Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Anyone use Mr. Whelen in Africa?

I used a .35 Whelen in Zim in 2001 on a plainsgame hunt. Took eland, kudu, zebra, wildebeest, bushbuck, impala and steenbok, all with one shot.

The load was the Federal 225 gr. TBBC, which chronoed right at 2600 fps from my rifle. I didn't handload at that time.

My PH was very impressed with the performance. He had never seen the Whelen before but felt that it was all that the .375 H&H was on the game we took.

Most shots were inside of 100 yards, but the kudu was taken at about 215 yards or so. I have since taken a moose in Alberta at a laser measured 410 yards with the Whelen.

Can's say enough good things about the Whelen. I like the 225 gr bullets for general use. If I was going after big bears or something dangerous, I would use the 250 gr. slugs.

DakotaDeer,

The 250 Nosler Partition.

I had great luck with the TBBC from my Whelen, but I don't necessarily think that a super premium bullet is required. I have used Partitions with great luck and think they may just be about the perfect "all around" bullet in the Whelen. I did have a 225 gr. Sierra separate on a smallish black bear at about 80 yards, so while they group wonderfully, I pretty much just use them for deer-sized game now.

I have taken my 35 Whelen 3 times to Africa. I have used the Barnes 225 "X" or "TSX" each time with complete satifaction. Chronographed velocities are 2625 fps out of my 22" barrelled 1903 Spingfield. I have taken mountain zebra in Namibia at over 300 yards and eland at 15 yards, along with possibly another 20-25 head of game. An oryx I shot too high required a finisher and I put another in the eland for good measure, but most were finished by the first shot if I did my part and placed the shot properly.

Thus far I like the 35 Whelen better then my CZ550 in 9.3x62 due to its handiness. The CZ is a bit heavy for the caliber IMO. On a sleeker rifle (like the Ruger Hawkeye) I may like it better. I have also been toying with the 338-06 in a Win Mod 70 with 210 Nosler Partitions and 225gr Accubonds and have been very happy with load and range results. No blood on the rifle yet but hopefully soon.

IMO any of the medium bores between 330 - 375 would be just perfect for carrying on a general hunt. Mate that with a 416 or better and you have good hunting battery for most any plains game and dangerous game task.

I used mine in Botswana in '09. Cleanly took eland, kudu, gemsbok, zebra, wildebeest 250gr. Northfork over RL-15, clocked at a modest 2480fps. Ranges from approx. 125 to 260 yds.

Interestingly, the Midway catalog that I received the other day had Federal loading the .35 Whelen in the Cape Shok line with a 300 gr. Barnes solid and 300 gr. Swift A-frame. Both listed at approx. 2400 fps. Now those loads would work for even buff, I would think.

That is intersting b/c you can get 300+ gr bullets for the Whelen yet it seems most folk stick with 250's or smaller and go with a larger caliber (i.e 9.3x62) if they want the bigger bullet. This depsite the fact the .400/350 I cited in my OP that Taylor loved used the excellent 310 grainer. I read threads questioning the stability of the 300+ grainers out of a 1-16" twist but you have to figure anyone using that load would be doing so at 150 yds or (considerably) less.

Still, interesting that someone would actually load up factory ammo that heavy for the Whelen (you would think with Africa in mind) when the 9.3 is quite a bit more popular in that vein. It's especially surprising considering the Whelen isn't all that popular on the factory ammo front with 'standard' loadings.

I must say I've been quite pleased with the responses to my question here. I admitted it was more a curiosity question and yet a surprising number responded, politley and helpfully, with personal stories and links. It's quite refreshing compared to a lot of the junior high level trolling, name calling, etc. that goes on in a lot of the threads. I appreciate all those who took the time to respond.

I might try one of those heavier loads if I needed to use the Whelen on buff or big bears, although given the performance that I have seen personally and what others that I have spoken with regarding the Whelen with 250 gr. or even 225 gr. bullets, may not even be needed.

I'm with you, duckster, I plan on using the Hornady 250 gr Interlock SP this year on elk (if I take the Whelen--choices, choices, sigh..) as I've heard nothing but good reports on it. It is cheap to shoot (I shoot a lot in practice) and it is very accurate in my No.1. I may get a box of Nosler Partitions to try but I would have to order them (my Sportsmans Warehouse has NO Nosler .358 caliber bullets!) and they are over twice the cost.

As an aside, I noticed Double Tap ammo loads the 310 woodleighs in the Whelen but only up to the 280 A-Frame in the Norma Mag. Obviously, the A-Frame is adequate but I found that odd, nonetheless.

Did you also notice Federal is listing that 300 gr Whelen load at 90 fps faster than their 9.3 286 load? If you did have Buff on the menu for a Whelen, I'll bet that load work do quite nicely!

I would agree with that, if those velocities are correct. I didn't see that listed load on the Federal website when I looked there. Maybe a typo in the Midway catalog?

I used my Remington 700 35 Whelen A.I. with Barnes TSX 225's. It worked great. It has a nice light Shilen trigger and an ER Shaw barrel. I took a Kudu, a Zebra, a Impala, two Blesbok and a Gemsbok all with seven shots. I missed a wounded Blesbok with one shot. The PH kept yelling "Texas, Texas". It didn't click that he wanted me to shoot it up the backside just to put it down. I then took a long shot which slapped into a rock. The poor creature then popped later while I was waiting for the PH to get back with the truck; One shot, down.

I had a lot more trouble with the 6.5-06 I brought. I suspect that was the lack of a really good trigger on that rifle. Well, that and those springbok are tiny.....and far away.

One other suggestion, gets some tri-pod sticks like Bog-Pods. Practice with them at the range, dry firing at pictures of African animals and take them with you. My PH had some lousy shooting sticks. They were a trial.