Well, with my handloads, I would not be afraid to tackle anything in either North or South America and most of what crawls, runs hops or swims in Africa as well.
Some points about current rifles chambered to the .35 Whelen. Remington went with the 1 in 16" twist when they brought the round out in the Classic series. Ruger followed suit using that same twist rate. Those guys must have had their heads up their rectal orifaces. Perhaps, they followed what P.O. Ackley said in his books, I don't know, but the nitty gritty of the thing is the proper twist for the .35 Whelen, and .358 Winchester for that matter is 1 in 12, PERIOD! :x Both cartidges have gotten a bit of a bad rap from the "egg-spurts" that write (?) for the gun rags. First, neither cartridge is a "short range brush gun." Anyone that thinks that had best not be standing at 250 yards when I have my .358 in hand or 300 plus when I have one of my Whelens in hand. You might get an unpleasant surprise. My point being, I would not exactly call 250 to 300 yards short range. Second, you darn well do not need a super expensive premium bullet with either round. Any cup and core bullet will work just fine at 2800 FPS or less. A decent handload for the Whelen will do 2550 FPS and some guns may allow 2600 FPS and possibly a bit more with either the 250 gr. Hornady ot Speer Hot core. My Remington 700 will do 2560 FPS, the Ruger 77 2550 FPS and a custom mauser I bought from an estate sale will do 2590 FPS using H-335 powder. FWIW, the Mauser has a 1 in 14" twist, the Remington and Ruger a 1 in 16" twist.
The Whelen was designed with the 1 in 12" twist to use bullets from 250 gr. to 300 gr. against heavy game. The fact that it also shot 200 gr. bullets well was just good luck or serendipity, you decide. 8)
James Howe designed the Whelen and named it after the Colonel. It was designes so people who wanted a more potent rifle than the 30-06, but could not afford a .375 H&H could have their 30-06 rifle either rebored or rebarreled and have their big game rifle. It probably took a few years to catch on, and about the time it was getting serious notice, Winchester brought out the Model 70 and one of the chamberings was the .375 H&H. That pretty much kicked ther slats out from under the Whelen, and it never became a factory round until Remington legitimized it in 1986, or was it 1988? I forget.
It's kind of funny (peculiar, not ha ha) but for some reason the American shooter has never taken to the .35 caliber in rifles, other than the somewhat anemic .35 Remington. What's even funnier is that those who do try either the .358 Win. or the .35 Whelen literally fall in love witht he rounds.
FWIW, I belive that Remington does not load the .35 Whelen to it's full potential, probably because of the old Springfield 1903s and 1895 Winchesters that have been converted to the Whelen. Kind of like what they do witht he 7MM Mauser, .257 Robt, and 30-06. factory 250 gr. Remington ammo only puts out 2340 FPS in one rifle and 2320 FPS in the other two. My handload surpass those speeds with no pressure signs at all. I stick to factory levels on the Mauser as it is a Pre-World War One Oberndorf Mauser. Probably is OK to use the stiff loads, but why gamble with an expensive custom rifle made before I was born, and I'm 68 years young? I keep thinking I'll have one of my 30-06 Mausers rebarreled to the Whelen with a proper 1 in 12" twist and see how that one does.
.35 Whelens rule.
8) :wink:
Paul B.