I like the hornady 250 grain round nose in my 35 whelen AI. only shot one deer with it and it definitely works.

Sweet. I'm still thinking about rebarreling mine to 35 Whelen. Got a compact Ruger 308 I've contemplated having bored and chambered to 358 Win also. So many choices, so little play money.

I don�t think it�s possible for any critter to know the difference between 35W and 358W, inside 400 yards. I do think it�s possible for your shoulder to know.

I would 100% agree with that .358 is in my mind as good as it gets for our neck of the woods. I'm going to turn some of these guys who don't need to make a 300+ yard shot onto it eventually.

How bout a 350 rem mag? Had a Remington Classic in that caliber for a while. Never shot anything with it, other than paper.

.350 Rem Mag is going the other way and I just don't think you need it.... it has a lot of muzzle blast and was really the first true short mag. The problem with them is the COAL with different bullets means you can't get it to always work in standard length short action magazines. In a lighter carbine length and weight rifle the .358 is just a better match in my mind. It kind of occupies a sweet spot as a 250 yard gun.

The difference is the ability to shoot heavy bullets which I'm convinced doesn't matter on a whitetail.... loaded with the same 200 grain you'll get an additional 20 yards of Max Point Blank Range with the 350 Rem Mag.

I can make a case for it. But in a bigger rifle why not just add the juice one more time and chamber for .358 Norma Mag.

358 Norma mag is a great round. Might be a little rough on the shoulder.

The 358 Norma is one I considered early on. Ive got a Savage 116 30-06 them at I wanna rebarrel to a larger caliber being that I rarely hunt with it, hunting with my A-Bolt -06 instead. The Norma would fit fine along with the Whelen and the 350 RM being a long action. I want alot of what Reloaded mentioned in his desire for the Whelen. A large bullet to put them down DRT as much as possible. I've got a few places that if they go off the mtn it'll take a helicopter to get them out, being I don't have access from the bottom. Hopefully it'll get to go on an elk hunt some day too.

Just figured I'd rebarrel this one to something bigger instead of buying another gun, which I have thought about a 45-70. I've got it all covered with 223, 243, 6.5CM, 25-06, 308, 30-06 & 44 mag, just "wanting" something. I've had 2 300WM and a 300WSM and they all ended up going down the road. Sometimes I wonder why though as the 30-06 hasn't failed me yet. Just something else to fool with I guess.

350 rem mag is a short action whelen. Does have a better shoulder. 356/358W seem to be the sweet spot on recoil vs dead right now, in 35s.

Re=barreling a 30-06 to 358 Norma Mag will also require modification of the bolt face or a new bolt with a Magnum bolt face.

Yep. Easy to swap a Std Savage bolt head to Mag bolt head though.

Well consider this as food for thought. If your main game is whitetail you are shooting at something that just isn't that big an animal in the overall scheme of things. The larger jacketed bullets don't expand as much shooting at a Whitetail. So if you go with a .358 Norma pay close attention to what bullet you want to shoot, the velocity and consider the advantages over chambering for something else in the same family.

After a whole lot of shooting and playing around with this stuff what I settled on is a 200grain Hornady FTX out of a .358 which provides almost immediate expansion but enough bullet weight to ensure a complete pass through on a whitetail. It can usually see the blood spray out the other side on the bushes or ground when they are hit it is pretty impressive.

If you stick with a .350 Rem Mag you can always load it down to something like... let's say .358 levels, but you can't load the .358 up to the .350 velocity levels. That's with the heavier bullets. You can kill a Moose with either. So think about at what point do you need the extra power. That's a personal decision and no wrong answer there.

That would put me more in the .350 camp if I were to build a long action rifle instead of the .358 Norma.

There is always something bigger, heavier and faster. But you can kill a charging Griz with a 45-70. It's just slow.

I like the 35's they are kinda like a bush gun that in reality is NOT a "brush gun" at all they are very powerful cartidges that lie within almost any other cartridge's max point blank range. They are a set your scope and forget it 300 yard killing machines on anything from Whitetails to Moose. There's something to that in my opinion that got overlooked decades ago when everyone started on the Magnum Mania bandwagon.

Ah ha. I forgot about the savage bolt head. My mistake. 358 Norma mag will handle anything in North America and most critters in the world.

I like bullets a little on the heavy side per caliber and have had great results with the 225 grin TSX. Shot an impala in Namibia that was standing in front of a bush. Walked up after the shot and there was lung tissue hanging in the bush. Needless to say the PH was impressed. With this combo, 35 Whelen and 225 TSX, I've taken game from 100 pounds to pushing a ton with and see no reason to look any further.

The Whelen is by far the easiest rebarrel for my gun. I had only thought about the 358 Norma with the hope of an elk or moose hunt someday. I think if I decided to go with the Whelen where I mostly hunt I'd like to find a Rem 760 or 7600 pump action for faster follow up shots if needed. It'll be plenty accurate for the less than 100 yards I can normally see and suffice for the occasional 150 yrd or so that may present itself in these places.

My longest shot to date was a measured 276 yards on a kudu bull. No holdover just put the cross hair on the top of his back and a very short tracking job. Mine is a Remington 700 that has been slightly modified.

Any pics of that Kudu and Remington Mark?

No, not on line anyway. All our trips where taken before the economy crash in 2008 and the photos were 35mm film. There's several albums in one the guest bedroom closets. I scanned some of them once and put them on photobucket, but didn't move them to another provider. These are from Facebook, if it works.

[img]https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...amp;oe=5AEB6798[/img]

[img]https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...amp;oe=5ABE9138[/img]

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t...amp;oe=5ABB1A2C

Realistically how is the recoil on the whelen? I’m interested in getting one but I like my shoulders. I’ve been reading and it sounds like theyre recoil heavy. I shoot a 30-06, 308, and a 7 mag for deer. I shoot 3” mag for turkey and absolutely refuse to do it unless I’m on a bird. How would it compare to those as far as recoil tho. I’ve never been a fan of heavy recoil guns. Although I would like the gun if I ever get the chance to go to Alaska.

Try some 220's in your 30-06. I wouldn't worry with a Whelen,just load up the 06,really no practical difference shooting 220's.