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I recently picked up some Speer 180 grain to try in my 35 Rem. I have not had a chance to work up loads as yet. Been doing some reading and it appears the 180 grain Speer is a very good all around bullet, good for most anything up to elk. Anxious to try it. By the way, I too, have the Skinner peep on my 336. Bought my 336 new in 1971. I have not hunted with it in many years, but intend to bring it back to life when I can get the new bullets worked into decent loads.
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I have several Remington Model 8/81s in 35 Rem as well as a Standard Arms G and a Marlin 24" rifle with half mag. I stupidly let go a Remington 740 and an XP-100 in the cartridge in the past. There is a mixture of sights on my guns ranging from the factory leaf sights to three different peep sights to a 3x Weaver in a side mount. The Marlin started with factory leaf sights and a 4x Weaver but changed to a Redfield peep that I picked up cheap. I had to get a higher front sight as it shot a foot high at 50 feet with the factory front. I have not shot anything with the Marlin nor the Standard Arms but the rest have at least one deer under their belt by me. That may change for both guns this year depending on the weather and stand.

I load 200 gr Hornady and Sierra bullets in mine as that weight tends to give a bit more room for powder in the case. I am not too sure about the 220 gr bullets as I believe they are designed more toward the 358 Win and the 35 Whelen. As I shoot some rather old rifles I tend to be a bit conservative in my loadings when they are involved. With the reputation the 35 Rem has with factory rounds I don't think the heavier bullets will add anything to the cartridge.

Congratulations. You've got a great rifle. When I lived in Alaska I had to go through Canada to get to my Sister-in-laws place in Haines Alaska. Of course we couldn't take a handgun so every time I'd take my Marlin 336 35 Remington. They are a great rifle. I use the typical 200 grain Remingtons and they will handle most anything. Instead of a Weaver base, I'd find a Picatinny rail for it. For me with the weaver base the scope comes back too far for me to be comfortable. With the Picatinny rail and they have them for the 336, allows you to adjust it to your comfort. I believe Midway has them. Frankly I'd use a 35 Remington on anything in North America. I've killed brown bear too, and I think the 35 would handle it. I'm sure you will enjoy that for the rest of your years.

the 35 rem with 200gr corelokts is serious whitetail medicine. i've got a bunch of various actions and all shoot the CL's excellently. everything i have shot with it has been an almost instantaneous kill.

and those old marlins from the 50's are slick as snot. especially if they've been used a lot. the action gets a lot of work whether they get shot or not.

gunner500,

Fwiw, at 71YO, I don't see open sights well & scope EVERYTHING but shotguns (that I use w/shot) & my oldest SS rifled muskets.

My personal favorite for the brush country is the 2-3 X Leopolds & Redfields.

yours, tex

Gunner500 -

1st - that's a great story to hear about. I'm glad you posted it.
2nd - I know what you mean about putting a scope on a lever. It always puts me off when I see it.
But, to me the Marlins are the exception both because of the way they mount glass and the way they look, especially with a straight tube blue steel scope like yours. I would just try it before I decided not to use it, especially since its just a few screws one way or the other.


High five and good hunting

Thanks for all the well wishes and advice men, I got a little history on the rifle and the man that bought it new, my old Bud is 72 years old, have always thought of him as a fatherly figure, lost mine at 23 years old, that rifle was his departed wife's granddads gun, sadly, I was a pall bearer at his wife's funeral last year, the grandpa used to love to run coyotes in West Texas with dogs back in the day, that was his deal, he shot plenty and a few deer too.

I have about decided to use that rifle and scope along with the 220 gr Speers at 2150 fps to hunt all game this fall, that's deer and pigs in Ar and Ok, cow elk in Co this Dec, nilgai bull in extreme SE TX in Dec and maybe some TX hogs in early March '19, I think it will get it all done with ease, +3" at 100 will zero at 175 and only down 2"s at 200, I want to honor the long dead Granddad, my old Bud and his Wife, I am deeply humbled that he gave me that rifle.

44mc, good deal and congrats, we may have to compare notes at the conclusion of this years hunting.

Gladesman, that sounds like a plan, I have already ordered a Skinner sight, it will go in a drawer for now, I'll run the old 3X Weaver this year, I need to order some damn red plaid wool ; )

Woodmaster81, nothing wrong with being nice to the old steel, in my case with the 220's, I shoot deer coming into the rattling horns mostly in the chest [long wound channels] or in the shoulders on a hard quartering in angle, also bust hips going in on deer sneaking out of an area, that may help the heavy bullet open up a bit more for good expansion, lord knows the heavy 220's will be good for cow elk, tough nilgai, and busting hogs through the shields.

CaribouJack, Thanks for the advise, and yessir, I will enjoy that rifle with honor for the rest of my days, Bud at the gunshop thinks just like you do, he already had a Warne rail on the counter when I got there, I wanted to keep this rifle like it may have been back in the day if it had worn a scope, the old weavers were about all there was to be had then, oddly enough, with this long tubed weaver 3X scope, and with the ring slots both mounted in the forward position, I have great eye relief, yes they are ugly, but that's okay in this case.

rem141r, you bet slick as snot, I don't believe the newer marlins get love at the factory like these old guns got either, I had to place my bullet, brass and die order in a hurry and didn't get to research the 200 gr cl, I tried to buy two bags of brass, they only had one, I had to hit that order button post haste, maybe these 220's wont let me down.

satx78247, Thanks, and concur I still see okay, but, have never had a lever action rifle with a scope, this will be the one, plus, we all know, if you cant see it you cant kill it, I looked at some brown, black and white cattle here on the farm through the old scope at dusk thirty, I wont have any trouble finding that buck in the brush at 100 yards dusk, he'll be riding home with me.

kragman1, You're most welcome, it's my sincere pleasure, agreed fully on the Marlins and scopes, lever rifles always looked, handled and shot just fine with their factory buckhorn, lyman or redfield receiver peeps, even the old factory bolt peep on a deluxe M-71 in 348W, this rifle and it's old Weaver 3X will be just fine, I'm going to catch hell for using a lever rifle and scope this year, that's okay, I'm just going to have to be 'that guy' this fall, red plaid wool and all, my hunting buds are going to have plenty of fun at my expense with this deal, but I'm going to have a hell of a time anyway.

A "free" rifle is like a free puppy, it is the feeding, toys, and other care that are the main costs rather than the purchase price. And like those free puppies, a free rifle often becomes a favorite.

Congratulations on the rifle and for being the kind of person one would receive such a gift.

ok gunner I am going to load an shoot every bullet I can this year an keep notes

Just wow. Nice score!!

LOL woodmaster81, i'll have to agree to all that.




You bet 44, I'll record, animal, range when shot, how far traveled, bullet penetration, should be plenty to eat at both our places come Spring.

Thanks JeffG818, bullets, brass and dies are on the truck for todays delivery, if they don't drag their sacks too bad, I'll be chronographing loads by sundown today.

Well it's on like donkey-kong now, the 220 gr Speers ran 2175 fps with only a 12 fps extreme spread, I'll take that anyday, cases fell from the action, caseheads miked within specs, primers looked really good too, I even ran a fired piece of brass through the load gate, worked the lever and it picked it right up and into the chamber it went, closed the lever with ease.

These will fly just as expected, +3" at 100 will zero at 175 and be only 2"s low at 200 yards, will shoot for groups tomorrow, if I can keep three in and inch and a half, I'll load the remaining brass to this load and zero the rifle.

With deer on odd angles, hogs, cow elk and tough nilgai, I believe this bullet will serve me well for a one bullet one load setup for this rifle, testing on live game will begin in five weeks over in Arkansas on a private land doe only modern gun hunt.

Sounds good!

Gunner this was Karma. Good in this case. I would like to buy an old ballard rifled JM Marlin. But that means I would have to trudge my way through the gun show aisles until I could find one. 22years working in the prison system here in Misery has soured me for being in the general public. Sometimes I just go to the basement and shoot a bunch of pellets and the feeling of wanting to be in public vanishes. I come up with a good smile on my face. Same smile I get when I think of the old JMs. It would be good to play with the 35 though. I like the medium bores. The ones that kill like crazy but without all the snort of an ouch and ouch. Just an old 35 Remmy, 356 or 358 Winchester, 375 Winchester…………………..

g5m, Thanks, I believe it's going to be a hard, fast and decisive killer, especially after the zero/accuracy check this morning.

Agreed rustyzipper, you men that can work around convicts without ice picking a 12 pack of them per week are much better men than i'll ever be, yourself and wifey have a lot in common, she says it's to people-ee out there, jokes about wanting me to turn this farm into a compound, we'll never leave. this old 35 sure put a smile on my face at the shooting bench this morning, I hope you can find and enjoy an old lever rifle.

Well, load workup, accuracy check, and zero are done, took all of 8 rounds, two rounds at 25 to get centered and headed up, one round at 100 cut the redfield diamond bullseye, up a bit more, then two into the same hole and pulled the last one right for a 2" three shot group at 100 with a 3X scope.

Went up and painted the 200 yard gong, back to the bench and held as close to 4"s from the bottom of the gong as I could and fired two rounds, two shots landed at 6 'oclock right and left about 3"s apart, exactly 2"s from the bottom of the gong, so yes, this rifle zeros at 175 and is 2 inches low at 200, perfect!

The right and left at 100 and 200 are me yanking on that old trigger like a damn ape, the rifle will shoot better than I can shoot it, a little more trigger time and familiarization will only cause groups to shrink.

bow started to day going to shoot the 35 at noon I got my note pad

Let er rip 44, mines ready, will look forward to your report, if you're going to handload your 35, I started at 40 grains of leverevolution powder under the 220's, and stopped when the chrono read 2175 fps, then fired two more to check extreme spread.

got 3 10 round loads with 2 dif weights of powder with 3 dif. powder I have on hand varget bl/c2 &4895