B & R Photography

Here is one we don’t hear about every day. The 35 Whelen.

This particular cartridge has a mixed understanding of when it came into creation and who was the one to do it. On one hand it is say that it was designed by Colonel Townsend Whelen while he commanded the Frankford Arsenal. It was said that James V. Howe was the one who did all the work making the tools required to chamber the rifles as well as to craft the ammunition as he was a toolmaker at the Arsenal at the time.

Another version is that it was James V. Howe who created this cartridge after he left Frankford Arsenal and was working at Griffin and Howe. The story says this was done based on the need from hunters who wanted a good all-around African cartridge. An that he asked Colonel Whelen if he could name the cartridge after him.

Now with two version around it could be confusing either way they cartridge that was created is on heck of a thumper. With a 250gr round nose bullet the cartridge generates 2523 ft/s and 3535 ft-lbf which isn’t bad, to put it into perspective the 375 H&H pushed a 270gr TSX at 2625 ft/s and generates 4132 ft-lbf. Which isn’t that much more for a case that has 22.4 more capacity. The 35 Whelen also didn’t required a different action, you could spin new barrel onto your .30-06 Springfield and you’re good to go due to them sharing the same bolt face seeing as the 35 Whelen was essentially a .30-06 necked up to accept a 35-caliber projectile.

The performance of the 35 Whelen allows it to be suitable for basically all game is North America as well as Dangerous game in Africa. It is basically in the same category as the 9.3x62mm Which is considered an amazing cartridge for dangerous game. With a maximum point-blank range of 254 yards this makes a super handy rifle. Something that would be great is most dangerous game and big game situations that I can think of outside of hunting the prairies and wide valleys.

As far as trajectory goes the 35 Whelen performs as listed below with a 225gr Nosler AccuBond going 2650 FPS at the muzzle:

200 Yards: 4.36 Inches.

500 Yards: 64.67 Inches.

1000 Yards: 450.37 Inches.

(Please note the above trajectory information was pulled from https://gundata.org/cartridge/86/.35-whelen & http://gundata.org/ballistic-calculator/ )

If you’re thinking of adding a medium bore cartridge to your gun safe this might be the one for you. It hits hard and delivers the knock down power you can trust from almost any platform by just simply re-barreling your rifle.

Short Notes.

Official Name: .35 Whelen

Year Designed: 1922

Designed by: Col Townsend Whelen or James V. Howe (Depends who you ask and what books you read.

Parent Case: .30-06 Springfield.

Rifling Twist Rate: 1:16”

Maximum Point-Blank Range: 254 Yards. (information from https://chuckhawks.com/rifle_trajectory_table.htm)

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of the 35 Whelen and will return next week for our Cartridge of the Week series.

Please remember to always practice safe muzzle control when dealing with firearms and happy shooting.

B