Marlin 336 in .35 Rem

[MtGun44]

I just purchased a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem. Looks pretty good in the pix, but
it will be a while before I have it in my hands (Gunbroker).

Any tips from experts on the caliber? I have found a likely source of Win
brass, plan to start off with a few jbullet loads to explore what the cartridge
is all about, and then move on to boolits.

I have read Glen's article on it, as usual, a great deal of info.

Any pointers? Never had a .35 cal rifle before.

Bill

[Lefty SRH]

Is your a pre-cross bolt safety?

[starmac]

No Pointers, as I have never owned one. There was one for sale here this week, supposedly the guy bought it in 61 it and after sighted it in the closet and only removed it to oil it occasionally ever since.
It is the wrong time of year for me or I would likely own it now.

[crazy mark]

Good choice of Marlins. The 35-200 RCBS is the mould to get. Make sure you don't set back the shoulder on the brass or you will have lots of fail to fires. Did I say I really like Marlins in 35 Rem.

[crash87]

I've got a 1950's model 336 SC, 20" barrel. I have had great success with sierra 200 gr,J's. Got a couple of boars last March with those, 1 shot each.
Of course I got my 200gr RCBS clone from NOE after that. Loading and shooting those, 50/50 pb/ww I got accuracy equal to the j's. This rifle is as accurate as anything I have, it wears a 1X Nikon as low on the reciever as I can get it and comes up fast and ready, with a very smooth lever throw.........I think you get the picture, I like it, alot. Oh, and try good ol' IMR 3031, good powder for the 35, for sure.
crash87

[JayinAZ]

I've only had mine a short while so don't have much experience working up loads yet. But I will mention that I bought 2 boxes of Win P-P to try it out and create some empty brass. I can't get CCI primers to go in the pockets, it's almost like they were crimped. Remington brass acquired since is no problem. I need to pick up a primer pocket uniformer and go over that Win brass.

[madsenshooter]

Today's brass seems to be very much undersized for my 50's 336. It seems to be sized more like rimmed brass such as the 30/30 or 30/40, not like a case meant to be headspaced on the shoulder. That's something you might want to check out MtGun. Winchester was the culprit in my case, primers protruded quite a bit after firing. I had bought some new old stock REM-UMC cases from an old gunshop in GA, no such problem with them. There's not much of a shoulder to headspace on anyway. Ranch dog has some higher than SAAMI standard, but 336 reasonable, load data.

[TXGunNut]

My 336 in 35 Rem is quickly becoming one of my favorite leverguns. For a J-bullet the 200 gr RP CoreLokt is a good bullet and I'm working up a load for Ranch Dog's excellent 359-190 boolit.

[JFE]

There's a 3 part article on the Marlin owners site on the 35 Rem thats worth reading. In summary the best J-bullet for general use is the 200 gr Rem CL. It seems to deliver a good balance of expansion and penetration over varying distances.

Like a lot of others, my rifle has no throat to speak of, so you might want to invest in a Lee FCD die. FWIW the 200gr Rem bullets chamber perfectly when crimped in the crimp groove.

Lately I've been working up loads using a Saeco 352 mould (245 gr FN) which is mentioned in Glen's article. It's a very nice bullet that seems designed for the 35 Rem. So far I'm getting around 2000 fps even and excellent accuracy. This is using AR2206, which is a powder with a similar in burning speed to BL-C2. That powder has been discontinued and it's replacement (AR2206H), which you'll know as H-4895, produces lower velocities and loads arent as accurate.

[kliff]

Was at a gun show yesterday and found 1 Micro grooved 336 in 35 Caliber. Not rough condition, but not new condition either, well used best describes it. I'd have gone $350.00 for the rifle, but the owner wouldn't come off $499.00... I went home empty handed.

[Lefty SRH]

Was at a gun show yesterday and found 1 Micro grooved 336 in 35 Caliber. Not rough condition, but not new condition either, well used best describes it. I'd have gone $350.00 for the rifle, but the owner wouldn't come off $499.00... I went home empty handed.

I enjoy my 336 in .35 Rem but I don't think I would have paid $500 for it. You did right by going home empty handed.

[Bret4207]

The RCBS 35-200FN is hard to beat. My current fav is a GB 35-180GCFN, mucho funo to shoot and devastating on varmints.

[fishnbob]

I just purchased a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem. Looks pretty good in the pix, but
it will be a while before I have it in my hands (Gunbroker).

Any tips from experts on the caliber? I have found a likely source of Win
brass, plan to start off with a few jbullet loads to explore what the cartridge
is all about, and then move on to boolits.

I have read Glen's article on it, as usual, a great deal of info.

Any pointers? Never had a .35 cal rifle before.

Bill
MtGun, I reloaded a 35 for a friend for 20 yrs. before I bought one off GB. It is a 1980 made, presafety. My advice is to go with the factory 200 gr core locked for a while and accumulate some brass. Try some of the Hornady Leverevolution which has a pointed soft point and I've shot some tight groups with that. I still feel uneasy about the pointy tips in the mag but they have enough flex to not indent the following rounds. My best advice is to slug or cast the chamber bore or leade to insure that when you get a mold, it will fit your rifle properly. My chamber is so short that I have to trim the brass below saami specs to get my casts to chamber without being shoved into the rifling, which will make the lever hard to close. It is more noticeable than when being chambered in a tight bolt rifle. It's a real kicker with the 200 gr JSP but pleasant when you load down with cast. Nothing runs away after being hit with it. The Accurate 36R175 mold makes a good looking boolit.

[Ed in North Texas]

There's a 3 part article on the Marlin owners site on the 35 Rem thats worth reading. In summary the best J-bullet for general use is the 200 gr Rem CL. It seems to deliver a good balance of expansion and penetration over varying distances.

snip


If you have a current link for that article, would you share it? I searched and every link I found for a part of that article came up with a 404 (not found) error. Thanks.

Ed

[JFE]

Appropriately, the poster's tag is '35remington' and here are the links. I think you might need to be a forum member there to view them.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/3858-part-1-2-35-remington-factory-load-performance.html

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/bullet-tests/5328-35-remington-bullet-performance-part-ii-handloads.html

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/1257-range-results-using-new-powders-35-a.html

[JFE]

Here's a link to the first two parts hosted on a different site:

http://www.suitorsgarage.com/gunstuff/35remington/factoryloadpart1.html

http://www.suitorsgarage.com/gunstuff/35remington/35rempart2.html

These links are somewhat easier to follow.

[Lefty SRH]

How about some casting load data? I've searched a little but the data seems to be limited. What data do you guys have?

[Mk42gunner]

Bill,

I am not an expert on the .35 Remington, but I do have one that I got last November.

Cabela's in KC usually has a bag or two of Remington brass on the shelf.

Using Remington brass, Winchester LR primers and a 200 gr Hornady RN my 87 vintage Marlin prefers H335 in rather large amounts to 3031. Groups were about 2/3 the size of the 3031 groups, I did not run them over the chronograph, but they felt like they were considerably faster; they certainly recoiled more.

Call me old fashioned, but I haven't had any problems roll crimping with a standard set of RCBS dies. For belling the case mouth for lead, I have been using the expander from my CH .38 special dies.

My barrel slugged at a healthy .359"+ so I need to get a .360" sizing die.

The RCBS 200 FN or the Ranch Dog are supposed to be the two best boolits for use in the .35; goodsteel sent me some of the RCBS boolits to try, now I just have to get to the range with them.

Mine seems to cycle smoother than any rimmed rifle caliber lever action I have ever shot.

Good luck with it,

Robert

[oscarflytyer]

Have a 35 Rem Marlin, for little over a year now. Some tidbits to make the new ownership more friendly.

1) Check out the Marlin forum. Tons of great info there.

2) IF you want to load a FULL tube magazine of the Hornday LE bullets - make the FIRST bullet in the tube a RN bullet!!! If you don't, you risk locking the whole thing up. And if you lock it up, you will have to disassemble the rifle to unload it! The LE gummies can get turned cock-eyed in the tube, and the rim of one will bite the tip of the other and lock it up tight. Some say a new follower, gummy bullet friendly, solves the problem, but I KNOW the RN bullet solution works!

3) Be very careful reloading, as mentioned above, or you will set the shoulder back sizing or crimping the bullet. I did this on some of mine. Stinks. Can typically fire the rounds and brass is still good, but... Marlin forum info will help. If you go over there, send me an IM and I will forward you some good info from cpl guys that shared with me.

4) On MF, Swany and 35 Remington have a ton of good 35 info postings. Also look to Hawg ( I think it is) for load data. Over on MF, you will find data that is over book max. This is due to the fact that the Marlin is used in other cartridges of higher pressures than the 35 Rem. Some load it up to the receiver pressures vs book max. Up to you.

5) Lead bullet - check out Michael's Ranch Dog molds. Some will try and tell you that the Marlin Micro-groove won't shoot cast. Baloney. They will, but... Usually need to be about .001 over the norm. A .358 sized usually won't shoot well. A .359" will. RD sells the larger sizers and his molds are top notch. Plus, he also posts loading data. He is fantastic to work with.

[Vly]

The 35 Rem is a great cast boolit cartridge. As others have commented, the 200 gr boolit does well. I have had best results using IMR-3031.

Here is mine - has the K prefix which indicates 1953 manufacture.

http://fototime.com/DB6B6512645D8F7/standard.jpg

[357Mag]

Mt -

Howdy !

Mine is a 2y.o. XLR . An absolutely fabulous rifle, I must say !

IMHO - for both/either "J"-word or cast; might I suggest IMR3031 ?
Lyman's .35Rem reloading info for both, seems spot-on.

I have yet to try some .357" cal poly-tipped swaged 175gr BTs; that I garnered by taking them out of a saboted .45cal muzzle loader scab pack. The same vendor offers poly-tipped .357" cal BTs of 195 & 200gr.

These might be utilized for my first go @ paper patching. We'll see.....

I have had great success using Lees " Collet NS Die " for .35Rem.
I simply keep sanding-down the die's mandrel OD, until the desired level of neck tension is reached. Additional mandrels only cost around $7.50.
Lee will factory redux mandrel diameter ( only ) .001", for a $5.00 or so fee.

With regards,
357Mag

[MtGun44]

The gun is presafety, and it looks really good in the pix. Here is one. I got it for $325, which
I think is pretty right, but I must wait and see what it looks like up close and personal before
I decide if it was a deal or not. The wood even looks really nice.

SN is in the 271 million range. Any ideas when it was made?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=161&pictureid=4869

I will probably run up to Cabela's and see if they have the Rem brass, as reported by
MK42gunner.

I will also get some of the 200 Core-lokt bullets to start out with. I have had good results
on deer with the Core-Lokt in my 7x57, so it will be a good one to try until I get set up to do cast.

Of course, the first cast is likely to be a 358477 or 358429 or something from a pistol.
Actually, the Lee 358-158 RF is a likely candidate, too.

Thanks for the info - esp the caution on not pushing the shoulder back. Makes sense.

Bill

[madsenshooter]

I'll go along with the 3031 suggestions made. 2015, which is virtually the same burn rate, worked very well for me under a boolit from one of BaBore's 360220 molds. Bartlett's Russian 4895 that burns like 4064 is too slow, a caseful didn't get up enough pressure to burn completely. Of course what didn't burn fell into the chamber upon ejecting the round and made subsequent rounds hard to chamber. The letter prefix of the SN will tell what year it was made, or subtracting the first two digits of the serial# from 100, which in your case=73=1973: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin_Model_336 Mine is a 1955 with 7 groove cut rifling.

[EdS]

One more vote for the RCBS 35-200FN. My 336 likes them sized to .359. Since deer season here along the Maryland / Pennsylvania border sees temperatures from the low 20s up to the mid 70s; I chose Hodgdon Varget for its temperature stability. My 336 groups the RCBS boolit & Varget loads around 1" at 50 yards with post front sight and Williams Foolproof rear. Now my Marlin and Winchester 30-30s sit home while I hunt with the .35 Rem. -Ed

[MtGun44]

I found a site the indicates that with 27 as the first two digits, it was made in 1973.

Is that good or bad? Seems like good to me, but I don't know that much about the history
of Marlin production and ups and downs that may have occurred over time.

Bill

[imashooter2]

I found a site the indicates that with 27 as the first two digits, it was made in 1973.

Is that good or bad? Seems like good to me, but I don't know that much about the history
of Marlin production and ups and downs that may have occurred over time.

Bill

73 rifles are just fine. Congrats on the new toy.

[MtGun44]

Thanks, it'll still be a while before I get my hands on it, shipping, etc.

Bill

[Mk42gunner]

A few suggestions:

I would move the scope forward, with healthy loads a Marlin in .35 Remington will recoil smartly.

Lower rings will help with getting a good cheek weld on the stock.

With lower rings you will need a hammer extension to safely manipulate the hammer.


I had to trim the new Remington brass tha I got, it was very uneven as it came from the bag.

Robert

[Lefty SRH]

I found a site the indicates that with 27 as the first two digits, it was made in 1973.

Is that good or bad? Seems like good to me, but I don't know that much about the history
of Marlin production and ups and downs that may have occurred over time.

Bill

Mine is a 1977 or 1978 model pre-safety, they are special rifles! Eventually I will pull the scope off mine and install XS peep sights....

[MtGun44]

I did think that scope looked pretty far aft. I may put a peep on it after doing some
load development.

I have a really nice Skinner prototype given to me by a site member that is looking for a home.

Bill

[EDG]

I found that 3031 and the .35 Rem seem to be made for each other. I like the Speer 180 bullets and the 200 grain RNs made by Sierra, Remington and Hornady. if I had to pick one it would be the Remington.
I have a 1952 J prefix Marlin just like the one earlier in the thread, a 1946 Remington 141 and a 1952 Remington 760. I really like this round for my style of shooting.

[Old Goat Keeper]

Nope visitors are allowed to read but not post if I remember correctly. And the poster's "handle" is appropriate because he IS the most knowledgeable person I know of on the 35 Remington!

T-o-m



Appropriately, the poster's tag is '35remington' and here are the links. I think you might need to be a forum member there to view them.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/3858-part-1-2-35-remington-factory-load-performance.html

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/bullet-tests/5328-35-remington-bullet-performance-part-ii-handloads.html

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/1257-range-results-using-new-powders-35-a.html

[Old Goat Keeper]

MG your Marlin for sure is a 1973. Has NO CB safety and has microgroove rifling. Start with either the Remington 200 grain coreloks or the RanchDog boolit. Also the receiver is predrilled for scope mounts. BTW, the RD boolit was designed specifically for use in the Marlins an their special chambering needs.

In the pic the butt stock looks like it has been replaced and not finished but that is an easy fix. Very nice rifle.

T-o-m



I found a site the indicates that with 27 as the first two digits, it was made in 1973.

Is that good or bad? Seems like good to me, but I don't know that much about the history
of Marlin production and ups and downs that may have occurred over time.

Bill

[Boondocker]

I went to the gunshop yesterday to order some supplies and dies for the new 45/70 and out in the rack on the floor sat a 35 336. no name 4 power scope. 4 good scratches on the receiver like a screwdriver slip making tracks and some very, very light rust on the barrel and tube, good bore for 269.00. It was crying for a new home but so soon after the 45/70 what would the minister of finances say. I hope it is gone before next monday because it needs some tlc.:bigsmyl2:

[starmac]

269, I think even with the summers wages getting dangerously low, mama would have probably gotten mad. lol

[Ed in North Texas]

Appropriately, the poster's tag is '35remington' and here are the links. I think you might need to be a forum member there to view them.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/3858-part-1-2-35-remington-factory-load-performance.html

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/bullet-tests/5328-35-remington-bullet-performance-part-ii-handloads.html

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/1257-range-results-using-new-powders-35-a.html

All three worked just fine, no registration needed. Thanks.

Ed

[TXGunNut]

Agreed, starmac. Sooner or later SWMBO will get PO'd about something, might as well be something worthwhile.

[MtGun44]

MK42 -

Thanks for the tip - I bought two bags of Rem brass at Cabela's last night. I'll
probably start shooting some bullet or boolit that I have in stock, meaning something
intended for a pistol, at first.

Rifle ships today.

Bill

[161]

Mine was made in 1963 half mag. I mounted a period correct Weaver K4 on it. I bought 300 of Carolina Cast Bullet's 190 Ranch Dog. RX7 and that boolit get along just fine in my gun.