Originally Posted by
Larry Gibson
35 Remington Pressure Tested Loads
Test rifle is a M91 Mauser rebarreled with a 26” Shilen sporter barrel with a 14” twist as sold prethreaded and 35 Remington short chambered for SR Mauser actions by Brownell's. I finish reamed the chamber with a chamber reamer I had made to minimum SAAMI specification and headspace was set at minimum. The M91 is still in cut down military stok. Sight are a Lyman SME receiver sight with an M14 front sight.
Pressure and velocity were tested with an Oehler M43 PBL. Cartridges were loaded with RCBS dies. The case mouths were mildly crimped in the canalure and crimp grooves on the rifles.
The SAAMI MAP for the 35 Remington is 33,500 psi in deference to the older recoil operated semi automatic rifles for which the cartridge was first developed. I many single shots, the marlin 336 lever actions and bolt actions the pressure can be raised increasing the efficiency of the 35 Remington considerably. The Marlin 336 while chambered in 35 Remington has been mostly chambered in 30-30. Thus with the M336 being made to handle the 30-30 SAAMI MAP of 42,000 psi I see no reason why 35 Remington cartridges can not be loaded to that level for the M336 Marlin lever action rifles.
I used 2 different loads for “reference ammunition”. The first was a specific lot of Federal factory PowerShok loaded with 200 gr RNSPs. The Federal technician wouldn't give the specific pressure tested data for that lot but advised it was just under the MPSM (35,500 psi) for the cartridge. The second was a Lyman max load listed using H4895 powder in their 50th Edition Manual which listed a psi of 32,400 psi. I replicated that load all except for the bullet. I did not have any Hornady 200 gr FTX but used 200 gr Remington CorLoks. The FTX is seated much deeper into the relative small 35 Remington case with Lyman showing it as a compressed load. The Remington bullet seates to the base of the neck leaving airspace between the powder and the bullet. Thus, I expected the psi of the “reference” test load to be a bit less than the listed Lyman load.
All tests are 10 shot tests. The M43 PBL converts the velocity to the muzzle [remember this is from a 26” barrel].
Test data of the two “reference” loads;
Federal Factory 200 gr PowerShok
Federal F-C cases
Federal 210 primers
38 gr ball type powder
OAL; 2.471”
Velocity; 2286 fps
SD/ES fps; 19/53
PSI (M43); 35,200 (just under the MPSM)
SD/ES psi; 1,000/2,900
Lyman 50th Edition Handbook replication test load
R-P cases
Rem 9 ˝ Primers
36.0 gr H4895
OAL; 2.522”
Velocity; 2065 fps
SD/ES fps; 39/100
PSI (M43); 30,000 (less with the shorter seating depth of the Remington 200 gr bullet)
SD/ES psi; 1,800/5,300
Remington 180 gr FPJ bullet w/LeveRevolution
Win Super cases
CCI 200 primers
45.0 gr LeveRevolution [100% load density]
OAL; 2.457”
Velocity; 2407 fps
SD/ES fps; 16/57
PSI (M43); 32,100 (just under the MPSM)
SD/ES psi; 1,200/3,600
Remington 200 gr RNSP bullet w/LeveRevolution
Win Super cases
CCI 200 primers
42.0 gr LeveRevolution
OAL; 2.457”
Velocity; 2249 fps
SD/ES fps; 31/109
PSI (M43); 30,900
SD/ES psi; 1,200/3,600
Remington 200 gr RNSP bullet w/LeveRevolution
Win Super cases
CCI 200 primers
45.0 gr LeveRevolution [100% load density]
OAL; 2.457”
Velocity; 2425 fps
SD/ES fps; 16/41
PSI (M43); 36,300
SD/ES psi; 1,200/4,300
RCBS 35-200-FN cast of COWW + 2% tin, Hornady GCs, 2500+ lube, sized at .360
R-P Cases
WLR Primers
37 gr IMR4895
OAL; 2.425”
Velocity; 2162 fps
SD/ES fps; 50/140
PSI (M43); 41,100
SD/ES psi; 2,400/6,800
RCBS 35-200-FN cast of COWW + 2% tin, Hornady GCs, 2500+ lube, sized at .360
Win Super Cases
CCI 200 Primers
45 gr LeveRevolution
OAL; 2.427”
Velocity; 2384 fps
SD/ES fps; 28/85
PSI (M43); 37,900
SD/ES psi; 2,000/5,900
NOE 35 XCB 230 gr cast of COWW + 2% tin, Hornady GCs, 2500+ lube, sized at .360
Win Super Cases
WLR Primers
42 gr LeveRevolution
OAL; 2.453”
Velocity; 2314 fps
SD/ES fps; 18/59
PSI (M43); 41,800
SD/ES psi; 1,100/3,400
The use of LeveRevolution powder in the 35 Remington cartridge certainly boost the performance quite a bit. None of the reloads tested exceeded the SAAMI MAP for the 30-30 and, thus, they should be usable in Marlin 336 rifles, SS actions and bolt action rifles. chambered in 35 Remington.