The Whelen is sending the 338 Win mag packing

O

orchemo

Handloader
Dec 13, 2006
600
139
Been shooting the 35 Whelen lately getting ready for elk season and I must say, the 338 Win Mag is going to find a new home.

Those 225 gr AB's loaded way out there with a case full of RL-15 - what is not to love.

This will be the second 338 Win Mag I have owned and the second one leaving my safe. While it is a great round, I just do not find myself needing it.

Now, if Sako would start to chamber a 35 Whelen in a Finnlight !!!! WOW !!!
 
I am with you buddy. I have both as well and they run so close I am rebarreling my 338 to a little bigger 338 case to get some separation. While there isn't a darned thing wrong with a 338 Win Mag as is, but with the Whelen pushing the 225 ABs at 2700+ and the 250's at 2600+ I find they are too close.

My Whelen will be going to Idaho as well. Should be a big year for the Whelen by the sounds of it!
 
They do fill pretty much the same niche - a big game rifle, more than a .30 cal, but not silly big.

I think that's why I won't get a .338 or a .35, because I've already got the .375, and well heck, it does all I need/want from an over-.30 cal rifle.

I understand picking just one, and the way those Whelens are shooting the 225 AccuBond... Well heck, that just seems like a great combination!

Guy
 
The 35 Whelen is pretty much a 338 Win Mag when loaded up with RL 15.
The higher BC of the 338 wins so if you desire to shoot long, get a 338 RUM or 338 Lapua. The 35 Whelen is a 400 yd elk rifle with the right scope.

JD338
 
I guess that differences are what makes a horse race a race, but there is no .338 WM which I ever owned that I would dump for a .35 Whelen! Nothing against the Whelen at all but bullet selection and performance keep me in the game with the .338/.340's etc. I realise that this borders on heresy in certain circles but C'est la guerre!
 
Oldtrader3":60jkzu40 said:
I guess that differences are what makes a horse race a race, but there is no .338 WM which I ever owned that I would dump for a .35 Whelen! Nothing against the Whelen at all but bullet selection and performance keep me in the game with the .338/.340's etc. I realise that this borders on heresy in certain circles but C'est la guerre!
Click to expand...

I am much the same Charlie, but with them being so close and there being more than enough great 35 caliber bullets for the Whelen, I want something more like a 340 WBY in performance. I figure since the Whelen sits pretty close to the 338WM, stepping up to a 338 of bigger case will be a little more fun. I do like the 338 Win Mag alot though. It is the one that is hard to beat for about anything.
 
There are several excellent cartridges that I have never owned that will do about everything anyone could ask. I've recommended them and sold them to others who were looking for a great rifle, but I always had other cartridges that met the need for me. The 338WM is among those that I've never owned, though I've done load development for a few and shot a number of others for various reasons. It is a great cartridge and readily recommends itself to almost anyone; yet, I've never owned one. I do, however, have a 35 Whelen. Poor bullet selection and all, it will do what I need. I may at some future point buy a 338WM, and even pick up some of those other cartridges that I've yet to own.
 
I drank the Byron Dalymple and Charles Askins Cool-Aid between, starting 1958-1961 on the .338 WM and the .340 Weatherby. Plus Larry Thompson, Marketing Director for Weatherby, Southgate was friend of mine for several years and pushed the .340 as the ultimate long range elk rifle.

This was consumated when I bought my first High Power Browning, .338 WM in 1967 for elk hunting. The .35 Whelen was still a wildcat then with almost no bullets extent and little factory ammo except a few boxes of the .358 Norma Mag availible locally. From 1961 until fairly recently, the .340 was the only .338 full length magnum case rifle on the market and its record on elk is unblemished among the cognizenti of such arcane knowlege. That is until recently with the .338 Lapua and .338 RUM et cetera coming to market.

The damage was done with me, I have owned a Browning Mauser, (3) Pre 64 Winchester Model 70's plus, one USRAC .338 WM and now a .340 Weatherby for the past (4) years. Alo I have a .338 Federal now. Old habits die hard and I have never had an elk walk away from a well placed .338 magnum bullet. Plus now, I have the new toy of a .338 Federal which has obsoleted my .30-06 and relegated it to the gun safe as far as an elk rifle.

I guess everyboy's caliber preferences, ownership and hunting patterns are still somewhat personally directed by historical experiences.
 
Steve, everyone here will permit you to retain your name, even should you come over to the dark side. :grin:
 
Don't let them siren song you over Steve! There is no turning back when you have bought into and drank the Cool aid. Next thing you know, you will even forsake your using and hunting with .338 WM as Scotty has! :mrgreen:
 
Too Funny.

Nope my 338winmag has become one with me. Not even for a new one.
A little secret though. She is still a virgin, but I mean to change that this rifle season.
 
Jettison that evil rifle that promises so much and delivers so little, and do so now, Steve. Now is the time to embrace the dark side. Here, have a nice glass of Kool-Aid? :twisted:
 
A number of years ago I have a 35 Whelen with a Douglas barrel and Savage action and I also had my 375 H & H. The day after I sold my Whelen I knew that I would have another one.
It is close as can be to a 338 win mag with out the mag. I enjoy mine and this one will be handed down to my family when I go home :wink:
I have never owned the 338 win mag but have used one a number of times and they are a very fine cartridge but I suggest to everyone that there is lots of room here in the 35 Whelen Club so come on over and get er done :mrgreen:

Blessings,
Dan
 
I always thought the .340 Weatherby was the rompinest stompinest production cartridge around, and I guess it was for a time. You can't take much away from a cartridge like that...and the .338 Winchester is most certainly no slouch either. But then again---is there a cartridge out there that rivals the performance you get with 60 grains of powder in the .35 Whelen? In days of old they hunted the biggest baddest critters on the face of the earth with lesser cartridges...some are even rumored to have survived!

From my own unique and most peculiar perspective (I do acknowledge that we all have at least one of them), there is no greater cartridge for use in North America that the .35 Whelen.
 
Man, you guys are not only drinking the Cool Aid, you have it running in your veins! :mrgreen:
 
Charlie, I am setting at an airport reading this thread and I find myself feeling a bit worried as I head for my next hunt using the the old and outdated 300 and 375 H & H.. Charlie or Scotty or anyone, could someone please print out the ballistics and trajectory of the 35 whelen and the 340 weatherby for me. Being a simple country girl I think I missed something. Keep it simple for me, say a 200 or 225 gr with what the Velocity, energy, and trajectory would be at say 300 yards Please compare apples to apples--dont hand load one to the max and store buy the other. Just curious thank you
 
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