I have a 35 Rem lever and love it but I'm always reading about the Whelen and how great it is. Is there a huge difference ballistically between the two?

The Whelen is an honest 300 yard Elk Gun with the right bullets and loads. The 35 Remington is an honest 150 yard elk gun with the factory load. You can modify that for deer up on both if you can shoot your gun well. I see your in NH and I have lived and hunted there and doubt you will find too much reason to ditch the lever 35 Remington unless your after Moose.
I am including below a chart for the 225 Nosler BT in the Whelen at 2700 FPS which is quite do-able with 60Kpsi loads. You can see it will reach 350 yards well. I have never killed anything with my Whelen further than 200 yards though because that is the shots I had. It is not the rainbow that most folks think is my point.
dmw
Ballistic Table English
CName: 35 WHELEN 0 Rge:200 Yards BC:0.421 File 35NOSBT.
Bul_Wgt: 225.0 Grs. MPBR: 5.00 Inches Above LOS, 5.00 Inches Below LOS
Base_Alt 1500 Feet Base_Temp 59 F. Alt_Alt 8500 Feet Alt_Temp 59 F.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flite Range Rem Rem MoMntm Elev Total Bullet Group Angle Wind Def
Time Yards Vel Eng Lb/Sec MOA Drop Path Size +/- 0 10 Mph
0.00 0 2700 3642 2.70 0.0 0.00 -1.50 0.00 -1.50 0.00
0.06 50 2599 3374 2.60 4.0 0.61 0.90 0.75 0.90 0.20
0.12 100 2500 3123 2.50 3.8 2.50 2.03 1.50 2.03 0.73
0.18 150 2404 2886 2.40 4.6 5.77 1.77 2.25 1.77 1.69
0.24 200 2309 2664 2.31 5.8 10.56 0.00 3.00 0.00 3.13
0.31 250 2217 2455 2.21 7.1 17.01 -3.44 3.75 -3.44 5.08
0.38 300 2127 2259 2.12 8.5 25.23 -8.64 4.50 -8.64 7.50
0.45 350 2038 2075 2.04 10.0 35.31 -15.70 5.25 -15.70 10.36
0.52 400 1952 1903 1.95 11.7 47.43 -24.80 6.00 -24.80 13.74
0.60 450 1868 1743 1.87 13.4 61.78 -36.14 6.75 -36.14 17.68
0.68 500 1787 1595 1.79 15.3 78.85 -50.19 7.50 -50.19 22.43

Sorry that doesn't look so good. down 15.70 inches at 350 yards.
dmw

quote:

Originally posted by Norton:
I have a 35 Rem lever and love it but I'm always reading about the Whelen and how great it is. Is there a huge difference ballistically between the two?

Yes! There is a huge difference in energy delivered on target between the two at any range. .35 Rem is a great pig, deer, and black bear cartridge and if within 150 yards adequate for elk IMO. However the .35 Whelen ups the .358 caliber to a whole new level over the .35 Rem especially when you get to bullets in 250 grain moving around 2500-2600 fps you have even got the biggest bears covered.

Look at your energy and trajectory comparisons:

http://www.remington.com/produ...*R35R2*R35WH1*R35WH3



http://www.remington.com/produ...munition/ballistics/

Well, I believe there's a huge difference. I wouldn't think of using the 35 Rem if I was hunting in an area where 150 yard shot was common.

The .35 Whelen is a much flatter shooting 358 than a .35 Rem. On the Remington ballistics website, comparing 200g bullets for both cartridges has a difference of 600 fps at the muzzle (2080 vs 2675) and 1,100 ft-lbs energy (1921 vs 3177).

Quite frankly, if I had a .35 Whelen sitting in my closet alongside a .35 Remington, 99/100 times I'd reach for the Whelen. The only time I would reach for the .35 Remington is if I knew with absolute certainty my shot wouldn't exceed 50 yards and my largest target was less than 500 lbs.

But that's my humble opinion. Use what you like and have fun with it.

Yes, clearly there's a big difference. I think the trajectory is a bit better with Leverevolution ammo though.....quite a difference from the Remington bal. chart.

35 REM 200 gr FTX LEVERevolution 82735
Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs)
Muzzle 100 yd 200 yd 300 yd
2225/2198 1963/1711 1721/1315 1503/1003

Trajectory (inches)
Muzzle 100 yd 200 yd 300 yd 400 yd 500 yd
-1.7 3.0 -1.3 -17.5

https://www.hornady.com/shop/?...up&product_sku=82735

quote:

Originally posted by Norton:
I have a 35 Rem lever and love it but I'm always reading about the Whelen and how great it is. Is there a huge difference ballistically between the two?

Yes, the difference is enormous.

Given the right bullet and if it was legal the .35 Whelen is a cartridge I'd take after cape buffalo and other dangerous game. It's very serious medicine. Yes it's marginal for the truly big stuff but fully capable in skilled hands.

I'd never attempt that with the .35 Remington.

Yes. The Hornady Lever Revolution ammo makes it a respectable 200 yard deer sized game gun.

Norton,
since you already have a 35 Remington and love it, you know that there is no problem swatting anything in NH stone cold dead at 150 yards with open sights or scope and the 200 grain Remington factory load; if you can shoot and I would guess you can if you "love" your 35 Remington. People don't love guns they miss with or guns that don't kill things they shoot at. If you want to reach past that range, 150 yards, you might be better served by the Whelen. Of course that is if your hunting moose, can or can't hold a better sight picture than you can or can't judge yardage, gosh there is a whole set of problems there we would all rather not factor in. The Whelen is wasted on a 200 grain by the way. 225 and up let's the BC and SD advantages show. I like 250 Hornady RN's and feel just fine at 300 yards on Whitetail. I just like RN's and have used lots of different Spitzers. I would shoot the 225 X or 250 Nosler PT on Elk. I am currently using a 245 Grain Lead Gas Checked bullet at about 2000fps. Sounds kind of like your 35 Remington doesn't it? I will let you know how it works on the KS prarrie later in the year.

Norton!

I know…. that you know… that I know…. that you know…. that I know…. That you really want a Whelen!

Ralph.


The question is do you feel lucky punk….Well do ya?

Well you need a 35 Whelen. Mine is a 19 inch carbine on an FN Mauser action. You cna load it down to 357 Max and up to just under the 375 H&H. Once you have the Whelen most other cartridges cease to exist.

Norton!

Seriously,
I had a 35 Remington in a Marlin lever and shot half my deer with it and always used the 200 grain Rem factory rounds that I liked more than the 150’s.
Hunted with it at distances never over like 80 – 100 yards in the selected area’s I used it. It’s a great close quarter cartridge with little recoil and fun to handle. But I never considered it to be my choice for more than a 100 yard rifle not that I wouldn’t take a longer shot. Never the less I always felt that it was not appropriate and or under gunned for many other locations and hunting situations.
If I want a 35 caliber rifle with plenty of power for my needs (Deer/blk Bear) I take my Whelen and like Fury01 I load the 250 RN Hornady in front of Varget or R15.
I would use the Nosler Partition on dangerous game.

IMHO
The 35 Remington cannot compare with the 35 Whelen but I would rather have a 35 REM than a 30-30 Winchester even though they are cousins.

Cheer's

The 35 Whelen is an absolute monster caliber. Great knock down power and big enough for any North American game.

Most of you echoed exactly what I use my 35 Rem for.....open sight shots in the northeast for shots less than 125 yds or so with the 200 gr. LEVERevolution ammo. I'm going to take it to AZ for a javelina hunt in Jan '10......should be fun.

Leaving for MT in a couple of weeks.....the new 300 mag Savage Weather Warrior w/ 4.5 x 14 will be debuted.....

Vinnyg..............har,har, hardee har,har!