358 Win -OR- 35 Wheelen. . .decisions decisions!

[OFFSHORE]

In the last few years I've really been getting into the "cast bullet" swing of things for several cartridges that I load for. As of the last few months and joining this forum, I've begun casting my own boolits (purchased commercially or cast by others in the past) and I've learned a great deal. Most all of my cast boolit shooting revolves around hunting loads/cartridges and handguns, now I'm finding myself wanting a "cast boolit" specific hunting rifle of .35 caliber. A long time ago I owned a Winchester 94 Big Bore in .356 Win. -LOVED IT- and it was stolen, I currently have a 35 Rem. and I'm not to impressed with it, but it works. So, I've decided I'm going to buy/build a .35 caliber rifle and I'm on the fence between the 358 Win or the 35 Wheelen, I'm just not sure I need the added oompf of the Wheelen. Looking to shoot 200/225 grain boolits 2250/2500 FPS and 250 yard max range. I have buckets of brass for each (.308/30-06) and I have two doner rifles (no, I don't need one of each!) to make my new rifle. I am leaning more towards the Winny, but something keeps telling me the Wheelen. . .and then, I find a Ruger No.1 (one of the sexiest rifles there is!) in the Wheelen that a guy is looking to trade off and it has really put me in a spin. I'm sure the difference is the same argument as the 308 vs. 30-06, but I can answer that one for myself. You guys out there that have these cartridges and shoot CAST ONLY out of them give me some advice, please. Thank you. [smilie=b:

[ulav8r]

With a 250 yard limit, the 358 is all you need. The Whelen will just use a little more powder and give you a little more recoil. It would give 25-50 more yards of effectivness.

[Tatume]

I'm very pleased with the 358 Winchester.

[Walks]

.35 Whelen, had on 30yrs now. REM 700 CLASSIC. Use a light load with the LYMAN #358315/212grs.
Heavy load, I use the old #358318 an old mold no longer in Production. Weighs 245-260grs depending on alloy. Both are Gas Checked. I have an old IDEAL #358318GC small block mold.

You can find them on smell-bay occasionally. Or maybe a #3589 or #358009, a 250gr GC. I use H4895 in the Heavy Load & UNIQUE in the plinking load.

[MT Chambers]

In a boltgun, I'd take the Wheeelen.

[Texas by God]

I've had both although I never shot cast in the Whelen Imp. I think I'd still pick the .358 Win. Mine was a joy with the RCBS 35-200fp.

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[RJM52]

If you love the Ruger #1, get the Whelen.

I have a Ruger Frontier in .358 that loves the 220 grain MeHic cast HPs... A friend has the same rifle and uses the 200 grain RCBS mold. He had a Remington 700 Classic in .35W and it shot just as well as the Frontier...

I like short action bolt guns which is why I chose the .358...but in a #1 go the Whelen... I had one of the limited edition K1A stainless #1s in .35W...AAA stock that was just too pretty to hunt with. Wish they had brought that same gun out with a black/gray laminated stock...

Bob

228862

[Uncle Grinch]

Got both, the 358 is on a military FN action with a 20 inch barrel with Williams receiver sights. The 35 Whelen is a Rem 700 that was rebored from a 30-06. Both are nice and look great. The 358 seems to handle better and gets used more, especially with cast boolits. Both are great rounds and will kill efficiently. Pick one and be happy with it.

[35 shooter]

You can’t go wrong either way. I went with the whelen in a tc encore and love it. It’s shot every cast boolit from 200to300gr. I’ve put in it extremely well, from 1275 FPS. to 2500fps.
Still would like to have a short action bolt gun in .358 to go with it just because lol.

[kaiser]

Get the rifle you want first; either caliber will meet your "stated" requirements. You can always make a Whelen perform like a .358, but not the other way around. I've owned both and wish I'd never gotten rid of my 99-358, but it being a "lever" was never as accurate as my "pump" or "bolts" in a .35 Whelen (just a bit "classier"). My .02.

[Harter66]

Wait for it .......



Problem solver on the way .......






9×57 ! Bam Bam Bam . Half way in between . Simple neck up an shoulder bump from 8×57 . Still plenty of magazine length to stick a bullet way out there as needed . More zoom zoom than 358 and burns less powder than the Whelen .

[waco]

I have a Rem 722 in 300 Savage that I want to turn into a 358 Win.

[Texas by God]

I have a Rem 722 in 300 Savage that I want to turn into a 358 Win.
It won't hurt that old classic and It will probably gain accuracy. Call JES Reboring- you'll love the results.

[Shuz]

If I had to choose just one, it would be the .35 Whelen. As another poster said, you can always download the .35 Whelen. I've had both cartridges and now only have one .35 Whelen in a Rem 700 with a 1:12 twist bbl. Be careful of the twist on the .35 caliber if you wanna shoot boolits of 280g or more. Some 1:16 twist bbls will not stabilize the heavier boolits. At least one that I HAD,... didn't!

[OFFSHORE]

Call JES Reboring- you'll love the results.

NOW YOU'VE DONE IT ! ! !

I've heard/seen bits and pieces of JES, but never really looked into what he did or his quality until now. I just did a pretty substantial internet review of posts (about an hour and a half worth) regarding the `smith work of JES and I must say all of it was positive. Now I have all kinds of ideas dancing around in my head. . .I may even go back to a .356 Win for my o`le Marlin 336. The .35 cal has become a Catch22 for me! Thank you all for the above information. . .I was leaning towards to .358 Winny (still am - kinda), but now I have a few more options to consider as far as the donor rifle. You have educated and twisted my mind a little more.

[Texas by God]

NOW YOU'VE DONE IT ! ! !

I've heard/seen bits and pieces of JES, but never really looked into what he did or his quality until now. I just did a pretty substantial internet review of posts (about an hour and a half worth) regarding the `smith work of JES and I must say all of it was positive. Now I have all kinds of ideas dancing around in my head. . .I may even go back to a .356 Win for my o`le Marlin 336. The .35 cal has become a Catch22 for me! Thank you all for the above information. . .I was leaning towards to .358 Winny (still am - kinda), but now I have a few more options to consider as far as the donor rifle. You have educated and twisted my mind a little more.
Just look at it as a brand new rifle that's eerily familiar- for $225 tyd!

[atr]

I really like my 35 Whelen ! It shoots both cast and jacketed accurately.
My only advice is that whichever you get, make sure you a good barrel with the correct rate of twist for the weight of bullet you intend to shoot.

[Yodogsandman]

The 35 Whelen will always be capable of more than a 358 Win. Always!


You can always reduce it for 358 Win performance, though.

[Reverend Al]

My vote is for the .358 Winchester. I like a short compact rifle and so took one of my Remington 600's and had the .308 barrel re-bored and re-rifled to .358 Winchester with gain twist by Ron Smith in Alberta since I live above the 49th Parallel. It is primarily a cast bullet rifle, but can be shot with J words in a pinch. I dropped the barreled action into a pepper grey laminated Boyds thumbhole stock since I've always wanted to try a thumbhole design and I've found that I love it. I couldn't be happier with the end result ... a nice light, great handling 20" carbine.

https://i.imgur.com/1irIh0k.jpg

[Beerd]

Nice looking rifle you have there Reverend!
..

[jmort]

The sweet spot for a .308 case is .338 caliber
The sweet spot for the .30-06 case is .35 caliber
If you are going for a short action, go .338 aka .338 Federal
Better SD, more energy, 3k plus ft lbs
.35 Whalen same thing with 3.5 k plus ft lbs
.358 less gun than .338 Federal
This is what I would consider.

[waco]

It won't hurt that old classic and It will probably gain accuracy. Call JES Reboring- you'll love the results.

Oh. Did I tell you guys that JES is only about 35 mile up the road from me?:bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2::bigsmyl2:

[RustyMusket]

My 'go to' 358 is a Sako L579 Sporter originally in 243. I sent it to JES for a 5 groove 1/12 rebore. That thin 243 sporter barrel needed a lot of forend bedding pressure but it is an amazingly accurate rifle with cast and jacket. I cannot say enough good about Jesse and his capabilities.

[Reverend Al]

Nice looking rifle you have there Reverend!
..

Thanks! I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I've always had a soft spot for the Remington 600 series rifles. I used to collect them and had 14 at one point. Weeded them down to about three now ... this custom .358 Win, a custom built .17 Remington Ackley Improved, and a custom built .308 Winchester with a match grade ss barrel in a Brown Precision kevlar stock. I still have a spare .308 Remington 600 pull off barrel and I'm tempted to have it re-bored and re-rifled to .338 Federal and then build a 4th custom 600 ...

[jmort]

"I still have a spare .308 Remington 600 pull off barrel and I'm tempted to have it re-bored and re-rifled to .338 Federal and then build a 4th custom 600 ..."

I like that idea

[Beerd]

Thanks! I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I've always had a soft spot for the Remington 600 series rifles. I used to collect them and had 14 at one point. Weeded them down to about three now ......

so you're saying there may be one (or two) more hiding in the back of one of your safes? [smilie=1:

[sukivel]

I’ve always wanted a .35 Whelen, and I have an old .308 that I think needs to be a .338 Federal.


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[sharps4590]

I'd be in the same canoe as Harter, 9 X 57, for all the reasons he mentioned.

[Reverend Al]

so you're saying there may be one (or two) more hiding in the back of one of your safes? [smilie=1:

Maaaayyyybeeee ....

[smilie=l:

[Reverend Al]

Oh ... and just to "muddy the waters" I JUST bought a 98 Mauser sporter in 9x57mm on an online auction I was monitoring. I couldn't resist buying it for only $200 plus auction fees ...

[GLynn41]

Just saw this.. I have thing for medium bores and not much sense... Anyway have had 3 .358 and was sad that two of them had to leave. I was laid off. Anyway the BC does peak in the .338 cal but... Are you going to shoot jacketed bullets or galena cast boolits. Then the jsp BC does not matter. Plus the normal jsp in this caliber are made for the .338 win mag, so they are stiffer bullets for higher .338 mag velocity. The .358 win peaks as to BC at the 250 gr Speer with a .448- not bad. My Weatherbye vanguard with push this bullet at 2340 and above. Also remember that the .358 is the larger than the .338 and that helps with cast boolits. I too wanted a .338 Fed...and one day maybe but I am well covered with my .358 win. I wanted a .35 Whelan but my LGS had this rifle and I have never even thought about a .35 Whelan. Currently I am shooting the Lee .358 Cal 200 gr boolit. I shot some this morning and even with my badly worn barrel, and poor rest I got 3" triangles. I will shoot some more between now and rifle season and hopefully get better results. Both rounds will do just fine pick one and have one.. I am happy with my .358 Win.

[JDL]

There will be a problem if you should choose the .358 Win. The problem will be there will be no use for a .35 Whelen. Trust me on this, in the summer of 1996 I wanted a .35 Whelen badly. I was then making yearly excursions for elk and was sure a .35 would meet all my needs. I remembered I had a .358 barrel and in a get-by project I screwed it on a M.70 action. Shot great and I killed a bull with it that fall and deer and everything else I've pointed it at since at one round per. That rifle has saved me lots of $ when I start "needing" a larger bore.:D

[jonp]

Posted a thread a while ago about an FN Mauser 30-06 I bought for under $200 specifically for a rebarrel. After a number of posts I decided on what was my inclination before the post. A 35 Whelen. If I need more power for something or other there are a number of Rolling Blocks or larger bolts that fit the bill.