Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 35 Whelen Sanity Check

I'm going to be ordering a Kreiger heavy sporter in CM to screw on a Kimber Custom Select [currently chambered in .270Win] to convert it to .35 Whelen. Traditionally these are rifled with a 1:16 twist, but I'm thinking I want a 1:14, perhaps 1:12. My intended load will be with 225gr Nosler AccuBonds, with a bailout plan on running PT's or ??? in a similar weight. Estimated MV is 2700-2800 fps, but I may loose a few fps as I also want to trim the barrel at 22" or 22.5".

Question is, should I stay with the traditional twist rate or tweak it a little and speed it up. What is the real world difference in doing so?

Thank you in advance for any help!

12 twist. Also, consider a rebore on such a nice gun. Everything factory perfect and quick turn around. Just a thought.

W

I have a Whelen twisted 16. If building a new one, I'd lean 12 or 14 to keep options open.

Interesting choice on the contour. Do you have a target weight for the rifle?

12 or 14 twist makes sense to open your options for heavy bullets, but is not needed for 225gr pills.

Personally I've never been able to achieve 2700 fps with 225gr in a 22"-24" Whelen without running into obvious pressure signs. Some guys claim to, but I'm not sure how.

Thank you all! This place has so much knowledge it's impressive!

woofer, I don't think the factory bbl has enough wall thickness to go up to 358. I will check though, as that's an interesting, and financially responsible, option.

Shane, no target weight other than I like front-end heavy rifles, and since this will be my local [AZ] elk rifle, it's being purpose build to our AO, amount of forestation, and such. I'm not adverse to a 8.5-9 pound all up rifle. Having 5 down though, is a big plus to me

Yondering, If I can get 2650, I'd be stoked. We're at 1600' here in Phoenix, and our elk hunting is up between 5500 and 8000 feet. I get a few FPS better than most published loads in my rifles, but who knows. I really do not want another 24" rifle. No reason other than the safe is full of them.

Well, then you've chosen wisely.

When using available 250 grain and lighter bullets in the Whelen, 1:16 will stabilize all common manufacturers, i.e. Hornady, Barnes, Nosler, Sierra, Speer, Swift. That doesn't mean that a 1:12 or 1:14 is a bad choice, just that 1:16 is sufficient. 20-24 inches in barrel length is perfect depending on balance and such for your particular rifle. I'd also consider a rebore for your project, definitely would be careful of too much barrel weight with a new/different contour.

I've owned and loaded for several Whelen rifles and with 22 inch barrels never had a problem getting 2700+ with various 225 grain bullets. CCI-200s, Rl-15 or IMR 4064 should get there easily. My present Whelen will do 2800+ with RL 15 and 225 NABs and 2750+ with 15 and 225 TSXs.

Nice! Love TSX's. That would be an excellent elk hammer.

:P

The 1 in 16 works fine but using the faster 1 in 14 or 1 in 12 has no downside and gives you more options. I have run both the 1 in 16 factory and 1 in 12, my current one has a #4 Benchmark 1 in 12 twist and shoots 200's very accurately. RL 15 and Varget have no problem getting over 2700 fps with 225's. Haven't done too much work with 225's in the new gun but IMR 8208 gets close to 2700 with the 225 gr Accubond.

I had my Whelen built with a 14 twist. I have a .375 H&H Mag to shoot 300 grain bullets, so I did not have a need for a 12 twist in a Whelen.

Even if the Whelen is your "Big Gun" I think a 250 grain .358 bullet will do most anything you would want to do in North America and a 14 twist (or 16 for that matter) will handle a 250 gr bullet. I just went 14 to be safe.

I'm doing a rem 700 whelen right now, just dropped the parts off yesterday as a matter of fact. Shilen #3 1-12",@22" mcmillan hunter, gonna run 225 sierras. Should be a dandy.

With all the talk about faster twists increasing the b.c. of a bullet that alone is a good reason to do it.

I did a bit of work with the 275 gr Woodleigh but eventually realized that a 225 gr Accubond will kill anything in North America easily. I have some 250's but when they are gone I'll stick with the 225's.

Thanks guys. I have a .375H&H, so this will be my tweener bridge rifle between a .270WSM shooting 140/150's and the H&H. Basically a <300y elk rifle. 225's, 250's max.bullet wise. Given the great input, I think I'm going to go with 1:14. And I totally agree, a 225 grain TSX or AB moving along at 2700fps is a good thing!

Same here, I'm well north of 2700 with R15 and 225 Accubonds from my 24" 700 KS.

Who are you guys using to screw tubes onto actions and do some basic stock work? I have a few tactical rifle builders, but wouldn't trust a nice wood stock around them for any amount of money. I'll source the bbl myself from Kreiger, but I'd like to find a good 'smith who get's hunting rifles.

Before ordering your barrel, you might want to check if there will be enough wood left when you open up the barrel channel. Kimber stocks tend to run on the slender side.

CCI primers and RL-15 is what I have settled on, but I haven't used the 225gr NAB or TSX. All my development was with 225 Partitions, the old Ballistic Tip, and Sierra Gamekings. Can you hit 2700+ with those bullets? I've generally gotten very flat primers and modest case head expansion around 2650-ish, so I back down from that a little.

With the older NBT and Sierra, yes. Never given the 225 NPT any thought. I have used the 250 NPT at 2550+ fps.