• For hunting non dangerous antelope in Africa or their equivalent weight counterparts in the US both the 9.3x62 and the .35 Whelen are 100% effective performers - but so too is the 7x57 / .280 Rem / 7mm Rem Mag / .308W / 30-06 / .300Win Mag.

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• For all dangerous game in the US (soft-skinned brown and grissly bears) the .35 Whelen and 9.3x62 will be 100% effective - but so will be the 7x57 / .280 Rem / 7mm Rem Mag / .308W / 30-06 / .300Win Mag.

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• For hunting dangerous game in Africa the 9.3x62 has proved itself to be generally satisfactory. In some Africa countries the .366" is the minimum calibre allowed, using 286 gr solid bullets for buffalo and elephant, and 286 gr soft point bullets for lion. Reviewing the figures above for impact momentum one may see the logic of that.  The reader may wish to develop this thinking towards a logical conclusion:

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1.   Experience shows that 96 ft.lb/sec impact momentum applied to that one tenth of a square inch bullet frontal surface - and surface area of skin, tendons, bone and flesh on a buffalo shoulder which a 9.3 mm bullet bears against, creates a sufficiently powerful penetration impulse to break through with enough retained momentum to reach the heart and maybe beyond.  The 9.3x62 will never penetrate all the way through both shoulders, but for a heart shot that is no big deal - not even the .416 Rigby with the excellent 400 gr Peregrine 1.5x calibre expanded VRG-3 does that.

 

2.   That level of penetration is generally satisfactory, and the experience of Africa game control wardens over many years have developed the wisdom that any weaker penetration impulse than this is not fully predictable, and therefor not safe.  So: impact momentum below 90 ft.lb/sec as the Whelen gives certainly creates a doubt - and like in aviation risk management where the threat level is high -  "when there's a doubt there's no doubt".

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3.   This means that when I am preparing the upcoming season's  hunting camp in far northern Mozambique, being the only man around with a rifle I prefer to carry not just the minimum but a little more because I will ONLY shoot an elephant or buffalo in self defense at the last moment of a charge and then want more than the minimum penetration impulse because  the conditions for such a shot will not be under my control.  The 9.3x62 would be acceptable when the .375 H&H or .416 Rigby is not in camp.

 

4.   A .35 Whelen would be a camp meat rifle with ONLY 275 gr monolithic solids, and would only go out on its own in the hands of a bush-wise hunter, a 100% perfect off-hand shooter who would take care to avoid the very dense vegetation conditions where a surprise encounter with hippo,  buffalo or elephant could happen. During camp preparation I need to take my men into dense bamboo forests (elephant), take shortcuts through dark and dense riverine forests carrying heavy loads of bamboo or marula poles (10 yards encounters with elephant, hippo and buffalo).  This is not slow hunting where I have the situation under control.  Shooting would be reactive, so the .416 Rigby or .375 H&H is carried for these walk outs.

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5.   This brings up the issue of expanding bullets. From .35 calibre and thicker there is no reason whatsoever to have any frontal area expansion as the wound channel already is large enough through the heart. The degrading in sectional density that any .35 bullet suffers due to expansion to even 1.5x calibre is excessive. Coupled to this doubling in frontal area and subsequent doubling in profile drag such a decrease in the impulse force per frontal area is caused so that penetration suffers remarkably.  As an example to illustrate the concept: penetration through big game shoulders of a 225 gr .338 Win Mag is measurably less than a 220gr from a 30-06 when both bullets experienced 1.5x calibre expansion.  

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6.   The .358" calibre of the .35 Whelen is not allowed for buffalo, but I shall have no problems to guide a hunter wanting to use it.  We shall hopefully be able to stalk it unseen, side-on to 40 yards, wait for it to move the inside front leg sufficiently forward to expose the heart and then put the bullet into that organ with only one wide, almost overlapping thick rib in the way.  This caveat means that we may need to pass up on a number of buffalo until the suitable body position mentioned above can be achieved - when WE are the proactive party and not the buffalo.

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All the above are the reasons why there are virtually no .35 Whelens in Africa. It is a cartridge we started reading about in the 1970s but the impact calculations do not bear up to be 100% sure of taking Cape buffalo with it on even fairly easy, side-on shots;  and while it is more than 100% capable for all the big antelope including eland, no gun dealer could since its formal acceptance succeed to interest any number of buyers.  The to-be-expected question was:  "Why? My .308W or 30-06 or 7x57 is more than capable already.  What can the Whelen do better than these cartridges?".  In fact the very same reasoning is why the .338 Win Mag has never sold here in significant numbers either. "What shall we shoot with it that we cannot shoot with a 30-06?" 

 

There simply is no job for these two cartridges in Africa: the smaller calibres (.308" and 7mm) as mentioned earlier do the job 100% perfectly on all non dangerous antelope - and the Whelen appears to fall short to be generally proficient on Cape buffalo and elephant under average conditions. Townsend Whelen no doubt also had made his calculations and formulated his reasons for having turned his back on it and denying having had any part in its creation.

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Added: Possibly the only way to establish the actual penetration ability into the heavy shoulder of a Cape buffalo by the heaviest monolithic solid from a Whelen is to just go and do it.  Imagine presenting that report of a clean kill to Winchester and convincing them that patriotic fervour needs a boost - and "here is reason for a new Safari Grade rifle..."