Hi,
What are the recommended twist rates for the .358 Win, .35 Whelen and .358 Norma Magnum?

In other words should someone stumble upon any of these, will it be a simple matter of reaming the chamber to step up in caliber, or does one risk having the wrong twist rate as end result?

- Lars/Finland

1-12 is the preferred twist.

You'll want to check. IIRC Some of the 35s had 1:14 and 1:16 twists. Were I building a magnum .35 (or even a long-barreled Whelen) I'd want a twist that would spin up the heaviest Woodleigh...just in case a fella wanted to play with the heavies.

Whelen and Howe used 1 in 12" for the .35 Whelen. Winchester used 1 in 12" for their rifles in .358 Win.
Why in all bloody pluperfect hell Remington and Ruger used a 1 in 16" twist for the Whelen and Ruger a 1 in 16" twist for the .358 win. is way beyond me.
With that rant off, My savage 99 and browning BLR have 1 in 12" twist brels in .358. The will totally out shoot my two Ruger M77s and a Mauser in .358 that have 1 in 16" twists with any usable bullet for that cartridge.
In my .35 Whelens, my custom Mauser with a 1 in 14" twist, not my choice as I got the rifle at an estate sale, will outshoot my Remington 700 Classic and Ruger M77RS with their 1 in 16" twists, at least with my preferred 250 gr. bullets.
If I build another Whelen, it will have a 1 in 12" twist barrel.
Paul B.

Paul B, I think Remington used 1-16 because that
was what they used in their 35 Rem. They probably didn't want to invest any money in
different tooling until they knew if the Whelen
would sell. They sold fine and most people who bought Remington Whelen's shot 200 gr. Rem.
factory ammo. So to Rem. it worked out. I have a Rem. It shoulds fine. but I prefer my Mauser with a Douglas 1-12. I think there are enough people that shoot 200-225 gr. bullets in the
Whelen that the Rem. and Ruger will continue to sell. Guys like us that prefer the 250-300 gr.
bullets will go with a custom barrel.

At one time I had a Mauser sporter in 35 Whelen. Twist was 1-10. It handled 225 Sierras quite well.