35 Rem from 6.5x54 seems obvious...why isn't it?

[15meter]

I've been offered a -57 Marlin 336 for almost nothing. I'm debating the brass issue here,too.

Could this work?

I gave it a (modified)try. I didn't have the listed dies, so I tried what I had on the bench.

Using once fired Winchester headstamped .243 Winchester brass:

Polished the brass well, if doing again, would probably polish the inside of the necks better.

Imperial sizing wax on the neck ID and case body then through a Hornady 6.5x55 FL sizing die, next RCBS 7x57 FL sizing die then jumped to Lee 8x57 die. If I did it for serious, I'd probably go to a .308 diameter die of some size between the 7 and 8x57 dies. Last was FL 35 Remington die. Lots of Imperial sizing wax and slowly in and out until full length sizing complete.

It LOOKS like 35 Remington brass, the cases measured 1.866, 1.869, a tad short but usable. I think chucked in a drill press and a light pass or two with a good file at the base would ensure chambering.

Looks like a viable route to get usable brass, cases were a little short but not out of the realm of usable length.

I don't have access to a 35 Remington, or I would try them, the buddy with the 35 Remington passed away 3 years ago.

I guess the question would be, why not start with 308 Winchester? Unless being a military cartridge it is unavailable. Or 6.5x55? Even the Norma brass I have here in the states is much closer to .470 than the nominal .480 it's supposed to be.

I would have preferred the use of all Hornady dies with the "Elliptical" expander button. Or Redding makes(or did make) a series of tapered expanding buttons that were available.

Cases definitely need to be annealed when done, worked with 3 cases, lost one to a neck split.

Good luck, If the price is right you certainly should be able to make usable brass from common brass.

[frkelly74]

In addition to the other hens teeth mentioned for conversion, 220 swift shares an approximately similar head diameter. And It may be long enough that you could cut off the neck first to avoid a split starting when the expander enters.

[15meter]

In addition to the other hens teeth mentioned for conversion, 220 swift shares an approximately similar head diameter. And It may be long enough that you could cut off the neck first to avoid a split starting when the expander enters.

Not sure .243 is all that rare. But I've been mistaken before, or so the wife tells me.

[frkelly74]

Probably not rare. My experience with making 6.5 Jap out of 308 brass and also 35 Rem led me to believe that it was more work turning the base down on the 308 cases than it was worth. I also am frequently shown the error of my ways here at home.

[paul edward]

Using the 6.5x54 MS brass will leave you with cases that are .015" undersized in a 35 Remington chamber. This might be acceptable for light loads. Better to use a donor case with closer dimensions. The 303 British can be resized to make a better fit, but will need the rim removed and an extractor groove cut. Do you have access to a lathe? The 308 Winchester can be swaged down to the correct base diameter, and may need work on the extractor groove.

[Texas by God]

I’ve always wondered why John Browning used a new unique case head size for the .35 when he was designing for FN.
He could have used the .473” head size from the 7.65 Belgian or 7.9x57 German cartridges.
He wasn’t thinking of us reloaders, dang it!


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[405grain]

I could be wrong on this (probably am), but the story that I heard was that the 35 Remington case was based on a shortened rimless version of the 30-40 Krag. If that's true, it may seem odd today, but back then the Krag was a lot more popular.