Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Marlin 336 in 25-35 Win. ?

I bought a Marlin 336 SS in 30-30 a few years ago with the plan of having it rebarrel to either the 7-30 Waters or the .25-35 Win.
After getting prices from a few leveraction specific gunsmiths, I decided to keep it as a 30-30 and eventually sold the rifle and went on to a different project.
At the same time I had a T/C Contender carbine with an 18" barrel and killed several deer with the old 85 gr. X-bullet and a couple with the original 90 gr. Barnes softpoint. Velocity was right at 2,600 fps.

I'm still wonting that .25-35 Win in a Marlin.

The new Hodgdon LVR powder has really made this appealing.
To bad Barnes does'nt make a lightweight flatnose....

A 75 grain flatnose at almost 3,000 fps!

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/SuperLever.pdf

I have often considered the same custom rifle. Local shop
has a Glenfield 30 with the half tube magazine, not sure what
the price would be to have it done. Winchester made a limited
run of 94s in .25-35 awhile back and they seem to be everywhere
NIB but they are expensive.

I have one of the new Winchester, it is a fine rifle and capable of good performance.
I had a 24� 25-35 TC barrel that had extraction problems when using maximum published load data. I reamed this barrel to the 25-35 Improved and eliminated the extraction trouble.

I believe the 100-grain bullets are the way to go with the 25-35 and I use the 100-grain JHP Speer bullet, feeding it through the magazine without difficulty.
I load this bullet to above 2,550 fps from the 20� barrel with no difficulty. I have not lost a case loading to these levels - which are not higher than was reported in the 1920�s to 1940�s.
I use Alliant Reloder 10X, Hodgdon 4895, IMR 4320 and Alliant Reloder 15 with excellent results. Hodgdon 322 and Varget do fine also.
If I were re-barreling a rifle, I would consider a 1-12� or 1-14� twist as I prefer the 100-grain and lighter bullets. I would give consideration to Francis Sell�s 25-35 Tomcat - a mild Improvement.
I enjoy loading for and shooting the 25-35 as it seems just about right for a smallish deer and larger varmints.

Local shops have two older M94s in .25-35 in my area.
Im tempted to buy the cheaper one, but I just think a
custom Marlin would be cool.

The Marlin would be more useful as you could then load to "modern" pressures without a great deal of concern.
There is no reason to not load a modern rifle with a good barrel to approximatly equal pressure as the 7-30 Waters and the 30-30. This put life into the 25-35 and makes it a very intereesting cartridge.
See if your Library can get a copy of F. C. Ness "Practical Dope on the Big Bores." Interesting stuff on the 25-35 and the 25 Remington. The ask for Paul Estey "The Woodchuck Hunter." Unfortunatly the good stuff is in the 1920's and '30's Rifleman and this will have you setting at the microfilm reader in the library for quite awhile.

I have a Marlin '93 in .25-36 and it shoots very well, as does my .25-35 Winchester '94. If you've got the itch, scratch it!

I once checked on getting a winchester 94 relined, repeat, RELINED, to 25/35. The barrel seemed to be to thin. The 336 has a heavier barrel and might work. IIRC the price was about $200 or so. I don't remember who I talked to.

I have a 336 that was re-barreled to 25-35, You will like it if you have one done. Mine shoots like a dream. The only problem I am having is should I use it for deer this year, or the Rem. mod 14 in 35rem. I just picked up.

I have a 93 in 25/36 also and its hoot, no recoil, very accurate and easy to load for. If I didnt have the 93, I would build up an octagon in 25/35 just because. The 86gr 25/20 pills have lots of exposed lead, and move fast enough to pop rabbits with authority.

An octagon 26-28" barreled 336 with a full-length mag would be sweet.

As a side note, it was a .25-35 Win. that killed the last grizzly bear in Utah in 1923:

http://www.onlineutah.com/oldephraimhistory1.shtml

Cool story, was almost the last "person" to be eaten by a grizzly bear in Utah....

I shot a 7 foot grizzly with a 25-35, once between the eyes...He is now on my wall.