Thoughts on 35 calibers

[iShoot17]

Over the years, I have near exclusively switched to using a Model 600 350 Rem Mag for whitetail and bears in PA.

While in the thick woods, hoofing it up some of the big hills around here, or crawling through mountain laurel or green briar, it is perfection. It hammers all game, it is light, and it is short. Your intents are a little different than what I use mine for, but I still believe it to be a great round.

With that said - the further you push it, the more I would personally start to search for something else. The greater majority of my shots are 75 yard and in (and probably more like 50 and in), but generally though branch / leaves / laurel / etc. Larger diameter bullets seem to shine in that type of arena in my experience. The 350 Rem Mag is a hammer and is essentially the short action version of the Whelen.

 

[AZShooter]

An added bonus you can shoot pistol bullets too! IMO this would only apply to the 358 win or the 35 Whelen as they can be downloaded.

 

[1wildcatfan]

I'm considering building a 35 whelen or something similar. My goal is to have a hammer bullets at enough velocity to take a deer at 350 yards. The other consideration is weight and recoil. So I'm considering the 178 to 203 grain weigh bullets. Would like to keep weight close to 7 1/2 lbs bare rifle. Any and all comments suggestions/ thoughts about cartridges bullets etc. are appreciated. Thanks Tribb

Love my 358 STA. Was a recent thread on this. Have three 35 Whelens also.

 

[Bearguide444]

I went 338-06 due to lack of bullet selection in 35cal. But I built my 338-06 several years ago so bullet selection might be different now.

 

[memtb]

I went 338-06 due to lack of bullet selection in 35cal. But I built my 338-06 several years ago so bullet selection might be different now.

I doubt that it'll ever match the .338 for availability…..but, has gotten better over the years! memtb

 

[cajun]

350 rem mag was ahead of it's time (6.5 rem mag as well). It's a hammer at short to intermediate ranges. If I was going to do one I would do 35 Whelen for brass availability.

 

[Tom264]

358 wssm throwing 225 Accubonds at 2425 fps isn't nothing to sneeze at.
Smacking my 10" gong at 300 sure lets you know it packs a punch.

 

[eshell]

358 wssm throwing 225 Accubonds at 2425 fps isn't nothing to sneeze at.
Smacking my 10" gong at 300 sure lets you know it packs a punch.

True, nothing to sneeze at for sure, but it seems like it would deliver more than that... That's .358 Winchester territory (up to 2,500+ FPS with IMR4895) and the .35 Whelen will exceed that by a couple hundred FPS with several powders.

 

[436]

350 rem mag was ahead of it's time (6.5 rem mag as well). It's a hammer at short to intermediate ranges. If I was going to do one I would do 35 Whelen for brass availability.

Nailed that one, especially the 6.5 Rem Mag, I had one when they first came out in the Rem M700 BDL and loved it, I wanted one in the same model in .350 Rem Mag but never got around to picking one up, sold the 6.5 Rem Mag big mistake on both those calibers on my part Cheers.

 

[Tom264]

True, nothing to sneeze at for sure, but it seems like it would deliver more than that... That's .358 Winchester territory (up to 2,500+ FPS with IMR4895) and the .35 Whelen will exceed that by a couple hundred FPS with several powders.

Yes you're right.
My load is one that I've been using for years but now I've got 300 rounds of sized brass, a bunch of powders and 500 225 and 200 Accubond bullets I'm gonna start pushing it harder.

 

[Tom264]

This past spring I finally found some reloading dies for it.
Before that I was using a conglomeration of .357/.264/?? dies to reload.
It worked I would use the .357 dies to neck size and then the .264 seater plug in a set of ??? (Can't remember at the moment) dies to make some rounds.
Had a ton of 25 wssm brass that I couldn't size so kept reusing my original 25 rounds that my gunsmith gave me.
After losing a few and noticing some starting to get wonky I did a hard search for some 358 wssm dies.
Found some this spring but didn't have time to reload for this particular rifle plus I had 10 rounds ready to go.
But now….im going to attack it.

 

[coueskiller43]

The 358 Win is my favorite "short range" deer rifle. It hits HARD! 178 Sledgehammer bullets at 2650 with TAC powder. I've considered building a 35 Whelen but the 358 win gets it done for me. I agree with the others that a 358 STA would be sweet!

 

[memtb]

I agree with the others that a 358 STA would be sweet!

It's just so versatile……you can always load it down, but, there's limits on how much you can load the others up!


Ah……the wonderful options of hand loading! memtb

 

[VinceMule]

OP is wanting the new rifle for deer.....hummm........