New (to me) Marlin 336 in .35 Remington

[mac266]

I just inherited a "waffle top," pre-safety version of this rifle in .35 Remington. Boy is brass hard to find!!!

I'm still accumulating all the stuff I'll need to reload for it. In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions for this gun in particular? I've never reloaded this caliber. Yes, I know, slug the bore. I'm not new to casting or reloading, just this particular caliber.

What bullet moulds tend to work well? Does this caliber have any idiosyncrasies?

[Loudenboomer]

Congratulations on the accusation of a classic. I have a small collection of these and they are a wonderful example of great craftsmanship in a 1950 rifle blue collar men could afford. Not a fussy cal. to load for. Most feel the Ballard style rifling in the waffle top rifles is a plus. I like ranch dog Boolits. The RCBS and others are very good. Many powders work well in the 35 rem. AA 2520 and leverloution are good ones as well as a host of other powders in that burn range. Happy Shootin.

[dragon813gt]

This thread is worthless w/out pictures ;)

There is a lengthy writeup of bullet selection for the 35 Remington on the Marlin Owners forum. I just spent an hour reading it. Lots of recovered bullet pictures and load details. The RCBS 35-200 FN or one of its clones is what you want. Expect to have to size to .359 - .360.

[RickinTN]

The RCBS 35-200 or the NOE copy of that bullet would be a good place to start. My NOE copy drops bullets of about 215 grains with wheel weight alloy, and at about.361". Forget about slugging the bore and size to fill the throat of the chamber. My guess is it is probably around .360". As mentioned above it is not really picky on powders. With the 16" twist and the proper alloy and powder you should be able to match factory jacketed loads. It can also be loaded down to good plinker loads, again with the proper powder.
Enjoy your new rifle!
Rick

[seaboltm]

You can find brass on gunbroker, but it is pricey. You will have to pay about $1 per case on gunbroker. I just bought 100 pieces of 300 Savage (another hard to find brass) for $95. But in reality, that much brass will probably last me a lifetime.

[dragon813gt]

I just bought 100 pieces of 300 Savage (another hard to find brass) for $95.
Should have bought it from member Grumpa here. He makes it from 308 and sells it for $.30 a piece. Way better quality and a lot cheaper then what you find on Gunbroker. If he could get $1 per case I'm sure he would make 35 Remington.

[GRUMPA]

Folks hardly look in the VS section for some reason, or do a search for that matter. I do more than most know to be honest, and I'm still expanding with a couple new that are in there R&D phase, like the 277Wolverine and the 375Reaper.

And for the curious just click this.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?117-Grumpa

I can do the 35Rem from 308 mil brass but I wont make a thread on it till they go up in price. Something about having to size/form twice and go through 2 separate machining operations isn't worth the trouble unless I get around $1ea plus shipping for the things. The Rem cases I do from 30-30 brass are hard enough.

[BruceB]

I have successfully made .35 Remington cases from commercial .308 Winchester brass.

I have not yet tried using military 7.62 NATO cases for this conversion, but they should also be alright even though they tend to be a bit heavier.

The converted .308 cases are working just fine as .35s. Whether we use the converted cases or not AT THIS TIME, it's at least useful to know that it can be done if the need arises.

[GRUMPA]

And that's why I went through the effort to do them right there, it's useful information and abilities that's truly useful.

[357Mag]

Mac -

Howdy !

IMHO -
IMR3031 is a great choice for use w/ either "J-word "bullets..... or boolits ( full-power field loads ).

I have had great results shooting IMR4759 and surplus Rem 150PSPs from my M-336 XLR .35Rem, in the form of reduced loads.

Quirkiest thing about the case is the almost non-existent shoulder. What your FL size die adjustment, so that you don't set-back the case shoulders excessively.

I love the .35Rem case/cartridges, and shooting them from a M-336 is the way-to-go !


With regards,
357Mag

[357Mag]

Mac -

Ooops... typo on my previous response = " Watch your FL die adjustment "...


Here's a pic of my experimental .35 Remington " neckless ".


With regards,
357Mag

[Djones]

I like both the 190 ranchdog and the rcbs 35-200. Leverevolution is my favorite powder. Brass is very hard to find.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?243583-Getting-close-35-rem-190-ranchdog


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?248970-Indiana-Whitetail-2014

oh yeah get yourself a lee collet neck sizing die!

congrats on the waffle top. I bet she's a beauty.

[TXGunNut]

Congrats on a fine rifle. Factory brass is a bit of a bummer right now, I'd buy a few boxes of factory and reload them if I didn't have any. Loaded properly the brass lasts a long time. I like the RD boolit as well.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

If you had to form brass from another caliber, turning the rim off .303 British (0.457" head) and shortening would probably be simpler than swaging the 0.470" head of .308 and whatever else you would do to get to a .35 Rem with its 0.455" head diameter. Factory ammo would be better than most of the alternate methods and though expensive would be better than the alternatives. The .35 in the Marlin is a fine rifle with a few 'older' Colorado timber hunters happy with its performance on elk using factory 200 grain Core-Lokts. With 2520 I have moved the Speer 220 out above 2200 fps with a case life of about 5 reloadings before signs of case separation appeared, but this is a heavy load. The RCBS 35-200 is my usual choice, though many roundnose .38 Special boolits have been used for fun. Since its a waffle-top it is drilled and tapped for a receiver sight. The 'standard' rifling makes cast bullet load development a little simpler.

[seaboltm]

You can bet I will search the Vendor section in the future. Grumpa could have saved me almost $70. That's a great savings.

[GRUMPA]

If you had to form brass from another caliber, turning the rim off .303 British (0.457" head) and shortening would probably be simpler than swaging the 0.470" head of .308 and whatever else you would do to get to a .35 Rem with its 0.455" head diameter. Factory ammo would be better than most of the alternate methods and though expensive would be better than the alternatives. The .35 in the Marlin is a fine rifle with a few 'older' Colorado timber hunters happy with its performance on elk using factory 200 grain Core-Lokts. With 2520 I have moved the Speer 220 out above 2200 fps with a case life of about 5 reloadings before signs of case separation appeared, but this is a heavy load. The RCBS 35-200 is my usual choice, though many roundnose .38 Special boolits have been used for fun. Since its a waffle-top it is drilled and tapped for a receiver sight. The 'standard' rifling makes cast bullet load development a little simpler.

I thought about the 303 as a parent case but ran into a bean counter problem. 303 brass is both harder to come by and would cost about as much as the finished product. 308 on the other hand is all over at a fraction of the cost. Since I had a couple boxes of 308 and about 5pcs of 303 the 308 brass won the coin toss. It was pure economics and curiosity and a new/used lathe that got me using the 308 as the parent case.

[BruceB]

If you had to form brass from another caliber, turning the rim off .303 British (0.457" head) and shortening would probably be simpler than swaging the 0.470" head of .308 and whatever else you would do to get to a .35 Rem with its 0.455" head diameter.

Surely, you jest.

The method I use involves only a .44 Magnum sizing die, a case trimmer, a sharp, fine-cut fine file and a means of rotating the case.... a 1/2" drill clamped in a vise, or a drill press.... or a lathe if one is available. (I'm fortunate, and my Unimat seems MADE for jobs like this.)

The .308 case is sized down in the .44 die, which brings the head diameter to a size that works in my .35 rifle (a Marlin).

It's then trimmed to .35 Remington length. I use a power-drill adapter on my Forster....works great, and trims the .308 in about five seconds, if that. Deburring is done after trimming.

The case is then FILED on its rim diameter to meet .35 Remington specs. A bit of trial-and-error will quickly determine how much filing (how many strokes on the rotating case) is necessary.

I estimate my time-per-case at about two minutes. That's not much of a cost to obtain usable brass for a rifle which otherwise might not see much use.

[mac266]

I'm not going to try to reform cases from any caliber into .35 Remington. That is more than I want to hassle with, so I'll keep hounding the forums. So far, I have 84 pieces en route but will need a few more.

I've been reading through my reloading manuals and noticed there are some loads for 158 grain .357 magnum bullets. I have a mould for a 158 grain RNFP, which is a great lever action bullet design. I may try some of those for plinking, BUT, I also want to use this caliber to its full potential. I've read elsewhere that the RCBS 35-200 is a great bullet in that caliber, and several of you have mentioned it.

I just added the mould to my "wish list" on Graf and Sons :)

[La Dano]

I just picked up a very nice 35Rem Waffle top with Williams peep sight also. Picking up brass and looking for a mold now. Can't wait to shoot it. Any tips will be appreciated, thanx.

[TXGunNut]

I just picked up a very nice 35Rem Waffle top with Williams peep sight also. Picking up brass and looking for a mold now. Can't wait to shoot it. Any tips will be appreciated, thanx.

Congrats to you as well. Brass quest is foremost, RCBS 35-200 and the Ranch Dog/NOE boolits urged along by any of several medium powders will bring out the bolt gun in your new levergun. Enjoy!

[La Dano]

Thanx, I'm picking up Remington factory ammo tomorrow. Wish I would have kept my NOE mold. I've been working in Wisconsin the last 5mths, all my reloading equip is at home. Just gathering everything until I get back.