All this talk of close range rifles had me wondering, who is using the 35 rem and in what type of rifle? How are they performing on game?
It was my Dad's favorite cartridge back in the 50's and 60's hunting in New England and the Catskills and I know used quite a bit in the Northeast years ago but do not hear about much anymore
the .35 has kind of taken a back seat lately.. Last spring we were visiting my step daughter in Mich. One of the gunshops had several 141' in .35.. I had just made up my mind to buy one when they told me it would have to be shipped to a dealer.. Apparently Wy. doesn't have an agreement with Mich on long guns..
When I was a kid, my grandfathers best friend shot a model 30 Rem. in .35 One neighbor had a Marlin another, the best deer hunter I ever knew, had a 141 in .35.. He also had a wildcat in .300 mag. But that is another story..
I really like the 35 rem cartridge. I have a 35 rem lever but Im just not a levergun fan so it doesn't get carried much. Now if I could get a model 7 in 35 Rem without breaking the bank it would get a lot of woods time.
I've hunted with an old Rem 760 pump gun in 35 Rem off and on for years; it's always done it's part.
More recently I built an AR15 wildcat round that duplicates the 35 Rem; haven't shot deer with it yet but it pushes the same bullets at the same speeds.
My deer killing with the 35 Rem has mostly been with round nose or flat nose bullets, I haven't killed with the newer flex tip stuff. Of the bullets I've used though, the 200gr Core-Lockt bullet is my favorite for performance on deer. The Hornady is OK but not great, it has a relatively narrow window between not opening at all, and coming apart. The 180gr Speer Hot-Cor works OK, but is a pretty tough bullet for this cartridge and doesn't give a lot of expansion; I think it's better in something faster like a Whelen. My cast 245gr Saeco #352 flat nose bullets worked really well, but that depends a lot on the alloy.
I hunted with a Model 94 .30-30 my very first year, and then my dad replaced it with a Rem 760 in .35 Rem. the next year. I've consistently used 200 gr. Core-Lokt bullets to take more than a few deer in the intervening years.
At the distances at which I shoot deer (under 100 yards), this video just about sums up my experience with the .35 Rem.:
I like the 35 Remington in lever guns and pumps. I have a scoped Marlin 336 Texan, a Remington 14 with iron sights and a Remington 141 with a scope. They all really shoot good, but when I go hunting in the thick stuff, I almost always grab the Model 14. If the range could get a little longer than 100 yards I'll take the Remington 141.
I hunted with a Model 94 .30-30 my very first year, and then my dad replaced it with a Rem 760 in .35 Rem. the next year. I've consistently used 200 gr. Core-Lokt bullets to take more than a few deer in the intervening years.
At the distances at which I shoot deer (under 100 yards), this video just about sums up my experience with the .35 Rem.:
My first "real" deer rifle was a Marlin 336 in 35 Rem. I replaced the factory open sights with a Williams peep sight, and really thought I had the best deer rifle in the woods. I soon started hunting with other rifles, and my son started his deer hunting out using the 35. He killed several with it, and somewhere about this time I put a scope on it for him. I dug it out of the back of the safe, checked the zero, and took it for a morning hunt in the thick stuff this year. Sitting there in the stand, I realized just how good a deer rifle it really was, and how I need to take it more often. I've made myself a promise to do just that next year.
I use a 336 in 35 Rem occasionally. Was my Dad's main rifle for 20 or so years. I put an XS ghost ring and mounted a scout scope on it. XS is awesome, scout scope sucks. For most of my deer hunting the 35 Rem would work just as well as the 358 Win I use. I prefer a bolt action but nothing wrong with the 35 Rem.
Have had a Remington 600 and Marlins in 336 Texan and a 20" LTD...all were sweet shooters but just found the extra power of the .358 Winchester from short barrels better...that said my load for the Ruger Hawkeye is a MeHic 210 gr. HP at 1900 fps...about the same a .35 Rem...
Bob
If you can not deal with reality, reality will deal with you....
Have had a Remington 600 and Marlins in 336 Texan and a 20" LTD...all were sweet shooters but just found the extra power of the .358 Winchester from short barrels better...that said my load for the Ruger Hawkeye is a MeHic 210 gr. HP at 1900 fps...about the same a .35 Rem...
Bob
I had a minty Marlin 336 SD in 35 Rem rechambered to 356 Win. I shot it a little, but never used it for the intended purpose, a Canadian moose hunt with Bearrr264.
A lot of levers and pumps, had a couple of Marlins but did not use them and they went down the road. My thought is where I hunt, it would be near ideal. I know the Rem 600 was made and the Model 7 from the custom shop. Figure you could build quite a handy little bolt gun with 20" tube and weighing sub 7 pounds
I think that it would be easier to build a bolt gun in 358 Win rather than a 35 Rem because of the differences in case head diameter. The 358 Win has a common 0.473" diameter case head diameter, while the 35 Rem has a smaller 0.460".