Cast vs Jacketed in Marlin 336A With Ballard Rifling

[jd45]

I'd be interested to hear your feedback as to which gives better performance @ around 2200FPS.Thanx for your opinions, jd45

[Chuck 100 yd]

That is like asking what flavor of ice cream is best. They both will do just GREAT with proper loads and in the case of cast,proper alloy/lube/bullet design. Testing is the only way to see what combination is best for you and your rifle. Have fun!

[M. M. Wright]

I'd probably opt for slower velocities for the cast plain base bullets but you could use gas checked bullets and get excellent results.

[Rusty]

A .30-30 is a great cartridge for cast bullets. A 170 gr or heavier will give you all you need.

[jd45]

Thanx guys. I should've fleshed my question out a bit & included that the rifle I'm playin with is chambered in .35 Remington & I have 180 & 200GR gas-checked .359 hard cast Bear Tooth & Hornady 200GR FTX jacketed. I was wondering about the compatability level of each when run thru a ballard-rifled bore. Maybe it can be a toss-up. jd45

[earlmck]

I've got an old 336A with 24" bbl and normal rifling, and a newer 336R with 20" bbl and microgoove rifling. Neither likes my cast bullets to go much above 1800 fps (I shoot the Lyman 205 grain with the skinny nose designed for the 35 Remington). Both like the 200 grain Hornady roundnose. And achieve approximately equal velocities despite the barrel length difference.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Cast bullets in the .35 Rem. can present a BIG problem. The problem being the very short or nonexistent lead won't let a hard cast bullet be chambered . Using softer alloy,the bullet will engrave the rifling and chamber ok but soft bullets and high velocity usually don't go together well. Jacketed RN bullets have always been the norm for the .35.

[jd45]

Thanx Chuck. I am using gas checks on the lead bullets & I had Regan Nonneman, who advertises on the Marlinowners website ream a throat into my chamber AND I was lucky enough to acquire 100 Remington 200GR RNCLs recently, which I know were specially designed by them when they came up with the cartridge all those years ago. Also have some Hornady 200GR jacketed RNs to play with as well. jd45

[Chuck 100 yd]

You should be good to go with either type of bullet then. Testing will tell the story.

[TedH]

This old post may be of some interest.

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... ullet+test