I love this forum!!!!! I'm a huge 35 cal fan and quite a bit of experience shooting, hunting and handloading the .358 Win and the .35 Whelen.
I sold my Rem 700 Classic 35 whelen 2 years ago and now regret it ever since. I customized it a bit. Put a synthetic Bell & Carleson stock on it, floated the barrel,had the crown recut to 11 degrees, trigger job done to 3.5 very crisp lbs and a few lapping tweaks to the action. Now, I had a real shooter!!
With my handloads I averaged ( measured w/calipers)1"-1.03" at 100 yds benched with 200 grain and 225 grain pills. 56 grains of 4064 and a 200 grain Rem PSP or Barnes X shot very well and knocked critters down where they stood. Load a 225 grain Sierra Gameking SPBT with 53 gr of H4895 or BL(C)2 at 56.5 grains and you've got a super butt kicker!! I think from shooting both the .358 Win and the .35 Whelen,I seem to find that the 35's love the 225 grain pill best. My friend and I both useour Whelens on deer, black bear and moose and can state through experience that the .35 Whelen is one excllent round. I agree that factory ammo in this caliber leaves much to be desired, but if your a handloader and know how to play at the loadingbench you'll be amazed at what you can make the Whelen do. I'm now looking for another one to buy so I can rebuild what I once had.
Just as a tid bit: the .358 Win handloaded with a 250 grain pill kicks the snot out of hogs!!! Be like Mikey. Try it, you'll like it!!!