What I want to know is which you prefer and why? Rather it is because you can shoot pistol bullets in one, but not the other or just because you like one better for no reason.
Only thing im not looking for is ammo avalability. Other than that I want to hear your reasons please.
Just as a mental exercise mainly.

I have both, and a 358 Norma, and a 9.3x62.

Ok here goes:

The 35 is great because it holds more rounds.

The 338 is great because the 250 grain has the same tragectory as the 30-06 180 grain or close enough. So you don't have to revisualize balistics in your head on every shot.

My father shoots the 200 in the 35 Whelan and I shoot 250s in the 338. When I hunt with the 35 I use 250s.

For the other two the 358 (being built) and the 9.3x62 I use or plan on using 270s.

Some folks shoot their 338 with 180s and use it as a 300 Win then use 225s for elk.

I love the cartridge but mine has never fired anything but heavy bullets.

I think the best rifle a guy can own is the one he likes. Right now Ruger and Remington make both rifles.

The 35 holds more rounds, the 338 has a touch more power and shoots light bullets like it's a 300.

In closing I think you should buy both, and a 9.3x62, 358 Norma, 338 Lapua, 350 Rigby, 340 Weatherby, 9.3x62, and 9.3x70.

I have niether, but I do have a 338-06 & a 338mag (not winmag). The 06 based rounds are efficeint (whatever that means to you), hold 5rds & often recoil less than their magnum cousins. I would choose a 338winmag if a possability of a shot were further than 300yds, it shoots ust abit flatter & the 250gr bullet carrys more energy beyond 300yds. For timber work or shots under 300, the Whelen will likely give a sim. result w/ less recoil & rifle weight. FWIW, I've never bought into the pistol bullet thing in the Whelen, one reason I went 338-06, lots of good bullets available & cheap practice bullets in the form of Speer or Hornady 200gr. Who needs pistol bullets?
The 9.3x62 is a great round but offers little over the 338-06 for NA hunting. If Africa was a primary hunting destination, then the 9.3 makes more sense as it can be used for buffalo & is also a great bushveld round.

I chose the 35 whelen. I didn't like the recoil of a 300 win. mag as it hurt my neck and gave me a headache(slight). The 35 whelen start's getting into that category with heavier bullets but at the moment I'm shooting 225 gr xxx shocks.Recoil with those aren't bad. As far as being handicapped by trajectory, well i'm just not. 300 yds.is my limit and I have no trouble reaching that with my rifle. Brass can be made from 06' cases so no shortage there. The rifle I bought is very accurate, has a good pad,and handles recoil very well. I've tried 250's(hornady spire points) it also shoots them very well. If you normally shoot farther than 300 yds then yeah get a 338 mag if not then get a 35 whelen. As far as power on game I think if you can kill it with a 338 win mag I can kill it just as fast with my whelen. "DRT" Just my opinion!

In current factory rifles ... I'd grab the 338WinMag. The .35cal barrel twist issue is a big deal to me and a 35Whelen with 1:16" (Remington) leaves me cold.

When I had a choice between a Ruger S/S 338Win mag and a Ruger S/S in 350RemMag ... I grabbed the later A shorter, handier "Whelen" in a rifle with correct barrel twist. Its now getting its magazine opened to allow use of the 310gr Woodleigh ... then it'll be my near perfect rifle.
Cheers...
Con

I would go with the 35 Whelen just because I have used it for many years and have a lot of faith in what it will do. I tried a couple 338's and have never been so UNIMPRESSED with a caliber.

do a 35 whelen a.i.

you can shoot factory ammo
you will have the most efficient medium bore cart
you will split the diff between them

or go 35 newton and exceed both!
make brass from 375 ruger cases. i have one on my desk here...

250 @ 2625 in a whelen a.i. is great!
rem factory 338 win in 250's is 250 @ 2660
only a 35 fps diff and almost no trajectory diff out to 200 yards

http://www.handloads.org/loaddata/default.asp?Caliber=3...eight=All&type=Rifle
http://www.reloadersnest.com/detail.asp?CaliberID=76&Bu...ight=250&LoadID=8353

http://35cal.com/35whelen.htm

35 WHELEN...

TOP HUNTING CARTRIDGE of the 20TH CENTURY

written by Paco Kelly
- this article unzipped from archives in sixgunner.com

The 35 Whelen has been a very good cartridge for me. But it didn’t start with the happy chance of getting a rifle in that chambering...my first Whelen was built in 1968 in Virginia...but it all started for me, in Africa ten years before that.

I had purchased in North Africa, a Mauser 9.3X57mm built in the 1930s, but getting ammo even in 1958 was difficult. And when I could find it, it was expensive. So I had the rifle rechambered to 9.3 X 62mm which was popular, but again ammo was expensive and limited. But my madness wasn’t completely in full swing...trading one hard to find cartridge for another...I planned to use 30-06 cases and reload....

The arab gunsmith that rechambered the rifle made me a mold that had cavities on each end...it was round and had two independent sprue plates...one cavity was 280 grains with a rounded flat nose...the other was 200 grains with a flat nose. Also he made a small die that opened the 30-06 necks just tight enough to seat the cast bullets...a seating die and a sizing die also. I hardly used the sizing die, because I used military ammo. I would pull the military ball, remove the powder...(looked like IMR 4198 in those days) open the neck, pour the powder back in and seat the cast bullet..usually the 280 grainer. I hunted all over Africa with this rifle and load......I harvested little 40 lb Tommies to one very large Hippo...and everything in between. I figure my velocity was around 2300+ fps.

I even killed a nasty female elephant that was making mud holes out of natives, I used a solid 280 grain bullet over the same load. The bullet was steel jacketed with a rounded blunt nose.....I shot her at 10 yards low between the eyes. She stood long enough after being hit, to where I was about to shoot her again when she just slumped down on her belly and died.....the village she had been raiding had a week long feeding party on her....

I always wondered about that shot. She didn’t move, hit right where I aimed...saw the dust come off her head...thought she would fold or charge..but she just stood there...then down. Interesting, considering she had been such an aggressive bitch to start with. I have shot elephants with a 375 H&H, ammo loaded for Africa, with the same weight bullet...probably around 2400 to 2500 fps and got very different reactions...certainly the difference in .366 caliber and .375 caliber made little difference in killing power...and a few hundred fps more sure didn’t make much either. I guess I was just lucky the day I brained her....

I was also fortunate to be on two culling operations in two years in Africa. They were designed to not only get a meat supply for a number of native villages but to also stop the herds from eating the villages crops. I averaged more than 30 animals a day on the first operation...and that much, or a little more on the second...that kind of sustained shooting with one rifle builds confidence.....

Jumping to Virginia 10 years later...I bought a commercial Mauser action and wanted to build a 35 Whelen on it. The rifle smith didn’t have a 35 Whelen reamer so we chambered it to 358 Winchester to begin with. I certainly learned to respect that cartridge. In a bolt action rifle the 358 is a fine round. But my heart wanted a 35 Whelen...mainly because it is so close to the 9.3X62 I had in Africa...

Finally I bought a Whelen reamer and opened the chamber...I have never been sorry. I used it in that chambering for almost 30 years...then last year I ran a Brown-Whelen Improved reamer into my chamber....and started working with that. The whole idea was to test all the articles I’ve read about the Imp chambers not giving that much better velocities than the standard chambers...well I get up to 300 fps more with some loads...and when you start pushing Lyman’s fine 280/290 grain cast round nose over 2600 fps...that’s belted magnum country. Take a look at your reloading books and see how many cartridges give over 4300 ft.lbs of muzzle energy....you will find it interesting...

Certainly the history of this fine round developed in the early 1930s and named in honor of the late great rifleman Townsend Whelen...has been document before very well. Ken Water’s in his article on the round did an excellent job and it can be found in his Pet Loads articles collected into book form and sold by Wolfe Publications (Handloader and Rifle magazines).

Close friend John Taffin is having a Winchester 1895 leveraction refitted with a 35 Whelen barrel....and that should be an outstanding combination. Especially since the box magazine of the 95 can take spitzer shaped bullets...back in the 1930s and 40s a number of the older 95s in 30-03 and 30-06 were rebored and rechambered to the Whelen round....and they turned out to be thumpers of large game to the first order. Though I found in shooting a friend’s ‘95 Whelen conversion in 1978, it ‘kicked some’, to be british about it....he didn’t change the steel butt plate. And it does need a good recoil pad.

In the stock of my Whelen bolt gun I have two decelerators installed, and a good thick recoil pad. It’s now a pussy cat in recoil with the heaviest of loads. I have no need to prove my manhood or some such taking a lot of recoil...so I tame all heavy rifles as much as possible. And believe me when you start pushing a 280/290 grain bullet at over 2600 fps...it recoils!

My barrel is 23 inches long, it tapers from a good inch down to .70 at the muzzle. The wood in the stock is dense walnut with very straight grain, the action has been glass bedded...and it has both iron sights and scope blocks. Right now it has a Tasco variable that goes to 9 power....

I like having iron sights on my rifles if at all possible. You never know when on a hunting trip your scope goes south...so the irons will keep you in the game. And since I have killed antelope with the iron sights...at fairly long ranges...I’m confident in using them. I have found that for my eyes express sights work exceptionally well. Many find just the opposite..I even like them on handguns.

I’m sure I saw very few telescopes on a rifle in Africa in the late 1950s...but again that was 40 years ago. I had a small sniper scope that came with my 9.3 Mauser. It was around three power and German military all the way. Out of the second World War I’m sure. It had a course post and a number of cross lines marked in single digits that I’m also sure meant 1 for 100 meters, 2 for 200 meters and so on out 600 meters. I used it only on rare occasions....

A good 30-06 will push a 180 grain jacketed hunting bullet to 2800 fps. And that is a fine load...you could hunt the world with it. 61.5 grains of A2520 and a 180 grain .358 caliber bullet from my Whelen will easily break 3050 fps...I can push the Remington 150 grain spire point made for the 350 Rem/Mag to well over 3200 fps. This is not slamming the 30-06...it is and most likely will always be one of the top premier cartridges of the 20th century. It’s just showing that the Whelen is in a much different ballistic class, made for much heavier game, even though it uses the same cartridge case.

Elmer Keith for example long before the powders we have today that up the velocities of the Whelen substantially, recommended the cartridge for the heaviest of America’s game....he even spoke of guiding folks that took brown and big grizzles with it...as well as moose. He also said he and his father used it on elk for many years...

I have a precious few Nosler 275 grain jacketed round nose bullets left. I save them for big game....moose and up. When I bought them 20 plus years ago at 13 dollars a box for fifty I thought the price outrageous...Now!!!! I wish I had bought ten boxes....oh well. My load for them is simple at 52 grains of the wonderful H335 and 2450 + fps. Too bad I can’t find a few solids of that weight or near it...they would do everything the vaulted 375 H&H can do...

Midway put out for sale a run of R-P nickel plated (electroless I’m sure) 35 Whelen cases. I bought 100 and have been trying to wear them out since I got them back around three years ago...still working on them...and now some are formed to the improved version and still going strong....I have used old military match 30-06 ammo cases since I have had the rifle...they seem to last forever....and the match cases don’t have the crimped primers the standard military cases have. Of course finding them today is getting difficult because of the 308's eclipse of the 06. But if you run into some at a gun show or some where, don’t be afraid to buy them.

I load my Whelen’s hunting loads to 50,000 to 55,000 psi...naturally I have many reduced and medium loads. But if I am going for the big ones or the long shots I load to it’s potential. So if you have a 35 Whelen or are building one be sure the action is strong enough for the full loads I mention here. Many die manufacturers make an expanding die that will open 30-06 brass with one pass...then load and fire. It’s worth the few dollars extra when ordering Whelen reloading dies....sometimes it’s just and insert that goes in the sizing/decapping die...what ever you get it pays for itself in the long run.

The old IMR powders on the slow side like 4350 and 4831 with the heavy slugs from 275 up thru 300 plus grains were good yesteryear...and are still good today...but the whole field of ball powders has changed all that. Today velocities can be reached that were attainable only with over pressure loads just a decade or so ago....

The best all around powder I have found in the Whelen...and really in the 358 Winchester as well as the 356 Win/levergun round is H335. It doesn’t always give the highest velocities but it sure gives some of the highest with excellent accuracy with just about any bullet weight with high end loads.....one of the velocity champs with bullets up to 200 grains is A2520...pushing a 180 grain bullet at the velocities near 3000 fps. And it will push the 200 grain bullet very close behind it. And with 57 grains in the standard case under the jacketed 250 grain bullets we are talking 2500 fps plus. And 53 grains under my 275 grainer will push them as I said 2450 fps +.

Remington’s 150 grain spire point is just the berries for the Whelen. In actual tests with this bullet loaded to 3200 fps and a 3 inch high at 100 yards...it is down 14 inches at 350 yards....66 grains of the old time 3031 is still hard to beat in the standard case....just as 57 grains of ReLoader #7 under the 150 spire point is today. The 3031 load will go close to 3200 fps and the Reloader will cut 3250 fps and that’s in a 23 inch barrel. And this bullet is a large game bullet made for the old 350 Rem/Magnum so it’s not some explosive varmint slug that will ruin a lot of meat. I have taken many deer with it...it is a lightning strike on animals up to 200 lbs.

My old notes from 1971 show that I had a gonga load with IMR 4198..45 grains under a 250 grain hard cast Lyman round nose gave 2800 fps! I have a very special built Hoch mold. It was built 20 years ago to my design and drops a 325 grain hard cast bullet...340 in soft lead. With 57 grains of WW760 it gets very near 2200 fps...and I have never had one stay inside an animal all the way up to very large feral cattle well over a ton in weight. It’s a flat tipped round nose, bore riding and gas checked....It just fits my box magazine when loaded correctly, it is the heaviest bullet I have ever used from a 35 caliber rifle.

The afore mentioned Lyman 3589 280/290 grain bullet is my favorite. I can cast it soft...but water tempered...gas checked and Apache Blu lubed, at 1500 fps it is fun yet deadly on small game. Also loaded to around 1000 fps with 8 grains of Bullseye and a small wisp of Dacron holding the powder to the primer...I have take things like Javelina, large eating birds like turkey, and all kinds of varmints at close range.

I was brush hunting Javelina in 1979 when I spotted a mule deer about fifty yards from me. This is a quiet load...about like a kids cap gun. I shot him in the heart. He leaped up, kicked into his chest, and ran in a dead run for about 100 plus yards and fell down in a cloud of dust. Dead when I got to him. The Lyman soft cast bullet was against a low rib on the opposite side..it had mushed the heart...not the ideal deer load...but in a pinch with a dead on shot, it does the business.

When I had this rifle built I made sure it had deep and wide rifling for cast bullets. It shoots all manner of 357 bullets...cast and jacketed. I once had a 173 grain cast Keith bullet loaded to way over 2000 fps. Shot a little rabbit in the head at about 25 yards. It seemed like a long instant after the shot...there was a plopping sound. It was the top of the rabbit’s head, forehead up and the two ears hitting the ground after it had gone straight up....that’s all that was left except for tufts of fur blowing helter skelter....

I have taken deer and black bear...antelope and elk...I don’t know how many coyotes out to long range and back...feral dogs, crows, wild cats, one cougar treed by dogs, and all kinds of vermin. In the wilds of Virginia on power line cuts I have shot deer grazing at very long range....I have shot heavy feral cattle at ranges to 150 yards. And with rocks and such...if you can see the target you can walk shots into it...this is one of those calibers that pushes up dust when things are hit....

And then came the 35 Imp/Whelen. Let me say that I’m not sorry that I improved my rifle’s chamber. But it will not do anymore than the standard chambering would on the lower 48 states game...save yourself the extra cost of reamers and special dies. But if you want 93% of the power of the great 375 H&H Magnum...if you want brass that doesn’t stretch, necks that rarely need trimming, and one of the nicest looking loaded rounds you can find then mayhaps the Improved version Whelen is what you are looking for.

And as for the critics saying that it doesn’t up velocities enough to make it worth it. I can get near heavy 375 H&H Magnum velocities with 15 to 18 grains less powder! I think it is worth it, if you are going to take it to Africa...going to take it to Canada or Alaska...it will bring down the largest of the thin skinned game. And I don’t know why anyone would...except a situation like I faced in 1958...but with the right bullet it will even take down elephant! Many gun writers I respect have said that the all around rifle/caliber for the world can be the 375 H&H. Well 375s take extra long actions...expensive actions and with the 300 grain Barnes bullets for the Whelen...the 375 doesn’t even have that edge any more..you can hunt small game with a 375 H&H but it’s not really adaptable to handgun velocities up to medium deer loads...the Whelen especially the Improved version can do it all...it’s the poor man’s magnum rifle round.....



In the photo....the first cartridge case is an unfired R-P Whelen nickel...the next three are military standard: # 1.173 Keith cast bullet...#2. WW 250 grain jacketed soft nose..#3. 280 gr Lyman 3589 and #4. Is the Brown/Whelen Imp and the 280 gr...the two cast bullets are Lyman’s fine Keith designs in 173 and 215 grains....

BEST LOADS OVER 30 YEARS....



60/4320 IMR
220 JRN/Speer
2740fps/3668ft.lbs
1954Speer/catalog

62.5 WW760
280 Lyman cast
2514fps/3930ft.lbs
heavy game

45/4198 IMR
250 Lyman/cast
2800fps/4353ft.lbs
most powerful

57/A2520
250gr WW JSN
2530fps/3554 ft.lbs
heavy game

52/H335
275 JRN
2455 fps/3681
thick skin game

61.5/A2520
180 JSN
3059 fps/3740ft.lbs
best all around jacket/load

53/H335
250 gr WW/JSN
2525 fps/3540ft.lbs
heavy game

57/ReL #7
150gr Rem Jacketed
3248 fps/3514 ft.lbs
medium game

57/WW760
325 Hoch
2210 fps/3525ft.lbs
for large game

8/Bullseye
280 Lyman
1001 fps/640 ft.lbs
pest/sm game load

shot an elephant between the eyes and flop...
any more questions?

I have both the Whelen and .338 win.
And unless you think you are gonna be reaching way out there I would take the Whelen.
I just like it.
I use somthing smaller for deer, but for Elk hunting i really like my whelen. I can shoot it quite well and I just like having somthing few others have.
I shoot 250 grain speers at 2600 and how much faster would I get a 250 grain .338 ? not much so the trajectory is not as much flatter as some might have you belive. The BC on the speer 250 grain flat base spitzer is .446 so a 200 vd zero only drops only 9.4 inches at 300 so its gonna a prety darn good Elk Slayer out to a bit farther than that ! But there is nothing wrong with the .338 win mag either I just prefer my Whelen.
...tj3006

t.j. how do they hold together at 2600???

thanks...

p.s. what is your load?


Bullet Speer SP
BulletWeight 250 grs
Powder Alliant Reloader 15
PowderWeight 59.5 grs
Primer Winchester LR
Brass Make Remington
Barrel Length 22 (inches)
C.O.L 3.34 (inches)
Velocity 2593 fps
Group (inches by 3 shot at 100 yds)
Submitted Date 7/22/2005 11:43:00 PM
Submitted By Carson Caudill
Gun Info Remington Mod 700 Classic
Comment std. dev. 22.7 fps, Temp. 43 deg F

Energy 3725 ft-lbs
TKO 32.41
OGW 1634 lbs
IPSC PF 648.25

Short of a hunt for African DG where a 9.3 or .375 or better may be required, I'd be happy to have only one rifle, a .338 Win. Mag. Below the big bores, they don't make them much stronger or harder hitting than the .338 Winchester.

There is nothing like a 225-250 grain hard/soft nosed bullet @ 2,800-2,975 fps to put a critter on his ear.

I would trust such a load on anything short of elephant, and even elephant in a pinch, preferably using solids, of course. I have killed and flopped everthing from 300 yards to 20 yards with mine, and I am a believer.

As for the .35s, well, no sir, I don't like 'em nor need 'em, for all the reasons noted above. Still, the .358 Norma Mag. would be a sweet, but strange one, and could win me over, but like the man with the sexy wife who could cook said, "I ain't lookin'!"

I don't know how they hold together at 2600 cause i have never shot an elk with it, But 2600 ain't very fast it should hold up ok!
As far as my load I am using RL-15 and a federal primer. I can't find my book for the Whelen right now but I got the load off the aliant powder Wbe site...tj3006

I have both, and both are in Ruger M77 rifles.
The Whelen have got a Shilen 1-14, 22" barrel, the 338 Winmag is stock SS/laminate.

The 35 Whelen is my pet rifle hunting woods and semi open landscape for red deer and moose with Woodleigs 250 bullet.

The 338 Winmag is my open ranges moose rifle.
It will also be the one coming on my next trip to RSA for PG hunting loaded with 215 gr monometal bullets

Both are exellent shooters and great hunting rifles.

If I ( heaven forbid ) should end up with only one of them, I go with the 35 Whelen.
Light to carry, good accuracy, and enough oomph for whatever I my run into.

If your shots are less than 300 yards, the 35 Whelen is the simple choice. I don't see any reason to use a magnum for shots less than 300 yards.

The Whelen is a great round for all NA medium to large sized game (white tails to grizzlies) and you don't have to deal with the magnum recoil.

Both rounds have a good choice of bullets for reloaders although .338 bullets are more abundant.

Cause Remington never made a 7600 pump gun in 338 Win mag. But I wouldn't buy one even if they did.

For those of you who think a 35 with a 250 @2575 fps has less felt recoil than the 338 250 @2700fps, i have some land for you to buy in Mexico. The difference in stock design,rifle weight,barrel length etc.etc. will make more difference than the hair splitting in ballistics. The 35 vs. the 338 argument boils down to this; I have a 3" nail to drive into a beam. Should I use a 16 oz. hammer or a 17 oz. hammer. It just doesnt matter.

quote:

Originally posted by Con:
In current factory rifles ... I'd grab the 338WinMag. The .35cal barrel twist issue is a big deal to me and a 35Whelen with 1:16" (Remington) leaves me cold. Con

I've gotta agree. The 338 Winchester is a favorite of mine. Powerful and dependable when loaded with 250s, it is capable of stopping anything on this continent, even when shot placement isn't optimal. That's something that can't be said about the various magnum 30s.

It has also been my experience that the various 338s aren't finicky and are one of the easiest calibres to make shoot accurately. Of the three 338s I've owned only one didn't shoot well and a trip back to Winchester for a new barrel fixed the problem.

Lastly, it is one of the few calibres offering substantial power without a marked increase in recoil over the magnum 30s.

flip a coin....quit talking and go hunting!!

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
flip a coin....quit talking and go hunting!!

what kind of coin?
does the numismatic value matter?
should it start with the tails or heads side up?
how high should the coin be tossed to be considered a fair toss?
how many rotations will be considered a minimum for validation?
if it hits the ground is it a do over or does the coin get re-tossed?
in the event of a unretreivable coin occurence, what kind of back up coin should we have?
should there be a best of three to get a more accurate answer?
if the winning gun is not up to its duties does the runner up get to take the crown for the remaining year as a good will ambasador?

Over the years I've owned 3 338s and 1 340wby, I never took a head of game with any of them. They were all to heavy and in truth, are about the limit of my recoil. Then a couple of years ago I bought a 35, I'd wanted one for years. I've now taken 5 animals with the whelen in 3 countries, I love it! I just spent the morning at the range shooting it and plan to take it bear hunting in Alaska in 14 days.

woohoo! go mark!
brown or black?
be sure to give a report with pics on this thread.

p.s. what will be your load?

a 6.5 fan and a 35'er...you have good taste

I just picked up a .35 Whelen built on an FN action.

I think I'm a gonna like this rifle.

As soon as I get all of the home gun smithing issues ironed out.

Brown bear on the ABCs with 225gr TSXs, only bullet I've used in it.

may i suggest the north fork 270 or 280 aframe...

give him a call he is a nice guy with the best bullets around



http://www.northforkbullets.com/358-270.htm

from the website...

.358 Dia. 270 gr. Sec. Density .301
FIV 1800-3200FPS Length 1.414â€
PIV 1900-3100FPS

This is another in our line of heavy game bullets. As with the other calibers, the 358-270 is built much stronger than the other bullets in the same caliber. Just like the other HG bullets, it is designed for elk up. It is the preferred weight for the big bears. It also is preferred for all African plains game hunting. I have no reports of anyone recovering one, yet.

if you manage to keep it in the bear i and he would love to see it.

Thanks but I leave in less than 14 days, not much time to be playing with new bullets. Plus I've been using X bullets long before they were cool...

338 mag is my choice i had on built for alaska or africa,ifin i ever get there is another matter??? knock-down power is the word here. compare the two rounds you picked for speed and energy delivered, from the muzzle too 600 yards out!i'm not bashing the 35 Whelen at all, shop and compare be imformed,the 35 Whelen was and still is the poor-mans,375 HnH, that in its self speeks volumes, every things a comprimise....good luck with your choice,jjmp

I have rifles in both cartridges, .338WM and .35 Whelen and frankly, I prefer the Whelen. One, the rifles areat least a full pound lighter than the .338s and recoil at least seems to be less. Someone stated that there should be no difference in recoil between a .338 mag. and the .35 Whelen in rifles of equal weight shooting the same bullet weight at the same velocity. Sounds good, but I have to disagree. Bear with me. I have a matching pair of Winchester M70s with 26" barrel, one a .300 Win. mag, the other a .338 Win. mag. Both rifles weigh within about two ounces of each other with the .300 being the heavier of the two. In shooting the rifles, both with 200 gr. bullets, the recoil of the .300 is noticably greater than the .338. I feel the reason is due to the "rocket" effect due to the smaller bore of the .300. I would think that there would also be that same noticable difference between the .388 mag. and the .35 Whelen for the same reason in rifles of equal weight. There would be less rocket effect from the larger bore of the .35.

quote:

53/H335
250 gr WW/JSN
2525 fps/3540ft.lbs
heavy game

The above load from Paco Kelly's list of loads is my go to load in my three .35 Whelen rifles.
I got slightly better accuracy from the 250 gr. Hornady Interlock than the 250 gr. Speer Hot-core but the difference was negligable. The groups from the Speers was about .125" larger than the Hornadys on average.
The velocity I got from his load varied from a bit less in the Ruger 77 and Remintog 700 Classic to a 20 FPS faster in the custom Mauser. The Mauser has a 1 in 14" twist barrel vs the 1 in 16" twist in the Ruger and Remington. I picked the Mauser up for a good price at an estate sale. I couldn't turn it down as it fit me as if it had been made for me.
My next Whelen will have a proper 1 in 12" twist.
Paul B.

bigger heavier at moderate speeds is better imho than quicker and lighter. it is a good debate the affect on game with both. either will get the job done so it is a matter of style.

I only have a 338WM... and I have never wanted to replace it. It has a very good bullet selection Mild recoil and it is accurate... If I were to go 358 I would get the STA. I do not think there is anything you want to do (in The US) that a 338WM won't do.

by the way...comparing to the 375 h+h is not a good one...the 9,3x62 yes

I used the 35 Whelan prior to the introduction of the .338 Win., I have used the .338 since its first year of introduction.

The simple facts are the .338 Win is a more powerful rifle any way you cut it. It is equal with handloads to the old .375 H&H. I shoot the 300 gr. Woodleighs at 2400 FPS, my .375 gets me 2500 FPS with 300 gr. bullets. the .375 has the advantage of a larger cross section, the .338 has the advantage of SD. Its a toss up with the .375 taking the win by a nose.

The Whelan is not in this horse race., the 9,3x62 is a close second.

All that said, all three are fine calibers and IMO all recoil about the same, at least I can't tell any difference in well stocked rifles.

Take your pick, you won't go wrong.

the whelen a.i. and the 62 are full equals but the whelen is more versatile...

to get to the 338 win power there is the 350 howell the twin and parent of the 9,3x66 which is just shy of the h+h

i guess my whole point is the 9,3 and 35 are equals with the 35 being more versatile and less weight than win mags, less recoil and one more below than the win mags.

that said...i would loooove a 35 newton but would feel juuuust fine with the whelen.

the idea the whelen is for true believing hicks is too prevelent imho

I favour the 338win mag,im on to my second 1 now traded the weatherby in on a Tikka t3 lite at the start of the year loved that weatherby but needed something lighter to carry,now i love the tikka 2 shots 2 deer.The 338 win mag does every thing the whelen does and then some more much more versatile.

Jarrod
There are no flies on the 35 Whelen as a hunting round. However...
Finding ammo, and the choice of factory loads, the 338 wins hands down. The 338 is a great hunting round.

It is the more "logical" choice.

PS I have never owned a 338... [I did have a 340 Wby Mag once] Probably never will... I prefer the 300 Win Mag when the shots may be at a longish range.... My 9,3x74R double rifle, [or my synthentic 375 in bad weather] when the game is larger or shots are closer.... BUT that does not change the fact that the 338 is a GREAT hunting round.... And I recognize it to be so.

I have owned a 338. I used it on two elk. Worked OK I guess. I really did not like the rifle though at least no0t in 338. It was a Ruger Synthetic stainless, the ugly one and it kicked like a demon. Rugged and accurate though. I would have liked that rifle in 30-06 better. My Whelen is being put together on a FN Mauser action using a Boyds JRS stock. In reality shooting comparable bullets such as the 250 in the Whelen at 2550 fps and the 270 grain bullet in the 375 H&H at 2700 fps the difference of 20 grains bullet weight and 150 fps does seem to make them similar in performance.

My reasons for choosing the Whelen over the 338's was mainly one of nostalgia and having something a little different than the average Joe. I get a lot of "that's cool" when showing my Whelen off.

Do the 338 mags beat the Whelen in velocity with similar weight bullets? Yup, by a little. Is it enough to make a real difference in the field? Probably not.

If your'e a handloader and have a 24" or so barrel, you can load a Whelen to within 90% or so of a 338 Winnie. My 35 carries a 25" barrel and is capable of near 2700-2800fps with 225 grain bullets. Thats a 400 yd cartridge. Don't really need much else. I have no doubt that my rifle with 225 reloads will take any critter cleanly that a 338 Winnie can.

The down side of the Whelen is the extremely poor availability of factory rounds. Remington loads a 200 and 250 Core-lokt at mediocre velocity. Thats about it.

Federal used to load an excellent 225 Trophy Bonded bullet at about 2700 fps(in my rifle anyway). I used this load to take a cow elk and she hit the ground in a dust cloud. But this Federal load isn't offered anymore, or so I hear. Can't find them in my area.

So, if your'e an avid handloader, the Whelen can be a lot of fun to load for. If you just shoot factory loads, well, you'd be a lot better of with one of them 338 thingys.

quote:

Federal used to load an excellent 225 Trophy Bonded bullet at about 2700 fps(in my rifle anyway). I used this load to take a cow elk and she hit the ground in a dust cloud. But this Federal load isn't offered anymore, or so I hear. Can't find them in my area.

I have almost a full box of those Federal premium 225 TBBC loads in the blue and gold colord box. I found them at a gun show along with over 60 rounds of once fired nickel plated Federal Premium brass.
About three or four months ago, I was cruisin' through Sportsmann's Warehouse anf they had three boxes of Federal Premium Vital Shok .35 Whelen ammo with the 225 gr. TBBC bullets. From what I understand, Federal has brought them back out.
I also like the Remington 250 gr. Core-Lokts but all the damned dealers here in town say they can't get them or Remington isn't making them anymore, yet Remington still has them on their web site.
Sounds to me like the dealers just don't want to bother doing a special order, even when you offer to pay in advance. GRRRR!
Interesting thing. The old blue and gold box says they're loaded to 2500 FPS and the new box says 2600 FPS. Wonder if that's why they stopped making them for a while. The "new and improved" TBBC load?
Paul B.