Any plains game the 35 Whelen would not work on that you would need a 9.3X62 on?

I understand that ammo availibility in Africa is better for the 9.3 as compared to the Whelan.

Would the Whelan be a good Leopard caliber?

An article that you may enjoy:



The .35 Whelen in Zimbabwe

http://www.african-hunter.com/35_whelen_in_zim.htm

I used my 35 Whelen to good effect in RSA this April. I took zebra, blue wildebeest, eland, gemsbok, warthog, and impala with it. As for ammo, I don't believe there is a single box of 35 whelen on the continent.

54JNoll,

I have used the Whelen twice, once in Namibia and once in RSA. I will take it to RSA in '05. Within 300 yards and quality bullets, you will find it all you can ask for.

I have never used it on leopard, but I don't see why it would not work well.

Here is a thread I wrote on the Namibia hunt.

http://groovebullets.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=371&highlight=

Good Hunting,
BigBullet

Thanks for the stories guys. They where a great read.

Thanks for sharing the great articles, they make me appreciate my old Whelen even more.


cordell

I doubt that you could tell much difference although the 9.3x62 is hands down my favorite, I quite the Whelan for the 9.3x62, thats just my opine, without any justifycation.

I have wanted a Whalen for a long time but the only one available without spending a fortune on a custom is the remington 7600. Now I dont really have a problem with that gun I owned one befor and it shot great but I dont know if its legal in RSA being a pump action. Can anybody update me??

Remington is listing the 700 CDL in 35 Whelen at this time.

Call Grice Guns in Clearfield PA. They May have a M700 CDL in 35 Whelen left from a special run. Call quick cause they were going fast. I think the web address is
www.gricewholesale.com but I'm not sure

It's Whelen, guys: W-H-E-L-E-N! Named for Townsend Whelen in the 1920s.

Sorry, had to get that off my chest.

Now, has anybody ever shot the Speer 220-grain flat nosed bullet in their Whelen? I think this bullet is designed for use in lever action .35 Remingtons, but I was considering it for use in my new Whelen on leopard in Zimbabwe next summer. I'll bet it would be devestating on soft-skinned game, like leopard, if you can get it to shoot accurately.

Man, I wish Winchester would make a stainless model 70 in 35 whelen. I started to have one built but bought a 338.

GAHunter,

Yes, I have used the 220 gr Speer FN, but the accuracy was very poor 3-4", so I never took it hunting. I think it would be a good bullet for the 358 Win, though if you could get it to shoot straight, it should open up quickly at the Whelen velocities.

I just picked up another 35 Whelen, the Rem CDL and am quite pleased with it thus far. An intersting point with this rifle is that it is throated very long and has a long magazine, therefore catridge length can be increased in this rifle to 3.500" with Nosler BT and Barnes X.

I still have an extra 35 Whelen barrel for sale, if someone just can't live without.

Good Shooting,
BigBullet.

BigBullet,

Thanks for the info. I suppose the ever-so-low BC of this bullet would present accuracy problems at Whelen velocities. Wonder how the 225-grain ballistic tip would work? It would probably blow a leopard in half if you hit him too far forward.

Mark,

Funny you should mention the Model 70, because that's what my new Whelen is. See, I had this old push-feed Model 70 in '06 with a broken stock just sitting around gathering dust. Finally, my gunsmith called and said he had found a used Bell and Carlson stock that would fit that action. I took it to him with the intention of simply restocking it. Somehow, though, he talked me into going ahead in rebarreling it to 35 Whelen (the fact that I have two other 30-'06s had something to do with the decision). It's an easy conversion, since magazine a bolt need no alteration.

I'm putting an Elite 3200 3-9x50, Firefly scope on it and designating it a leopard/plains game rifle. It will go with me to Zimbabwe next summer.

Nosler claims there 225 grain ballistic tip has a thicker jacket designed for heavier game. So I would expect it not to blow him up to bad. This is obviously only speculation though.

Thanks guys I looked up the cdl but alas...no irons. I told myself I would not buy another clean barrel hunting gun. Anybody notice how hard it is now to find a rifle with irons??

These are two of my all time favorite cartridges in Africa for plains game hunting. I have had about a dozen hunters give or take using these rifles. The debate has been a long one over which is better and for many who shoot one of them, the decision between the two was a tough one.

The memory of the 35 Whelen in the bush is very fresh for me because this year I had a hunter with one. He took about a dozen animals up to Eland in size. He did lose one animal, a warthog which we might have been able to find but it did make it to a neighbors property and we were not allowd to access it to locate the wounded pig. In retrospect I should have just gone in and found it without asking. Unfortunately I did the right thing after realizing I was off our consession I wanted to be able to get the truck in close to the area so I drove the 15 miles around to the owners home only to find a nervous caretaker who would not allow us entry.

The fellow who used the 35 whelen loaded up Speer grandslam bullets in the 250 grain weight. Although the cartridge was very good, the bullets were not as impressive. I think a softer bullet would be a better match to this rifle. Also as you might know I'm very partial to bonded core bullets, and if you gun shoots them well the X bullet.

The 35 Whelen and the 338/06 have moderate velocity which makes them nearly perfect bush rifles. There is a custom rifle company in RSA making what is one of the more popular bush rifles for general bag plains game hunting. It's called the 338 Sabi Sabi named after the famous game reserve. It's a near exact duplicate to the 338/06 but the shoulder is just a bit different. These two cartridges, the 338 and 35 have about a 250 yards range giving them about a 100 yard cushion for the average shot distance. Most shots in the bush will be in the 50-150 yard range. They would both be on the slow side for the Eastern cape and Namibia where the habitat is much more open and the shots much longer on average.

Both are very safe to use with about any bullet made. Most experienced hunters know that a Nosler ballistic tip bullet from a magnum rifle shot at close range is a bomb and will usually explode on or just inside the animal. However the Ballistic tip is a fine choice with the reduced velocity of these two cartridges. The 210 Nosler partition in the 338 caliber is a fantastic performer. The 35 Whelen can also be loaded with a number of explosive handgun bullets in .38 caliber and even in 9mm size! Talk about a handloaders dream to tinker with!

So which is better? Hmmm I have just slightly more experience with the 338/06 as a friend has one that I just love. The first day I shot it at a 300 yard target. It was a 12" square 1" thick steel plate screwed to a tree. By putting the crosshiars on the top edge of that plate the bullets found their way to the center on about a dozen shots or so. It never missed. The recoil was easy and the gun very light and short. If I did not already have the 30/06 I would have been having a 338/06 built!

The 338 has a bit better bullet selection and shoots a llittle bit flatter. The 35 Whelen definately hits with a greater thump which can be heard when game is hit, even when at a great distance away. The 35 Whelen really provides a nice blood trail, and with the available bullets generally gives a very good exit wound. They are both well suited for use on every plains animal up to and including Eland. They fall short for the legal description on the big five but can both be used for leopard in most countries.

The animals I feel they have to pass on are actually very few, Hippo, rhino, elephant are just to big. Buffalo and giraffe are possible but not a good idea in my opinion. Even Eland bulls at 2000 pounds are a tall order but I have never seen an Eland survive a hit from either one and we have never lost one. With that said I think a well placed shot from either will get the job done just fine. Eland are about 20-30% bigger then Cape Buffalo on average. That would make you think they would also work for Buffalo. Well,............ not exactly. Eland are softer and with no additude to consider. The difference is not the size but the vengence and the thought process of the buffalo. Buffalo also have the strong urge or desire to protect the others in the herd. The danger does not always come from the one you shoot and can see but from the others hiding in the bush to get even with you. If a herd of buffalo will charge a pride of lions who have taken down a cow, they darn sure will charge the much slower and less dangerous humans who have done the same thing.

Using a gun that will drop a bull quickly will scatter the herd and before they can regroup the one you have shot is down out of their sight. If it can run with the group and begin the drag behind they will tend to be protective of it when you bump into them while following up the spoor.

So which would I choose? Don't go there........ that decision makes me crazy. I like them both so equal that I could not choose between them. for that reason I don't own either one. I have a 375HH which surpasses them both and is legal for all game. However the 375HH is a bigger gun with more recoil and far less functional in the USA for every day big game hunting. The 338/06 and the 35 Whelen are not just good plains game guns but good big game guns period! Few cartridges can be considered equal and fewer still better for big game in North America. Only a few areas where very long shots are used would provide limitations for either one. As I said earlier the 338 I was shooting was deadly accurate to 300 yards and I would not take shots longer then that lightly with any rifle.

The biggest consideration for bringing either of these out of the country is ammo. You will not likely ever find ammo for them outside your loading bench! The next consideration is headstamp. You must buy and use properly headstamped brass when travelling outside the USA. That is not a "fact " for every country but a good rule of thumb. Some countries will not care or even check. However if you're stopped and checked it makes life a whole lot easier when everything is properly matching. Trust me on this, I've been there with hunters bringing wildcats in the past. The paperwork and possible difficulty with non-matching ammo is not worth the hassle.

If you own one of these fine cartridges you have one of the best over all big game rifles man has ever known. They have limits on only the very biggest game and at the longest distances. For the normally hunted big game of the world, within "hunting" distances they are both just right!

GAHunter,

I did some bullet penetration tests into wet newpaper about 3 years back. I shot the bullets into the wets news at 50 ft at full velocity. I found the 225 gr Nolser BT to be quite stout in its construction and while it didn't penetrate as far as the 225 gr Barnes X or 225 gr Nosler Partition, it held together surprisingly well. It was evident that the jacket of the bullet was thicker then the lighter caliber BT's I was familier with.

I have heard that Nosler has changed the jacket constuction on these bullets and gone to a thinner jacket since those tests, but I cannot confirm it. If the jackets are the same, I believe they would handle any thin skinned game to 500 lbs very nicely

I am hoping for a 225 gr Accubond.

BigBullet

I suspect that you could really tear up a Leopard skin by using a 220 gr. bullet that was ment for a slow moving caliber..I recall Jack O'Connor using 35 Rem bullets on deer with his 35 Whelen and he blew the off side leg off of one..

I have found that Nosler, although they have fantastic penitration open up quickly in the front partition on light game, doing a lot of internal damage and leaving small exit holes..That is what I would use...

I have shot a lot of small and huge game with with Noslers over the years and they work on everything from Duiker to Cape Buffalo and I have seen them used on Leopard in the 9.3 286 gr.: 30-06 180 Gr.;338-06 in both 210 and 250 gr. (the 250 is a little tough for Leopard); and the 300 gr. .375 H&H.....

Also consider the Northfork, although I have not shot, not witnessed a Leopard shot with them, I would personally guarentee perfect expansion with any bullet weight and a quick kill with a Northfork bullet, and hide damage would be minimal, they simply perform in the same manner every single time, and I have a big box of recovered Northforks from all sizes of animals, all look like clones and everyone that has used them will say the same thing...

Of all the bullets out there today, I think the Northfork would be my choice in a 35 cal. or any other caliber for Leopard..The Woodleigh and Nosler would also be good choices.

JJack,
I used my 338/06 with 200gr Barnes X bullets on two safaris to take 9 of the large African antelope. It worked very well, My longest shot was on a gemsbok at 250 or so yd. The X bullet worked great and that is all I will use in that gun. I will use it on a elk hunt here in eastern WA this fall.