I have been having a love affair with 2 different cartridges lately and would like your opinions on them for plains game.

35 Whelen - I am building a beautiful sporter on a Springfield 03A3 action with a 24" Shilen medium sporter contour and a quilted maple American Classic style stock. It still has a lot of work to get it completed but it is coming nicely. It seems to me that the 35 Whelen would be an ideal plains game cartridge. It packs plenty of punch even out to 300 yards. It also has a nice medium bore with a very respectable frontal diameter. The only detraction I can see would be a lack of quality factory ammo and there are not a lot of premium bullets available in that diameter.

8x57mm - So far my experience with this caliber has been in a few military surplus Mausers I enjoy shooting. I would love to build a full stocked rifle with a22" barrel and butter knife bolt handle on a FN action in the style of the early Mannlichers. With the history and popularity of this round in Europe it would seem to me that it must have seen extensive use in Africa as a hunting cartridge. I am well aware the US ammo makers dont load this round to its full potential like the European's do. I have a couple friends who think it is the best elk medecine around when handloaded to its abilities and with premium bullets. I am unaware of any US made ammo that would be appropriate but the Norma Oryx seems to be hard hitting stuff. The .323 bore is a very nice diamter and it seems there is good selection of bullets for the handloader.

Both of these calibers would seem to be excellent choices for Africa plains game, except maybe the eland size critters.

I would really appreciate your comments and opinions and any details you may have on their use in Africa.

M1Tanker



I have shot quite a few plains game up to kudu and zebra with my modern 8x57JS, and I cannot rate it highly enough.



It really peformed well in bushveld conditions and dropped a 200 metre zebra for me with one Norma Oryx into the engine room.



My hunting buddies were shooting loud and boomers, but I found the 8x57 so much more comfortable to shoot, and as a direct consequence, a more effective cartridge. Between the five of us we shot 95? ctitters, including 75 warthog. I shot my share and never needed more than one shot for each animal.



here's a thread I posted at the time....

Kevin Robertson, in his book 'The Perfect Shot,' has nice things to say about both of these cartridges as medium-range medium-bores for Africa.

I have used the 35 Whelen on plains game, and it really worked well. 225 gr Barnes X, and 250 Hornadys.

Tanker: The 35 Wheelen would make a fantastic African cartridge, coming pretty close to the vaunted 9.3X62. Like Terry says, with 225gr bullets I would not hesitate one bit to take on just about anything over there, including lion and leopard over bait. It is an awesome caliber. I took a nice black bear with it last year and 225gr Swift A Frames and was impressed with it. Absolutely smacked a 320lb bruiser. Combined with that action, it's a perfect tribute to Col. Wheelen himself! jorge

Both my friend and I have used the equivalent .350 Rem Mag on African plains game with great success. We used the 225-grain Nosler Partition at 2500 fps and got pass-throughs every time. We chose to use .375s on eland, but for everything else the .358/225 did the job. Our PH even opined after seeing it perform that he'd take it up against buffalo!

As for premium bullets, in addition to the 225 and 250-grain Nosler Partitions, there are Swift A-Frames in the same weights, a Barnes 225-grain XLC, and Woodleigh 225, 250, and 310s. Surely one of them will shoot well in your rifle.

Go to www.african-hunter.com and go to Archives on the upper left corner. In the archives there is an interesting article of a hunter going to Africa with a 35 Whelen. In fact there's quite a few interesting articles.

since the federal load for 35 whelen is 225gr at 2525, and my 358 matches that, I would feel no fear, ofanything short of dangerous game,with a 35w or 358 win....

i just love the MYTH that the 35's are "medium range"... define medium range....

50-100... off hand shooting, that's vary long...

100-150... the seperates the men from the boys


On a bench, the 225 sierra PH has the same velocity and BC (okay, near enough) as the famed 165gr .308 in a 308...... yet EVERY ONE will tell you a 308 is good to at least 500 yards from a bench.


The 8x57, if hand loaded, matches the 30-06, enough for hunting.


If your rifles shoot well, and you shoot them well enough, these are excellent plains games rounds

jeffe

Thanks for the African Hunter link. I really enjoyed the article and found it to be very informative. I am going to have to subscribe to it.

No problem, glad I could help nudge in the right direction. Now, I know you're just itching to whack some critters with the Whelen in Africa.

The Whelen and the 8x57 bores sort of bracket the .318 WR and the cases are very similar. Given that all authorities who have ever used the old round can't praise it enough, when used on appropriate game (i.e. not for stopping the BIG ONES) either of them should be the absolute cat's pajamas. I'd personally go with the Whelen if eland was on the menu (and on my hunts eland is always on the menu, mmmm, dee-licious) but too many head of game of all sizes has fallen to the 8mm to say "never". Now all you need is something in the Class II or III and your battery will be complete.

I think my next gun purchase is going to be a 375. Now I just need to decide whether bolt action or single shot and to build or buy complete. The CZ seems like it might be a good way to go. I own several of their 22's and 223's and love them. Now you have really done it, started me thinking about a suitable DGR caliber and all the different options start going through my mind. This is going to be tough. I am starting to think a 35 Whelen and a DGR in 375, 458 Lott, or 416 Rigby or Rem. should be a great pair for Africa.

I hunted Buff once with a bunch of outlaws, and the only gun they had extra for me was an old milsurp 8x57 and a leather bag of green crusted milsurp ammo in solid persuasion..but it was that 8x57 or stay at the house and help the wimmen cook, so off I went filled with euphoria of the hunt...Well about every 3rd round went bang!, and it was one of the more exciting buff hunts that I have ever been on, but the old 8x57 did manage to get a couple of the black bulls..A practice not recommended to the weak of heart, or thoes that are not swift of foot...