.35-06 Handi-Rifle

[Marlin Junky]

I picked up my .35-06 H-R yesterday and was inspecting it last night. The first thing I noticed was the extra, extra long throat that reminds me of the ol' Weatherby freeboring. I'm afraid I'm going to have trouble getting this thing to shoot cast boolits well. I chambered a dummy round loaded with SAECO 352 seated to the rear driving band below the lube groove and there was no boolit/rifling contact whatsoever. Has anyone shot this rifle with any kind of ammo yet?

On the plus side, the SB2 has a very smooth trigger! It's little hard for my tastes but this is the first gun I've owned in a long time that will go to the range right out of the box without a trigger job.

MJ

[NVcurmudgeon]

Marlin Junky, is ".35-06" just another way of saying ".35 Whelen," or a commentary on the huge long throat your new rifle seems to be cursed with? (As in "a real Whelen would have a shorter throat.") All may not be lost yet, maybe H&R goofed your rifle up and would be eager to make amends. What is the twist? Maybe your rifle would be a good candidate for Lyman's 358009.

[Bass Ackward]

The SAAMI standarization was done by Remington who really made things .... generous. But this cartridge seems to be an AT&T outfit. I do far better when I reach out and touch something.

[357maximum]

Marlin Junky, is ".35-06" just another way of saying ".35 Whelen," or a commentary on the huge long throat your new rifle seems to be cursed with? (As in "a real Whelen would have a shorter throat.") All may not be lost yet, maybe H&R goofed your rifle up and would be eager to make amends. What is the twist? Maybe your rifle would be a good candidate for Lyman's 358009.

The 35 whelen in the H&R...my thoughts and opinions.....do not send it back...learn to deal with the throat you were deliverd...they will say it is spec and send it back....I have had this with several other cals....

the most important thing I would recommend...with all /06 based rounds....stay away from the upper limit loads...the barrels under block is softer than it should be and warm loads will "compress" the steel barrel block beween the hinge pin area and the breech end, leading to a shaky barrel condition right quick... I have seen it on several of their .280 barrels, and they did make it right...but I have shyed away from warm loads ever since on my other nef's and have since sold the refurbished .280 to a fella that does not handload or shoot often....other than that I love the little single shots they make...I have several of em and plan to get a few more barrels from their accessory program...they all have looong throats....I shoot reformed .222 rem mag brass in my nef 223's to get around this problem...and since I have done this...accuracy is on par or better than any production class bolt gun with J-words...My .223 ultra (heavy barrel) will outshoot any...yes any....223 bolt gun I have ever owned/shot ...as long as I use a 40 to 50 grain j-word and keep the loads sane..less than 3600fps.......the 50 grain bulk tnt hollow points are almost boring to shoot in the ultra...I have actually killed unlucky range dwelling tweety birds at 300 plus with it on several occasions....it stays in my truck and is my woodchuck/crow/meow gun...my other nef singles both rifle and rifled slug..will never leave me till I die...they are fine/cheap little tools...just remember that barrel lug and you will learn to love your nef

as far as the trigger...look around the net for instructions...pretty simple to do, can be time consuming if you do not make up slave pins for the job at hand..My smith got one down to 1 pound on my ultra 223(no creep or push off)...I have yet to get one there with no creep or push off... but I will..2 to 3 pounds is easy.....Brownells carries parts iffin you goof...some parts have to be ordered through your friendly FFL, but no biggie....make sure you have the "right" punch when driving pins(hollowed steel or brass)...some are pretty happy where they are at, and also remember there is a right and wrong direction to drive them out....splined pin...

[Marlin Junky]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I'm going to try to make a throat impression tomorrow by pounding a two diameter cylinder of soft lead in the chamber. If it turns out well, I'll photograph it and post the image. It appears there is a section just forward the case mouth that is slightly wider than groove diameter. Then about 1/4" forward is the commencement of the rifling which starts at what appears to be a very gradual angle.

If SAECO 352 floats around in the throat, are there any 358009 molds out there to be had? I mean this chamber looks like it would handle a 300 grain boolit seated waaay out. Maybe it would be worth my while to special order one of those RCBS 35-250-SP molds from Midway. If anyone has an RCBS 35-250-SP I'd appreciate some input on as-cast diameters at the bands and nose. A picture would be nice too. At this point I'm thinking that a snug nose-to-bore fit is the best way to go, but that'll mean a long, heavy boolit.

The trigger is excellent and I found the online stuff on how to improve it before I placed my order. This should be a fun lil' project and even if it doesn't meet expectations, I'll be ordering a 45-70 and a few shotgun barrels.

Actually, the only real let-down was how the factory botched the recoil pad when "fitting" it to the butt stock. The pad itself is pretty mushy anyway and I'll probably replace it or just wear a PAST... at least for starters.

Regards,
MJ

P.S. Measuring the twist revealed 1 turn in 16". Will it stabilize RCBS 35-250-SP???

[Bass Ackward]

If SAECO 352 floats around in the throat, are there any 358009 molds out there to be had? I mean this chamber looks like it would handle a 300 grain boolit seated waaay out. Maybe it would be worth my while to special order one of those RCBS 35-250-SP molds from Midway.

P.S. Measuring the twist revealed 1 turn in 16". Will it stabilize RCBS 35-250-SP???

MJ,

Lets get the cast first. Standard is about 1/4" of freebore.

The gun will provide the best information. But if you have a long throat, the best bullet design will be a one diameter that is large enough to fill that freebore section.

With a 16 twist, you are going to be limited in options to close to 260 grains. But again, lets "see" what you are dealing with.

[lefty_red]

Get ahold of NEF/MARLIN about your rifle. ALOT of things have changed since MARLIN took over.

Your recoil pad should be fixed by the factory and will be if you let them know. Ditto on the barrel.

Lefty

[James Wisner]

The RCBS 35-250sp has a long bore ride nose.

The old west 360-270 has a little longer drive band area.

The Lyman 358318 has about the same drive band area.

If you want samples of these drop me a PM.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

[Marlin Junky]

In an effort to create a chamber impression I've now got a 2 plus inch long plug of lead (stick-on WW metal) stuck in my chamber. I've got the barrel mounted in a vise, pointed muzzle up and filled with Hoppes #9 in hopes of loosening the plug. When the metals recycler opens next week I try to get a 5/16" aluminum rod to pound the plug out through the breech. I guess I should have made a narrower, shorter plug and put some boolit lube on it before pounding it into my chamber. I made the plug by filling a .444 case with lead and pounding it into the breech with a framing hammer and a 3/8" bolt with a denim patch wrapped around it for protection. I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to remove this plug without the use of a lathe, of which I have none.

Oooops,
MJ

P.S. James, I just sent you a PM

[Bass Ackward]

Probably a 5/16" wooden dowel would do it. Thats what I use.

[Marlin Junky]

I must've really screwed up 'cause I can't get it out with a 5/16" aluminum rod and a framing hammer while the barrel is held firmly in place by a 4" vise.

If I ever get this thing out of my barrel, I think I'm going to try cerrosafe.

MJ

[MT Gianni]

Invert a gas check so that you are spreading your force across the surface of the lead. Use the biggest hammer you can find 2-3 lb head and use short taps not long strokes. Good luck with it, Gianni.

[woody1]

Tip your rod with a 32 auto case if you have one. Might have to reduce the diameter of the rim slightly to get it down the bore. Otherwide you may just be jamming the rod into the lead and wedging it tighter. I'd also try soaking with Kroil or other penetrating type oil for a while and then use a little heat. No not a big torch but I'd use a heat gun or something to get the chamber area hot to touch quickly and then try driving the slug out. Good Luck. Regards, Woody

[Bass Ackward]

MJ,

Both woody and Gianni gave you good advice. I suppose that this is secondary now, but don't lose patience and mar up something else or ruin the barrel.

[Marlin Junky]

I was wondering if setting the barrel on the breech end in an empty casting furnace would work. I'm afraid to get the barrel too hot though. Would it be possible to ruin its temper?

MJ

P.S. I almost for got to ask... where did I go wrong? Should I order the cerrosafe or did I just screw up by using too wide or long or dry a plug?

Thanks

[woody1]

I was wondering if setting the barrel on the breech end in an empty casting furnace would work. I'm afraid to get the barrel too hot though. Would it be possible to ruin its temper?

MJ

P.S. I almost for got to ask... where did I go wrong? Should I order the cerrosafe or did I just screw up by using too wide or long or dry a plug?

Thanks

Do not get the barrel too hot. Hot hot is that? I dunno but that's why I said hot to touch. I wouldn't want anything changing color. If it's possible, quick heat is the answer, such as a heat gun. The kind used for heating paint to scrape off. A propane torch used judiciously will work too. Do you have the extractor out? If the heat and penetrating oil and time don't work, another option would be to carefully drill the center of the plug out and try to collapse it on itself. An Easyout might grab enough to do that. Or, mebe better would be to drill and tap using the largest coarse thread you can get in (mebe 5/16 x what are they 20?) get some large washers or a short piece of pipe and insert a bolt thru it and see if you can pull it out like a broken shell extractor. If that doesn't work, then you're down to drilling the rest of the center out and collapsing it on itself. HTH
What did you do wrong? Well, I've never done it but if I had, I'd have lubed the heck out of the chamber and my plug with what I use to drive boolits thru the bore. A mix of Hoppe's/STP & ATF. Prob'ly don't need the Hoppe's, it's just perfume. Regards, Woody

I forgot, we're talking about the chamber here, use a bigger tap than I said, like 3/8 or even 7/16 and a coarse thread. Get one at most any hardware store if you don't have one.

[Marlin Junky]

OK, I've decide against heat. It's time for the last resort...CAREFULLY drilling a hole through the plug.

Thanks for all the advice pards. Given enough time I will carefully undo my booboo and lube the next plug with... how 'bout RCBS case lube??? Or maybe I should just buy some cerrosafe from Brownells.

MJ

[bruce drake]

Call H&R (their number is in your gun's paper manual) They'll probably fix it with no issues on their part and a small charge to you. No need for you to potentially scar your chamber with the drill bit.

Bruce

[Bret4207]

Whats done is done and I'm not flaming you. What went wrong? The way to use a lead slug to make a chamber "cast" is by using a slightly undersized slug in the throat area. The cartridge case part was fine. You close the action with the case in the chamber, drop the undersize slug down the tube and using an undersize rod start tapping the slug with a light hammer, like an 8 oz. ball pein.You tap and tap until you feel the rod stop moving and then you tap for another couple minutes. Using a dead soft slug and slightly undersized rod you should get a good impression.

Basically what you did is jam a square peg in a round hole. You can fix it one way or another and you'll never do it again. No biggy. I've done far, far worse things.

Cerrosafe is easier. Just have to be aware of the shrinkage factor and add that in.

[Marlin Junky]

Whats done is done and I'm not flaming you. What went wrong? The way to use a lead slug to make a chamber "cast" is by using a slightly undersized slug in the throat area. The cartridge case part was fine. You close the action with the case in the chamber, drop the undersize slug down the tube and using an undersize rod start tapping the slug with a light hammer, like an 8 oz. ball pein.You tap and tap until you feel the rod stop moving and then you tap for another couple minutes. Using a dead soft slug and slightly undersized rod you should get a good impression.

Basically what you did is jam a square peg in a round hole. You can fix it one way or another and you'll never do it again. No biggy. I've done far, far worse things.

Cerrosafe is easier. Just have to be aware of the shrinkage factor and add that in.

Tpr. Bret,

I was looking for a chamber impression from the shoulder forward into the rifling somewhat. In other words, I wanted to see how long the neck portion of the chamber is as well as the freebore (the later of which seems to be a tiny bit larger in diameter than the grooves). If I cut a case back to the shoulder body junction, fill the case with lead and chamber it, then insert a rod of lead an inch and a half long down the muzzle and pound toward the closed breech with a 5/16" aluminum rod, will I be OK? Do I need to run a patch coated with oil through the barrel first?

Thanks,
MJ