A very interesting comparison can be made between a heavily-loaded .30-06 with 220 grain bullets and the .35 Whelen, 9.3x62, .375 Whelen, etc.

The current Hornady 220 grain .30's are a bit weak and fragile, but the old, sadly now-discontinued Remington Core-Lokt 220's held up amazingly well in tests I did with them some years ago, producing very deep penetration and perfect mushrooms with high weight retention in the test media. Performance about duplicated the 300 grain Hornady in the .375 H&H. Truth is, the high sectional density of the 220 .30, when combined with a good bullet makes for a round beaten very little by any of these others, which is not to denigrate them, but rather to say that all of them are excellent cartridges when suitable bullets are used.

I've never tried them, but I bet the heavy .30-cal Woodleighs would make a great option for a heavy .30.

Part of the reason I think the .35 never got out off the block running hard was that when trditional construction bullets were shot head-to-head, there was little or no difference in performance between commonly available .35 bullets and the 220 .30-06. I suspect use of .35 Rem bullets may have earned it a jaded rep when they were used on big stuff.