35 whelen- Black Bear

[sodakota]

250 grain Hornady Spire Point
H4895 powder.

 

[trailerdon]

I have always been a big fan of the .35 whelen. Although I reload never have for this rifle, "don't know why". I'm also a big fan of solid copper bullets, Barns, Gmx, etc. That being said the 225gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw has always been my bullet of choice for this caliber. Regardless, "nothing stands up to a .35 whelen"

 

[Shiv1947]

I have a savage 110 I rebarreled to 35 whelen, Im planning on bear hunting with it. It has a 24in barrel and I believe a 1-14 twist. What do you all recommend for bears and maybe some of your favorite loads? Ive only shot hornady 200gr factory loads so far with it and havent reloaded for it yet. thanks!

IMR 4320 Speer 250gr Spitzer.
6 bears killed - NO tracking necessary!!

 

[AKGuide]

I don't have a whelen but have a 350 Rem mag which is pretty close and found that it likes 225 Sierra gamekings and imr4320. It'll print cloverleaf groups at 100 yards using a 4x scope. If you want max velocity try W748 or CFE223.

 

[skipglo]

I have a savage 110 I rebarreled to 35 whelen, Im planning on bear hunting with it. It has a 24in barrel and I believe a 1-14 twist. What do you all recommend for bears and maybe some of your favorite loads? Ive only shot hornady 200gr factory loads so far with it and havent reloaded for it yet. thanks!

For the bears....I recommend lots of used cooking oil poured over Oats!...lol

.

 

[RCHunter]

Got my Rem 700 Classic in .35 Whelen years ago. Talked to Bob Milek in Thermopolis, WY when he was still alive. Bob Recommended H4895, and it gave wonderful accuracy. Tried RL15, and it supercharged the Whelen! Picked up an extra 200 fps!

 

[Hand Skills]

225gr Nosler Partition

 

[Edd]

Hammer has a couple of bullets, 254gr & 259 gr, they made specifically for a Whelen.

 

[grizz1874]

Have a whelen I've never even shot. Barrel for my encore...guess I should.... Never found a need between the 338wm and 375 h&h... Guess this is an excuse to break it out.have a 3x9x40 Bushnell elite I can toss on it for a fling

 

[35 Whelen]

The speer 220gr. and nosler 225gr. partions shoots very well out of my 35 Whelens. One of them is a savage re-barreled with an E.R. Shaw 1 in 14 twist. The accubonds do good as well just not as accurate as the partions. I have some 225gr. sierra's and some speer 250gr. I want to try. I think the 225 and 250gr bullets are the best all around bullets for the 35 Whelen. It has became my favorite cartridge.

 

[Kaptoe]

Glad there wasn't a "not enough for black bear" post in this thread. Never had a whelen but have about every LA cartridge around it and can't imagine anything in the 180 to 225 range of decent construction that wouldn't work great

 

[18whlsrolin]

Speer has added previously unused powders and are getting 300 win mag velocity out of the Whelen per bullet weight. I can confirm these velocities with my 24" barreled savage with a apache gun works barrel. Speer load data is free

Not sure why docs will not show without downloading so I'll try and post pics of 180 & 220 grain.

 

[Alibiiv]

Glad there wasn't a "not enough for black bear" post in this thread. Never had a whelen but have about every LA cartridge around it and can't imagine anything in the 180 to 225 range of decent construction that wouldn't work great

I you have never had a Whelen you would find that it is a great cartridge with many applications. The Whelen is easy to reload for, there are great number of bullet weight/powder combinations. For me bullet selection has been withing the 200-225gr range for bear hunting. I really like the Barnes bullets for bear hunting, however have loaded Nosler's 225gr Accubond, but never used one to harvest a bear. I started out with a 338WinMag, however the recoil was too stout for my liking. I'd done a lot of reading on 30+ caliber cartridges, found a fairly large following for the Whelen, checked the ballistics and the rest was history. You get close to the terminal ballistics of the .338WinMag without the powder, thus less recoil. Presently I have the Whelen, a .358 Winchester and a .270AI in the arsenal. I recently picked up a rifle that I intend to make a donor for a build. I am having trouble deciding what to build because the Whelen seems to fit what I intend to hunt. The cartridge is extremely efficient when it comes harvesting game, it is bang-flop, there is not a lot of tissue damage around the entry/exit holes (and..always entry/exit holes), it's just a good hunting cartridge. Why this round has never really taken off is beyond me. In 1988 Remington came out with their Remington 700 Classic in 35 Whelen, try to locate one on the shooting market, they are impossible to find. Ruger also manufactured the Whelen in their Ruger 77, try to find one of those on the market anywhere, they are a rare and very desirable rifle. People who have Whelens and who have hunted with them become loyal followers to the cartridge.

 

[Kaptoe]

Alibiiv,

Thank you for the 35 Whelan detail. I am still stuck on my 21" 338 win mag, which is a great shooter, but I think I have followed you but without changing caliber. I load 185 and 200gr bullets over 62gr of H4895 and call it a day getting
between 2810 and 2870 fps and it shoots great

I am done with 68grs of powder X and a 250gr bullet in a 338 win mag, not fun to shoot and not sure I am killing anything better