I love the 35 Whelen

[milkman]

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A lady at church is having a hard time making ends meet so I have spent the last few days trying to get her some meat. I finally had some success this evening.
We got about 1/2" of sleet and freezing rain about 4 days ago and the deer haven't been stirring much. Temps were from the low teens to the low thirties and hunting was miserable and walking on the glaze ice was a hazard to life and limb.
I had only seen one deer since last Saturday and it gave me the slip in a thicket before I could find a hole to shoot through. I was starting to get discouraged when it warmed up today into the low 40's and the ice was melting and getting rotten. I eased back to my stand about 3:00 PM and had only been there for about 45 min when I saw what looked like a yearling buck moving from my left headed for a thick bunch of saplings and vines to my front. He wasn't wasting any time and before I could get on him he had moved into the thicket and I could only get glimpses of movement as he worked his way deeper. Just as I was about to give up he came back out in a hurry- In such a hurry that I again couldn't find a hole to shoot through and watched him disappear again.
While wondering what had caused him to leave the thicket, I noticed something suspicous and put the scope on it. It was a part of a does head with a beady little eye surveying the goings on. Once she lowered her head I couldn't see anything of her and after 10 minutes or so gave up and settled back down and started hunting again. I heard rotten ice crunch to my front and saw the doe had worked her way out directly to my front about 40 yds from my stand. She was behind 2 large oaks and I could only see a back leg on one side and an ear on the other. She finally moved a couple of steps and I tried to make sure that I closed my eyes, flinched and jerked the trigger all at the same time. She ran about 20 yards painting the ground red then piled up.
The cartridge was 35 Whelen, 285g boolit, at about 1750 fps. Entry was on the left side through ribs, through the heart and out through ribs on the right side. It appeared that the 50/50 water dropped alloy did a great job, If you can tell from the heart/lung picture, most of the upper part of the heart is destroyed, entry hole was about an inch where it hit a rib and exit was about 2" through a rib.
The third picture is fat!!! I have never seen that much fat on an Arkansas deer.

[seaboltm]

Nice deer. The Whelen is a fine old cartridge and under appreciated by most.

[mikeym1a]

Well, good shooting solves the meat problem. Now what about the potatoes, carrots, and onions??
:smile:

[TXGunNut]

35 Whelen? What's not to love? Good job!
My brother shot a big fat doe this past weekend, his knife was cold and the fat stuck to it like roof sealer. Had to scrub it off. I like a nice fat doe or young buck, few critters taste better.

[35 shooter]

Good job...and with my favorite cal. Never knew there were so many whelen shooters out there till i joined this site. Just curious about what powder you were using behind that 285 grain boolit.

[milkman]

I'm using Rel 15, 38.5g if my memory is correct. about 24k psi. It's well mannered behind the stock and deadly in front of it. I get very few DRT . Even heart shot like this one run some, but most fall in sight of where they were shot, and very little meat damage.

[TCLouis]

Great Cause, Good Hunt.

Congratulations!

[357maximum]

Meat for the needy, tallow waiting to be rendered, and some fun with a super fine caliber....what's not to love bout that? AWESOME

[white eagle]

job well done

[GunnyJohn]

I love the Whelen. Good on you for lending a helping hand. And it don't hurt to have a little fun at the same time.

[missionary5155]

Howdy milkman and Congradulations !
Thanks for the write up and pictures. It was enjoyable reading.
I look forward to thumping with a caliber .375 Whelen (JES job) when I return next year.
Keep popping the corn crunchers !
Mike in Peru

[35Whelen]

Nice job Milkman...good for you for helping at a time of need. No better feeling than helping someone out when you can. Love my Whelen and have had it for nearly 25 years. I was my first rifle I ever built. Nothing ever walks away from it, a very decisive killer. His little brother is a Ruger M77 Hawkeye in stainless with an ultralight laminate grey stock... haven't shot it yet with cast, but can't wait to try the new 358009 mold I got in this years group buy. What were you sizing your bullets to? Round nose or a HP. I ordered my mold with a very small HP and a flat pin....I am thinking I will use the flat pin more than the HP.

[milkman]

35 Whelen
The boolit is a 70% meplat flatpoint that I am sizing to .360. It seems to kill as well using harder alloys, but that 50/50 showed some expansion with no additional meat loss. I literally cut within 1/2" of the boolit holes when dressing out the deer. Goodsteel built me a .358 Win this year and I am looking forward to getting it bloody, it is a beautiful rifle, but man I do like the Whelen. As far as I am concerned the 35 cal. rifles can't be beat for whitetail hunting.

[35Whelen]

Thanks Milkman.......

I love my Whelen too, but that little Ruger is such a sweet feeling rifle in my hands. Scaled down version of my Whelen and isn't running very far behind for fps either. Certainly not enough for any animal to notice.....probably less than 100 fps with my top loads. I am sure it will become my go to in short order. Thanks for the info on the bullet. Such an impressive round that is all out of proportion to what the papers say. Anyone who says the 35's are short range cartridges has never hand loaded it. My longest shot with my Whelen was 400 yds on a moose, and dropped like he was hit from a bolt of blue out of the heavens. I would not hesitate to tangle with the largest critter on the N American continent with that gun. Confidence is always high walking with it.

[taco650]

What boolit are you using? I want to rebore my 30-06 to 35 Whelen. I've followed TXGunNut's trials and tribulations with his Thor boolit. He and 35Whelen have really encouraged me and given good advice. Your story just adds wood to the fire.

[35Whelen]

Taco.......has Txgun had problems with his 235 grain Thor bullet. That was the next one I was going to order with Tom at Accurate moulds? I got my group buy for the 358009 this year, and am just itching to give it a go....should auger a hole lengthwise through just about anything you want to poke with it. Thinking the Thor 235 grain would be a great round in the 358 Win.......so please let me know if Tx has had problems with his. Thanks

[TXGunNut]

I'm mainly having feeding issues with the Thor boolit, may have as much to do with my rifle as the boolit. Bringing a WFN boolit in from a staggered mag into a M70 chamber is a bit of a chore. The RD 359-190 is enough shorter and has a bit smaller meplat so I'm using it for now.
What rifle are you planning on loading it in? I'd be happy to send you a few boolits to build dummy rounds to see how they feed.

[35Whelen]

Hi TxgunNut. I am planning on shooting it in both my Ruger M77 Hawkeye and my Whelen. My Whelen is a custom build which is an Interarms Mark X action with a Kreiger barrel with a 1 in 12 twist rate. The Hawkeye is also a 1 in 12 twist. Thank you very much for the offer. You want me to PM you an address?

[35Whelen]

It's either that bullet or the 360-240A from Accurate molds.

[TXGunNut]

PM sent.

[milkman]

Taco
The boolit is a custom order from Mountain Molds. I used his software to design it with lots of help from Bassackward. I still have the design specs if you would like, or I can send you some boolits if you want to try them. Goodsteel is using them in a M1 with good results also. The down side is finding load info for anything in that weight range.

[milkman]

Txgun
I have some feeding issues also with the bottom cartridge in the mag. The rifle started out as a 300 Win mag and the follower is where my problem lies. I have found a work around by keeping an empty brass in the bottom of the mag. It lowers capacity by 1 but solved the feeding problem. Chances of getting more than 1 shot in Arkansas brush are pretty slim anyway.

[MBTcustom]

Milkman,
Nice cartridge, nice boolit, nice rifle, nice deer, nice truck and nice knife! (I really like the knife LOL!)
The deer are all being dressed out fat this year. The one I got had over an inch on her back, flanks and belly. It's simply the fattest deer I have ever seen this year, and they are everywhere. Some of the biggest racks I have ever seen in Arkansas too.
Whatever happened over that mild summer, I hope we get another one!

That's a good deer to be giving to someone in need. I would lay money that the steaks will be as tender as the backstraps (at least they are on mine).
Good on ya. That's why you got the Genesis. What goes around comes around.

[milkman]

Goodsteel
The old timers ( hey wait,,, I am one ) say that animals putting on that much fat is a sign of a hard winter, but I think it might have had something to do with the tremendous acorn crop this year. However winter has come on gang busters so far so maybe old sayings stick around for a reason.

[siamese4570]

Congrats Milkman! I killed my first with a boolit this year. Not to hijack your thread but I have a question for all you 35 whelen owners. Been thinking about buying a handi rifle in 35 whelen but the barrel twist is 1-16. I was afraid that it wouldn't stabilize the heavier boolits like your 285 grain boolit. What do you guys think?
siamese 4570

[TheGrimReaper]

Man. that is really nice of you. Very nice indeed. Nice deer too, and good shooting.

[taco650]

Congrats Milkman! I killed my first with a boolit this year. Not to hijack your thread but I have a question for all you 35 whelen owners. Been thinking about buying a handi rifle in 35 whelen but the barrel twist is 1-16. I was afraid that it wouldn't stabilize the heavier boolits like your 285 grain boolit. What do you guys think?
siamese 4570

+1. I've thought exactly the same thing so I could leave my Ruger "unmolested" and wouldn't have to worry about feeding issues. Slower twists usually work better for lighter boolits IIRC.

[35Whelen]

I don't think you could drive it fast enough to get the required RPM to stabilize it. Mine is a 1 in 12 and it stabilizes the heavies very well.

[milkman]

Siamese45-70
If I remember correctly the Handi 35 Whelen had a problem. It may have been the slow twist, I just can't recall. You might check the Handi forum at Greybeards, they can answer any question you can come up with about the Handi rifle there.

[TXGunNut]

Txgun
I have some feeding issues also with the bottom cartridge in the mag. The rifle started out as a 300 Win mag and the follower is where my problem lies. I have found a work around by keeping an empty brass in the bottom of the mag. It lowers capacity by 1 but solved the feeding problem. Chances of getting more than 1 shot in Arkansas brush are pretty slim anyway.

Good plan, I solved it by loading four with the RD 359-190. South Texas brush seldom offers a second shot so I'm good. My 35 Whelen has a blind magazine so an empty cartridge may be problematic for me but I like the idea.

[TXGunNut]

Txgun
I have some feeding issues also with the bottom cartridge in the mag. The rifle started out as a 300 Win mag and the follower is where my problem lies. I have found a work around by keeping an empty brass in the bottom of the mag. It lowers capacity by 1 but solved the feeding problem. Chances of getting more than 1 shot in Arkansas brush are pretty slim anyway.

Good plan, I solved it by loading four with the RD 359-190. South Texas brush seldom offers a second shot so I'm good. My 35 Whelen has a blind magazine so an empty cartridge may be problematic for me but I like the idea.