Just bought a Marlin 336 in 35 Rem

[brown bass hunter]

RCBS 358-200 shoots great out of my 1977 model 336 in 35 Rem. The hotter the loads the better in mine. Good luck with it.

[jm423]

Here's another endorsement for the RCBS 200 gr. More accurate than that rifle is supposed to be capable of. For a plinker or close range hog thumper try 15-18 gr 4759. (Head shots on big hogs, please) One of my "sometime" projects is trying 150-160 gr 38/357 pistol boolits in my 336-35. Speaking of scopes, I have an ancient Weaver K-2.5 to try someday. Think it will be just about right at the ranges I hunt.

[Menner]

Thanks Djones that looks intresting and if I can't find any brass it looks like an option. yeah from all the indorsement on here I will probably end up with the RCBS 35-200 or/and the Lyman 358315 and I am going to play with the 357 Mag boolit a buddy of mine has 1 and we were talking about it last night. Through the kindness of others on this site I will have a few pcs of Brass and a few sample Boolits to start experimenting with, the dies and case length gauge are already on the way so after Christmas should be able to make this puppy bark a little. found a lgs owner that has what he calls a bunch of 35 brass but won't part with any I ain't done with him yet persistence may be the key

[357maximum]

FWIW the lyman 358315 is too small in the nose for 98+% of the marlins out there if ultimate accuracy at J-word speed is your goal....it is an excellent boolit to paperpatch however as you generally can just wrap it and then size it. I had great luck shooting paperpatched 358315's in two 35Rem Marlins, but the RCBS boolit made of the proper alloy does not need wrapped to do the same thing....you can make alot more boolits faster and without cramped fingers that way. I will freely admit the LAZY MAN I AM likes the easiness of a proper grease grooved boolit that works over the paperpatching a boolit that is almost right.

RCBS 35-200 is about a 500% better boolit in my opinion.

[Menner]

Thanks 357 I am not looking to get into paperpatching anything the alloy I will using is COWW

[hicard]

BruceB, I sure would like to learn how to make 35 Rem cases out of 308's. Can't seem to find any 35's. hicardattheskybeamdotcom

[singleshot]

There are seasonal runs of 35 rem brass and you can get loaded ammo to tide you over with brass. Go that route! 35 rem and 308 win have different dimensions EVERYWHERE including the base, and therefore take a goodly amount of work per piece. I.e. not worth it unless that is your ONLY option. (But, it's good to have options!)

My favorite boolits are the RD 190 grain, which was specifically designed for this rifle to maximize case capacity, and can be pushed to ~2400 fps, and the 125 grain SWC for plinking and varmint work with shotgun powders.

[wrench man]

There are seasonal runs of 35 rem brass and you can get loaded ammo to tide you over with brass. Go that route! 35 rem and 308 win have different dimensions EVERYWHERE including the base, and therefore take a goodly amount of work per piece. I.e. not worth it unless that is your ONLY option.

Agreed, It' on the shelf around these parts, you guys make it sound like it ranks with Unicorns, Minotaurs and honest politicians!??

[BruceB]

Shortages of .35 Remington brass are a FACT OF LIFE. The very future of the cartridge seems to be questionable.

At the time I got my 1951 Marlin, there was very little brass available, and I created MY method of adapting brass that I had in plenty, for my own use. I then made the error of posting the method for all to see here.

I am frankly amazed at the numbers that come out of the woodwork to poo-poo the very idea.

Look, people.... it is NEVER wrong to know how to cope for oneself in the face of bad circumstances.

I do NOT see nay-sayers on the subject of (good grief) making blackpowder at home, or reloading primers, or modifying Berdan cases to accept Boxer primers...... but mention making .35 Remington cases from .308s, and OH MY! "You can't do this, you can't do that, it's wrong, yadda yadda ....."

News Flash: It is NOT wrong; the dimensions adapt perfectly; the resulting .35 cases are long-lived, and there are NO issues whatever.

If someone wants to do this conversion, more power to him. He'll create usable cases to supply a rifle for which he either had NO brass, or add to his supply of .35 cases without spending Nickel One to do it.

Win-win.... but some refuse to acknowledge the fact.


The Method:

1. Lubricate the .308 case and run it all the way into a .44 Magnum sizer. This will throw-up a narrow "belt" of brass at the extractor groove...don't worry about it now.

2. Size the case in a .35 Remington sizer die.

3. Place the case in your trimmer (adapting an electric drill to the trimmer is almost essential) and trim to correct .35 length.

4.Chuck the case in a drill press, lathe, or electric-drill-in-a-vise, and remove that belt of brass with a sharp fine-cut file. Try each case in the rifle as you do this step; you'll soon learn how much filing it takes. Taking a bit off the rim diameter does no harm.

You may want to polish the filed area, but it's not essential.

Voila'....... usable durable .35 Remington brass. I've converted several hundred .308s without loss using this method, and the rifle has no complaints.

YES, it's best to use factory-original .35 brass.....but when the day comes that one simply can NOT find factory brass...... THERE IS A WAY!

[dverna]

I have to agree with BruceB. .35 Rem brass is not always easy to get and it is good to have a way to produce it from something as easy to get as .308 - even if it involves a bit of work.

The .35 Rem is such a great caliber for cast and for most of the hunting we do here in Michigan. Like a fool I passed on a Marlin in good shape for $225 about 5 years ago and have always regretted it.

Good luck with your find!!!

Don Verna

[Menner]

Thank you I read the procedure for making the 35 brass and while it does require a bit of work it is an option and it is good to have options thanks to a member I have a few cases and boolit's to play with so today I prepped the cases and made up 10 test loads to just to see 9gr red dot oal to 2.5 and went to the range was happy with the results considering my eyes and open sights at 50 yrds and 30 degrees about 3 1/2" 5 shot groups tried post a pic of it but could not with my phone will try tomorrow with puter

Attachment 91623

[Beerd]

ya think the R & D folks at Lee would consider catloging a 35 caliber rifle bullet mould if every 35 Rem shooter requested one?
..

[MtGun44]

Hmm. I didn't have too much trouble getting about 150 new Rem or Win cases when I got my
rifle a couple years back. Not enough trouble to even remember where I got it. Probably like
Midway or Grafs.

Bill

[onehousecat]

You got a great deal. The 35 Rem is a excellent round, and I really don't understand why it is so often neglected. My experience with one was with a TC with a 14" barrel. I used a RCBS 180 Sil gc mold. With my mostly COWW alloy, the bullets came out at more like 192-193 grs. I think that bullet with a moderate charge of 3031 was capable of a perfect score in Metallic Silhouette based on sessions of shooting off a dead rest. Unfortunately, I wasn't that skillful in competition. I'm not a hunter, but I have no doubt that the 35 will take a deer as long as I do my part.

Have fun playing with your versatile, efficient round. I certainly did. One last thing, I bought exactly 100 of those those rather expensive, and allegedly better jacketed bullets. I still have a few of them left over. After seeing what the caliber would do with cast bullets, I wasted no more time on the jacketed ones.

[Menner]

Yeah bought the rifle and started looking for brass all of the usual places nobody had any looked on all the one fired sites still none thanks to some members here I have got enough to work up loads and do some shooting. The more I look the more I believe the seasonal run they make x# of 35 Brass and when its gone its gone until the next run so I will wait it out and see what I can get later this year. I don't see any J words being shot through this rifle if I do any hunting with it it will be with cast Boolits. Looking at the RCBS 35-200 mold or NOE 360-200 2 cavity with 1 PB and 1 GC
The 2 targets above were the RCBS it seems to like them. I put a scope on it last night and am going to reshoot them tomorrow that was 9gr red dot tomoroow will shoot that again with a slight crimp and a string of 9.5 gr red dot let the rifle tell me what it likes

[singleshot]

Shortages of .35 Remington brass are a FACT OF LIFE. The very future of the cartridge seems to be questionable.

At the time I got my 1951 Marlin, there was very little brass available, and I created MY method of adapting brass that I had in plenty, for my own use. I then made the error of posting the method for all to see here.

I am frankly amazed at the numbers that come out of the woodwork to poo-poo the very idea.

Look, people.... it is NEVER wrong to know how to cope for oneself in the face of bad circumstances.

I do NOT see nay-sayers on the subject of (good grief) making blackpowder at home, or reloading primers, or modifying Berdan cases to accept Boxer primers...... but mention making .35 Remington cases from .308s, and OH MY! "You can't do this, you can't do that, it's wrong, yadda yadda ....."

News Flash: It is NOT wrong; the dimensions adapt perfectly; the resulting .35 cases are long-lived, and there are NO issues whatever.

If someone wants to do this conversion, more power to him. He'll create usable cases to supply a rifle for which he either had NO brass, or add to his supply of .35 cases without spending Nickel One to do it.

Win-win.... but some refuse to acknowledge the fact.


The Method:

1. Lubricate the .308 case and run it all the way into a .44 Magnum sizer. This will throw-up a narrow "belt" of brass at the extractor groove...don't worry about it now.

2. Size the case in a .35 Remington sizer die.

3. Place the case in your trimmer (adapting an electric drill to the trimmer is almost essential) and trim to correct .35 length.

4.Chuck the case in a drill press, lathe, or electric-drill-in-a-vise, and remove that belt of brass with a sharp fine-cut file. Try each case in the rifle as you do this step; you'll soon learn how much filing it takes. Taking a bit off the rim diameter does no harm.

You may want to polish the filed area, but it's not essential.

Voila'....... usable durable .35 Remington brass. I've converted several hundred .308s without loss using this method, and the rifle has no complaints.

YES, it's best to use factory-original .35 brass.....but when the day comes that one simply can NOT find factory brass...... THERE IS A WAY!

Bruce, I may not have adequately represented myself. I LOVE innovation AND options. I wasn't poo-pooing your idea. I plan to try this myself, just to ensure I know how the process works. My point was one of economics and time management.

Now, if you can do this with 308's, 270, 30-06, etc. should work as well, right?

[BruceB]

Yep, I definitely got the wrong impression. Thanks for the explanation.

I suspect that , in using the longer cases such as '06 or .270, we might run into problems with excessive thickness at the necks of the formed .35 cases. The .308 cases haven't given me any troubles with this, but cutting-down the '06-length brass would probably get into the thicker walls further down the length of the case.

If this does become a problem, neck-reaming (or outside turning) of the new case would still allow the brass to be used, but the process would require an extra step as well as the tooling to do the job. I also suspect that annealing the neck/shoulder area might be a good idea.

[dondiego]

BruceB - Luckily I have several hundred factory 35 rem casings but I am glad that you posted your method for converting .308. I have several thousand of those that I will never use. Have you noticed any difference in using factory verses military brass for the conversion?

[BruceB]

Hmmm.... now that you mention it, I realize that I've never used a military case as the basis for .35 Remington conversion.

I have several military-type 7.62 NATO rifles, and my GI brass is reserved for those rifles.

Given that 7.62 NATO brass is "usually" heavier than commercial stuff, it's possible that the neck-thickness issue will arise with this brass too, as well as with the '06-.270 cases.

I'd just try one or two and see if it works. If it DOES work, then in the interests of uniformity I would use only ONE type for all my conversions..... stick to either military OR commercial cases, and don't mix them together.

Please let us know how it works, should you decide to give it a try.

[Menner]

Update on the 336 made a few more test loads last night and went out this afternoon when the rain let up put a scope on it saturday and after sighting it in shot a couple strings here is the best 5 shot group I am sure the dummy behind the stock had a lot to do with the flyer the 4 are at .6" the fifth which was the 4th round out of the muzzle opened it up to 1.2" this is with the RCBS 35-200 boolit rifle seems to like it we will see if I can repeat it when I get my mold