My 35 REM.

[Prodigal Son]

I have this older 35 REM. 336 Marlin that is 4 groove rifle barrel. My late Uncle Jack loved to shoot cast bullets and I do too. This year in his memory I want to shoot a deer with a cast bullet on his favorite stand out in the woods he and the rest of us grew up in. He also was a big fan of the 35 remington. I have cast some from my 358315 and they come in at 209 grs. The gas check I am using and sizing to .358 is not staying on. I have used 2400, and some Scot 4197 with very little success. The boolits are not leading the bore, but 3" @ 50 yards aint getting it. Would love to get this together and shoot me a big'n for Uncle Jack. Anyone out there got any suggestions, Thanks, Prodigal!

[waksupi]

It should definitely shoot better than that. I would try some .359 boolits, and see if that doesn't help things.

[Prodigal Son]

I slugged the bore and it is right at .358! It is a 7 groove barrel, so all I have read says it should shoot like no tomorrow! I tried Buck Shots .360 sizer with 2400 23.9 grs. and it was somewhat better. I got a .358 from my Dad and it got worse. Going back to the .360 and slow it down to see if that helps!

[cbrick]

Check this out, you may find something here that will help.

35 Remington: Americas Other Levergun (http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell35RemingtonLevergun.htm) By Glen E. Fryxell

Rick

[waksupi]

If the bore is .358, you need .359, or .360 most likely. Fill the throat, don't think about the bore size right now. You need over bore size.

[uscra112]

And 2400 is way too fast for full-power loads. Go at least to Reloader 7. For donkeys' years 3031 and 4895 have been the canonical powders for full loads. Varget also ought to do well. (I had to quit on the .35 Rem since I moved to Ohio, so I never actually tried Varget, but it's in the right range.)

[OnHoPr]

I would definitely try a slower powder, like from 4064 to 4350. Another suggestion would be to toy with your alloy.

[selmerfan]

I've got some Ranch Dog 190 RF sized at .359" that I could send you for sampling if you're interested.

[Loudenboomer]

Mike at Ranch dog has done the home work. The shape of his bullet will fill your throat well. go to the Ranch Dog Site. Check out the chaimber- throat drawings. Also AA2520 and win 748 powders will work well too.

[Mk42gunner]

This is all theoretical, I am waiting for payday to order my RanchDog mold for my new to me .35 Remington, (they are back in stock now, by the way).

It sounds to me like you have some of the old Lyman slip on gas checks; since they don't seem to be working for you, try some of the Hornady made crimp on checks.

Go to Ranch Dog's website and do some reading, he likes .359 for his boolits, and slower powders like 3031 and H335. Also do some looking in the leverguns forum here.

Please don't forget that when testing, you should change one thing at a time and don't let your barrel get hot.

Robert

[stubert]

You might to hone out the gas check band on the mold a LITTLE, I have had molds that the base of the boolit was to small to hold a check. roll up some emery into a tube and twirl it in the base of the mold, when checks stay on, it helps accuracy.

[ButterNutZ]

Dang... try Varget, my 35 rem will shoot 1inch at a 100 yards. But I'm using a rcbs 35-200 sized to 358. I think thats the best bullet for 35 rem.
Here is how it shoots
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s70/JeePing03/IMG_8363.jpg

[MBTcustom]

"But I'm using a rcbs 35-200 sized to 358."
Thats cheating! Takes all the fun out of struggling with any .35 cal load! hehe

[EdS]

I'll second the advice to try Varget and size 0.359 on the RCBS 35 200 boolit. You can start with loads in the range that the manuals list for the J-word bullets. My Microgroove in .35 Rem LOVES this combination. Good Shooting, Ed

[35remington]

Take a good, hard look at the bore riding nose. If it isn't bore riding, you are likely to get poor results. Tell us the diameter of the nose just forward of the driving bands.

Beagling the mould will fatten the nose and let it ride properly, and the bullet will still be symmetrical and potentially accurate.

Assuming you get a bullet that is fitting properly, 35.5 of 3031 or 38.5 of 4320 will get you around 2000 to 2050 fps with decent accuracy and will approximate a factory loaded shell.

"Decent" being around 3 inch groups at 100 yards cast of air cooled 12 BHN wheelweights. Such bullets expand well at these velocities and are easily cast up without having to fiddle with lead/tin mixes. There is a very small amount of fracturing during expansion, but it is limited and the bullet will still penetrate and perform well.

It is unrealistic to expect much more accuracy than this when the relatively soft bullets are being shoved at 28 to 30,000 psi in a rifle that has a rather poor throat configuration for a cast bullet. Better accuracy will be found with a better fit, better throating and a harder bullet, but a hard roundnose of this sort is a poor game bullet. The RCBS design is somewhat better suited for the caliber, but you've got to try with what you've got and shoot the rifle and bullet as is for the most part.

My Marlin 336's will accept a cast bullet of up to .362" diameter and still have neck/chamber clearance. My preference is .361" but you'll have to make up a custom sizer to get there. Most off the shelf moulds don't throw this large, unless they are modified or beagled.

If your mould is throwing .358" with a too skinny nose, fatten it up as described. Ruthlessly cull bad bullets with 4X magnification while looking for perfect bands and bases.

Your powders are too fast to get factory duplication velocity at survivable pressure. Try the two I mentioned above, H335, or the previously suggested Varget. Almost any medium speed rifle powder would be better than what you're using.

[Prodigal Son]

Thank you to all who took the time to give me some advise. I will put it to use, my mold drops .360 @ 209 grs. and then its heck to get the GC on, after sizing it falls off! I used an Old Lyman book for loading data, maybe too old. Please tell me what Beagled means also. I do hope there is a boolit out there that will do better than 3" @ 100 yds. I do shoot well with open sites yet. Love H-335 powder too, been trying to find a reason to try Varget on something. Thanks again for all the help. I find the folks here are so much more pleasent than I find on other forums!

[nanuk]

try This (http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/MoldMods/BDE.pdf) to read up on Beagling

[waksupi]

Don't know if it has been mentioned, but annealing the checks may help them stay on.

[Prodigal Son]

Thanks again and will try both of these "fixes"

[Larry Gibson]

I worked with 358315 every which way from Sunday in my .35 rem (a M91 Argie mauser rebarreled with a Shilen barrel) and could never get any decent accuracy above 1600 fps. I used Hornady crimp on GCs and the older Lyman slip ons too. Nothing made that bullet shoot well.

I then tried the RCBS 35-200-FN and success was intant. I use Hornacy crimp on GCs, the Lyman slip ons and my own made out of .014 brass shim stock. I use 4895 and accuracy is excellent. Aloy is 50/50 WW+2% tin/lead for hunting and I mildly HP them with the Forster HP tool. I size at .359 and use Javelina lube. Velocity is 2150 out of my 26" barrel. I suggest you save yourself a lot of frustration and get the RCBS 35-200-FN or the RanchDog bullet.

Target photo shows 2 5 shot groups at 100 yards for zero. Bottom group is at 200 yards with +6 moa sight adjustment. POA is 6 o'clock on the bull.

Larry Gibson

[Prodigal Son]

I have been wanting to build a 35 Rem. on a bolt action. I have a near mint 1891 Carbine all matching numbers but, I think I would like to use a M95 Mauser to build one though. I got a Ruger M 77 Tang safety in 358 Win. the other day, so I can't really see the need though. I just got my 358318 mold today and can't wait to cast some boolits with it. It will have to wait though, heading to FL to Knight Arm. to certifiy on the SR-25 Sniper rifle before heading back to Iraq to support agencies replacing the US troops heading home.