35 Whelen or 300 Win??

[Doug Hamilton]

Because you can shoot 250-280 gr. bullets. Big medicine.

Many animals from about 5 yards to 384 and sized from.a small impala ewe through a bull moose have.met.my 300 Win Mag by way.of 200 grain AccuBonds. None of them lived long emough.to.complain that I.wasn't using a heavier, slower bullet.

 

[mgstucson]

why would anyone choose the whelen? What will it do that the 300 win won't?

35 Whelen will shoot 300gr and 310gr bullets at around 2500fps. 300 Win can't even come close for momentum and penetration on DG at short range. Taylor Knockout Value of 39.6 vs 27.1. ME 4301 vs 3821. While the 300 Win is no slouch, it has nowhere near the short range capability on dangerous game that the 35 Whelen has.

 

[dogcat1]

.300 WM or 35 Whalen or 9.3x62 all do the job. I don’t have a Whalen, but I have the other two. Right bullet in right spot will work.

 

[Rule 303]

why would anyone choose the whelen? What will it do that the 300 win won't?

It puts a bigger hole on the animal, and is a better killer of bigger animals. Fairly simple when you think about it.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

why would anyone choose the whelen? What will it do that the 300 win won't?

@Pasme
If you have to ask you have never had a Whelen
It will launch a heavier bullet faster than the 300
Try getting 2,900fps out of the 300 with a 225gn accubonds Ain't going to happen
Try loading a 310gn to 2,455fps in the 300, again ain't going to happen
The Whelen will deliver over 2,000fpe of energy at 400 yards and shoot as flat as a 30-06.
The Whelen just leave the 300 at the starting gate with no hope of catching up to the Whelen.
The Whelen even gives the 338 wimpchester magnun a run for its money.
So in answer to you question what will the Whelen do that the 300 won't?
PLENTY
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen, not sure what was going on. The Whelen’s groups weren’t terrible, just noticeably bigger than the 300 Win’s. I may have to learn to hand load to get the best out of my Whelen

@Fatback
Handloading the Whelen turns it into an entirely different beast mate. You will be surprised at what it will do
Bob

 

[Deepfork]

why would anyone choose the whelen? What will it do that the 300 win won't?

Shoot a 245gr .358 bullet at 2836fps (Hammer "Stone Hammer")
Shoot a 250gr .358 bullet at 2720fps (Norma "Oryx")

And why would anyone choose a 300WM? What will it do that a .338WM will not?

 

[MS 9x56]

why would anyone choose the whelen? What will it do that the 300 win won't?

Make a bigger hole with less bloodshot meat.

 

[CBH Australia]

why would anyone choose the whelen? What will it do that the 300 win won't?

Are you trolling Bob?

I own a .300wm and not a Whelen so let me help you.

Ohh, I have one, it can be rebarrelled to a .280a.i to make a better plains game rifle.

Well that’s what I done with my .25-06, The .25 cal is Bobs other pet calibre.

 

[CBH Australia]

Shoot a 245gr .358 bullet at 2836fps (Hammer "Stone Hammer")
Shoot a 250gr .358 bullet at 2720fps (Norma "Oryx")

And why would anyone choose a 300WM? What will it do that a .338WM will not?

Horses for courses and we all have our preferences. I have a .300wm as it’s a cartridge I always wanted based on some preconceived idea that it would suit my purpose.

Actually it’s the second I have owned because I was already geared up so it it gave me an option to keep the cartridge as an option for hunting.

I have not owned a .30-06, .35 Whelen or .338 wm

The .308 is common as muck in Australia so it is a good option for hunters as it can cover many hunting opportunities and has been used for professional culling of Buffalo year’s ago.

I tend to like 7mm cartridges but have not owned a 7mmRM and probably won’t, I probably won’t buy any of the others mentioned either unless I have a purpose or swap out one I have just to change it up.

I just learned about the 7swc that looks like a shortened version of the .280a.i but scaled to seat out a high BC bullet in a short action magazine like a .308 . It would like to consider that as a target round because it’s the new and shiny.

 

[Rifleman97]

Given you are taking a 404J I would select the 300 WIN simply for ammo availability but the 35W
is a very capable round! If you were taking a 375 then the 300 is the winner, if the big rifle was a 416-458 then the 35W would make more sense!
Bottom line take what you shoot best and have fun!
Leave the 243 and 6.5 Creedmoor for tent stakes!

The 404 Jeffery fires a .423 bullet if memory serves, which is within your .416-458 range, but regardless I’m with Bob Nelsen and vote 35 whelen 100%. I love all of the ‘06 derivatives, and 35 whelen has had quite the popularity uptick near me to the point it’s always kept in stock in my local gunstore. Iowa allowing the 35 whelen has really brought it up in popularity, there’s even supposedly going to be some new factory rifles chambered in it soon.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

It puts a bigger hole on the animal, and is a better killer of bigger animals. Fairly simple when you think about it.

A well constructed bullet at a much higher velocity kills bigger animals just as dead and so far always leaves a big exit hole. It would make following up easier, if I ever needed to follow up. DRT makes trailing pretty.much irrelevant. The speed makes for a greater shock to the system. Now that's really simple.

 

[Choupique]

225gn accubond that left the barrel a skosh under 2,900fps.

That's rolling. My .338 win mag 230gr loads are 2800ish from a 26" barrel.

 

[Rifleman97]

That's rolling. My .338 win mag 230gr loads are 2800ish from a 26" barrel.

It’s amazing what some extra surface area to push on can do for velocity

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

That's rolling. My .338 win mag 230gr loads are 2800ish from a 26" barrel.

@Choupique
250s at 2,700 out of the Whelen. What's not to love
Bob

 

[mdwest]

I own both a whelen and a 300 win mag..

I love them both…

Flip a coin… either will drop anything reasonable you shoot with one as long as you put the bullet where it belongs..

 

[CBH Australia]

I own both a whelen and a 300 win mag..

I love them both…

Flip a coin… either will drop anything reasonable you shoot with one as long as you put the bullet where it belongs..

Cool, so no need to change from a win mag to a Whelen.

 

[Deepfork]

30-06 based cartridges are the best! I shoot and reload for the 25-06, 280AI, 30-06, 338-06AI and 35 Whelen. Next is going to be a 375/06 Improved!

I own a 7mm Rem Mag and a .300 WM and a .338 WM. I never mess with the belted magnums anymore because of my obsession with the 06 based stuff. It all started a couple of years ago with the 35 Whelen for me. The 280AI is equal to the 7mm Mag with my loads, 338-06AI is very close to the 338WM. I get about 50fps more from the 338WM vs the 338-06AI with a 185gr Barns TTSX. Both of my AI rifles group better than the Magnums.

I also shoot my .308s and a .375 Ruger. A .308 will always be in my lineup but I'm hoping the performance of the 375/06 is close enough to the .375 Ruger that I can switch.

 

[Tug]

@Choupique
250s at 2,700 out of the Whelen. What's not to love
Bob

I respect Bob, he's definitely a guy who challenges ingrained stereotypes with hard facts.

With that being said, however, the whelen can only do 2700fps by burning more powder than you would think, 64gr for CFE 223 and 66gr for Alliant 2000MR

For me, for a couple of more grains, you can send a 375 H&H 270-grain bullet(similar section density to the 250gr) at 2700fps for 70grains of reloader 15 or a 300-grain TSX bullet at 2550fps for 70grs Varget, which is dangerous game legal due to calibre restrictions.

If I had the option to buy both, I would pick 375H&H over the 35 Whelen, only because it's African legal if I didn't have the option, I would pick the 35 Whelen, which is a great design.

If you already have a 375 H&H I would pick the 300 Win mag over the 35 Whelen due to unnecessary redundancies.

 

[shark_za]

Namibia is more wide open than say the Bushveld.
Longer shots are probably the norm, take the 300.
The few inches less drop can be handy.