My 35 cal cast boolit design: your thoughts?

[Last Spike]

I’m thinking of having Mountain Molds make the following boolit mould for me:

35 cal gas checked boolit for use in 35 Remington Marlin 336C
Weight(including lube & gas check): 220 grains
Alloy: wheel weights
Bullet Design: Ogival Flat Point (OF)
As-cast Bullet Diameter: 0.359” plus/minus 0.001”
Front Band Bottom Diameter: 0.357” plus/minus 0.001”
Front Band Top diameter: 0.357” plus/minus 0.001”
Front Band Length: 0.100”
Nose Length: 0.540”
Crimp groove: 0.055” long groove
Meplat: (70%) about .251”
Base: 0.3415” stepped shank for Hornady-Gator 35 cal gas check, 3.3 gr.
Length of base: 0.100”
Groove to band length ratio: 0.8
Groove angle: 45 degrees
Number of Body Bands: 2
Number of Lube grooves: 1
Band length: 0.0727”
OAL: 0.884”
Groove c.to c. : 0.131"
Length inside case: 0.334”
Sectional density 0.244
Groove diameter 0.33”
Ogive radius 1.735”
Bearing length: 0.597”

This is to be used in my Marlin 336C in 35 Remington with 20 inch barrel and 1 in 16 inch twist as a hunting load for deer, elk, and moose within 125 yards.

Your constructive comments are most welcome.

[Buckshot]

...........Well it certainly looks good to me and is probably about the ideal tradeoff weight for the 35 Remington. I would imagine you should safely see 2200 fps with it and that's only a couple hundred FPS behind the '-06, plus you have the .050" larger diameter slug and the big FN. Should smack hard, and WW alloy should see it expand a bit, but penetrate too.

..............Buckshot

[Bass Ackward]

I’m thinking of having Mountain Molds make the following boolit mould for me:


As-cast Bullet Diameter: 0.359” plus/minus 0.001”
Front Band Bottom Diameter: 0.357” plus/minus 0.001”
Front Band Top diameter: 0.357” plus/minus 0.001”
Front Band Length: 0.100”
Nose Length: 0.540”
Crimp groove: 0.055” long groove
Meplat: (70%) about .251”

This is to be used in my Marlin 336C in 35 Remington with 20 inch barrel and 1 in 16 inch twist as a hunting load for deer, elk, and moose within 125 yards.

Your constructive comments are most welcome.

Spike,

If you are going to order a custom bullet, it should be with the goal to fit your throat as well as possible. So only the throat can tell you what is a good bullet design. IF you have it fit up, you are home. The bullet will shoot with virtually anything at any velocity. But if you want specifics I have two things that just don't sound right.

Why the minimal reduction on the front band and the diameter? Most levers I have ever shot liked a bullet that minimized the jump to the rifling. Distance is cut with a full diameter bullet and maybe a much wider front band. Helped ignition too to minimize this jump. But there are designs out there that do OK with a reduction too. But those styles take the nose down farthe to say .351 if it is needed to fit a short throat. Just wanted you to consider it.

And I would go .360. So I could clean up that front band for what I needed. Sometimes as the mold ages and breaks in, it will get out of round. Too little to fuss with, but enough that the front band won't be round or the same length. If it ain't round, then it will contact the rifling different and will tip. When you can size, you are in control. IF the rifle is new or has been shot little, you need to realize the leade angle on the rifling will lengthen also which may require you to seat out a little more in the future or go bigger in diameter to make contact earlier.

But it all depends on your throat and what it needs.

[Last Spike]

Bass Ackward,

You're right about the throat - the rough measurement on the throat I got is something I'm not 100% comfortable with - so a chamber cast is the next order of business - once I get that, I'll fine tune the specs for the above mould.