Any 35 whelen shooters here?

[remingtonman]

What rifle setup do all you 35 whelen shooters have? I’m looking to build one soon and wanted to see/hear from those who shoot & hunt with one.

 

[Kings X]

I'll send you a picture of my Improved gun.

 

[mikeinct]

I have one set up on a Savage SS LA small ring/ W/ an old Adams & Bennett mag taper barrel. El Cheapo that I am, but that rifle loves the Hornady 250 grain Spire point bullet # 3520... Using IMR 4064 powder. It is a Hammer. mikeinct

 

[mikeinct]

Moose Tag in your future ??? mikeinct

 

[Kings X]

35 Whelen Improved McGowan barreled Mauser. Redfield pistol scope in "scout" position.
I carved stock for black walnut plank. 250 Hornady and 3031.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

This one is going up for sale soon. - It's a 98 Mauser (Lg. Ring) with an Original G.R. Douglas barrel done by G.R. himself. (26" length). Has a Vari-X2 3x9 Leupold scope on it and a nice fiddle-back maple stock. (Reinhardt-Fajen).

 

[JohnW...ski]

This one is built on a FDH#2 action that I built myself.

 

[jackson1]

Would recommend before you build to check on the availability of quality bullets. Had 35 Brown Whelen, that I traded and at the time 35 caliber was slowly going obsolete, in my opinion. Rarely shot it as it was a killer on both ends.

 

[3Ackleys]

Would recommend before you build to check on the availability of quality bullets. Had 35 Brown Whelen, that I traded and at the time 35 caliber was slowly going obsolete, in my opinion. Rarely shot it as it was a killer on both ends.

Hawk lists 13 different .358 and 7 that can be custom ordered. I haven't used any of those but I have used them in .416 and they are very good.
https://hawkbullets.com/bullet-selection.html

 

[Mauser06]

Been shooting one for a bit now. Actually added another recently.

A while back I bought a Remington 7600 pump gun for my deer/bear rifle. Dropped a few deer with it. I run 225gr Nosler Accubonds. I hunt mostly heavy forest. My furthest shot was maybe 75yds. It's a hammer. A lot of guys say 35cal bullet choices are slim and I see 338fed and 338/06 recommended over the 358win/35whelen. For hunting bullets, there are some great bullets available. Accubonds, partitions, Woodleigh, Barnes...I don't shoot cup n core bullets at anything other than varmints and such. I hunt a lot of areas where deer and bear can be fair game and some of the bear can get large...I want a bullet upto the job.


I've just changed platforms and went to a Kimber Montana for my go-to hunting rifle. I had it bored out to 358win. Sub 6 pounds with a 3-10 Swarovski ontop.

And added a 7600 Carbine in 35 Whelen for the crap days when a scope is going to be an issue. Restocked it with a straight comb walnut piece and put a peep on (minus the apeture to act as a ghost ring). Same loads as the 22" 7600 with a scope. Recoil feels like it's half. That montecarlo on the 22" scope gun beats the snot out of my nose.

The 358win, despite weighing under 6 pounds all up, isnt bad off the bench. You know you fired something. But it doesn't beat me up.


I do a lot of still hunt and tracking if there is snow. There's days I will hit double digit miles humping the hills..all the while with my rifle at the ready. I actually carry my sling in my vest for after something is dead so I can never get lazy and use it. That's the reasoning behind my rifle choices.

 

[sneakboxer]

I have an 35Whelen Ackley Improved built on a Rem 700 BDL. I used a 20in X-caliber 1-12 twist #4 contour and a 1.5x5 VX-3. It's light and handy and shoots as tight as I can shoot with a 5 power scope. The few deer and coyotes I have hit with it did not go anywhere but down. Nosler 225gr AB's at 2775fps, Hornady 250gr RN at 2550fps, 200gr Hornady spire point at 2950fps. Recoil is not too bad and you can load 357 pistol bullets for plinking around for fun. 35s are cool, go for it.

 

[JTEX]

I built a 35 Whelan on a 1909 Arg mauser and one on that new "doumolin" mauser. Both shoot Barnes TXS very well.

 

[gemihur]

Kings X, Love the scout setup!
my Whelen is a shortened version called an Alpo (.358x444 Imp) on a contender no less!

 

[XTR]

Since MS started allowing any single shot 35 cal and up in what used to be muzzle loader season the 35 Whelan has gained a lot of popularity.

 

[David Milisock]

I've hand loaded for about a half dozen 35 Whelans and found the cartridge easy to load and a very useful cartridge. A few of the rifles started out as messes that needed repaired but after that all shot well. The people who brought them to me were Eastetn US shooters that wanted more power and reach then their traditional 30 30. They wanted to step up to 300 yard Eastern Elk rifles without the cost and other issues associated with magnum rifles.

The 35 Whelan is in my opinion a great choice for a Riflemans rifle, it makes a great scout, (not necessarily in the traditional scout configuration) low recoil considering the power it puts out. It's not a long range or a target cartridge, it's a working field cartridge and a damn fine one.