OK, I have decided on the 35 Whelen over the 350 Rem Mag. I am looking at the Rem 700. My only concern is the 1 in 16 twist. I don't know shit about twist rates and their affect on bullets etc. I have read in this forum that the 1 in 16 twist can be a problem. What say you "Yey" or "Ney" on the 700 with a 1 in 16 twist and why.

Just means your rifle will probably shoot 250gr bullets better than 180gr ones but, thats not set in stone. Some fast twist barrels shoot light bullets just fine. I wouldn't let that slow me down.

Terry

Steve,

I own two Whelens, the first has a 1:14 twist Shilen barrel on a Springfield action, The second is the Rem CDL through Grice Bros with the 1:16 twist. With 225 grain bullets the (I hate to say it) Rem is the more accurate of the two. I have shot RN bullets up to 300 grains in the Rem to 200 yards and have not seen any evidence of keyholing. I beleive that the Rem 1:16 barrel is a good choice.

The other very nice thing about the CDL is it is made on the long actions and magazines, the 225 grain Ballistic tips can be loaded to 3.5" OAL and this with the 24" barrel can give another 75 fps velocity. Making 2700 fps now is very simple in this rifle.

Hope this helps,
BigBullet

The slower twist rate tends to stabilize the shorter bullets (thus, lighter) better than it does the longer (heavier) bullets, but as so many folk with the 1:16 twist bbls have noted, the 225s and 250s work for a lot of them. You might have problems if you go up to the Woodleigh 310s, but those are special purpose bullets that you might not be playing with.

Steve. Let me put it this way. If all you ever plan to shoot is 250 gr. bullets or lighter, the 1 in 16" should work just fine. Howe and Whelen wanted a 1 in 12" twist to stabilize heavier bullets like the 275 gr. Hornady round nose, discontinued in 1967 and 300 gr. bullets.
Some of us shoot a 280-290 gr. cast bullet and most of the time, the 1 in 16" twist doesn't cut it.
My Remington 700 and Ruger 77 have 1 in 16" twists and my custom Mauser has a 1 in14" twist.
It will almost stabilze the 280 gr, bullet, and probably would if I could push it a bit faster.
Paul B.

Steve...

The general thought is that the slower 1-16" twist is better for 200-225 gr. bullets, with the faster rates being better for 250 gr. and above.

When I was discussing my Whelen project with my smith we covered what bullets and weights I intended to shoot. I at that time, of course, had no idea which specific bullet type/brand would shoot best once the rifle was completed, but was certain I wanted to use 250 and 270 gr. bullets. His answer ( and he has done quite a few Whelens ) is that the 14" would be the more likely to work with my criteria.

This certainly isn't hard and fast, as mentioned above, but is generally accepted.

My Ruger 35 Whelen had a 1:16 twist. With a 4x Leupold and a duplex reticle, it shot about 1 MOA with 250-gr. Hornady RN's, Hornady SP's and Nosler Partitions. A near-max charge of RL-15 got them going 2,550 fps, and the faster I pushed them the smaller the groups were. I suspect that someone who knows how to shoot well from a bench would have gotten even smaller groups, but the recoil got tiresome, and I figured that a 250-gr. bullet at 2,550 and 1 MOA was good enough.

I'd buy the Remington. Even if it won't do that well with bullets over 250 grs., a 225 TSX or Partition at 2,700 is a lot of bullet. And if you don't like it, they hold their resale value pretty well.

Hope this helps, Okie John.

The guys are right. The only common commercial bullet that needs more than a 1 in 16 twist is the 250 gr. Barnes x.

The 16 twist will stabilize everything up to, and including, the 250 gr. cup bullets.

If you want to shoot the 250 gr. Barnes or heavy cast, go with a 14 or 12 (depending on your elevation).

HTH, Dutch.

I have a Rem 700 classic in .35 Whelen with the 1 in 16 twist. It gives moa groupings with every 200 or 225 grain bullet as well as the 250 grain Rem. factory loads. I have some ammo from Nosler with 250 grain Partitions, but have not had a chance to try it yet.

I think the 1-14" twist is the all around best choice for everything but the heaviest bullets.