frankenautoloader project : 760/740 .35rem

[coyote315]

Ladies and Gentlemen:
For your consideration i present the following case:
I am by necessity a devotee of the .35 remington cartridge for deer in my home state of indiana where the laws are...:banghead: That said, the low-pressure affable round has won me over with it's easygoing shooting and thumping effect on everything-i-shoot-it-at. Because of, I have developed 3 of the remington 760 pumps into great deer shooters: they have a free-floated barrel by design and are very easy to use and use well.
The other day i found an old 740 in 30-06 in a pawn shoppe. Same year group as my least preferred .35 760...
After a quick disassembly, the components all line up, lock up and seem ready for action. Soooo- other than having to drill a gas port and solder on the gas block, why not...? I know I'll have to weaken the spring as the .35 won't push as hard as the 30-06 cartridge. I don't know what size gas port to drill but, figure i can start w/ the diameter of the 30-06 and then work my way up as needed.
I have a goldsmith in the family to do the precision soldering, and a drill press w/ camps to do the gas porting, it's too early for mushroom hunting and too late for coyotes.
Thoughts? Experiences? Bets?
PS- if your reply includes the words ".358 hoosier" or "Marlin 336" I am not interested: don't reference inferior cartridges with foolish marketing, or the old war horse cuz I just don't prefer her.

 

[Abel]

When did the factory loaded, standard length 35 Rem become legal in Indiana? The 740 is a Jam Master. Stick with the 760.

 

[lobo9er]

I am not familiar with the 35 rem. its a straight cased 30-30, right? You have to swap out the barrel all together don't you?

 

[R.W.Dale]

The 7600/760 has a reputation for fine accuracy well beyond what is expected from a non bolt action

The 7400/740 is notorious for throwing shots wide that aren't the cold bore first round.

My experience with both guns bears this out. IMO turning a 7600 into a 7400 is turning the proverbial silk purse into a sows ear

(No I didn't get that backwards)




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[coyote315]

the .35 rem is not legal as-is, but a quick trim of the neck allows for both chambering longer-ogive extended bullets* and being under the new 1.8" cartridge overall length limit and .357 bore minimum.

* [like the hornady FTX and my personal favorite 180gr SSP only ('cept I have a box mag, so I can use it too! That's my biggest complaint about the marlin 336; the tube mag)]

I've had a couple 7600s in 30-06 that were "good enough" for my accuracy and hunting out to about 500 yards, BUT.. right now the 760 pump will shoot better than most shooters: in .35 rem i turned a meat doe into a delicious furry pile at 262 yards with one shot that only landed about 2" off from where i was aiming (range correction error). Losing that accuracy would break my heart.

This project is probably one of those "good from far, far from good" ideas then. I guess since it isn't broke, I shouldn't try to fix it. Also, I was thinking, I don't believe the original 760 was made in .35 remington; there must be a reason.

 

[Jim Watson]

For the work and expense involved, you could just track down a Model 81.

 

[coyote315]

a HMMMMM???? googlling....

 

[coyote315]

AAAAAH Jim, you and Dale just combined to definitely make the project Dead:
My favorite pump-action .35 loads are way hotter than the original Model 81 would handle. I'd lose my advantage.
I'll stick with the pump until remington makes a factory gun again: they've got more money in R&D to blow up prototypes than I do

 

[Abel]

The 760 was originally chambered in 35 Rem. If I were you, I'd look for a bolt action 35 Rem. the Remington 600 was so chambered, as well as a few 7 & 700 models. Or you could rock a custom with a Mauser action.

 

[R.W.Dale]

This thread has turned out quite timely for me. It's put on my radar the 35rem 760 and led to me buying a very nice early example at the gunshow today. Metal buttplate, buckhorn sights, smooth non drilled/tapped reciever.

How are you doing on spare mags for your 35's?




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[coyote315]

as for spare mags: I order the 10rd from triple K, because i can usually find it CHEAPER than the flush-mount. It's quality, and as long as you order the .308 model it's absolutely flawless in function>
I think I'm gonna go for the project. I understand it's a bad plan that will probably end in me ruining a perfectly good 760, but... i CANNOT find a 740 in .35 rem so, it's a lack of options. The 760s are the best gun ever made. As accurate as bolt actions, very reliable, very fast, and the mag lets me use pointed bullets.

 

[coyote315]

correction;

 

[coyote315]

oh also: Dale, if you decide you want a scope the side-mount plate style that replaces the two trigger group pins with bolts, will fit. Commonly they're sold for shotguns like the 11-48 through 11-87/870 type. One of my 760s is also not tapped, and it's how I scoped it.

 

[R.W.Dale]

oh also: Dale, if you decide you want a scope the side-mount plate style that replaces the two trigger group pins with bolts, will fit. Commonly they're sold for shotguns like the 11-48 through 11-87/870 type. One of my 760s is also not tapped, and it's how I scoped it.

I have one of these mounts. What did you use for screws due to the 760 being a thinner reciever than these 12ga mounts were made for?




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[coyote315]

i used some titanium aircraft screws that had enough thread to cinch it up. Got them from an airport mechanic's shoppe. I have also seen brass used/

 

[mike28w]

I wish that I could be more informative , but there's a gunsmith who advertises on GunBroker occassionally.

He can bore out a rifle to 35 cal. I believe that in the past he has sold the Remington semi auto that has been bored to 35 and chambered for 35 Whelen. He may have the abilty to make a 35 Remington for you.

Unfortunately, I just checked GunBroker and he doesn't have anything listed right now ( afaik). Might be worth searching 35 wheelen on Gunbroker now and then and looking for conversions.... He's from Oregon or Washington...

Looks like an interesting project.....

 

[coyote315]

oh, also Dale: If you can't get the screws to line up, just offset your zero. Sounds cheesy, but it worked for the esteemed Dragunov design, our military PEC2 and PAC4 lasers, and it works for Minute-of-Deer-Vitals for way, way beyond the 300yd range of the .35 cartridge

 

[R.W.Dale]

I tried my b-square mount and realized why I never used it much. The Weaver mounting surface is a good 2" above the reciever.

But after some research it turns out that aimtech makes a 20ga specific saddle mount for the 870 that should fit the 760 too. I've got one I gunbrokered up for $31 end route.

I'm probably going to start a thread about this gun build shortly




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[d2wing]

Alhmans gun shop in Morristown Minnesota is likely to have the parts 740 barrel in .35 Remington if they exist. They also convert 740s to 760s.

 

[coyote315]

yes, the saddle mounts for a 20g work. As well, 20g remington aftermarket stocks also fit.
Didn't know about this place Alhmans- will google it!