.30 WCF vs. .35 Rem with proper cast boolit for hunting?

[Abert Rim]

I have been snooping around looking at lever guns in these two calibers for use in our high-elevation elk woods here in south central New Mexico. At first I convinced myself the only caliber worth considering was the .35 Remington with a 200-grain or heavier bullet with big meplat. But reading a number of threads here and elsewhere, I have come to the conclusion that there aren't many flies on the .30WCF when loaded with a good 190- grain or heavier cast boolit with as big a meplat as possible -- over a healthy dose of LeveRevolution.
How many here have actual experience on big game with cast from these two grand old levergun calibers? Given the bullet in the right spot, is there a nickel's worth of difference in killing power on game up to the size of cow elk? Thanks for any thoughts. Getting over back surgery, and boy does daydreaming about fall hunting help to take the mind off the current unpleasantness!

[Goshawk]

I see you have read my thread in heavy cast 30-30 loads. I haven’t killed anything with that load yet but will be hunting moose with it this fall and have no doubt it will do the job. That said I think the 35Rem is a better caliber for bigger than deer game. My load with 250 grain cast @1900-2000 fps gives quite a bit more power on target than the 30-30. I have killed big mule deer and black bear to #400 with that 35 load all with one shot only.242210

[Tripplebeards]

The little 35 Remington gets my vote! I own a marlin 336 that never gets used and a special order Remington carbine...along with a matching 35 whelen. I just got my mold a few months ago from our group buy that needs to be broke in. It’s a 200 grain GC HP.

[Abert Rim]

Leaning your way Goshawk. I killed a blacktail nearly 50 years ago with a handloaded Sierra 150 "condom bullet" out of a Marlin .30-30 and it worked fine, but that was a 120-pound buck at 75 yards. Now I am an old guy and see great beauty in a big, relatively slow cast slug just getting "all kinds of work done" with minimal fuss.

[Goshawk]

You’ll never regret getting a 35 Rem. I live and hunt in moose and grizzly country and have never felt undergunned with my trusty 35 along.

[beltfed]

Liking the 35. Even better is the 358 Win . I shoot 250 gr cast Lyman 358318 Paper patched.
Clocks 2350fps, over 3000ft pounds. If you like lever gun. The Browning lever gun is available
in 358 win. Or, of course as has been mentioned, the 35 Whelen has even more bear and other big critter stopping power.
beltfed/arnie

[Tripplebeards]

I believe lipseys just did a special run in the Ruger American in 358

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I have killed deer with the 30-30, 32 Special, 308 Win, 35 Rem and 358 Win, marlin 336's or Savage 99's. I have killed elk with the 308 and 358, others and 1 with a 32 Special. The 358 is better than the 308 and the 32 Special is, at best, marginal on elk. The 35 Rem will give an extra 30-40 grains bullet weight over a 30-30 at similar velocity and pressure, plus the 35 caliber does seem to drop/kill better than the 30. The 35 Rem with a 220-250 grain flatnose bullet should work very well. I do prefer the 35 Rem over the 30-30 for hunting, though the 30-30 has the easy to find brass. A couple 358's in Savage 99's are what my wife and I choose first out of a BUNCH of rifles that include 300 Mag, 444 and 45-70's. I do have a Marlin 336 in 35 Rem with a receiver sight for my 'rain/snow' rifle when a scope won't stay usable in the wet elk timber.

[MT Chambers]

Any .35 cal. using Saeco's 245 gr. fp gc would offer more smack than the 30/30.

[missionary5155]

Good afternoon
Bigger holes are always better !
Actually I would and hunt with Caliber .38's. Not one 30WCF remains. But we do have 2 35 Remingtons which really put a smack on whatever it slams into.
I would not hesitate to load a 235 grainer FN cast of 50-50 in our .35's and go elk hunting in the woods around Flagstaff or the NE corner. But as we have plenty of caliber .38 rifles it may never happen.
Mike in Peru

[Abert Rim]

Thanks Mike.

[waksupi]

.35 caliber wins the game on elk.

[strebort]

My son has taken a spike elk with a 35 Remington in a Marlin. Shot was just shy of 200 yards, put 2 shots through the heart area with receiver sights. We were able to recover one of the RCBS 200 FN boolit. Just under the hide in the offside leg of the elk. The elk only took a few steps and piled up.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

[woody1]

Neither one! Was I looking for a lever gun in .35 to shoot elk with, I believe I'd get a Marlin in either caliber and have Jesse convert it to .356 Win. I'd make sure I could chamber .358 Win. in it to assure easily obtained brass (308 converted).

[RU shooter]

I vote 35 Rem only killed deer with mine with the ranchdog 190 gr with its wide nose it hits hard. I'm shooting a bolt action rem 600 so I can load it up a touch higher than the lever guns but even at lever gun levels I have confidence it it for even our big Pa black bears which can go 600 lbs .

[Abert Rim]

I may get a chance to test this out. Found an early 1950s 336-A in .35 Remington, and a Krag made in 1903 -- kinda cheating due to the extra case capacity over the .30WCF.
Ordered the Lee version of the RCBS .35-200, and will wait to see how the Krag bore cleans up before buying a mold.
Very much liking this mold, too, from Accurate.
http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-225AG-D.png

[Abert Rim]

Goshawk, how does the Accurate 36-245S feed in a Marlin chamber with little throat? It's a very good looking bullet.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-245S-D.png

[Norske]

If you ever hunt anything that's big enough you want to break bones, forget kinetic energy, use momentum. Factory ammo has KE and velocity on the box. To convert those numbers to momentum, divide the KE by the velocity, then multiply that answer X2. That's why the 480 Ruger hits 20% harder than the S&W 460.
Craig Boddington of magazine,TV, and Africa fame picks the 35 Remington as one of his favorite cartridges, because he's really big into black bear hunting.

[megasupermagnum]

Looking at data side by side, the 35 remington looks to have about 100 fps on the 30 WCF at a 200 grain bullet. That's not even worth worrying about. The 35 whelen is a big step up.

If buying a rifle, I'd choose 30-30 every time between those two choices. Maybe the 35 remington would have more choices in a bolt action?

[Pioneer2]

38-55 problem solved

[white eagle]

no replacement for displacement
bigger is better in this case or cases
to bad you couldn't find a 358 win some place

[richhodg66]

I've never killed an elk, probably never will, but both seem light for that task to me.

That said, two of the best deer rounds there are. You should get (at least) one of each. Unfortunately, it's getting where you can't just walk into any Wal Mart and find .35 Remington ammo, but you still can for .30-30. If you cast and reload, any .38 special bullet works in the .35 for plinking. Take your pick, only big advantage to either is rifle and ammo availability where the .30-30 is the hands down winner.

[Tracy]

38-55 problem solved

This is the correct answer. Or if you really must have a .35 caliber traditional levergun, buy a .356 Winchester reamer at the same time you buy your 336.

I had a 336 (ca 1982 production iirc) in .35 for about 20 years, and finally sold it last year. When I bought it I intended to rechamber it, but never got around to it.

.35 Remington brass was never common during the time I had it, and for a few years it was totally unavailable either as empty brass (new or used) or loaded ammo. The chamber had no leade, so most cast bullets I wanted to use wouldn't fit. And then there is that short neck, which is very sub-optimal for cast bullets.

Rechambering to .356 and using cheap .308 brass converted (neck expanded) to .358 Winchester (because .356 is just rimmed .358) would have solved those problems. But then I would have had to work on the action too, because this rifle had the classic Marlin jam. And, I would have still had Micro-groove rifling. Which works, but is also sub-optimal. I finally decided I had other rifles I would rather spend my time on. My .35 Whelen Mauser, for example.

I would get a Winchester 94. In .38-55 (or .375 Winchester, which is basically .38-55 +P) if I could find one; .30-30 if I couldn't. Or .32 Winchester Special if I happened to run across one. Both of those rounds can be fire-formed from common .30-30 brass.

[MT Gianni]

Bob Hagel didn't care for the 35 Remington as he had seen too many instances of perfect mushrooming bullets with insufficient penetration on Elk. A good cast bullet kicks that argument to the curb, a Saeco 352, 245 gr sends it packing. I like the 30 -30 with 170+ bullets but much depends on what you want to hunt and how much it weighs.

[Goshawk]

Goshawk, how does the Accurate 36-245S feed in a Marlin chamber with little throat? It's a very good looking bullet.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-245S-D.png

I have 2 336 Marlin 35 Rems a 1974 and a 1980. The Accurate 245S chambers and shoots very accurately in both. I don’t have my loading notes here but I think I sized then .359. I understand it was designed with the 35 Rem in mind years ago by Saeco.

[Texas by God]

My sister in law witnessed a 50 yd shot with the .35 Remington in a JC Higgins model 45(JM 336) on a bull elk. Down he went with a bullet thru the neck. And so did the cow standing behind him with a shoulder hit. Luckily tags were present for both! So yeah, . 35 Rem should work.......

[rbuck351]

358 Norma and a 280gr 358009 will give you all the power you need for about anything. Getting one in a levergun might not be so easy. BLR maybe.

[444ttd]

i have a win m94 in 35/30 that was made from JES. i use a 200gr fn gc(rcbs) but i can go up to a 280gr cast boolit.

[PHyrbird]

Got 30cal & 35cal. Wish there was more available in 35. It's really nice in the Contender, 760, Remington 14-141, & Model 8s. Yes it's limited, not a 300yd shooter, but sudden death on an 8" gong at 185yds. If you cast a 180-220g boolit a very effective round, I avoid 250g in 35Rem for all but the 760 where we can load to more modern velocities. The 250s are just a little too slow unless one has a 358 or Whelen. Still a 3006 or 300WM is a more all around cartridge. I just like the 35s. At ranges I can hit reasonably a 35 is very satisfactory. Then again I'm also a 45 kind of guy, kinda respectfully resent that quip on the 460 S&W.