.35 Remington brass....buy or re-form?

[BruceB]

Since Santa dropped-off a nice Marlin 336SC in .35 yesterday, I find I need .35 Remington brass.

Midway doesn't list it in either the Master Catalog or the January flyer.

Ken Howell's fantastic book on forming custom cartridge cases says the .35 can be made from .30-06 brass, and that led me to believe the .308 case might even be better, since case-neck thickness wouldn't be as much of a possible issue. With just a few minutes available before heading to work tonight, I formed a .308 case in the .35 sizer, to the point where it ALMOST allows the bolt to lock closed....the lever is about 1.5 inches from coming to the fully-locked position.

This leads me to think the reformed .308s might work, after some fiddling to finalize the process. Anyone else have any experience in this particular situation?

Also, if anyone has .35 brass they're not using, I'd be mighty interested in buying some.

[Leftoverdj]

BruceB, it's simple and straightforward to form .308 into .35 Remington for guns with slightly fat chambers. I've done it for a Contender. Sounds like you have a tighter chamber than I was working with. The fix for that is to run the cases through a Lee sizer with the aid of a strong press and anhyrous lanolin. I did a few just to make sure it would work. I used a .452 because that was what I had. Probably be easier to go .457, .454, and .452 only if needed, but I did not have those at the time.

There can also be some variation in .308 cases. The lot I was working with ran .463-.465 across the web.

[NVcurmudgeon]

.35 Rem. cases are .457" base dia. .308 and the rest of the Mauser 12 mm tribe have .470 base. The rest of the Rem. rimless family are .421" like the .30/30. IIRC the .35 Rem. is a real oddball.

[Slowpoke]

Graffs shows it in stock

[beagle]

BruceB...Bite the bullet and buy it. Forming the heads are a PITA./beagle

[bearcove]

Go to Graf & sons they sell 35 rem. Good people, been buying from them for 30 years.

[Steve in TN]

I got a nice Swed in the garage thats blown up. Let a friend shoot one of his reformed 30-06 cases in it. Amazingly, the bolt held, but it ended my gun and the friendship.

[BruceB]

Muchas gracias. It's a whole lot better to have the correct brass, instead of messing with case alterations.

I thought I had a least a handful of cases on hand here, but if so, they're doing a very good job of camouflaging themselves.

Now, the rifle needs a good aperture sight like the Lyman I have on my .32 Special Marlin (1947 manufacture). I also added a Lyman 17 front sight with interchangeable elements to the .32, which makes a very shootable set-up for my weary ol' peepers.

[jbgoodstok]

Hey any of you NV guys from the ELY area? If you are maybe we can trade some info up close - and I do have a nice old Marlin 336 adl in 35 - scrounged some brass last year - now having a real tough time finding it - but with hornady coming out with the xlr stuff it should start to show up more often soon - I hope - fwiw - jb

[scb]

Check out http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...?Item=88427343. Unless there is absolutely no brass available ANYWHERE I wouldn't form it. Maybe it's because of my location here in the northeast where this caliber is very popular this ammo is available everywhere.

[jbgoodstok]

SCB thanks for the hookup -jb

[Leftoverdj]

.35 Rem. cases are .457" base dia. .308 and the rest of the Mauser 12 mm tribe have .470 base. The rest of the Rem. rimless family are .421" like the .30/30. IIRC the .35 Rem. is a real oddball.

Measure a few. I know those are the specs, but the reality is that actual .308 cases are substantially smaller than the nominal dimension. I'd probably buy .35 Rem cases myself if I needed them and they were available. If they weren't, I'd form them. It's doable, and it's not a situation in which you wind up with cases grossly undersized across the web like .30-06 to 6.5x55.

[pumpguy]

I placed an order with Midway today. I was getting goodies for my new to me 444s and 336RC in 35 Remington. I asked about brass and was told it is a seasonal run. They were also out of the 3 piece steel Lee die set and FCD. WTH? This is not that rare of a cartridge. Is it? I had more luck getting things for my 375. I found a guy on Ebay that sells range brass before it was outlawed. If he gets back in touch with me, I will post his info here.

[Marlin Junky]

Have you checked Buffalo Arms?

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,174.htm

[Dye]

BruceB
P/M me your mailing address and I will send you 50 new Rem brass. You can pay me back when you find some.

BE Carefull Dye

[Loudenboomer]

Buy it for sure! Sounds like Dye has you fixed up. There is another option and it is the long way around. I mean you gotta really need a project. Take 30-40 krag or 303 british brass. Trim case to 1.95". Turn rim flush with base and cut a new extractor grove. Full length size case. Trim, chamfer and your good to go.

[STP]

BruceB,

I have plenty here...how much do you need to keep the M336 happy?

[454PB]

I was up against the same quandry a while back. I have a lot of .308 brass and did some measuring. Not worth the effort from my point of view.

[DOUBLEJK]

Here's some closing soon on an auction Bruce...

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...?Item=88546466

[Blammer]

I'd go to walmart, buy some 35 remington ammo and shoot it for the brass!