35 Whelen

ohen cepel

New member
I have a Remington Classic in 35 Whelen. I think it is a fine rifle and I enjoy it greatly.
However, the ammo choice is not very good. Have only fired the Remington 200 and 250gr Corelock.
Has anyone else had any experience with other factory ammo or do you have suggestions for reloads?
Any reloading experience would be appreciated.

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He who dares wins.
NRA Life Memeber
 
Ohen. Welcome to the world of .35 Whelan. I hear where you are coming from on ammo. I think Federal makes a premium load with a 225 gr. bullet but I have not tried it. It seems .35 Whelan ammo is almost impossible to find here in Tucson anymore. Nobody seems to want to carry it, and some places won't even order it for me. I don't much consider that a problem though. I reload. I have had good results with the 250 gr. Speer, 250 gr. Hornady spire point and round nose. I have not tried any 225 gr. bullets yet. As I use my .35's for elk, I prefer the heavier bullets. What ammo I have been able to find, by the way, has been at gun shows, and most of that has been 200 gr. stuff.
I feed two Whelans, a custom Mauser on an Oberndorf action and a Ruger Mod.77. I have placed the Ruger in a Ramline synthetic stock, which helps reduce recoil to some degree.
I have not loaded any yet, but I came across a box of 275 gr. Hornady round nose bullets for the .35. Might come in handy if I ever get a chance to hunt Kodiak Bears or moose or maybe a T-Rex.
I hope you enjoy your Whelan as much as I do mine.
Paul B.

[This message has been edited by Paul B. (edited July 19, 2000).]
 
Paul,
I went to school in Tucson years ago. Great town! Too bad Jensen's gun shop went down hill.
Have you ever loaded it with light bullets like 158/125gr? I would think it could take the handgun bullets but have never read anything about it but one article. Pressures and purpose might be an issue.
I bought a sub-cal adapter to let me shoot 9mm rds in it (I don't know why except for the novelty, I really thought it would be quieter than it is)
I have tons of the remington, usually buy it for about $10 from guys who are glad to see it go.
I think it is a great classic round that is overlooked by guys looking for laser cannons.
I bought it since I move often and it lets me hunt anything in North America.
Sounds like you have some great rifles for it.
Have you had any experience with the pump action rifles chambered for it? They are about all I still see chambered for it.
Thanks for the info.

------------------
He who dares wins.
NRA Life Memeber
 
Ohen. No. I have not tried any of the lightweight pistol bullets in my Whelans. The only bullets I use are the 250 grain.
From what I understand, you can blame "Slick Willie" for Jensen's downfall. "Butch" Jensen ordered about $2 million worth of AK's and SKS's. About the time they landed in San Francisco, or L.A. (not sure which) our illustrious Pervert in Chief put out his executive order banning the importation of suck nasty little goodies. Jensen's could not pay them, so were bought out by The Arizona Sportsman, a Phoenix based gun dealer. The only reason the jensen name is still on the building, it the Jensen family owns the building, and Butch was guaranteed a job as manager. One thing, the Arizona Sortsman has sure screwed up what was one a great gun store. I've tried ordering stuff, like certain bullets for my rifles, and the refuse to do it. The components shelves are always understocked. Some of the older employees were fired, and from what I understand, most of the current people only get minimum wage, or close to it. Most of these poorly paid "clerks" are ruse as hell, and let you know that they "know it all" and that you are stupid.
I've been a shooter for all practical purposes since I was six years old. Shot my first rifle then, and was hooked. Didn't get to shoot much until I was eleven, but did my book learning. Have worked for a commercial bullet caster and reloaded, a gunsmith, and had a custom reloading business for a while. I feel I have enough exoerience and knowledge that those "clerks" can't snow me to well. I love it when they tell me my Whelan is obsolete, and has no range. That's when I ask them to stand out at 300 yards, and we'll see if it has no range. They sure back down in a hurry.
Anyway, that's the dope on what happened to Jensen's, as I understand it. The name is there, but it ain't Jensen's.
Paul B.
 
I've loaded some Hornady 158 gr JHP in my 35
Whelen to velocitys around 2600 fps with pretty good results. Fun for plinking etc.
Never put it on paper or taken game with it.
 
I purchased 6 boxes of FEDERAL Premium .35 Whelen TROPHY BONDED BEAR CLAW 225 gr., for $ 27.04 per box from the Ammo Bank (1-800-357-9757). The process is very simple. Look up their web page at (http://www.ammobank.com) and down load an age verification form. Answer the required questions and then mail it to them. After allowing a few days for the delivery of the form, pick up the phone and place the order with your credit card. They ship by UPS ground at no charge and I did not pay any taxes. Not unlike you, I have found .35 Whelen ammunition in 200 gr. Remingtons in most shops in Idaho and Montana. However, I could not find any Federal Premiums and that is the round with which I want to hunt. The Ammo Bank solved the problem and I thought you would like to know more about this option. CP.
 
Found this on another forum
(link below, click on return to Kitco Homepage to get to the current posts)

"An interesting round, developed using a Thompson Contender, was a 35 Whelan, that was used less than a normal load, to bring down the muzzle velocity to subsonic, which made the round virtually noiseless. This might be hard to do with a long barrel, but they were have excellent results with the contender, and the accuracy was un-F*cking believeable."
http://www.kitcomm.com/comments/gold/2000q4/2000_10/1001021.164022.daveeeeee.htm
 
The 35 whelen is a great caliber to reload for. I had one for a while.The rifle I had it in was defective from the factory and I traded it off and found a 350Rem Mag in a Remington Classic and it is not in danger of going anywhere.balistics are very close between the two calibers.I have found the 180grain Speer to be a fine deer load,and plenty accurate and flat shooting enought for me.Also I have shot several deer with the 200grain Sierra round nose and I have found it to be a very decisive round for deer.I have shot 158grain jacked hollow points at about1800fps. they were very pleasent and accurate for plinking or pesk shooting.
 
I've loaded some 225 BT for my encore pistol.Using H-4895 accuracy is excellent and velocity is at 2400fps.
 
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