35 Whelen for Whitetails

[eagle rider]

Okay so I am considering the 35 Whelen for whiteys' again this year.  I'm thinking about a 200 grain Hornady Spire Point with 53 grains of Hodgedon Varget.  That should keep me up around 2500 FPS out of the muzzle.  So I won't beat the semi auto Remington action that much and still get plenty of thwack at 100 yards for the deer.  Thoughts,... or should I go down to 180 gr Speer Hot Core.  The SD on the 200 looks a lot beter.  The 200 gr bullet should give me about 2800 foot pounds with a nice wide .358 wound channel (expansion not withstanding).  Looking for a hit em in the boiler room put em' right down kind of round.  I used the similar logic on the Russian Bore with a 250 grain bullet last year.  I dropped the 300 pound tusker in his tracks.  I think the 250 grain slug might just be a little too beefy for deer.   

[G-Man]

I'd stick with a 200g bullet weight, i use a 45-70gov. lot slower velocity but about the same knockdown power i get with 350g for deer its deadly never had to track yet!

[Pygmy]

The  Whelen, like most medium bores, is at it's best with medium to heavy for caliber bullets..

I think the 180 grain is a real waste of this fine round's potential.... The 200 grainer is a step in the right direction, but to take advantage of this chambering's  " put 'em on the ground NOW "

capability, I'd go with a heavier bullet...The 250 Speer has an excellent reputation as a game bullet and will perform well at the Whelen's velocties for deer size game.. Since you already have the load, I'd go with it..

A famous gun writer once wrote.. " The effect of a heavy, medium caliber bullet on game must be SEEN to be appreciated..."

I don't own a Whelen, but I do own a 9.3 x 62, which is very similar ballistically.. I shoot 250 grain Barnes X bullets, and I have got DRT kills with it on deer and caribou, with minimal meat damage...

[eagle rider]

G-Man, Pygmy thanks a lot!!!!!

[eagle rider]

35 cal reloading components seem to be getting scarse...... again

[G-Man]

Thats why when you see them you need to buy in bulk!! 

[Santamour123]

OK here you go I have used a whelen but ended up with the 350 rem. almost identicle ballistics.  I have used the 180  up to the 250rn  The 180 are a very short bullet and tend to blow up even at the 2600 fps-2750  range.  The 250gr will shoot straight through any thing you can throw it at.  For average whitetails to much.  The 200 gr horn. sp with a max load of IMR 4320 is by far my favorite.  It has the penitration for the angled or bone shots.  But opens up real well.  I have killed about 20 whitetails with this load.  I have only had 1 take more than 2 steps.  And that was because he was running flat out when I hit him, and he only went 15yrds.  LOVE IT

[eagle rider]

Thanks, this helps a lot.  I'm looking at a loading with Hodgedon Varget.  I know the heavier bullets will carry the mail greater distances.  I was hoping you'd say you love the 180 grain Hot Core's from Speer.  There are no 200's to be had anywhere.  I have used 270 WSM with 130 gr SST's in the past loaded to 3,100 FPS.  The deer get up from that round.  The exit wounds are impressive but its nota  bulldozer of a slug whacking them.  I'm planning on switching that to a Sierra Sierra Gameking to see if that does any better.  All and all they don't go far with the SST head, but they still go a bit.  UUUUGGGGHHHHH to many variables. 

[Pygmy]

That's part of the fun of handloading....Checking out different combos to see what works well for you...

There is nothing wrong with loading 180 or 200 grain bullets in the Whelen and they'll kill game just fine.....However with such light bullets there is little, if any advantage over the 30-06...Not that there is anything WRONG with the 30-06...  The advantage of a Whelen over it's parent case, the 30-06, is its ability to handle heavier bullets..

Paper ballistics aside, 50 or 60 grains bullet weight IS significant and a 250 grain bullet at 2500FPS REALLY thumps game animals... More impressive, in my opinion, than a 180 grain bullet at 2700-2800.... The bullet manufacturers have been making good cup and core bullets in .35 cal.  for years from 225 to 250 grains and they WILL expand and perfom well on deer sized game, as well as heavier game..

Have fun and good luck... ;D ....

[eagle rider]

Agreed.  Sierra urged me away from their 220 (225?) grain hunter bullet because they felt is was too hevily constructed for deer and would not perform as well as it does for elk.  Hornady components are in scarse supply, got to love the war effort for that, so options become narrow.  I will see how they do, like I said I want a real whallop kind of round.  The Speer Hot Core has a great reputtaion for energy shedding and its constructed a lot like a core lockt round.  With 30-06 I ususally used 150 grain bullets on whiteys' so this is a 20% increase with a wider wound channel.  The paper tables are giving me something like 2900 foot pounds at the muzzle.  Then there is whole lets see how it prints factor.  Remember that this is going through a semi-auto so the falke factor on performance is at a higher premium.  I will let you know how it does. 

[eagle rider]

With 53 grains or Varget and 180 gr Speer Hot Core, the 35 Whelen will produce 2900 ft lbs.  The 200 grain Core Lockt ammo 2600 ft lbs.

[eagle rider]

Midsouth Shotter Supply has great prices and Fedex Ground to NY is only two days over the road.  They also have cupon codes all over the internet.  If you've never looked at them before it worth checking out. 

[Mr VJP]

.35 caliber bullets will put the smack down an a whitetail for sure.  Even my .35 Remington with 200 grain soft points hammers them out to 150 yards.  That larger frontal area on the .35 caliber slug seems to really transmit the energy better than smaller caliber bullets.

[eagle rider]

Thanks, I'm interested in seeing these 180 grain hot cores in action.

[Santamour123]

Let me know how the 180 hot cores hold up.  They are realy movein

[eagle rider]

no problem, I will shot them next week.

[moosemike]

I prefer the 200 grain bullets for the .35 Whelen and .358 Win, and .350 Rem. mag. They give all the penetration you can use on deer. I mean when a bullet is already exiting what more can a 250 offer you? They're just deer, Moose are another story.....