.35 Remington Reloads

[Zeke/PA]

My classic Marlin 336 in .35 Remington came with 2 boxes of Hornady LeverEverloutions which shoot SUPERBLY in the rifle. Has anyone duplicated the accuracy of the Hornady rounds in their reloading efforts?
Info appreciated.
Thanks, Zeke

 

[joed]

Last year I started out with the intention of doing what you brought up. Have you tried finding components? The .35 is pretty much a dead caliber and bullets are hard to come by.

I won't say I didn't have any luck. I have 200 cases and a set of dies. Just haven't been able to find bullets that I want.

 

[Walkalong]

Suitable .35 Remington bullets don't seem to be any more scarce than most things these days.

I was lucky enough to pick up 500 180 Gr soft point blemish bullets cheap from Midsouth a year or so ago. I also bought 300 of the Speer 180 Gr SP bullets, so I am set for some time.

I have never owned or shot any .35 factory ammo, but the Speer 180 Gr bullet shoots pretty well out of mine. I had every intention of trying the 200 Gr Core-Lokt, but never did.

You just have to try some things and see what it likes.

 

[shadow9]

Went hunting with a .35 Rem 336C...picked up a pack of 200gr CoreLokt's the day before I went out into the woods. Still got the full box and no deer...

 

[horsemen61]

So far I haven't had a chance to load for my 35 yet

 

[Salmoneye]

I have no need to try the gummy tips, so you are on your own there...

I do shoot a bit of cast and other stuff, though...

Jacketed .357" handgun bullets will shoot acceptably...The cast I shoot needs to be a minimum of .359" for good accuracy...

I used to own a Contender in .357 Herrett, and when I sold it, I had a couple hundred Hornady 180gr SSP-SP bullets in inventory...I use them for a deer load in the .35 Rem, but it effectively turns the Marlin into a 2-shot...I am not really worried about the soft point in a tube mag, but better safe than sorry...And it only takes one shot anyway lol

Round balls at .360" and a few grains of fast 'pistol' powder make for an accurate and deadly small game load to 50+ yards...

Love my 1958 vintage 336RC...

 

[Dthunter]

I have tried that leverrevolution stuff in 35Rem,45-70,357 mag, & 44mag.

And frankly it shoots like garbage in every firearm i have tried it in. Terribly inaccurate stuff!

It is dissappointing! I reload everything i normally shoot. That factory leverrevolution ammo reminded me why I reload for my own rifles.

 

[Sam1911]

I load for the .35 Rem, and have produced really fantastic accuracy with a number of jacketed bullets between 180 and 220 gr. I'll try to get that info posted tonight when I get home.

 

[Dthunter]

Sam 1911:

I have had great luck with the standard bullet styles, but not the leverrevolution "factorystuff". Use a Sierra 200 grain flat nose to take a 20" blackbear boar a few years back. Sure knocked the stuffing out of him! Lol!

 

[Zeke/PA]

I loaded a box of 200 grain Rem. Core-Lokts today and will try them tomorrow.
I am a Core-Lokt fan and hopefully the load will suffice as far a accuracy goes. The factory Hornady's put 3 holes under an inch at 100 yds.

 

[jim243]

Core-Lokts will work, I like the Speer 180 grain FP bullets myself.

Good luck and good shooting.
Jim

 

[Dthunter]

Question about those Speers

Core-Lokts will work, I like the Speer 180 grain FP bullets myself.

Good luck and good shooting.
Jim

Hi Jim.
Have you shot much game with those speer 180's? I tried them years ago and they shot well. They just seemeda little
Soft to me. But I never shot any game with them.

 

[Dave Bulla]

There was a study a while back to compare bullets available for the 35 Remington and at the time, the 200 grain core lock performed the best. Supposedly it has about the perfect combination of toughness and easy expansion to work well in the 35 Rem. Put it in something like a 358 Winchester and it's probably too fragile. Over on Marlinowners where the 35 is probably the favorite caliber among the regulars, the 200 grain Remington CL is the gold standard all others are judged by. The Hornady LE's are also very popular but seem to have a love 'em or hate 'em thing going on. MOST people say they shoot better than any other factory ammo they've tried but that they usually print from 3 to 10 inches higher depending on the shooter. My son and I have taken several deer with the Hornady's and they have worked exceptionally well. Deer are down in their tracks with the high shoulder shot and run about 50 yards when shot just through the ribs a few inches back from the shoulder. That's my "meat shot" as in I hit 'em there to save meat but honestly, with the 30-30, 35 and 45-70, I've shot deer in the shoulder, ribs and spine and while the deer went down VERY quickly, there was little meat damage and almost none of that nasty bloodshot streaking between the muscles. A friend of mine got me hooked on the saying that "It puts 'em down hard and you can eat right up to the hole". I tend to agree.

I've been tinkering with some handloads and as yet, have not quite matched the accuracy of the LE's so I won't bother posting any load data unless you really want loads that are just adequate but not stellar...

FYI, here are two pic's of my boys buck from a few weeks ago so you can see the damage or lack of. The blood trail was amazing though.

Entry hole:


Exit hole:

Well dang, photobucket died on me. I'll come back later.

Okay, got it.

 

[ranger335v]

My 1968 336C/.35 will consistantly shoot most 200 gr. round nose into a group .75" wide and 1.25" high with a charge of IMR 4064 at about 2,050 fps, measured; I don't need anything better than that at woods ranges. I really like it, deer really don't.

I much prefer Remington's RNCL because it's the ONLY current bullet made for the .35 Rem's velocities so expansion is always good. It appears all others are made for the larger .35 cases and expansion has been spotty even tho accuracy is good.

 

[Dthunter]

Dave Bulla:

That looks like a real clean bullet hole! Well balanced bullet/velocity!

 

[Sam1911]

Found (most of) my info.

The Speer 180 gr. FPs over 42 gr. of BL-C2 gave me 2,000 fps and groups of 1-1/8".

The Hornady 200 gr. RNs over 39 gr. of 748 were good for 1,876 fps and 1-1/4" groups.

For some reason I've lost my data card for my pet 220 gr. Speer FP load over 4895... guess that's a good excuse to go shoot them and see how they do!

 

[herrwalther]

The LeverEverloution factory ammo worked great in my Marlin as well but it is one pricey round. Thankfully you can pretty much make the same round with components available and make it more accurate using recycled brass and the right powder. I use the following which gives me 1/2" groups @ 100 with my Marlin

200gr Flextip rounds from Hornady
CCI 200 primers
Hogdan Leverevolution powder 39.1 grains
Seated at 2.52
Nothing spectacular but it does give me great groups. Your experience may differ.

I pulled apart several factor LR rounds and they contain about 37-37.3 grains of what is similar to LR powder from Hogdan. I have not chronoed my rounds but I would say they are pretty close to what the factory rounds fly at.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I've got a lot of experience with the .35Rem and really like it. However, I don't use it much of late as I've also got a BLR in .358win and a Marlin .338MX.

I've loaded a lot of different bullets for the .35 and shot a lot of deer with them (approaching 100 over the past 25yrs).

Getting around to the posters original question, 41.4gr of LVR and the 200gr FTX bullet with a Win LR Magnum primer will give duplication of the Hornady factory loads. Same powder, bullet as the Factory FTX ammo. Use either Hornady or Winchester brass. Federal and Remington brass don't have as much internal volumn as do the Winchester or Hornady.


My first choice is the 200gr Remington CorLokt. They used to be one of the cheapest choices for the .35 as well as accurate. However, since Remington sold out to Freedom Group and commodities prices for lead and copper went out of sight, the Remingtons have been almost as expensive as Nosler Partitions, so I've quit using them.

My second choice has been the Sierra 200gr RN. It is the MOST accurate of the .35 bullets I've used in the .35Rem. It also has the good expansion/weight retention of the Remington Corlokt, but then I've never recovered one either.... (I do have some Remington's I've recovered).
Now, the Sierra is less expensive (per 100 bullets) than the Remingtons, so they're now my first choice. However,they've both been hard to find lately.

My BLR shoots a 200gr bullet around 250fps faster than the .35Rem, hence I use the excellent 200gr Hornady PtSpt's. With a near max load of H4895, (also my powder of choice for the .35Rem), it's quite accurate. Better than most authorities give credit to the .358 for. My second favorite is the 180gr Hornady SSP Interlok. It does wonderful things from my BLR. Can't use it except as a "2-shooter" in the Marlin .35Rem however.

However, I'm not a fan of the 200gr FTX in the .35Rem. I shot a nice 180lb 8pt buck in my backyard on Jan 1, 2010 with a 200gr FTX. Range was about 30yds. I hit the buck through the top of the heart, broke a rib going in, and a rib going out... Deer still ran 200+yds with but about a 50' sparse blood trail. If not for the deer falling dead on a fire-break/property line, I'd have lost it. Essentially NO bullet expansion; ~1/4" hole all the way through the deer... Load was a compressed load of H4895 and chrono's 2,255fps at 15feet. Not a "whimpy" .35Rem load.... I'll stick with the Remington C-L's and Sierra's thankyou...!
It may have been a "hard" batch of FTX's, though. My .338MX has only taken deer with a 200gr .338" FTX. It has been superb! All three deer I've shot with it have been bang-flops.. Accurate enough that 150yd spine hits have been the norm. Its my most favorite rifle...Even elk hunted with it this year. It weighs 3lbs less than my .300RUM. Much better for hiking with at 10,000' elevation....

 

[Zeke/PA]

Goose,
Thanks heaps for your info as it's what I was after. I killed a couple of deer with the Hornady LE's but the range was short (30 yds. or so) and I was able to "neck shoot" dropping the animals in their tracks. The LE's are exceptionally accurate in my rifle but I am a Core-Lokt fan and I prefer to hunt with my own reloads as I have since forever.
Thanks Again, Zeke

 

[Zeke/PA]

I went to the range this morning with my .35 and a box of reloads.
Load: 200 grain Remington Core-Lokt in front of 36 grains of IMR 4064.
On paper right off and after an adjustment and barrel cool down, 3 shots were 1&1/4 inches at 100 yds. Think I've found my hunting load. My hunting method plus this kind of accuracy means a neck shot at 50 yards or less.