Experience with .350 Rem. Mag. ?

[Smoke]

I have been reading a little and drooling a lot over Remington's 673 in 350 Rem Mag.

Anyone have any experience with this rifle or more particularly this round.
I have never even touched a .350 round.

Any info would help. Thanks.

Smoke

 

[critter]

Neither the gun nor the round. However, the round is the ballistic equivalent of the .35 Whelen. That round has been proven to be a very effective round on medium and even large game. Both rounds have a great rep.

 

[Slingster]

I used a Rem 700 Classic in .350RM on my first African hunt for plains game, firing handloads of 225-grain Nosler Partitions at 2500 fps. If I did my job it put the animals down with authority, from impala to kudu. After seeing its performance, my PH said that he'd be willing to hunt Cape buffalo with it (I would want more horsepower than that myself!)

 

[Badger Arms]

I've got the Remington 660. (I think... no rib, funny laminated stock). Anyhow, kicks like a mule but that is a factor more of the gun weight. The new 673 seems to be heavier. It's just a model 7 with a rib in my opinion. Still look for a healthy recoil. It's a good big game through deer gun. If you reload, you can stick the bullets out further in the 673 than the factory, I believe. that should tap some extra potential in the round.

 

[Mike Irwin]

A little experience with one of the old Remington 660s. What a freaking shoulder breaker out of that particular gun.

There are several problems with the .350 Remington that doomed it to failure...

1. The belt. Belted magnums just aren't necessary. I wish the gun companies would figure that out. H&H developed the belted mag as a way of controlling headspace on bolt-gun rounds with long, sloping shoulders. The belt's usefulness ended as soon as American companies started making ammo with nitrocellulose powder as opposed to British cordite.

2. Traditionally chambered in rifles with short actions, meaning that heavier bullets have to be seated far back into the case, which really chews up case capacity. While it does well with lighter bullets, the .350 is a good choice as a "thumper" in bear country or for other large game at close ranges. Better abilities with heavier bullets in an action that's a little longer than short would be a good thing.

3. It's a .35 caliber. The only .35 rifle caliber to ever truly make it in this country is the .35 Remington. Numerous other, better, .35s have failed, such as the .358 Winchester, and the .35 Whelen isn't exactly vibrant, either.


Those are the problems as I see it.

Even though the round failed commercially the first time out, as did its stable mate, the 6.5 Remington Magnum, I really think the .350 deserves another chance, and I really hope that the shooting public learns about, and learns to love, the .350.

It is a good little cartridge.

 

[Keith]

I've got a Model Seven in .350 and it has been my primary hunting weapon for several years. I love this rifle to the point I can't imagine hunting with anything else! I'll probably never buy another hunting rifle.

Recoil is negligible - well, "negligible" is probably not the right word... perhaps "modest" is a better word. Keep in mind that I shoot stout handloads in a .45/70 Guide Gun a lot, so my frame of reference is probably a bit skewed. I don't think anyone who shoots a .30/06 class rifle would find shooting the .350 (at least in a Model Seven) objectionable.

And the 673 is simply a Model Seven with a vent rib on top. The laminated stock and generous butt-pad are the same ones found on my custom shop Model Seven from a few years back.

Accuracy is... variable. The lighter 200 grain bullets will go into 2 to 2 1/2" groups depending on how much coffee I've had that day - that's an average, I've shot 1 1/2" groups at times. The heavier 250 grain bullets seem to do much better and I get something like 1 1/4 to 1 1/2" groups on any given day.
That's all the accuracy I ask of a hunting rifle, especially one with a 250 yard MPBR like the .350. I don't load for accuracy anyway, I load for steam!
And those are "round" groups, if you know what I mean. They don't string or anything like that - so, even a 2 1/2" group sees all rounds within an inch and a half of the aiming point. If you're an accuracy freak, I'm sure you could tailor loads to do much better than I ask of my rifle.

I will warn you that the Model Seven action is horrible when it comes out of the box! It's so stiff I actually thought something was wrong with the rifle. The bolt is hard to work, and locking a bullet into the chamber will make you think you've gotten an oversized case!
The thing to do is to simply degrease the action and work that bolt a few hundred times. It will loosen right up and become as slick as butter.

I'm very happy with mine, and I think you will be too. The .350 is the only round capable of taking all North American game - that can also be stuffed into a short action. It doesn't get any better than that!

Keith