35 RemR

[Tatume]

Hello Folks,

Today I got to shoot my new Contender barrel. The cartridge is based on the 303 British, necked up to 35 caliber, and reformed in a 35 Remington FL die. I call it the 35 RemR (35 Remington Rimmed). The first photo shows the steps in case forming, starting with the parent 303 British case.

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First the neck is expanded. Then the case is trimmed to final length. Lastly, the case is full length sized, setting the shoulder to its final position. It is necessary to reshape in stages, because the parent case is too long to fit into the 35 Remington die without buckling.

Here's a couple more targets. I'm going to increase the powder charge one grain next week, and maybe one more the week after. There's a lot of air space in the case, and I'm hoping to tighten the groups a bit.

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The Speer 180 grain flat point bullet seems to work well.

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Thanks for looking.

Take care, Tom

[LUCKYDAWG13]

that looks like you got a real good shooter there Rifle or Pistol who made the barrel

[Tatume]

The barrel is a 14" pistol barrel from Bullberry. The pistol itself is a first generation "easy open" model with the cat on the side. I've had it since new, but don't remember how long (a long time). Bullberry cut the chamber to my specs, but I'm sure they would do it again.

[skeettx]

Sounds wonderful, a Rimmed case is the Bee's Knees
Mike

[Beerd]

I make mine from 30-40 Krag brass.
One pass in a Lyman .35 Rem size die and trim to length.
15" Contender barrel from Bellm.
Haven't shot much cast with it though.
..

[beagle]

At one time, the .35 Rem was a heavy contender in the silly wet game. Had a buddy that had one and he had all kinds of misfires and gave it up. Looks like you've solved the headspacing problem with your rimmed case./beagle

[Tatume]

At one time, the .35 Rem was a heavy contender in the silly wet game. Had a buddy that had one and he had all kinds of misfires and gave it up. Looks like you've solved the headspacing problem with your rimmed case./beagle

Hi Beagle,

Exactly. But it's more. The firing pin blow sets the case back, but doesn't always cause a misfire. The result is then inconsistent primer blows, which cause inconsistent primer flame, which shows up on the target as enlarged groups. The rim fixes that problem too.

Take care, Tom

[kbstenberg]

Tatume what was the cost of a barrel like that? I shudder when I see how much a standard barrel costs!

[Tatume]

Hi.

http://www.bullberry.com/contender_barrels.html#pricing

Take care, Tom

[EDG]

A factory Contender barrel could have a rim recess cut in it in a few minutes and should work just as well. You would have to use a .44 Mag extractor.

[Tatume]

A factory Contender barrel could have a rim recess cut in it in a few minutes and should work just as well. You would have to use a .44 Mag extractor.

You do not need to change the extractor. The 35 Remington extractor works just fine with 35 Rem and 35 RemR.

[PositiveCaster]

At one time, the .35 Rem was a heavy contender in the silly wet game. Had a buddy that had one and he had all kinds of misfires and gave it up....

I used a Super 14 in .35 Remington for several years shooting steel in the mid-80s. Fired thousands of rounds in practice and competition, never had a single misfire. The problem is usually poor sizing technique. If the shoulder is in the right place the pistol will fire. Set the shoulder back a few thousandths too far and you'll get misfires.

BTW it was pretty brutal on a 60 round course, to mitigate recoil I used Speer 180s on C, P and T, and Speer 250s on rams. Never rung a target either. Didn't start shooting cast in that barrel until a couple years later, after I started using more reasonable cartridges on steel.


.

[jem102]

I used a Super 14 in .35 Remington for several years shooting steel in the mid-80s. Fired thousands of rounds in practice and competition, never had a single misfire. The problem is usually poor sizing technique. If the shoulder is in the right place the pistol will fire. Set the shoulder back a few thousandths too far and you'll get misfires.

BTW it was pretty brutal on a 60 round course, to mitigate recoil I used Speer 180s on C, P and T, and Speer 250s on rams. Never rung a target either. Didn't start shooting cast in that barrel until a couple years later, after I started using more reasonable cartridges on steel.


.

My experience exactly. You have to size Contender cases so the action takes just a "bit" of a snap to close. If you do, no ignition problems and good case life. I saw people have the inconstant ignition problem with the TCU's as well. When they stopped pushing the shoulder too far back all was well.

Something I do for new .35 Rem brass is run them over a .375 expander then start moving the die down till I get that "tight" closure on the first firing. This forms them well to that particular chamber giving a good shoulder set which IMO the .35 Rem needs all it can get. If you start with cast bullets you can seat out hard against the lands to get the similar effect of a "snap" closure and use a starting load. I feel the expander method works a little better but both will work and /or a combiation of the two.

[Tatume]

Some people appear to be satisfied just getting the gun to fire, by abusing the mechanism. That's a pretty low standard, and insufficient to my needs. The Contender should close smoothly, and should be accurate. My other barrels shoot five shot groups smaller than MOA on demand (not just lucky groups). I expect the 35 RemR to do the same. The first day at the range it demonstrated 1.5 MOA with fire-form loads. It will go sub-MOA before I'm done with it, and I won't have to slam the action closed either.