35 Remington and 10.9gr Unique???

[Dave Bulla]

Okay, question for you all....

I've reloaded off and on for years but never seriously. Just sort of a cookbook, follow the recipe type of guy. I'm starting to get into cast bullets and keep hearing about the "10 grains of unique" for everything from 223 to 45-70 so I went out and bought a bottle and loaded up some 45-70 145gr collar buttons and was really impressed with how they shot. I was using an old Lee Loader and the 1.3cc scoop. The slide chart that came with the dipper set says that should give 11.9 grains with Unique powder by my scale shows exactly 10.9g which is closer to what I wanted anyway.

Now, I've got a 35 Remington that I want to play with and I loaded up a box of 200gr cast lead bullets using the same dipper. These bullets were given to me by a friend and I do not know what mold they were cast in but I'd bet money that it was a Lyman mold. The bullets have a moderate size flat meplat. My question is, will the 10.9 vs 10.0 grains cause any issues? The rifle they will be shot from is a marlin 336 with microgroove rifling. I slugged the bore at .3555 and the bullets measure .3615. However, I believe the Lee Loader is sizing them down in the throat of the die as they do not drop through like a jacketed bullet will. I have to drive them with the seater.

Yup, just stopped typing and drove one through the throat of the die with no case in it and it came out .360 even so it sizes it down just a tad.

Lastly, these bullets have a crimp groove and two lube grooves. I am seating them to the crimp groove and then giving them a good crimp. This puts the base of the bullet very close to the bottom of the case neck, looks like just a dad below it. However, at 2.355", the COL is quite a bit shorter than the listed 2.525" overall length listed on the charge table. How much will this effect accuracy? In my 45-70 with the collar buttons, it was totally a non issue as they shot great.

My gut says that 11 grains in a case this size should be totally acceptable but I wanted to check before I actually shoot them. I'm simply not accustomed to deviating from a published load data.

Thanks,

Dave

[felix]

Your gut is OK, Dave! ... felix

[Dave Bulla]

Thanks felix.

Any idea what velocity these things should be going at? FYI they are not gas checked.

[felix]

No idea, Dave. No where near excessive, though. ... felix

[oksmle]

Dave.... Lyman #358340GC, 200.0 grs, WW/Pb, 1:1, 12.0 grs Unique, Rem. cases & primers, 24" Bbl, 1575 fps & very accurate. Same load in PB & 11.0 grs Unique is right at 1425 fps & is a little too fast for my rifle. My notes say to drop charge down to about 9.5 or 10.0 grs trying for around 1300 fps. Never got around to doing that.

Dick S.

[35remington]

I second the idea of backing off on the powder horn a little with Unique and your plans for it, assuming a plain base bullet especially. Try around 8 grains to start and go from there. This will get you in the 1300 fps vicinity, and that's a better place to be. Those numbers come from using that charge in my own Marlins. I would investigate the 1100 to 1300 fps range as being most profitable.

This will approximate a full power 357 pistol with a 2 to 6 inch barrel, so it's adequate for any small game, for sure.

The temptation is to overdrive plain base cast bullets with fast powders like Unique, and they seem to do better in this cartridge when reasonable velocity is substituted for possible velocity. Gas check bullets aren't harmed by a little less speed either, and for the uses for which this can be put a little less speed is no handicap.

If you're using the Lee Loader, flare the case mouth with a set of needle nose pliers to accept the cast bullet without shaving lead.