Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 35 Whelen best twist rate and lenght?

I am considering building up a 35 Whelen and would like to know what the best twist rate for a 225gr TSX is. Also what do you feel the optimum lenght would be?

12 or 14.

Build to balance, considering diameter/shank etc, whatever floats your boat and hits your 'balance' point.

I've had good luck shooting 250gr Speers from a 16" Remington bbl, but would probably go faster if building.

Am currently getting a 12" twist on a 700 in 358Win.

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On my custom stainless Ruger MKII .35 Whelen I went with 1:14 and 22". I get 2700fps with 58gr of Varget and the 225gr TSX. If I were to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing.

A few years ago guys started getting 12 twists so they could shoot the true heavyweights, like the 280-320 grain bullets. That fast twist is not needed with the bullets most of us use.

Yup, my 358 Norma has a 12 twist, and it loves the 225TSX. But if I was to spec it again I would go with a slightly slower twist like a 14 as I would probably get better accuracy with cast bullets.

My .35 Whelen, a rebore of a pre'64 Model 70 has a 1 in 14 twist and shoots bullets in the 200-225gr. weights very accurately.

Personally ... 1:12" cut at 22" and about a #3 or #4 contour.
Cheers...
Con

I just ordered a M700 in 35 Whelen and wish it had 1-12" rifling, not the 1-16". I will probably not shoot very heavy bullets, but I'd like the option.

My 35 Brown-Whelen is 1-12 and is just fine from 180-275 grain bullets, never had any 300's to try.

Funny how Remington refuses to change from their 16" 35cal bbls. despite a demand for a faster twist.



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Had a Ruger 77 in .358 Win for a long time. 16" twist and was enchantingly accurate with 250 grain Hornady spitzers. Sub MOA. If I was building I'd go with 14" twist for either the .358 or .35 Whelen. Got no particular use for anything heavier in either chamber.

My custom mauser has a 1 in 14" twist and shoots .50" groups with the Barnes 225 gr. TSX bullet over 60.4 gr. of RL-15. Reminton brass and winchester WLR primer. Do start a couple of grains lower to start and work up.
My Reminfton 700 and Ruger M77 in .5 Whelen are decently accurate with either the Hornady or Speer Spitzers and 53.0 gr. of H-335. (Caution, well above most maunuals.) I got that load from a Paco kelly article. It also shot well with the 250 gr. Hornady round nose bullet.
I think that a 1 in 16" barrel will suffice, at least with bullets of 250 grains or less.
Personally, if I build another Whelen, it will have a 1 in 12" twist barrel.
Paul B.

My stock Classic M700 Whelen shot Barnes Original 275s just fine. I suppose the extra five grains of the 280 Swift A-Frame might cause them to open up to 6" groups...

That being said, if building I would probably go 1:14.

I had one with a 12 twist.It shot everything I put in it very well.

Cub, the Jolly Green Giant seems slow....and reluctant to change anything. Tis why Ruger did their 260s and Creedmoor in 8, Rem in 9, yet they did get the Swede Classic in 8 - go figure.

Ruger's latest 35s are 12, and surely there is a reason. My 350 MKII shot well enough w/225s I would not change a thing.

22", 12T, .65-.685 at Muzzle.

Whatever Ruger used on my 350 I would be happy w/it. A mag contour of sorts I am sure.

For a commercial action, a good '98, HVA, M70 claw, or Sako Pre-Garcia would be my picks - probably in reverse order..

I built a 35-284 a couple of years ago and I chose a 1-14 twist. I am very happy with it as I generally only shoot 225 gr Nosler, Barnes and sometimes Sierra. The Sierra shoot the best with several 3/4" and 7/8" groups at 100 yards. I have tried some 250 but in honesty they are getting pretty long for this very short neck wildcat.

12 twist 22" #3 contour Pac-Nor for me.

Mike

MontanaCreekHunter,

I don't have a Whelen so I have no dog in this fight.

Twist rate is all about length. Not enough is disastrous, but too much has downsides also.

If the 225gr TSX is about the same length as a conventional 250gr flat base spitzer, then 1 in 16" will do. However, I would recommend 1 in 14" for the flexibility of changing your mind later and using some of the very long, heavy for caliber bullets that are available.

1 in 12" in too much of a good thing. Unnecessary even for the longest available bullets and there are downsides to too fast rifling:

higher pressures restricting max velocity before max safe pressure is reached

faster bore wear

faster/increased jacket metal fouling

slightly less accuracy due to greater effect when bullet center of mass and center of form aren't exactly coincident (which is most of the time with standard production bullets).

Due to the large bore volume compared to the case volume, even very short barrels like 16.5" will be fairly efficient in a .35 Whelen. However, short barreled rifles are fine off the bench, but handle like a club when shot offhand. I would recommend a standard 22" to 24" barrel length for better handling when shooting under hunting conditions.

Please tell me more about what you don't have, I'm hooked!

mmmmmm......well I had a 35 on a blown out 375H&H case with a 12 twist krieger.It did +3000 fps with a 250 gr bullet and 3150 with the 225 Sierra's.....if anything, the malady's cited above should have been dramatically exascerbated in in the 12 twist,given the much higher velocity and case capacity of my 35 vs the Whelen,and a 14-16 SHOULD have been better....once again, in theory,which so much intenet info is based upon.

Precisely none of them occured...there were no excessive pressure signs due to fast twist,accuracy was fabulous,and the bore did not foul excessively.

Just thinkin this through a bit,and using irrefutable logic,a 338(most of them)use a 10 twist;a 375 H&H uses a 12.....what is it that happens between 338 and 375 that a 35 has to have a 14 or 16 twist?

In general I'm afraid I have to say the above "problems" associated with a 12 twist in a 35 to be mostly nonsense.My suggestion is that those who think a 12 twist does not work in a 35 caliber actually buy one and shoot it.