I have been fascinated with .35 rifle rounds for a long, long, time. 35 Remington, .35 Rem Mag, 35 Whelen..
I have long believed that anything walking on this continent can be taken with a 30-06 or .270. Magnums are not needed for elk or moose. @GJM took me to task a few years ago on the .300 WinMag for elk and made excellent points. None of which applied to me or my style of hunting.
I guess what I love about the idea of the .35s is the heavier, larger diameter bullets. 35 Whelen pretty much duplicates 30-06 external ballistics but with bigger, heavier bullets. I tend to hunt close range wooded areas with the regular opportunities for long range stuff. I need a brush buster with legs.
I am told that modern powders and bullets make the .35 Whelen very viable. Let's face it, ANY .35 proposition is likely to be a specialist, hand loaded round. The Ackley Improved version reportedly added only about 2% velocity increase, making it one of the worst candidates for the Ackley treatment.. OK. If modern powders and bullets improve the Whelen, how much will the increased case capacity of the .35 Whelen AI be improved with modern powders and bullets? And fire forming. And able to use standard rounds in a pinch. And fire forming.
And this is America. I don't need to show a need for a particular gun...
A want is enough.
pat