[ebonitekid767]

i currently only own 1 remington gun which is a older 700 mountain rifle in .243 and love it veryy much. but we have a new lease which is pretty thick with blackberry bushes and vines and i dont feel good about taking those shots with my .243. so i have been looking at the CDL because it looks pretty much like the big brother to my rifle, just a little bigger. i have never owned a .35 but hear good things about it, and have a gander mountain less then a hour away where i can get ammo from. does anyone own this particular rifle? if so, how about the good, bad and ugly about it? also whats the goin price on one in stores? thanks in advance!

 

[jvs]

You didn't mention how far you may be shooting thru those Blackberry Bushes and what you might be shooting at.

The Whelen is a heavy hitter, and works good as a brush buster. But if your longest shot may not exceed about 150 yds, the Short Action .35 Remington would do just as well for Deer sized game. Sometimes it is hard to see more than 75 yds when you get into those thickets, so having more powder really doesn't do you much good. Also, when you are in the thick stuff, you should realize what your closest shot may be. Some long action calibers are too over-powered at close range.

Going for big Bear at any distance would certainly warrant the long action Whelen. Then again, a .30-06 with the heavier loads would do just as good.

I have toyed with the idea of buying a Whelen, but so far I haven't. I think if I were to hunt for Bear here in Pa. I would buy a .444 or a .45-70 Lever and leave the Deer hunting to my .35 Rem or the .308.

 

[New York Hunter]

i currently only own 1 remington gun which is a older 700 mountain rifle in .243 and love it veryy much. but we have a new lease which is pretty thick with blackberry bushes and vines and i dont feel good about taking those shots with my .243. so i have been looking at the CDL because it looks pretty much like the big brother to my rifle, just a little bigger. i have never owned a .35 but hear good things about it, and have a gander mountain less then a hour away where i can get ammo from. does anyone own this particular rifle? if so, how about the good, bad and ugly about it? also whats the goin price on one in stores? thanks in advance!

If you're looking for a rifle that will shoot through and hit brush while shooting through it and keep on going, there really isn't anything that will do this consistently. All cartridges can and will be deflected by even small brush.

Last Sunday while deer hunting a coyote came upon my friend while he was in his stand. My friend let out a little blat to get him to stop. The coyote spun around and went behind some small brush. His silhouette was very visible even hiding behind the brush. He was about 30 yards from the stand. My friend shot at the coyote through the brush. He just ran off. My friend got out of his stand and walked over to were the coyote was when he shot at him. No blood or anything. He looked around and saw a few broken twigs the size of pencils. Last year he shot at a nice buck about 60 yards away. He didn't see a little (3/4") sapling. He hit the sapling and broke it in half and never hit the deer. Both times he was using a Remington 1100 with a 24 inch rifled barrel, 2-7 Leupold shotgun scope, shooting Winchester Partition Gold slugs (385 gr., 1900 fps and over 3000 ft. lbs of energy at the muzzle) which flat out destroy deer.

Another friend had a similar situation happen while hunting black bear in Canada a few years ago with his 444 Mar. Even the smallest of brush "can" (not always will, but can) deflect any rifle or shotgun round no matter how fast or heavy the they are.

My advise is to shoot the rifle that you are comfortable shooting. Try to shoot through the brush without hitting any of it. Open up some small shooting lanes so there isn't any brush to hit. Make then two foot wide or so.

 

[hellacatcher]

I got to agree there is not really a brush gun that shoots through brush any little thing can deflect a bullet. I think what most refer to a a bush gun is one that is easy to carry in the brush may be I am wrong. As far as the 35 whelen in a Rem. 700 CDL I have one that has so far shot every load I have tried almost to the same point of aim. I would think you will do very well with it.

 

[black-tail]

if you want a lighter rifle go with the model 7 CDL in 350 Rem Mag. This round comes to life if you hand load. IMHO it beats the Whelen hands down.

 

[TNrifleman]

"Brush busting" and other notions aside, the 35 Whelen is an excellent cartridge. I have owned and hunted with one for over 20 years. my current Whelen is a Remington CDL and it is a fine rifle. It sounds like you do prefer Remington rifles, and you won't go wrong in choosing one in the grand old 35 Whelen. It is a proven performer.

 

[nomosendero]

if you want a lighter rifle go with the model 7 CDL in 350 Rem Mag. This round comes to life if you hand load. IMHO it beats the Whelen hands down.

Depends on the rifle. The 350 in a Rem is the short action & you can't seat out much further than factory ammo. Some, but not much.
The 35 Whelen is on the long action Rem, which is actually designed for 375H&H lenghth rounds, with no mag. block like other brands. So, if your throat is long, you can seat the bullets way out & with 250 gr. it will outrun the 350. If it is not long throated, you can get it done.

 

[35w]

Buy the 35 Whelen, I have one and use 225 gr Barnes Triple Shock bullets and it is a tack driver at 200 yards. On deer, it punches a nice hole right through them, lays them down with authority. The 35 is a great caliber for deer size game and larger.

RB

 

[black-tail]

if you want a lighter rifle go with the model 7 CDL in 350 Rem Mag. This round comes to life if you hand load. IMHO it beats the Whelen hands down.

Depends on the rifle. The 350 in a Rem is the short action & you can't seat out much further than factory ammo. Some, but not much.
The 35 Whelen is on the long action Rem, which is actually designed for 375H&H lenghth rounds, with no mag. block like other brands. So, if your throat is long, you can seat the bullets way out & with 250 gr. it will outrun the 350. If it is not long throated, you can get it done.

You are correct about the long throat. my 350 has the "factory" throat, that is long enough I can seat a 250 RN to 2.9+" I have a custom magazine in mine and seat the bullet to 2.930" it barely fits in the action but still functions perfectly. I do not think that you could go wrong with either round. if you want a light rifle get a 350 if you want less recoil go with the Whelen.

 

[Foggy]

One of my 2 bolt actions,one is a 35Whelen rem Classic LOVE IT  it far from a "brush gun" It was designed to shot 1000lb Elk at 400yds. mine of bags will do 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 at 300yrd  It will do anything you want  They are **** on woodchucks