Good day all. Just returning from the range where I have done the so called impossible with a Marlin .35 rem.
To qualify this statement I should elaborate on "impossible".
I am shooting a Remington made early run Marlin in .35 rem bought 3 years ago. I have been told repeatedly that they are lousy rifles that don't cycle and for sure they will never shoot cast boolits because of the terrible micro groove rifling. I am shooting an NOE copy of the RCBS 200 FN that heavily engraves the rifling if I use the crimp groove. This of course is another recipe for disaster as the round will de boolit if extracted without firing and cause mayhem in that crappy action. I am shooting a load that involves W748 at 2000 fps. I am lubing with a mixture of beeswax and 2 cycle engine oil. Well, that can't be done either because of the unsuitable powder and of course that velocity is way over the threshold for micro groove(1600fps or below) rifling. I am shooting for groups at 200 yards. According to the local gunsmith this is lunacy! Don't I know this old cartridge is obsolete for a reason? Why at 200 yards you may as well just throw the rifle as you will never hit anything at that range with a lead flat nose.
Well, I must be some kind of idiot because I just wanted to know for myself if any of this was true. The results: When sighted in at 100 yards the rifle will print 1.5 inches with boring regularity. I can sometimes shoot 1 inch or less but not all the time. I believe the rifle is better than I can hold. At 200 my first group was 1.25 inches! A fluke for sure, and confirmed when all the other shots this morning stayed inside 2.5 inches. This was a 50 round string so I think I proved something to myself. Not a hitch in feeding or extraction of loaded rounds or empty brass. Just for fun I also seated another 20 rounds so they would not contact the rifling at all. This put the base of the boolit below the neck into the powder. (Gasp) All those rounds also landed in the group at 200. The recovered slugs show no sign of any gas cutting to the lower portion.
I am feeling just a little smug right now. While I will not try to change any minds at the gun shop, I thought some of you might get a chuckle reading what you already know to be true!