35 Whelen for Deer
 

A few of my buddies like to bust my chops for using a 35 Whelen for East Coast (PA, WV, VA, NC, SC) Whitetails. I was wondering what you all thought? I own 11 rifles including a .260, 7mm-08, .270, and .30-06. I know these are all great deer rounds, but here's why I like the 35.

My first deer gun was an old 35 Remington. Most of my buddies back then used 30-30s (it was 45 years ago!), so I was rather unique for using the 35. Well, in my formative years with the 35 Remington I hit several deer which I had to track a long way.... someI got, some I didn't. Now as a grown man, I realize the problem was me. However as a 15 year old I thought the 35 Remington didn't have enough power. So, I saved and saved and eventually bought a .350 Remington Magnum (partially because it was a 35 caliber and partially because it said 'magnum'.... I was a kid what did I know?) Anyway, probably due to the fact I was now 17 years old & a better shot.... I started dropping all kinds of deer with that old .350 Rem Mag!

Well, the years went buy & sold my .350 and acquired other rifles. Eventually, in 1988 Remington chambered the 35 Whelen. I never lost my love for the 35 caliber, so I bought one!!! I've been using that same 1988 Remington 700 for the last 20 years!

So, now my buddies in several deer camps like to laugh at me for bringing an elk gun to a deer camp (I find that funny since some of them love the 7mm mags & 300 mags so much for whitetails).

Anyway, with my 225 gr handloads I always get a nice exit hole & the deer rarely go more than 30 yards after their hit. Since my Whelen is slower than their wizz magnums, I don't get near as much bloodshot meat either.

I ask all of you to settle this argument.... who is correct my pals or me?

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

YOU ARE! It's your choice to use whatever legal weapon (rifle / caliber in this case) you want. Heck, I've been known to tote my .444 Marlin just because I want too. Tell your friends to find something more critical to worry about. In other words, pound sand. Good luck and have fun.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

I have a 35 whelen and a 338-06 and shoot Eastern whitetails with them. I dont g.a.s. what anyone says.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

imlove hearing about guys who still carry the big 35's. thats what i use and i love them all. ive never seen a deer ever quiver after i hit them w/ either my whelens or any of my 350 mags. my question is why on earth did you sell that 350!??? ide take that over my whelens almost everytime. defanite deer killers pretty much w/ any shot placment your gonna get your deer. ide ake that slower mid 2000's over a hyper 3200fps cartridge any day

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

I use a 450 Marlin most of the time. I love the big "slow" bullets. I load my 44 mag slow too. I shoot 255 grain Keith style bullets at about 1050 - 1100 FPS. I think the ol 35 is a great deer gun.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

In my area of the south I don't think I've ever seen a .35 Whelen, but that doesn't mean that it is a good deer caliber. I think that any centerfire rifle will kill a deer, and ifa .35satisfies your hunting style then use it.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

One fellow brings one up to our deer camp, no one questions it, except the odd "what the heck is that?" when someone spots a cartridge sitting on a shelf.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

You want to talk about questions. I used my H&R Ultra Slug Gun a few years ago in "rifle" country up north. Walking around with a 10 -12 pound single shot shotgun on your shoulder will sure get the locals attention. Put them all at rest though when I took a grandma 7.5 year old doe at 106 yards with it. She didn't move after being hit. Kinda fun having a different gun when hunting sometimes. I love my 450 Marlin though.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

My very good friend Rich hunts with the 35Whelen and loves it. He has taken deer and bear with it, without any problems. Oh FYI, he hunts Pike County, PA

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

Must be a good choice... It performs just like my .243. :D

It's all a matter of personal preference. If you hit where you aim, and the deer die expeditiously, then who cares what anyone else thinks? Use what you like, what you shoot well and what you've had success with...

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

Nothing wrong with the caliber.. I applaud you for not staying in the magnumitis syndrone.. I never paid much attention to the caliber.. But I looked up some of the ballistics.. They are pretty impressive.. Anytime you can sling 225 grains of lead at 2600 fps.. That is pretty immpressive and plenty of umph for a deer.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

I built a 35 whelen last year and I really like it. big bullet = big hole =big puddle of blood, but it has a verytolerable amount of recoil.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

not sure what the ballistics of the .35 are, suppose it probably isn't too much of a "flat" shooter, though If you shot 300-500yds I figured you'd use a differen rifle, some guys like a .338 or .375 for deer, bigger heavier, slower bullet, less damage, if it meets your purposes go for it!

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

WOw I am surprised they go anywhere after being wacked by that. I think it is a fine selection for deer and certainly guys pack potent 300 and 7 mags to camps every year not to mention 45/70's and 444's. Good choice I think and If I had one of them it would probably go along as well.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

iam new here so first let me say i also have on of these 35 whelen in a h&r single shot shoots good but never shot a amminal yet thanks savage1

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

y0u never said why you got rid of the 350 mag.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

I know first hand that 35 Cal. centerfire hunting ammo works !!I have a lady friend that is an avid deer hunter. She uses her Remingtonin 350 Rem. Mag.Mohawk rifle that her dad gave her in the early 1970's.She takes 3-4 a year with that "little" thing. Ammo has been heck to find, but we scrounge when we can. My brother, up until diabetes sent him reeling downhill with TIA's and failing eyesight about 10 years ago, used an old Rem.tube fedpump in 35 Rem. that Granddad gave him in about 1958.Lord only knows how many deer and hogs that rifle has killed.Once upon a time, and for about 5 years,I used the 358 Win. in a Savage 99. This cartridge is a deer killer for sure, and ideal for "woods" hunting where shots seldom are past 100 yards. Ammo was always tough to findaround here. Igrew tired of hand loading for it, and then seeing the value rise on that Mod. 99, I cleaned it up and it now lives in the back row of my gun safe. The way I look at it ... you like the 35 Whelen, use it.Would be sort of fun to use a "weird" cartridge again rather than my mundane 308 Win.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

The Whelen is a great hunting cartridge. I have used it (and the 350 Magnum) for years chasing deer and bear with good success. Bang,Flop,Dead ! what more can you ask for from a back woods cartridge.;)

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

skybuster20ga,

I've always had the problem of buying a rifle only to trade it in on something else four or five years down the road. Some stay for the longhaul & some come and go. I really liked the .350 mag, but traded it for a 30-06 with a fancy wood stalk & neat engravings.That 30-06 is now gone too. The Whelen has been with me for 20 years, so that in and of itself is a tribute to that rifle / caliber.

I have others that have been with me for 20, 30 years.... the Whelen is my go to deer gun, however!

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

i undwer stand. my dad and i also barter /sell/ trade but usually if we buy one we keep it anyways. we only have about 4 that we keep trading off for somethin to do out of about 85...im sure some of you guys make that look like a very modest collection but none the less i have a hard job to sell any of them.

anyways, man ity was a 350!!! i buy every one i can find. i only have two whelens though. one semi carbine and one pump carbine that i had cut off. both will shoot the lights out. but by far my 350 mag 673 and my model 7 cdl are my fav's

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

Get him to join the site , we'd love to hear from him.:)

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

I love my .35

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

anybody got any kill pics from the whelen or 350 mag? heres a couple exit holes from the whelen. not the head explosions most ppl think happens from the big bullet

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb211/skybuster20ga/Pictures104.jpg

this was a 156lb doe from up to camp.......she didnt feel a thing
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb211/skybuster20ga/Pictures006.jpg

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

I just loaded some 35 whelens with 225 grain X bullets and some reloader 15. Cant wait to try them out. I have been using Fed premium with 225 TBBC's in them. I got them at a good price. When I run out I'll have a nice load and once fired brass. I regret selling my Classic BDl in 35 though. Big mistake.

RE: 35 Whelen for Deer
 

those kilkls in the above pic are 225 tbbc. ive also used rem core lokts in 200 and 250 w/ the same results.

You are sir. I use one myself. And have never lost one. Your friend are just envious Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks

I have a ruger 77 hawkeye in 35 Whelen that's my new go to. I use it in Kansas now but I've hunted with it in Georgia South Carolina and Texas . My buddy in Louisiana picked one up as well and he's using 225 grain accubond. As far as mine I love it, it's accurate and doesn't tear stuff up bad at all. I've got several other rifles that make a mess of a deer. I'm currently using the 200 grain superformance. You never have to worry about finding a blood trail after using these. I'd think if more places sold the rounds more people would own one.

ask a few of those hunters that carry an 06 if they know what a 35 whelen was developed from. it's just an 06 casing necked up to 35 caliber.

Why dig up a thread that has laid dormant for 8 years?

Because they wanted to talk about a .35 whelen. Pretty simple. It's a new member. They ran a google search and found this topic, and commented on it.. Welcome to the forum Bjolly. I like the .35 whelen. Although I'm keeping my eyes open for a .350mag and when I find a deal I like I'll buy it.
-Jake

Rifles on deer
 

I know others work. But that would mean buying 15 plus rifles, which I'm to cheap to do. My three rifles work like sniper rifles, so there is no need for more firepower.
Of course a 35 Whelan works. A 35 Rem was my early swamp rifle. And not one buddy asked to use it, though they saw the results. Hunters are funny about rifles.

I know what he wanted to talk about but digging up an 8 yer old thread? Why not just start a new one to get new input? That's my point. Old threads die for a reason.

For what it is worth, I had a 350 Rem Mag. It's a pretty good round but suffers from a lack of case capacity. 35 calibers really shine with heavier bullets and the only way to make them heavier is to make them longer. So the 350 falls behind the Whelen when you get to bullets heavier than 225 gr. I sold mine and switched to a 9.3x62 Mauser, a much better cartridge and you can get bullets up to 320 gr for it. It is a real thumper and one of the most popular calibers in Europe and Africa.

Did some reading on that flags, and it sounds like a great cartridge. Do you handload for it or is ammo somewhat available stateside?
-Jake

Jake, the 9.3x62 fac. ammo is available but not abundantly so. MOST of what you can find are solids for dangerous game. There are a couple like Hornady customs (SP) and and Nosler partitions and accubonds but the rest seem to be solids. As far as reloading, there isn't a very large selection of weights on the market. 250, 286, 300 grain seem to be the weight selections on most carriers with various makeups between spire point, round nose, solids (DG) being the most abundant. I've had a couple of those 9.3's quite a few years back. One built on a K98 action and the other was off a Mod.70 action. Both were pretty good shooters and I put a few Elk and Moose and one Musk Ox (dunno why they don't just call the "stink Ox" cuzz damn those critters reek!) down very easily with some Speers that I don't remember the loads. Somewhere around 300gr though I think. One thing I liked was you would THINK that that particular cartridge would make a mule kick look like a hummingbird but in actuality they were not that bad at all. Both rifles weighed in around the 8.5-9# mark loaded and scoped.

You can get factory ammo but you'll have to order it, you won't find it on the shelves. Mine really likes the Seller & Belloit factory round with a 286 gr bullet. I also handload a bunch for it and mine groups really well with both Noslers and Woodleighs.

This caliber, while not known real well in America has a huge following in Europe and is one of the best all around calibers in Africa giving the 375 H&H a run for its money. The reason it isn't as well known is simply because it is German and in the heyday of African safari hunting the British controlled those areas so British calibers like the 375 H&H, 416 Rigby and the big doubles got all the press. The 9.3x62 was the rifle the local hunters used and they racked up a huge amount of game.

My wife bought me on for Christmas about 12 years ago and it has become one of my favorite rifles. I rarely use my 375 &H anymore and I even leave my 7mm Mag in the rack a lot and grab the 9.3. It is one of those rounds that doesn't cause a lot of excessive damage or bloodshot in the meat. It just punches big holes and you can eat clear up to the bullet hole.

This doe fell to the 9.3 2 weeks ago here in TX.


If you're looking for a thumper, check out the 9.3x62.