Some may remember, I got a Marlin 336 lever action rifle in .35 Remington caliber for Christmas. I've been gathering components for reloading, my first attempt was using 158 grain jacketed pistol bullets, specifically 158 grain jacketed soft points with 35.0 grains 3031 powder. My Speer manual shows 2000 FPS for this load.

The rifle loves this load, very accurate (less than 1" at 50 yards) and shoots to the same Point of Aim-Point of Impact as factory 200 grain bullets. Here's a pic of a group I shot this morning, from a rest at 50 yards:



.35 Remington seems to be a very versatile cartridge, accurate, cheap pistol bullets for target practice and varmints, heavy 200 grain rifle rounds for deer, black bear, etc. I'm liking it!

GOOD DEAL, my friend!

I am playing with the same weight of bullet only in the 357Mag and a Marlin 1894. In fact, the wife is going to use it for hunting in the next little while. We clocked it again today and it is giving me 2065fps out of her little carbine!

I just hope it holds together and penetrates the hog and ram we shoot!

Glad for you. It's always nice to get a combination that works for you!

p.s. Minnie (as in Pearl) you can take the tags off of the gun now!

Smith Crazy,

Talking about penetration, one of the loading manuals I read said to use only jacketed soft points (in high velocity, rifle loads, 2000 FPS) for hunting, the jacketed hollow points can "Blow Up" on impact at these speeds, making a shallow, non-lethal wound.

A .357 158 grain bullet at 2000 FPS is close to 30/30 ballistics from the Remington factory 150 grain load, I think it is 2100 FPS or so....

And yes, I guess I should remove the "Sighted by Steve" sticker from the stock, but "Steve" did such a good job, it was sighted dead on, never had to touch the sights.

Thats interesting. How heavy a bullet can I get in .357?

I've been wantin to load for my Marlin .35 Rem for a while.... Did you full length size or just neck em?
The one I have never shot worth a darn with factory ammo,I moved to bolt actions before I started reloadin. I should dust that Marlin off....

How about these?



or these?



I also shoot some 250 gr Beartooths out of a .357 Mag.

Oh, BTW, you have to use a single shot for any of these to work.

Shovelwrench,

The heaviest .357 pistol bullet I can easily find is the Speer 160 grain jacketed soft point. I think there are some jacketed 180 grain bullets out there.

I full length size my cases each time (and trim them) as a matter of habit, I haven't tried neck sizing only, but it would probably work, you would just be limited in using that cartridge in the rifle it was originally fired in.

As far as accuracy, have you tried the Remington 200 grain factory round? I have tried the 150 and 200 grain factory rounds in my rifle, and it definately favors the 200 grain bullets. I have read other reports that the Marlin 336 doesn't like Remington 150 grain factory rounds, accuracy wise.

I was using Rem 200gr, would'nt stay on a pie plate @ 100. I'll have to get some dies and work something up.

I'm definitely gonna check out some heavier bullets, and maybe some of those new Hornady rubber tips, they seem to do wonders in my friends 30-30.

Remington and Hornady both make a 180 gr JSP for the .357. The Remington was intended for the .357 Max and the XTP has two crimping cannelures for seating in either .357 or in the Max. The Hornady shoots pretty good for me out of .357 brass, like this 100 yard group.



The load needs to be reduced somewhat for .357 brass, but it shoots just as good as the DW brass. I believe these were clocked at about 1650 fps.

How is this working out for you? I just got a Remington 141 pump in .35 and am interested in starting to reload for it. Have not hand loaded before and thought this would be a good place to start. Saw an article on this by Charles Petty who said: "One of my favorite plinking loads in the .35 is a 158-grain semi-wad-cutter revolver bullet with 8 to 10 grains of Unique. That gives 1,000 to 1,200 fps and is deadly accurate." The forgotten Remington pump centerfires | Guns Magazine | Find Articles at BNET This is an attractive way for me to start (I thought) because I could then go on and reload my revolver target rounds as well. Interested in hearing an update from you, hope it is working out well!

That's interesting. I've been thinking about trying some 158 grain 357 slugs in my 35 Whelen, running them about 2000 fps. Now I guess I'll have to load a few rounds and try them out. Thanks for the info.

I'm sure you'll really enjoy the rifle. I have a 336 in .35 Rem that belonged to an uncle that taught me how to hunt back in the 50s. He bought it new sometime in the 50s, and I eventually got it. Great rifle!

-vic

35 Rem with Sierra 90gr 9mm bullet and H2400 powder,it was developed strictly as a 'photographic' load in night photo shoots. A lightweight bullet and undersize(.355 vs 35 Rems' .358) exits quickly and allows powder to burn late.

Attached Images

35Rem-90gr9mmSierra-H2400S.jpg (40.3 KB, 4 views)

H2400? No such thing. There was H-240 that was a surplus powder that has been gone for nearly 50 years. What were you really using?

H2400 is the OLD designation for HERCULES 2400. So, yes, there WAS an H2400, now it might go by A2400!

My question is for oldman though.

Since you are a lefty, have you ever caught a cartridge in your shirt collar from a semi auto? I'm a righty but have seen some nasty burns on my friends that aren't!

I am a lefty and yes, its easy to catch a loose casing in your shirt. When I was in the ARMY I had one flip up and catch in the chin strap of my helmet. Now, that will make you dance.

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Dyin ain't much of a livin

Hercules 2400 was commonly referred to/called H2400. It was similar in 'burn rate ' to IMR4227. H2400 & IMR4227 were regarded as propellants for handgun Magnums,too fast a 'burn rate' for conventional rifle cartridges. In trial using H2400 in 357Mag and 44Mag,'dirty burning' was occurring and that 'dirty burning'(incomplete combustion of powder) proved useful in developing that 35Rem load.
I'm not the shooter in the pic,I develop the handloads and take the pictures.
It has no practical application other than to produce a large muzzle flash for photography.BUT it would be interesting to see how fast a 90gr. 9mm could be pushed out of a 35Rem. No,those loads were not chronographed.

What I would like to see, if a nice AR15 style rifle in 357 mag. That would tickle my fancy

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Dyin ain't much of a livin

why AR platform in 357Mag. Rimmed cartridges are not very reliable feeders in autolaoders,whether it be handgun or long-gun. Some manufacturers have 9mm,40s&w,45ACP in ARs',even heard some talk of 10mm(similar to the ballistics of 41Mag) conversions.

I have shot 158gr. jacketed pistol bullets in my .35 Whelen, a while back Midway had bulk packs of blemished bullets at near give away prices and I stocked up. They make a great plinking load, IIRC I loaded mine over a small charge of Red Dot.