This cartridge was once the cartridge to have for a 'poor man's magnum'.  I have one myself and used it for a number of years hunting bear and elk.  I prefer the 250 grain bullet and I use a compressed load of 4831 with magnum primers.  It shoots under an inch and is a joy to carry in heavy timber.  It is one of the rifles that I hope my sons never sell but pass on.

Jay, or anyone else willing to lend some advice.
What is the process to rechamber a 35 whelen to this cartridge? Does the barrel have to be removed, put in a lathe, and then reblued, or can the work be done without ruining the barrel blue. This seems like a great improvement over the standard whelen, but that could be more paper than factual. 2725 with a 250 grain bullet is about 300 fps better than the regular cartridge and a signigicant change. Also what type of open sight could be placed on a rifle like this that would allow older eyes to still be effective? I have a couple rifles that have 1x scopes that are very helpful, but would like to set up a rifle like this to have some sort of open sight. Any ideas?

Sorry NF...the measurement on all my 'improved' cases to the base of the neck is .012" shorter than the standard Whelen.  You would have to set the barrel back at least one thread.

The work can be done without ruining the blue if you can find a good gunsmith to do the work.  After all, you're not chambering the barrel but running the the reamer in a little deeper.  Rosin is used in the barrel vise to keep from marring the finish and lead/rosin can be used in the chuck to grab the barrel.  Probably have to use a special fixture for the steady rest but a good gunsmith can do it.

Now...the other option.  Get a new barrel with the profile you want to support the iron sights.  Invest in a Lyman receiver sight, get a 'gold ring' insert, install an 'ivory bead' front sight (with barrel band if possible) and have the barrel blued to match.  You can always re-install the barrel if you wish but that 'original barrel' with all the markings becomes a selling point if you wish to sell the rifle.  Again, insure that the gunsmith is going to use rosin to remove the barrel...insist that the barrel remain unmarked.

Odds are that you won't sell the rifle...and if this is so, the 'original barrel' can be sold to some poor soul who has the same action but is chambered in something with an '06 size base.  You'll recoup some of your dinero and everybody is happy.

NUMBERFARMER,
 
What Jay said is absolutely correct-a-mundo!
 
Ol' John
 
PS..Might tell Jay and I what action and barrel you have and that way we can give you our "UNBIASED" (ha!) opinion........

My 35 whelen is a ruger MK II blued barrel with open sights and synthetic stock.

I have noticed that Barnes Cartridges of the World newest edition really inflates ballistics.

I am not sure you can find a 35 Whelen AI that will propel a 250 grain bullet at 2750 fps...if so, the .338 Win mag would quickly become obsolete as the 338 uses 75 to 80 grains of powder to do what the 35 Whelen would do with 65 grains.  

To be sure...I owed a 35 Whelen....not the improved and got 2510 FPS with a hot handloaded 250 grain bullet.  Recoil was stiff but not excessive.

I regret selling that rifle.

hey guys,
 new to the forum but glad i stumbled across you all .  imagine finding something of interest right off the bat. have a vz 24 mauser action that is itching to become a 338-06ai or 35 whelen ai . not sure yet. swinging towards the 338 ai just because i think it offers a little more selection bullet wise. its funny but i was on my killing spree in younger years with a straight up 7x57 stoked up with 130 grn speers over a heavy dose of ww-760. this round would be good for anything outside of things that think your lunch!! this hyper velocity craze was all started by roy weatherby and the ultra mags surley  have thier place but my thinking is there is nothing that will take the place of  good shooting

I agree with you whole heartedly on the last part of your statement. However, I couldn't sleep tonight if I didn't point out the error of your ways.

There just isn't a better medium bore cartridge than the .35 Whelen Improved. There are some crazy people that hang around here who disagree...especially that firearms barbarian over in the U.K. Someday he'll come to his senses but right now there's not much hope.

The .35 Whelen Improved, tight chambered in a laser barrel, loaded correctly and in the hands of a good hunter will take any North American game there is. With solids it might just be good for anything in the world that won't eat you. I wonder what it's effect on Buff would be if the solids were good?

The .338 AI is good but it has one drawback...it ain't as good as the .35 Whelen Improved.

C'mon Jay, how about less word mincing and more straight talk. Quit pussy-footing around.
 
Paul

Hi All,

        Now I must point out the error of your thinking,    the Hyper velocity craze was started whilst Weatherby was still in shorts.......... way back in 1906 by Sir Charles Ross quickly followed by Charles (?) Newton in the English speaking world. In Germany there were also Gunsmiths/designers who were striving for the hyper velocites. Weatherby not only had this ground wotk to work with but also by the time he came along better propellants as well. Heck even BSA here in the UK launched a range of high velocity cartridges in 1923, the 26, 33 and 45 BSA in conjuction with a chemical company, due to poor marketing I believe and bad luck with the depression just around the corner the cartridges and the rifles for them faded away.
 
      Now I have to ask that Old timer what the heck I have done to be labelled a Barbarian ? so Old Man..........?  Come on  Jay what is it then?  speak up man:rolleyes:  
 
      I know of certain like minded fellows how think that the 7.92 Mauser is better than the Springfield 06 as the bullet is slightly larger...................... well as the 9.3mm has a bullet diameter of 0.366" against the 0.358" of the Wheelan it's quite logical that as the 7.92mm Mauser cartridge is superior  to the 06, then it follows that the 9.3 x62mm is superior to the 35 Wheelan and I don't even have the 9.3x62mm as I have to older 9.3x57 Mauser . It's strange that the 9.3mm cartridges predate the Wheelan except the 9.3x64mm which uses a bigger bases case anyway. I suppose as the 03 cartridge was based upon the Mauser case that it follows that the 35 wheelan would be based upon another mauser cartridge;) .
 
     Hmm I wonder how the 9.3x62mm would take to the Improved treatment, minimum body taper and a sharp 40 degree shoulder after all the std cartridge pushes the 258 grn bulelt along at  2510 fps so the improved one should move it along at about the 2700 fps or just under that mark:D

From all I've read of it, the .35 Whelen is just about the best standard type cartridge (along with the .280 Rem.) for responding with the most performance gain due to the improvements of the ackley design.  Because of this, my .280 Rem AI is nearing completion and I darn near had me the Whelen AI built, as well.  To its credit, the Whelen AI was in the running for the longest time but in the end, for all the cartridge has going for it, I just couldn't get past one little short-coming     ...     it wasn't a .358 STA.  And that's the .358 hammer I really wanted.  Other then that one minor detail, it's an exceptional cartridge and I wouldn't fault anyone for choosing it as their bear, elk, moose getter.
 
PENNSY, if ya want yourself a .338-06 AI, that's perfect, but I really wouldn't discount owning a Whelen AI based on the thinking that there's not a sufficient supply of bullets to feed the think.  It's simply not true.  From Ballistic Tips, to Interlocks, to X bullets, cheap Speer HotCor SP's to the expensive Swift A-Frames in weights ranging from light 180 grs. up to 310 grs., there is certainly no shortage of bullets to keep a .358 enthusiast happy.  Definitely choose what you like, but don't let bullet selection be a huge determining factory for ya.  Good luck in your choosing.  Later.  >>  klallen

Quote from: gitanoC'mon Jay, how about less word mincing and more straight talk. Quit pussy-footing around.
 
Paul

Yeah Jay, what Paul said! "firearms barbarian".......thats a good one....wish I hadda thunk of it!!!
 
Brithunter.........we really like ya! If we didn't like ya----well, we would not even talk to ya!
We gotta "razz" you just a bit to keep you on your toes and paying attention to us "AMERICANS" across the pond so we can hopefully civilize and larn ya a thing or two!

PEACE..........

Ol' John...:D

Hi All,
 
Firearms Barbarian............... hmm well I tend to agree except it's the other way around, when I think of some of the abortions I see toted around as "good shooting irons" barbarian definately comes to mind. The first one to spring to mind is the Weatherby's . Darned awful styling and stupid prices:mad:

What would you recommend in a rifle chambered for the 35 Whelen AI (action, style, length and rifle brand)?  Do any of you know of any good custom shops chambering for this cartridge?  I would love one for black bear or maybe just to have another gun.
 
 
 

Kanibal,
 
Any long action(30-06 length) would be suitable.  Ruger, Winchester, Savage, Remington - whichever you take a liking to.  You can obtain a donor action and rebarrel or do as I did and have it rebored and rechambered.  See the continuing thread in firearms that I just updated on a Remington 721, 30-06 rebored/chambered to 338-06.  I hope to have pic's posted soon.  Whatever your "wallet" can stand!
 
Ol' John