ballistic coefficient , maybe go for a 200 or a 220 grain ( something lighter that can be seated farther out of the case making more room for powder ) .

then practice practice practice with life sized targets out to the ranges you expect to be shooting at ...... this does many things but mainly helps a guy get used to the sized difference of a animal at the various distances .

hope this helps
Click to expand...

Looks like you've extended the throat of the barrel to get a full extended range of your 9.3 x 63 rifle. It would be interesting to know what can be done without reaming the throat.
 
I am following this thread with interest as have just bought a new Whelen and hope to be able to do some serious load work in a couple months.
I've never considered the Whelen to be a longer range rifle, actually quite the opposite mainly because for decades my load was big and slow.
And to that end it did the job very well.
 
The Whelen... The Sleeper!

Could it just be , the whelen is one of the sleeper mid range cartridges, contrary to beliefs of past 80 years..
Hmm
 
Highwind said:
Looks like you've extended the throat of the barrel to get a full extended range of your 9.3 x 63 rifle. It would be interesting to know what can be done without reaming the throat.
Click to expand...

it also has a 40 degree shoulder a minimal case taper .

the privi cases i have hold around 73 grains of water . after fire forming they are around 80 grains .
 
With a nice 225 gr bullet the Whelen is many things. Not sure typical long range gun but it will easily reach out 400 yards and put a hurt on an animal. It may lack flashy numbers out that far but it carries momentum. I will use a 35 Whelen as a standard work horse from bear over bait to moose across a pond when I decide whether to buy one or build one. I want a cva scout V2 but with the exchange and hassel of importing one I might re barrel a savage with a match barrel
 
For what it is worth - wrote this many years ago. Real world drops may differ of course. When moose hunting I up the 100yd zero to extend my point blank range.

http://35cal.com/longrange35.html

Those Core-Lokt SP 200 you reference are for the 35 Rem. They are meant to be driven out at around 2200 or less and they work excellent at that pedestrian speed. This one I shot trough a bear with a 35 Rem - http://35cal.com/images/200corelokt_aug2011.jpg

For the 35 whelen you will want Remington's 200gr PSP-CLs (Pointed Soft Points). Remington loads them in their 350 RemMag ammo and they are tough enough to use in the 35 Whelen as well. However they are not particularly streamlined and for long range I think they would not offer any advantage - stay with your pointed 250s - my opinion.
 
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I've found the Nosler Factory loads a 225gr AB to be a nice balance of Energy/Speed/Trajectory.

300yds with this round is no problem IMO.

 
I've shot and hunted with a 35 Whelen for 20 years now on to a 9.3x66 Sako.

The Whelen will kill at 500 yards with a well placed shot.

So, to that end the magic is in the scope, no need to extend throat or improve the chamber, use a scope with elevation turret and optional windage adjustment and employ a range finder.

I use a Leupold (these are 6x42's) on hunting rifles with an M1 turret or CDS dial.

I sight in at 200m/219 yards, I then tape a range card to the stock, starting at 300 yards and increments of 50 yards to 600 yards, your range card may vary to the conditions you encounter and exact ballistics and velocity.

If you go this route, I suggest you calibrate dial at the furthest range and work in to the nearest range.

With this it is point and shoot to 300 and dial then on.

Also, for windage I put the deflection in inches for a full value 10 mph wind and compare it to the known size of the target.
 
I would not hesitate to take any 300 yd shots at big game with either of my Whelens, be it a factory 250 gr load or any of the various others I have handloaded (Barnes TTSX, Accubond, Partition etc). This cartridge is plenty accurate and hard hitting to 300 and beyond.
 
the whelen properly loaded will handle 99% of the ranges most hunters should be shooting at, anything inside 300yds is within range
 
I own and hunt with 2 35 Whelens. I also have own and have yet to hunt with a Ruger No 1 in 9.3 x 62. The one Whelen I employ for wild pigs over bait is a Rem 7600 Carbine. It holds 5 rounds and I can cycle them like lightning as I use a pump shotgun for waterfowling. My main 35 Whelen however is one I built off a Savage action. I used a 22 inch; heavy sporter Shilen stainless, lapped barrel and it shoots like a dream. Honestly, it is the Trophy hunter stock and I just had to sand down the stock to free float the heavier barrel. I shoot 200gr Hornady FTX bullets at under a half inch but my primary load is a 225gr Barnes TSX over IMR 4064. I don't load the 225s hot; as I shoot them at 2600 fps. At 100 yards my groups are .75 inch while at 300 yards I am consistently under 4 inch 3 shot groups. I would not even blink to take a moose, elk, deer, pig, etc at this range with the this bullet in the Whelen. Last year I took my elk at 220 yards and the the bullet exited and smashed out three ribs after taking out one with the entrance wound. Virtually no meat damage just a nice wide path of destruction through the boiler room:). I sight in my bolt action 35 at 200 yards and use hold-over marks in the Minox scope (which I love by the way). I did take a pot shot at a coyote at 458 yards last weekend while out for moose with it but missed. Anyway, I am rambling.... buy the Whelen. Shoot it a lot! YOu will love it. The problem is, it will likely not be your only 35:)
 
had the opportunity yesterday evening on a sit and wait hunt, where I spitted a deer come out at 1.5k away, drove up an stalked the final 500, was looking for a spot to get a good lay down for a 200-300m shot but the GRass is so high here at the moment I couldn't see the deer when I layed down...
so I stalked into 50m an Walloped it with a 250gr Hornady..

maybe next time!!

WL
 
hey, shot 300m target today before dark, I have Roughly 20-22 inch drop at 300m or so.


(edit- ill have to Re range that distance, as I wasn't at normal setup point / RF battery is out ATM bare with results)

That's Workable!
it is just below the 2nd notch on the Fullfield, which I put on our Cattle at the same distance, buy using the 2nd notch as a slightly high aim, I rekon it would do the job!!

WL
 
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