Two Long Term Projects Complete !!!

[W.R.Buchanan]

So I installed one of my 1.5" wide Nylon Belt Slings. I was surprised how much I had to cut off both ends to make it work. This gun is shorter than most. I also weighed it 8 lb. 4 oz. and it is 42" long. A nice handy gun.

Only thing left to do on this gun "project wise" is to find someone who can do "Cut Engraving" so I can get the new Caliber Tattooed onto the barrel. It is very irresponsible to change the caliber on a gun and not do something to indicate what the new caliber is. In my case they'd probably try to fire regular .303's in it and the accuracy would be poor? What's another .025 clearance on each side of the boolit. HA!

Anyway here's some more pics of this gun with the sling installed. Obviously this sling is a "Carry only Sling." Not a Military Style "Bracing Sling." But it is 1.5" wide and is made from nice soft Nylon Belt Material so it is comfortable to carry. It also has Removable Sling Swivels so it can be removed if desired .

I usually make these slings up 10 at a time to sell, but end up using them all on my own guns. "In My Not So Humble Opinion" (IMNSHO) they are the best all around slings there are. All my Carbines use them and Tactical Shotguns as well.

Randy

[Shawlerbrook]

Beautiful Randy ! That 35-303 would be perfect for a moose hunt.

[ulav8r]

I had D'arcy Echols engrave the caliber on a barrel I installed, only cost me less than two dollars. I traded an oval drawing template for the engraving. That was in 1977 or 1978.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I'm at the point where I'm trying to develop loads for the Enfield (.35-303). There is virtually NO info on this caliber anywhere on the internet. I talked to Brian Pearce yesterday and he suggested using .35 Winchester load data, however none of my manuals even have that cartridge in them. My earliest one is Lyman 45 which I got in 1971. It goes directly from .35 Remington to .358 Win, as do all my others.

So I am looking for data from anyone here for .35 Winchester 225, and 250 gr bullets. and 250 gr cast. My first loads will be with 225 gr Sierra Game Kings. I ordered a 250 gr mold from Accurate. I have the Lee 200 gr mold but the bullets noses are too short and they won't feed off the magazine. The Accurate Mold has a much longer Bore Rider nose on it and should feed off the mag just fine.

If anyone has any data for the .35-303 it would be welcome. I'm waiting to hear back from the Ellwood Epps store on Ontario Canada as the cartridge was also known as the "303-35 Epps" Also ."35-303 Territorian." I've got everything off the internet on those names. This caliber was a way to refurbish shot out barrels without completely replacing them

So .35-303 or .35 Winchester. Hopefully someone has a loading manual from the 1940's or 50's with info on the .35 Win?

Thanks Randy

[Texas by God]

I don’t have .35 Winchester data, but couldn’t you compare case capacity of your 35-303 to a .358 Winchester then extrapolate down?
Just looking at a .35 WCF and a .358 Winchester side by side made me wonder.


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[Baltimoreed]

I love those Springfields. Beautiful work.

[W.R.Buchanan]

[QUOTE=Texas by God;5574837]I don’t have .35 Winchester data, but couldn’t you compare case capacity of your 35-303 to a .358 Winchester then extrapolate down?
Just looking at a .35 WCF and a .358 Winchester side by side made me wonder.

I actually did that yesterday as I can't find any .35 Winchester data anywhere. I just threw out powder amounts that generated more than 45,000 PSI.

Starting Loads for 225 gr bullets were 44 gr of IMR 4895 at 2180 fps. Max loads were 49 gr at 2440 fps at 49,600psi, which was above my limit. 46 gr. yielded 2283 fps at 43,060 psi and 47gr. was 2335 fps at 45,240psi.

The 46 and 47 gr loads looked most promising for the 225 gr bullet. That is probably the biggest Jacketed Bullet I will shoot. I've got a 250 gr Bore Rider Boolit coming from Accurate that I will probably shoot the most of. At a dollar a piece the Sierras are nice but will be of limited use.

Anyways I got the Rifle back from the Engraver today with the new caliber tattooed on it and it came out OK. The tool hit a Hash Mark in the barrel and deflected a little. but it is good enough.

This gun is ready to shoot. I just need a place to shoot it.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK, I figure I ought to put this picture up with the NRA Sporter as this is the guy I bought the Barreled Action from in 2000. His name is Mason Parrish and he was my Metal Shop Teacher in High School and also the Long Term Swim Coach at Buena High School in Ventura CA. He bought that Barreled Action from the DCM in 1965 for $15 ! I gave him $150 in 2000, and he was very interested to see how it came out. I took the gun to my Gun Club Meeting last night to show it off and he was there . He was quite happy with the way the gun turned out. So am I. Also my NRA Match Director was there and he really approved of the gun as well.

Our range is supposed to open back up by Labor Day so we are working on moving dirt that was displaced by the heavy rains we got in January, but by then I will have the gun completely sighted in and ready to go it it's first match.

Randy

[nekshot]

Very good guns indeed. I still get a warm fuzzy feeling when I see a wood stocked gun. I sure like the red and I never get tired of reddish gun stocks. My son has all the metal for a springfield and maybe after seeing this he will go the same route. He is stuck on making his stuff original, and I guess I am to blame for that because I was always chasing the mental pictures I get when seeing a gun I would buy.

[W.R.Buchanan]

So My bro in law has Quickload and Quickload has .35 Winchester so we will be putting in a bunch of inputs to that program and come up with something even if it only verifies my .358 Win Interpolations.
that program will tell me things about this cartridge and gun that I never even knew I wanted.

A few years back we did a work up on a AR upper I did with a 1:7 twist 24" barrel and the program deduced that with 77 gr bullets the proper load was 23.8 gr of W748/BL-C2 based on the barrel harmonics. That is the only load I have ever used in that gun and it is way below 1" at 100 yards. So no need to go farther.

So that's what we'll do with this one. hoping for similar results?

Randy

[Rapier]

The Levergun.com forum has some 35 Win reloading data on line, for the 95 Winchester guns, probably get you started with R-7, 5744, Varget, or 4064 and the cast in your 35-303. One fellow uses 30-40 brass necked up. A bit short for a 35 Win, but still may give you an idea of where to start with the 200 grain bullet.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I searched that forum every which way and did find a thread about 1895 Winchesters in .35 Winchester. One guy mentioned 4895, 3031 and 4064 powders with 250 gr bullets at 2200 fps but gave no charge weights.

Another guy talked about a 250 gr Cast Boolit at 1600 fps using 5744, but again no charge weights. I have found some .35 303 info from AUS using 5744 at 28 gr for a 250 gr cast, I was going to start at 26 gr and go up until I couldn't stand it any more.

I have Venturino's book on Leverguns he only mentioned 3031 42gr./2000 fps and 46gr./2200 fps is higher than .358 Win Looking at @ 40 gr of 3031. His info came from Lyman 43 from 1964.

It blows me away that this cartridge has sild into obscurity and there is very little about it and virtually nothing about loading it, which is kind of weird as there is NO Factory Ammo for these guns, and yet there is still plenty of these guns still out there! I want to know why there is a virtual black out on load data for this caliber. Is there something wrong with it?

Randy

[Mike H]

I have a Lyman reloading handbook 41st Edition,200 grain jacketed,3031 powder,suggested load 45 grains,velocity 2195.Maximum load 50 grains,max velocity 2400 fps.
250 grain Jacketed:3031 powder,suggested load 42 grains,velocity 2025.Maximum load 49 grains,velocity 2320 fps.
245 grain Cast gas check 358318:3031 powder,suggested 34 grains,1680 fps.Maximum 42 grains,2050 fps.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mike: thanks so much, a friend just sent me a picture of that page as well as the same page from Lyman 42 which has a lot more of the blanks filled in. Exactly what I was looking for, and thank you!

Do you see many of these converted Enfield's in AUS? Wondering how many .35-303's are out there.? Where you are at they are called 303-35 "Territorian."

Randy

[Mike H]

Randy,
I think they are very scarce,I am 81 years old and mine is the only one I have seen,it is built on a Martini Enfield action that was rebored from .303 to 303/35 by Sprinter Arms in South Australia many years ago.They haven’t done rebores for years.My friend has a Number 4 Lee Enfield rebored to 303/375 calibre but it has only fired a few cast loads on the short range.
You don’t see these rifles advertised so I think there aren’t many of them and they are tightly held by their owners,the description The Territorian 303/35 is new to me ,I first heard of it on this forum not so long back.

[Texas by God]

By the way,
I got around to checking the H2O capacity (to the bottom of the neck) of the 35 WCF to the .358 Winchester.
They both hold 46 grs.
Hope it helps.


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[W.R.Buchanan]

Yes it does help and Thank You! I printed your post out and it is now in the .35-303 folder with the rest of the info I have gathered that is pertinent to this project.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

So I just received my new Boolit Mold from Accurate Bullet Molds for the 35-303.

It is a 250 gr Bore Rider style Boolit ( Accurate # 360-250D) which should feed well from the magazine as the nose section is about twice as long as the Lee 358-200 boolit.

As you can see the mold is Machined Brass Jewelry! I will cast a bunch of these up this weekend and get them sized and loaded up. Will be starting at 26 gr of 5744 and working up until the velocity is between 1700-1800 fps which should be the sweet spot for this type of Boolit.

Some time later;;;; I casted up abut 60 of these new Boolits, and they look like this VVV

Randy

This thread continued here https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...nfield-Sporter