35Rem Brass Question.

[GRUMPA]

As most of you know I form these from 308. Someone posted a statement that completely caught me off guard.

Just where is the weak link on the 35Rem brass?

Where is it prone to fail?

I honestly have no clue, and I appreciate all input on the matter...

[Artful]

I don't shoot 35 Remington myself - but I have observed cracked necks and case head separation (reloaded cartridges)

[wrench man]

Of the factory WINCHESTER, Remington and Hornady shells I have, I have yet to have one fail!??

[mac266]

I anneal all my rifle brass, and thus far haven't had a single case fail. However, because it is not a super high pressure magnum round, I would guess that most failures are just case mouth splits. That is where most brass wears out (hence why I anneal!).

[nekshot]

I always felt from my expierence this cartridge is hard to destroy if your chamber is decent. I have no problem using 308 brass as I felt it is heavier and allows for more tweaking to your chamber if the gun has a oddish(dutch for slighty differant) large chamber. I would rather shave off than wish I had more!

[357Mag]

Grumpa -

HOwdy !


IMHO - .35 Rem pressure spec' has been deliberately supressed ( by SAAMI ), in-consideration of older- " weaker " style
guns that are out there. This is a similar situation to that of the .45-70.

THere's no reason why the .35 Rem case can't hold pressures of the same level as say a .22-250 or .220 Swift
( the .35 Rem cases themselves ). I shot my wildcat .22-35 Rem in a bolt gun for over 25+ years, w/o experiencing andy case failers due o excessive pressure.

Use higher-pressure .35 Rem ( and .35 Rem-based wildcats ) only in firearms suitable to contain such pressures.


With regards,
357Mag

[MBTcustom]

I'm a second generation booliteer, and I come by my love of the 35 honestly, as my father was a lover of the 35Remington and owned a Remington model 8 and a Marlin 336 in that caliber, and heated the barrels up regularly with cast and jacketed in both guns.
I have used all his old Remington brass to failure. Not a single case head separation has been witnessed by me. They all died a normal death of a cracked neck after over 20 loadings.

[fishnbob]

I haven't lost a piece of brass in over 5 years of shooting JHP's or Cast. I have 2 Marlin 336's and shoot them regularly.

[bearcove]

The small shoulder is the weak spot. It can get set back a bit by the hammer hitting the primer. In a contender this can be a problem. The 308 reformed to 35 rem should stronger since the brass is thicker. So when it is properly sized for the chamber it should give more consistent ignition of the primer/powder.

Weak doesn't always mean failure.

[EDG]

I have had .35 Rem cases that the neck split on firing the factory load. Either poor processing at the factory or poor storage.

Twenty or 30 years ago there was a Super .35 Rem article in either Handloader or Rifle Magazine. I think Don Zutz was the author.
He fired some normal loads and some that were pretty jacked up in pressure in a 760 Rem pump gun.
I tried a few loads a few grains hotter than factory in my 760. What I observed looked a little like the bulge on a .303 Brit case when fired with a factory load.
The .35 Rem brass is thin and when subjected to higher pressures produces a step at the junction of the head and case wall.

It didn't really matter much to me. I like the .35 Rem just the way it is.
If you want more zip just get a .358 or a .35 Whelen.

[TXGunNut]

I've had a few fail, most at or near the shoulder and a couple a little above the web. I have quite a few that need annealing but have set them aside for another day.

[GRUMPA]

Thanks for the input guys. So it would seem that if there was a weak link in my conversion it would pretty much be limited to the neck splitting from prolong use.

[TXGunNut]

Quite honestly Grumpa I don't think there is a weak link in the 35 Rem case. The cartridge seems to put little stress on the case and it seems like other folks here have similar experiences. I can't recall seeing case failures before 5 firings and most were after 7 or more and some of them probably could have been avoided by annealing. Nowadays I fire a bottleneck rifle case and retire it after 3-4 until I decide which annealing system to go with. Much of my 35 Rem brass is over 25 yrs old and was fired with full-power loads in a Contender pistol, not the gentle loads I shoot nowadays in my Marlin.