Running Up the 35 Remington

[86er]

This whole thing started when I saw a .33 Win for sale. I wondered if there was a gain over the 35 Rem in actual performance. I didn't need to duplicate classes of cartridges, but anyway it sparked my interest in what could be done with the 35 Remington cartridge. Luckily, Mike bought the .33 Win and spared me from having to mess with it. I went ahead to see if there was any advantage to pushing the 35 Remington to the limit. I did this with a Marlin with 20" barrel and I had some help from someone with good equipment.

My standard load is the 200 grain Core-Lokt at 2000 fps. It works well for deer and hogs so far and it is a winner on close range black bear. I use a very low pressure load of H4895 so the cartridge will function my Remington Model 8 without abusing it. It is very accurate out of the Marlin also. Here is what we got on actual paper targets:

Sight in = 2.5" high at 100 yards.
50 = +2
100 = +2.5
150 = 0
200 = - 8
250 = -18
300 = - 35

FWIW - if you believe in the 1000 ft/lbs of energy for game theory this load carries it to only 150 yards.

I used 37.7 gr of H322 with the same 200 gr Rem Core Lokt and seated to the very bottom of the crimp groove. (NOT FOR REM MODEL .

Sight in = 2.5" at 100 yards.
50 = +1.5
100 = +1.75
150 = 0
200 = -6
250 = -12
300 = -24

1000 ft/lbs of energy are carried to 250 yards with this loading. The pressure is well below taxing the rifle and no excessive signs were present.

As you can see, the load that pushes the 200 gr almost 2300 fps gives a very usable trajectory. The height of impact above point of aim is minimal and the longer ranges are easy to remember as they happen to fall in a pattern 6-12-24. Also, the engery is maintained at 1000 ft/lbs for a full 100 yards further than the light load.

The fast load increased the recoil from mild, 30-30 like to abrupt and noticable!

I don't have plans to use my 35 Rem at ranges much beyond 150 yds or on anything bigger than a 250 pound critter, so the faster load is nice to know but not really necessary. Next, I will see how the bullets perform at the higher velocity throughout the 300 yard path. The faster load actually performs better in real-life shooting on paper than the ballistics calculators predicted, so it is good to see the actual impacts at various ranges. Oh, by the way the 35 Rem comes real close to the 33 Win when they are loaded similarly but my Marlin just can't be a Winchester, even with it's straight grip. If it wasn't for loving the Rem Model 8 the 33 Win would fit in just fine here.

[Old Savage]

Mine is very good in accuracy with the 200 Gr Corelokt and I believe gets about 2050 with the factory loading. Thanks for the info and benefit of your experience. I think I would usually rather go with the more common cartridge.

BTW and way off this topic. The 243 loading in the condor area no lead bullets seems to the the winner and is actually better than the lead counterpart. 3200 fps and with flatter trajectory and better retained weight that make smaller projectiles very effective with what is large game for the area.

[Hobie]

57.7 gr. H322 in the .35 Rem? Typo? Otherwise how in the heck did you get that in there? I've done some shooting with H322 in the .35. Mel Sorg put me onto that powder. IIRC even 43 gr. was a tight fit. Form 2002...

I've got a .35 Rem barrel for my Contender. A factory 21", I got it when I got my first frame. Data from the late Mel Sorg helped me get it up and running. I do mean running. While I won't repeat the data here, it would push a 180 at 2400+, 200 at 2300+, and 220 at 2100+. Still, case expansion did not exceed safe limits. I thought all was well and fired over 100 rounds of this ammo through the barrel. Even took it hunting. Last week, while waiting for my ISP to come back on line, I managed to get to the range with this barrel to check relative zeroes with the various loads. First up, the 220s. First round in the bull at 25. Right where it should be at this range. Second round, side by side with the first, but... the case stuck AND it bent the extractor. This is a sure sign of excessive pressure in the Contender.

Well I couldn't unload it and so right back in the case it went and right back home I went. Very simple to do, I removed the extractor and soon discovered it wasn't repairable and so I ordered 2 more (+ 2 more of the springs for rimless extractors and 2 more hammer springs, just in case). Now I've broken down all the 220 grain bulleted ammo and will take the barrel out (with a rod to knock out cases) and see just how it does with the 200s and 180s.

Why is this interesting? Because in 5 years of storage the ammo went from OK to over the top. I may have to drop a full 2 grains (about .5%) of the charge. Velocities should drop to 2200, 2100 & 1900 fps respectively. Acceptable, but not the barn burners I thought I had. However, they will be safer and not just for me but for those who take my guns (and ammo) once I've moved on to the "other side"!

I've got to go home to see exactly what those charges were. However, I use 54 gr. H322 in the .45-70 case and it has good load density there.

[Old Savage]

Think that 54 was my 444 load.

I see I used it in the 45-70 too, pretty much a factory duplication load with a 300 Sierra.

[Hobie]

Think that 54 was my 444 load.

I see I used it in the 45-70 too, pretty much a factory duplication load with a 300 Sierra.

Yes, that's EXACTLY why I load it.

[86er]

Thanks for catching a type - it is 37.7 grains NOT 57... I corrected the original post. Whew - glad someone caught that, sorry.

[Hobie]

Whew is right!

[O.S.O.K.]

I have a Marlin 336RC in 35 Rem and another older one that I had rechambered to .356 Win. The bolt head needs to be mod'd or bolt switched to a 30-30 Win one as well to handle the .356's different sized head.

If you really want 33 Win balistics, that's the ticket IMHO. 200 grain bullet at 2500 fps, 220 grain bullet 2300 fps, 250 grain bullet at 2100 fps at standard pressures (for the round).

Though, I see nothing wrong with upping the 35 Rem to safe maximum pressure. The Marlin 336 is built to handle it.

But really, as already pointed out, there's no need for the extra power for most game we hunt.

[Nath]

Thanks for catching a type - it is 37.7 grains NOT 57... I corrected the original post. Whew - glad someone caught that, sorry.

I was just going to see how much 322 goes in a 308 case

We look's out for each other on here

N.

[Scott Young]

It is interesting how time repeats itself. That is my "bear load". I have run every conceivable load for the .35 rem and have eventually settled on something close to the factory load. I found the remington corelokts work better at the slower velocity. I shot many hogs and woods cows that were rogue with factory loads. Having seen the bullet at factory specs, any faster would have been bullet failure.