35 Whelen vs 338-06

[Rob404]

I have a Savage 110 that I re-barreled to 338-06 and it a solid shooter just find a 30-06 and swap out the barrel no need for any bolt work. My barrel came from Apache Arms but i'm sure Pac Nor or Green Mountain can supply the same quality. that being said if I can't get my 375HH to shoot solid groups I won't hesitate to pack up my Rem 700 in 35 Whelen for my next Africa trip.

 

[Ray B]

The shortcoming of a rebore to larger caliber is the loss of metal. The barrel has exterior and interior measurements. If the interior is expanded from .308" to "338" or .358" the resulting barrel will have much less metal in it and there is no way to add to the barrel's exterior contour to allow for the resulting thinness. A barrel originally built for .338 or .358" will have the desired contour and weight. If the .308" barrel started out with a heavy taper, then all is well, however most barrels were of sporter contour leaving the rebore as thinner than desired.

 

[Milehighshooter]

Maybe, unlikely in the case of the 338. Factory guns have the same outside dimensions for ease of manufacturing. A 7mm Rem, 300 Win, and 338 Win from the same model within any major company, all have the same outside diameter. Same with a 243 260 7-08 308 and 338 federal. A rem 700 or Savage 10 on those 308 base will have identical outside diameters. To be safe you only need .2-.25 overall wall thickness at the end of the barrel over the bore. Thats total, JES will do .1 on each wall, Dan Pederson will do .125 or more, so .2 or .250 overall. 308 would be 508 min. Most factory rifles are very generous in barrel walls even in standard contour.

A 358 will likely be heavier and it may be one reason they aren't made as much. Ditto for big bores. That is why the Ruger 375 RSM is a tank but the 416 or 458 feel more trim, or M70 Safari. They all use the same barrel contour.

 

[Rick Cox]

I am very happy with my .35 Whelen. I considered the 9.3 but the Whelen is ballistically superior, thanks to the availability of lighter slugs, but even comparing 250 grain pills the Whelen edges it out. I did not seriously consider the .338-06, I wanted more mass. Go big or go home... Having said that though, if you reload, it is waaay easier to find slugs for .338 than .358. I doubt any animal hit with the .338 is going think "lucky that dick wasn't using a 35 Whelen!"

 

[Nosler guy]

I've always looked at the practical side - still see quite a few new left hand Ruger 77's - (Hawkeyes) in .338 Win Mag still listed on websites for quite a few places.

A $1000 bucks - you have a good dependable rifle, control round feed, standard calibre, lots of bullet options and factory loads - all handy things when you head to Africa

Kind of hard for a guy with 3- 35 Whelen's to endorse a .338... but I just did it ...

 

[Nosler guy]

Edit to last post - wasn't paying close enough attention - the Ruger77 lefties were .338 RCM - not Win Mags - might still be an option though - ammo is a bit harder to find though

 

[sestoppelman]

I am very happy with my .35 Whelen. I considered the 9.3 but the Whelen is ballistically superior, thanks to the availability of lighter slugs, but even comparing 250 grain pills the Whelen edges it out. I did not seriously consider the .338-06, I wanted more mass. Go big or go home... Having said that though, if you reload, it is waaay easier to find slugs for .338 than .358. I doubt any animal hit with the .338 is going think "lucky that dick wasn't using a 35 Whelen!"

We shouldn't get carried away here. I load and shoot both the Whelen and the 9.3x62 and while I agree that being the .358 is a tad smaller than the .366 and will with the same weight of bullet carry a bit better, its hardly something to get excited about. The 9.3 has a powder capacity advantage over the Whelen as well as a similar range of bullets, maybe a tad better with bullets of 232 to over 300 grs available, with 250 and 286 being the standard weights. The Whelen cannot muster the same velocity with any given bullet that the 62 can due to the greater capacity of the 9.3, thus basically eliminating any sectional density advantage of the smaller bore. The .338-06 shares that same advantage over the Whelen for the same reasons, SD. But like you said, "go big or go home", advantage 9.3x62. The Whelen is not its equal and certainly is not better. However to your point, no game animal is going to know the difference when shot by any of these, so it becomes more a discussion of the "hot stove league" and boils down to personal preference. Reminds me of when my late dad used to extoll the virtues of the 6.5 Swede. He loved to quote the tables of downrange velocities and remaining energies at 5 and 600 yards over larger diameter rounds like the 06 and .270. So I asked him if he planned on shooting anything at those ranges where it would matter? Not so much.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Kind of a big question here because I'm a lefty.

First, any appreciable difference in terminal performance between the two, IRL, not just on paper?

Second, I'm going to have to start with a LH .30-06 and re-barrel it (that I'm aware of, nobody offers either cartridge in a LH rifle).

Shaw offers a 35 W barrel for the Savage, but the reviews are mixed. The bad reviews say that the Shaw barrels get fouled with copper far too easily. Anyone have experience with Shaw barrels? The high point for the Shaw barrels is that they do not require a trip to a gunsmith to install the barrel.

So my choices really come down to what I consider "the Big 4" for American rifles (because I KNOW they're all available in LH 30-06, and I'm trying not to spend $2000 on a rifle once I'm all in):
1. Savage 110 or 116 (OK, they're Canadian, but close enough)
2. Rem 700
3. Win 70
4. Ruger 77

@Sgt Zim
Mate go the Savage. If you don't like the Shaw barrel Douglas do one as well.
Load the Whelen properly with 225grain Nosler accubonds @2,850fps or 250grain Speer hotcore at 2,700fps and go have fun.tge Whelen is an awesome cartridge and is capable to 400 yards with a better trajectory than the 308 loaded with 150grain SSTs.
I am a 35 Whelen snob tho.
Bob
My Stevens/savage Whelen

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Or here's a donor gun:

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/632648272

View attachment 177497

@rookhawk
Or just buy a second hand Stevens 200 in 270,or 06 for 200 bucks spend 300 bucks on a barrel and all done for 500 bucks.
Mine was more expensive due to the price difference in OZ but still only cost me 700 dollars US 0r 1,000 dollars OZ .
Bob

 

[sestoppelman]

3 year old thread here......

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

3 year old thread here......

@sestoppelman
It may be three years old Ses but with not much else to do I'm reading older posts including by Von Gruff and spike.t as well as others. Other people may not have read them yet either.
Corona restrictions suck.
Bob.

 

[leslie hetrick]

the three gunstores here don,t have one box of 9.3x62,s in stock, but do have 35 whelens and thats why i have three whelens. a remington pump a ruger #1 and a custom van-patton 98 mauser. reminton factory 35 whelen ammo is not loaded hot because of the pump action(weak extraction), but if you reload then the 9.3x62 offers nothing more than a 35 whelen does. any animal shot in the right place with either with be just as dead.

 

[sgt_zim]

Problem solved: Got a grand laying around?

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/630862712

View attachment 177496

had totally forgotten about this thread, but that's the rifle/caliber I ended up getting, minus the Monte Carlo. Think I'm going to swap the stock for a Boyd's. They actually make a LH stock for that rifle, and not terribly expensive.

 

[sestoppelman]

@sestoppelman
It may be three years old Ses but with not much else to do I'm reading older posts including by Von Gruff and spike.t as well as others. Other people may not have read them yet either.
Corona restrictions suck.
Bob.

Cant argue with that.

 

[Rob404]

I did a Savage re-barrel a while back to 338-06, I used an Apache Arms barrel,(I think the company has moved to doing only AR stuff but the conversion came out great and real accurate. It doesn't get the range time it used to. This group is at 200 meters. Second most accurate rifle in my closet next to my 35 Whelen

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I did a Savage re-barrel a while back to 338-06, I used an Apache Arms barrel,(I think the company has moved to doing only AR stuff but the conversion came out great and real accurate. It doesn't get the range time it used to. This group is at 200 meters. Second most accurate rifle in my closet next to my 35 WhelenView attachment 362984

@Rob404
Can't complain about that. If'n the Whelen shoots better it would be hard to pick which one to take afield. What's the Whelen made on mate the Savage looks great.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I too shoot a rifle left handed and I use a T/C Encore in 35 Whelen and it's my go to rifle for everything. With the exception of the 200 grn Hornady Superformance load the Whelen is comfortable to shoot in my T/C. I'm not recoil shy so I don't have any issues with the Superformance load (Its deadly on deer and hogs). With factory loads from 180 - 310 grain the Whelen covers all your hunting needs. My T/C sports a Nikon with their BDC recital and it easily turned my Whelen into a 300 yard rifle. Meaning no disrespect to my father's (@Shootist43) beloved 6.5x55 the 35 Whelen is a much better round for Africa.

@Art Lambert 11
I agree the Whelen is a better round for Africa than the 6.5.. can't beat a big hole and a big hit.
The dad to go big or go home.
Has he loaded any of the Speer hotcore 250s yet mate. You have to give them a try at 2,700fps. Big holes and hits very hard.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

there's a fairly extensive selection of .338 bullets as well, though not as extensive as 308; but there's no purpose in .338 bullets lighter than 180 grains, and I think most of the .338 bullets stop at about 250 grains. If you want heavier than that, you need to move to .358, .366, or .375.

@Sgt Zim
I think Woodleigh makes a 275 and 300 grainers in 338 but would they expand at the lower velocities of the 338 ought six.
Bib

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Don't forget, you need properly marked brass in Africa! For that reason, I think you're better with a Whelen, especially since you're saying you have a very tight budget.

@rookhawk
You can get 338/06 brass properly head stamped since Art Alpin legitimized it and called it the 338/06 A square
Bob.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Well, I'm 6'6" with about a 17" LOP. Nothing fits me very well, at least not right out of the box.

@Sgt Zim
I'm the same height and around 250 pounds. The Stevens 200/savage stock with a limbsaver magnum trap recoil pad fitted is only a fraction short but still fits me like a glove and minimizes recoil.
Bob