35 Whelen project about to kick off......finally

[Brinky72]

I’m hoping for a decent bear. Which is something north of 350 pounds. The crew I’m hunting with usually knocks down a big one each year and a few decent ones with that. Last year my good friend who I grew up with knocked over a boar that went 423 lbs. The year prior the knocked over one that went over 450 and a 513 pounder the year before that. So here’s to hoping.

 

[salmonchaser]

Those are big bears! That’s outstanding!


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[SJB358]

Those are some hammers of black bear. Dang.

 

[5shot]

I’m waiting patiently for some Partition 225 grainer blems to show up on SPS but they seem to be a rare item. I think they would be my ideal bullet with all the horsepower needed and a little flatter trajectory. But, the 250 Speer Hot Cor isn’t a bad bullet either especially if I can comfortably get 2550+ real world FPS.

I have ABs, but no PTs.

 

[Brinky72]

Here’s my update. Got a bear but not nearly as big as I wanted. It was about 200 lbs and change. Had a cool white V on the chest and my brother-in-law is having it mounted for his cabin. He’s doing a half mount on a log to show the V. Some learning lessons this year. One; most big bears are taken early before they sharpen their skills on making hunters look like fools. Two; the bear you start with hounds isn’t necessarily the one you end with. The bear we started on this run was about a 350 lb (likely boar). This chase went eight miles and through a couple of big swamps. Somewhere in that run that big ol boar jumped a smaller bear, ran with him and took a hard turn losing the hounds. I didn’t know they did that! The guy that my buddy and I were with who is literally The Godfather of bear hunting with hounds told us how this happens. He said a big smart boar will run into a swamp or waterhole to “water out” the hounds. In these swamps is where all Bear go to rest or bed down for the day. The big bear will head to a swamp when the hounds are on them, jump another bear after getting soaking wet, run with that bear and then pull a hard turn. The dogs will obviously run the path of least resistance in a straight line and continue after the freshly jumped bear and the big guy will live another day. Who knew how smart they could be? On a positive note, the Whelen absolutely knocked the snot out of the bear. He hit the ground DRT impressing the hounds men that I run with. A lot of “ what the hell are you shooting “ comments. They were appreciative of the performance to say the least.

 

[DrMike]

Glad the rifle worked for you. The Whelen is a great cartridge that is woefully underestimated.

 

[JD338]

The 35 Whelen has a large frontal area. Percentage wise, it's a pretty good jump from a 30-06. The larger bore ratio helps generate higher velocities so you are able to push a 250 gr bullet to 2600+ fps. This translates into a higher kinetic energy. Add all this up and you will soon realize that the 35 Whelen is the Hammer of Thor on big game.
There's no replacement for displacement!

JD338

 

[5shot]

Jeepers 250/2700 is .338wm territory. That will be a hammer.


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I'm getting 2750 in my AI with Speer 250s. I'm going to back it down a hair, just because I don't need Thor's hammer.


I'd go 1:12, since there is no down side to it. My AI is 1:14 because I wanted to shoot cast in it as well.

 

[Thebear_78]

Billbam. I’m getting the exact same barrel just 24”. I’m curious if there is enough meat to have iron sights drilled and taped. My smith wasn’t 100% sure if a #3 contour in .358 bore would.

NECG banded front sight should work


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[KinleyWater]

Congrats on the new Whelen. I have a Rem Classic and I absolutely love it. I did shoot - please don't beat me anyone - factory Superformance out of it over a chrony and it gets the box advertised velocity. Pet handloads are the aforementioned 225s and 250 Speer, but I really like the 180 grain Speer FP as well.

Bottom line: You will enjoy it and there are quite a few truly useful loads you can cook up for it.

 

[gerry]

Here’s my update. Got a bear but not nearly as big as I wanted. It was about 200 lbs and change. Had a cool white V on the chest and my brother-in-law is having it mounted for his cabin. He’s doing a half mount on a log to show the V. Some learning lessons this year. One; most big bears are taken early before they sharpen their skills on making hunters look like fools. Two; the bear you start with hounds isn’t necessarily the one you end with. The bear we started on this run was about a 350 lb (likely boar). This chase went eight miles and through a couple of big swamps. Somewhere in that run that big ol boar jumped a smaller bear, ran with him and took a hard turn losing the hounds. I didn’t know they did that! The guy that my buddy and I were with who is literally The Godfather of bear hunting with hounds told us how this happens. He said a big smart boar will run into a swamp or waterhole to “water out” the hounds. In these swamps is where all Bear go to rest or bed down for the day. The big bear will head to a swamp when the hounds are on them, jump another bear after getting soaking wet, run with that bear and then pull a hard turn. The dogs will obviously run the path of least resistance in a straight line and continue after the freshly jumped bear and the big guy will live another day. Who knew how smart they could be? On a positive note, the Whelen absolutely knocked the snot out of the bear. He hit the ground DRT impressing the hounds men that I run with. A lot of “ what the hell are you shooting “ comments. They were appreciative of the performance to say the least.

Congrats on breaking in the new rifle. That's some interesting information and makes a lot of sense. Bears are very intelligent and the big boys didn't get that way by being stupid.

 

[SJB358]

Congrats on the bear and breaking in your new Whelen.

 

[Brinky72]

An update for my project. Today was sunny, clear and about 20 degrees. I ran my load of 59.5 grains of RL15, WLR primer and a 250 grain Speer, Hornady brass. My rifle is a Ruger 77 with a 1:14” Shilen SS top shelf barrel. High was 2656 FPS , low 2620 FPS and average for a five shot string was 2637.8 FPS . Next was AA2000MR. I ran 66.0 grains with WLR and WLRM primers. Standard primers high was 2760 FPS, low 2700 FPS and average was 2729.7 FPS. Magnum primers ran high of 2737 FPS , low of 2704 FPS and average of 2719.7 FPS for the string. With this I had absolutely no signs of pressure. I gave my information to M1garand to run it through quick load and he was able to give me a pressure of 62,881 psi. Again this is MY RIFLE. But it gives you an idea of how anemic the lawyers have made the Whelen. So, yes the Speer load data seems to be accurate. A quick look at factory 250 grain 338 Winchester Magnum will give 2660 FPS for Remington Corelokt. 2660 for Federal Fusion and 2600 even for Nosler Premium partitions. I’m sure that the grand old 338 Win Mag suffers the same malady as the Whelen does in factory dress but prudent and safe loading gets me there with the Whelen.

 

[truck driver]

I have to laugh since when I first began experimenting with the 35 Whelen I was accused of trying to make a 338 Win mag out of it since I was getting 338 performance out of it.
My 35 Whelen Ackely Imp will do it easily with no problems.
So why did I buy a 338 Win Mag? Because I wanted one.

 

[JD338]

Nicely done brinky72.
That's a powerhouse load that will take anything in North America.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

An update for my project. Today was sunny, clear and about 20 degrees. I ran my load of 59.5 grains of RL15, WLR primer and a 250 grain Speer, Hornady brass. My rifle is a Ruger 77 with a 1:14” Shilen SS top shelf barrel. High was 2656 FPS , low 2620 FPS and average for a five shot string was 2637.8 FPS . Next was AA2000MR. I ran 66.0 grains with WLR and WLRM primers. Standard primers high was 2760 FPS, low 2700 FPS and average was 2729.7 FPS. Magnum primers ran high of 2737 FPS , low of 2704 FPS and average of 2719.7 FPS for the string. With this I had absolutely no signs of pressure. I gave my information to M1garand to run it through quick load and he was able to give me a pressure of 62,881 psi. Again this is MY RIFLE. But it gives you an idea of how anemic the lawyers have made the Whelen. So, yes the Speer load data seems to be accurate. A quick look at factory 250 grain 338 Winchester Magnum will give 2660 FPS for Remington Corelokt. 2660 for Federal Fusion and 2600 even for Nosler Premium partitions. I’m sure that the grand old 338 Win Mag suffers the same malady as the Whelen does in factory dress but prudent and safe loading gets me there with the Whelen.

That’s some serious HP buddy! Holy smokes.

 

[gbflyer]

I’ve never gotten that kind of speed but I usually have shorter barrels.

I love .35 Whelen. I have built 3 of them. This is #3. Zastava Mauser action left hand and a 12 twist Wilson barrel. Waiting on a stock, Boyd’s carries the inlet and it was shipped in about 2 weeks from order. Should have it Monday.

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[PJGunner]

"An update for my project. Today was sunny, clear and about 20 degrees."

It would be a good idea to recheck those loads during the hottest part of the year Pressures with those loads may run a lot higher during the summer months.

A bullet you might want to look at is the Barnes 225 gr. TSX. They do a serious hurt on elk. I feed three .35 Whelens so I know what that cartridge will do.
Paul B.

 

[Brinky72]

"An update for my project. Today was sunny, clear and about 20 degrees."

It would be a good idea to recheck those loads during the hottest part of the year Pressures with those loads may run a lot higher during the summer months.

A bullet you might want to look at is the Barnes 225 gr. TSX. They do a serious hurt on elk. I feed three .35 Whelens so I know what that cartridge will do.
Paul B.

I thought about that as well however, I have ran that 59.5 (and actually up over 60 grains) of RL15 back when I first got the rifle the beginning of September without issue. Same good looking primers, no bolt sticking, notta. The AA2000MR load is book load from Speer. Actually top load is 66.2 grains. I’ll keep an eye on it but don’t expect any issues. I will give them a run end of July when the fishing sucks just to see.

 

[Brinky72]

Thanks to all of you for your advice and interest along the way. There’s been a few bumps with the long wait for the barrel due to COVID-19 and a puzzling bad batch of R-P brass that wouldn’t behave with the most pedestrian loads. My only regret is not getting a Whelen sooner. No worries for me running it too hard as that’s not my intention. I made sure my loads were safe and then some by having my buddy run my rifle specs, load specs, velocities and adjust burn rates to ensure I was at safe pressure. Coupled with physical inspection of the brass I’m good. Year one netted me two deer and a bear. All either DRT or should have been.
Accuracy is as good or better than anything I’ve owned to date. Recoil is no more than any ‘06 I’ve owned. A 250 grain bullet at 2650+ ends a lot of arguments and answers many questions. I’m thinking it may be many seasons before I reach for a different rifle.