Lets talk thump

[SJB358]

So to revive an old thread I will comment on the season my newly aquired Whelen had. Total tally 9 deer with 9 shots , me personally 4 deer out of 6 tags.Two of my hunting buddies wanted to use her after seeing what that 225 AB does to critters so they combined for 5 more. One ok mule buck and the rest doe's 3 whitetails and one mule. I missed a huge Whitetail buck last weekend would have been my best ever and had to settle for a very tender and juicy spike buck in the last few minuets of my last day hunting. Alas it was with my 280 and not with the whelen.

Do I like the whelen? hell yes! do my hunting buddies like the whelen? hell yes! I am going to have a moose tag next season guess which rifle is going to get the call? Putting my 300 WM away next season when it is time to head for moose country. Well time to throw some mule buck steaks on the grill life is good!

That sounds like a great way to start a Whelen on the right path! Man, you cleaned house with it this year. Sounds like your really in pretty deep with the Whelen now! Great job, it is a great cartridge and really is a work horse.

All this .358 talk is getting me all turned on about a 358-338 WM (basically a 358 Norma I think)! Would make for one heck of an oregon elk gun!

Now your talking Jake! I would really like a Norma. Basically, something that mirrors the 338, but something I could run 250gr PT's into the 2800 FPS spot. I think that would be a beast and it should be able to be put in a rifle that is fairly portable. I just happen to have an older M70 XTR 7RM (first rifle) that I am trying to figure out what to do with it. With a Pac Nor barrel, and a new stock, it could be up and running pretty quick. Scotty

 

[BK]

I wonder if you would gain much case capacity if you used .300 Win Mag brass rather than .338?

 

[gerry]

Of all the big 35 magnums mentioned the Norma does make the most sense you could have some properly headstamped brass for hunting and resize some cheaper brass for all other shooting. Some guys use 300 WM brass instead of the shorter 338 WM and get the shoulder in place perfectly the first time.

Can you tell I have thought about this?

 

[338 Ultra]

So to revive an old thread I will comment on the season my newly aquired Whelen had. Total tally 9 deer with 9 shots , me personally 4 deer out of 6 tags.Two of my hunting buddies wanted to use her after seeing what that 225 AB does to critters so they combined for 5 more. One ok mule buck and the rest doe's 3 whitetails and one mule. I missed a huge Whitetail buck last weekend would have been my best ever and had to settle for a very tender and juicy spike buck in the last few minuets of my last day hunting. Alas it was with my 280 and not with the whelen.

Do I like the whelen? hell yes! do my hunting buddies like the whelen? hell yes! I am going to have a moose tag next season guess which rifle is going to get the call? Putting my 300 WM away next season when it is time to head for moose country. Well time to throw some mule buck steaks on the grill life is good!

I told ya you would love the 35 Whelen. :wink:
Congratulations on a very successful season.

JD338

yes you did :mrgreen:

Thanks for the congrats on the season Just a wee bit disapointed about missing that whitetail though. Hit a 10" white poplar tree dead center as he was running through a bush lot at about 80 yards outside of that I had that sob dead to rights my best whitetail buck ever measured 168 this guy was/is way bigger and I do mean that much bigger to make a 168 look small. But I do know now where this bugger lives and where he hangs out and where his girls are so if he makes the winter and does not decline by getting older one more year, next year I am going to put him up on the wall. I had a chance to take him at 539 yards with my 338 Ultra but with dimming light and a stiff cross wind I passed on the shot. I have passed many shots like that one over the years and have never ever had a regret for doing so. If I could have closed to 400 I would have fed him one of my 225 Ab's over H-1000 I think he would have been impressed. Season is closed and he made it through so now I am working on my war plan for next season. On a happy note the poplar tree was missing a 14" long section out the back side where the 225 exited and I Got a Hog of a mule deer that needs to be measured on Jan 5 or later to see what 60 days of drying gives me. I do not think I will get a better Mule buck than this one but that does not mean I am going to stop trying fingers crossed. My butcher weighed him when I brought him in for hanging and processing no head no hide all four forelegs cut off 268-3/4 pounds he thought it was a nice spike bull elk then almost took a dump in his pants when he looked at the tag.

 

[CatskillCrawler]

Question for you guys who know Rugers better than I... did Ruger offer a Hawkeye All Weather in the Whelen?

In my weekly search for "35 Whelen" rifles I just came across this:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=264408214

I think I want a 24" barrel but nonetheless, very nice.

 

[SJB358]

That would be a great rifle. I don't know if you would notice much difference with the 22" tube. Maybe 50FPS.

 

[BK]

Seems a little steep for a stainless/synthetic Ruger, but that's Kinda what I was thinking of. Thanks!

 

[JD338]

That would be a great rifle. I don't know if you would notice much difference with the 22" tube. Maybe 50FPS.

I agree, my 700 Classic 35 Whelen has a 22" barrel and it is no slouch.

JD338

 

[338 Ultra]

Considering this rifle went for about 500-550 bucks three years ago I think the price is steep! that would make dealer cost between 400-450 per unit, but since Ruger only did a one year run on the whelen and then dropped it I suspect you will see more prices like this in the future. Really too bad they dropped the Whelen in the Hawkeye it is a pretty good rifle platform for a tuff accurate hunting rifle. I have 2 one in 280 Rem ( which was also dropped) and one in 300 Win . With a bit of tweeking on my end they are both excellent shooters with the 280 being a tack driver with 140 and 160 accubonds. The 300 is a bit more fussy and really only likes 200- 220 grain bullets with the 200 AccuBond being the most accurate. The work I did was minimal and anyone can do it ,the most improvement came from replacing the LC-6 triggers with Timiney triggers. Next was a wee bit of bedding and cleaning up the barrel channels and the fore end's so you have a float. Stock replacement would gain more I am sure but the Ruger stock is much better then what Remington currently has and as my time has been limited for a long while replacement stocks for both are on the back burner for a while.

Wish I could get one in 35 Whelen now that I have moved to the dark side a bit late in my hunting life. I do really like the MK2 action and safety arrangement. Too bad so many are missing the boat on a fine cartridge it really does kick butt. I have shot it enough now on game to say that is so similar to the 338 Win that the ony difference you can notice is less meat damage with the whelen. Next year I will put it to the task for moose and is suspect I will see the same results.

 

[JD338]

I know that the 35 Whelen is easy on the meat. With a 225 gr PT, you can eat up to the bullet hole.
I am an Elmer Keith fan too. :grin:

JD338

 

[338 Ultra]

I know that the 35 Whelen is easy on the meat. With a 225 gr PT, you can eat up to the bullet hole.
I am an Elmer Keith fan too. :grin:

JD338

Agreed the 338 win I used to have really ruined a lot of meat with my load at the time which was a 225 Hornady over IMR-4831 at pretty close to 2900 Fps if I remember correctly. Everyting hit went straight down into a pile but if their was any shoulder bone hit is was a nasty mess. Dad taught us from a young age to shoot elk with a high shoulder shot so they would not get too far if they made any distance at all. With a 30-06, 270 or the like shooting Partitions it worked very well and did not ruin too much beyond 150 yards. Well the 225 on a shoulder shot on a spike bull at 175 yards just about made me puke at the damage and meat loss and the rifle went away after grenading some deer as well. So far the Whelen has showed similar results in killing power on deer only without the destruction of the front of the animal. I won't comment on bigger game as I have not taken any so that will have to wait untill next season. Sure do miss having the old man to hunt with though, been gone almost 6 years now and he sure was right when he said " get close and put a big hole in them they won't make it too far and you will have enough blood trail for a blind man to follow"Told me that the 8x57 was pretty much as good as it could get for an all around big game rifle for a man who hunts not a guy who shoots. Every year I get older the more I realise how much he really taught me and how stubborn I was when I was younger. I would trade it all for one more hunt with him. Me with my Whelen and him with is 98 creeping through the dark stuff looking for elk.

 

[JD338]

Sorry to hear that you lost your Dad. He had a good insight. I am sure he is with you on all of your hunts.
The memories you made will last forever.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

338Ultra,

Good words and wonderful memories you've shared. Thanks.

 

[Oldtrader3]

.338Ultra, I have no experience with the .35 Whelen and so cannot comment on bullet performance with the 225 Partition in the Whelen but I can read a ballistics chart with the best of them and mixing metphors to prove a point is something that people do to prove a point but not always in terms of apples to apples.

Bullet1-.338 Nosler 225 grain Partition: SD=.281, BC=.454
Bullet2-.358 Nosler 225 gr Partition: SD=.279, BC=.446
Bullet3-.338 Nosler 210 Partition; SD=.263, BC=.426
Bullet4-.338 Hornady 225 gr Spire point, I won't go there because they are not the same bullet, especially not 300 fps faster in the WinMag.

.338 Federal, 210 grain Partition @2630 fps
.338 Federal, 225 grain Partition @2510 fps
.338 Win Mag, 225 grain Partition @2830 fps
.35 Whelen, 225 grain Partition @2550 fps
.358 Norma Mag, 225 grain Partition @2870 fps

Now you have a horse race between the .338 Federal (with two bullets) and the .35 Whelen and the .338 Win Mag and .358 Norma Mag and I bet that you can eat to the hole of the .338 Federal "to the edge" the same as the Whelen (apples to apples). The .358 Norma and .338 WM make a more logical grouping since they are ballistic twins as are the Whelen and Federal very close to one another.

 

[JD338]

Not quite apples to apples because the Whelen can push the 225 gr close to 2800 fps.

JD338