338-06 VS 35-06 aka 35 Whelen

[orchemo]

BD1 - Did I not get your last 35 Whelen. It shoots well. I like the Classics more than the CDL. The 22 inch barrel is great for the Whelen.
Thanks again.

Eric

 

[Oldtrader3]

The 9.3x62 is eurotrash :mrgreen:

Whoa, down boy :roll: ! My 9.3x74R can beat up your .35 Whelen :mrgreen:

 

[tddeangelo]

I am new to this game of medium bores, but I spent a fair bit of time agonizing between a 338-06 and a 35 Whelen. I came to the conclusion that as far as performance, it made not one jot of difference, so I went with the Whelen so I could more likely have properly headstamped brass. Bullets are not as easy to come by, although I scored 100 Speer HotCors at first, and then 200 of the 250gr NPT's from SPS. Should keep me in bullets for a while.

I shot a buck in South Carolina with the Whelen. Dear God did it lay him down with authority. Of course, the shot was all of 25 yards, through the neck/spine, lol, but it sure slapped him down!

Also ironically, my first trigger pull on game with the Whelen was a dud. Literally. The gun went "click!" and I couldn't believe it. Luckily, the buck was focused on doe, and didn't mind the muffled cursing and quick reload 25 yards from him, and the next round was NOT a dud.

Turned out the Winchester primer simply didn't light. I still have the cartridge, and I think I'm going to pull the bullet, dump the powder, and reseat the bullet. Makes a good reminder of a memorable hunt, lol.

And that reminds me, I have to get my pics off my camera and do a write up of my SC hunt in the hunting section....

 

[Guy Miner]

I dunno guys. Your debate has me so confused about .338 vs .35 cal...

I've decided to neck the Whelen down to .30 cal and stick with that one for a while... :mrgreen:

 

[Guest]

I dunno guys. Your debate has me so confused about .338 vs .35 cal...

I've decided to neck the Whelen down to .30 cal and stick with that one for a while... :mrgreen:

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Love it!

 

[truck driver]

I dunno guys. Your debate has me so confused about .338 vs .35 cal...

I've decided to neck the Whelen down to .30 cal and stick with that one for a while... :mrgreen:

I all ready have one of them with a second one on the way. :wink:
I just want something a little bigger that isn't a magnum. Got one of them too ( magnum ) :mrgreen:

 

[BD1]

BD1 - Did I not get your last 35 Whelen. It shoots well. I like the Classics more than the CDL. The 22 inch barrel is great for the Whelen.
Thanks again.

Eric

Yes sir, and you are welcome!
Look forward to getting together with you again

BD

 

[Oldtrader3]

I have a .30 Whelen myself and it shoots really well.

 

[JD338]

Welcome BD1, glad you are here.

This is like comparing the 30-30 to the 32 Win Special, they both work well.
The 35 Whelen has the advantage of a slight edge in speed but the 338-06 has better BC and gets slightly deeper penetration.
I have shot the 35 Whelen for 25 years and it is a hammer on WT deer and Black Bear.

JD338

 

[Oldtrader3]

There are several other contenders owned by shooters here as well. Included for starters are: the .338 Federal, .358 Winchester, .338 Marlin, .350 Rigby Magnum, .358 Norma Mag, plus many others too numerous to mention.

 

[gerry]

Look at what just appeared, a timely article by John Barsness on the 9.3x62. Maybe I should ditch my 375 Ruger for one in a walnut stock, use my lightweight fiberglass stocked 35 Whelen for the mountains and use it for low land hunts in nice weather.

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMG ... 4/?page=12

 

[DrMike]

Excellent article, Gerry. One could do far worse than owning a 9.3X62.

 

[nvbroncrider]

Good article wish I hadn't read it. The push for one is going to happen. Donor check, brass check, I guess the completed rifle will be next.

 

[SJB358]

Great article on the 9.3. Very cool round.

I went 35 Whelen. I also have a 338 Win Mag. I think both of them are excellent rounds when used on the heavier than deer class game. Really have no reason to pick one over the other. Pretty sure it'd be the same if I had a 338-06. I love them medium bores though. They don't get nearly the credit they deserve for hitting hard and doing it with less powder and recoil.

I'm sure I'll have a 9.3x62 as well, in the future. It's just too good to not want one.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I get 9.3x62 ballistics in my Ruger No 1, 9.3x74R. Longer case, higher capacity and equal ballistics. Plus, I like the Ruger as an update of the early 20th Century Farquarson falling block type rifle. Many ways to scratch this itch!

 

[truck driver]

I've learned a lot from this discussion so far but one area that has been missed is the capability of the 35 Whelen to handle pistol bullets for plinking and small varmints. So far all we have talked about is the capabilities of the two cartridges to handle large game with the 9.3x62 thrown in for comparison.
Because of the versatility of the 35 to be able to handle the lighter pistol bullets I would believe this should give it the edge over the 338-06 and the 9.3x62. :wink:
One other thing is rate of twist in the factory barrels may be too slow for the use of pistol bullets though I haven't been able to shoot one to find out. I'm going from experience with hand gun barrels where 1-12 or 1-14 were the most accurate rates for 357-358 caliber bullets.
If factory barrels had been supplied in the faster rates I think the 35 Whelen would have been more popular along with the gun rags writing about the use of hand gun bullets for reloading and plinking.

 

[tddeangelo]

Based on the input I got from DrMike and others, my Whelen was rifled with a 1:12 twist when I had it rebored.

 

[Guy Miner]

Look at what just appeared, a timely article by John Barsness on the 9.3x62. Maybe I should ditch my 375 Ruger for one in a walnut stock, use my lightweight fiberglass stocked 35 Whelen for the mountains and use it for low land hunts in nice weather.

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMG ... 4/?page=12

Barsness has long appreciated the 9.3, and I've learned much about the cartridge from his articles.

I wouldn't however, get rid of your .375 Ruger. Just load it down a bit, and you're there... Or, except for the .35 Whelen's difficulty in handling heavier than 250 gr bullets, the .35 Whelen is already at roughly 9.3x62 ballistics.

Am thinking a faster-twist .35 Whelen would be pretty cool, to make use of the few heavier .35 cal bullets available.

There is a LOT of overlap among all these medium-bore cartridges, from .338 - .375 diameter.

Regards, Guy

 

[tddeangelo]

I'm digging mine so far, but I have only put about 50-60 rounds through it. I'm still a Whelen newbie.

 

[nvbroncrider]

I've learned a lot from this discussion so far but one area that has been missed is the capability of the 35 Whelen to handle pistol bullets for plinking and small varmints. So far all we have talked about is the capabilities of the two cartridges to handle large game with the 9.3x62 thrown in for comparison.
Because of the versatility of the 35 to be able to handle the lighter pistol bullets I would believe this should give it the edge over the 338-06 and the 9.3x62. :wink:
One other thing is rate of twist in the factory barrels may be too slow for the use of pistol bullets though I haven't been able to shoot one to find out. I'm going from experience with hand gun barrels where 1-12 or 1-14 were the most accurate rates for 357-358 caliber bullets.
If factory barrels had been supplied in the faster rates I think the 35 Whelen would have been more popular along with the gun rags writing about the use of hand gun bullets for reloading and plinking.

Aren't those pistol bullets in the 180 gr range? 338 runs 180's as well!