35 Remington Blues

[eagle rider]

Well gents (and ladies) for those of you who have read my previous posts, I am truly pissed. My 336 Marlin in the beloved 35 Rem will not do any better for me than 2" at 100 yds. I can swear I was doing more like an 1" at 100 yds with Hornady Leverevolution, but with my hand loads things should have gotten better. Well they didn't. The easy answer is to switch back to the Hornady ammo, I just can't for the life of me think why my load ain't working. Anyone have wisdom on this it will be appreciated.

[bubba]

How many loads and different components did you try. When I am trying to copy a load per say, I go to their website (hornady) and look up the ballistics on the shell. I then do some research and find a powder that gets me the closest as well as measure OAL of the factory ammo and copy it. Oh and BTW just my opinion, but a 2 inch group at 100 yards is more than acceptable IMHO.

[Early]

Must agree: 2" with a .35 lever gun is A-OK!

[eagle rider]

Thanks fellas. I did use the aol of the Hornady ammo. Same primer as well. The variations were big time obviously in the bullet itself and the powder. It wasn't that I wanted to better, but just as good. Hornady uses the Leverevolution powder, I am using Varget. They have a 200 Flex Tip, I am using 180 gr. Speer Hotcors. Maybe I shouldn't be whining about it. I am committed to trying it again. Hell I cornered the Market on Varget thinking it was gonna be my new fav.......

[Pygmy]

I agree that 2" groups at 100 are more than adequate, especially for a lever gun.

However, if you are getting better groups with factory ammo, there is room for improvement with your handloads.

Since you were getting 1" groups with the 200 grain bullet, the first thing to try in your handloads is the same bullet, if it is available to you. If you can't get the leverevolution, try another 200 grainer.

If bullet weight does not improve your groups, try some different powders. Every rifle is an individual . My .280, for example, groups well with certain 140 and 160 grain bullets, but I have never got 150 grainers to group well in it..

[eagle rider]

Bought a box of 200 gr Hornady Round Nose. Gonna match the COAL of the Leverevolution, up the loading on the Varget for the new bullet to 39 grs and see how it does.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Just wondering why you are switching from teh flex tip bullets? Did you have a problem with their preformance?

[eagle rider]

Never loaded the flex tip, I did shoot them when I used the Leverevolution ammo. I think the heads are expensive.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

about 35 cents a bullet. I had an uncle that loaded them with IMR...I think 4895. his groups were touching. I don't know what primer he was running

[Gthphtm]

IMR 4895 I used quite a few 1 pound cans of that threw the years.What a lot of people do not know is that some of the factory loads are hotter then some suggested for that round in some of the reloading books.

[Marti375]

I think 2 " groups are good, my question is are you using a scope or open sights.

[eagle rider]

Nope a 2-7x Nikon. There is no doubt that he rifle will be a little 35 Cal pump station disconnector inside of 100 yds for deer and bear for that matter.

[Pygmy]

I'm not sure if using the same AOL as the pointed bullet for a round nose is a good idea.

The ogive of the round nose may be forward of the ogive of of the flex tip. If you load the RN too far out, you could jam it into the rifling and create a pressure spike. I would either use the AOL of another similar 200 grain round nose( like a factory load) or smoke a bullet and chamber it in an empty case to determine max seating depth. Several reloading manuals will tell you how to do this or you can find it online.

If you really want to match the accuracy of the Leverevolution loads, your best bet would be to "bite the bullet" and spend the $$ for the Leverevolution bullets. Eliminate as many variables as you can.

[eagle rider]

Its all good now,.... I hit pay dirt with 38.6 grs of Varget underneath a 200 gr Hornady Roundnose.  It's printing an 1 1/4" at 100 yds.  I don't think the little crank-fire carbine is capable of any better. The round looks to be a real sledge hammer. I will let you know how I do with it in November. It consistently went the chrono at 1996 fps. I'm sure in the thick brush this poison pill will put them on the dirt.

[Pygmy]

Sounds like a good combo, Eagle, and 1 1/4" groups is super accuracy for a lever action carbine.

The .35 Rem earned its rep as an excellent killer of deer sized game with the 200 grain bullet. That round nose soft point should give you good expansion also, even at moderate .35 Rem velocity... Regardless of what some hyper velocity guys think, a bullet doesn't have to be traveling 3000+ to be a good killer on game.

[Early]

Good point, Pygmy. One must only consider the number deer killed with the .35,

.300 Savage, .30-30 Win, and .32 Special to prove it.

[eagle rider]

Yeah, I hear you fellas! I love zippy speedsters, but there is definately a charm to these old relaible rounds. I like the 35 in close and in light brush. I can realistically count on one hand the number of times in NYS that I had opportunities to take 100 yd or better shots over the last 30 years. I think the 200 gr SPRN will befinately be a show stopper at impact.

[Larry]

hey bud the kill zone on a deer is about 9'' that's all you need

[Guns&ReligionCop]

I don't use a lever gun but my hand loads for my bolt action I always seat the head out a little bit further to create less head space. If you have been using this guns for years maybe you have shot out some of your rifling and this will help you out.

[covert]

Varget will stack them on top of each other in my .30-06 and my .308 but if I use it in my .30-30 they are loose and about 8" high @ 100 yards! I used IMR 4198 and some RL7 in the .30-30 and they are tight and about 1.5-2" high @ 100. Crazy what a difference a slower burning powder will make in a particular rifle.

[eagle rider]

Yeah they are particular about what they spit out. Overall, I'm not a big fan of Varget. I thought I would be and bought two pounds. Now I'm he'll bent on using it up and moving on from there. I know the feeling, I can get RL19 to lace 30-06 150 gr Noslers through the same hole and RS Magnum to do the same in 270 WSM and Win with 130 gr Sieras. Those are running through two different custom rifles and one very high end Weatherby. All bolt actions. I don't expect a crank fire 20" rifle with a trigger that feels like I'm breaking glass when it's squeezed to perform like the other three. I own this thing for in-close work in swampy brush and drives. For that,.... Its been good enough. Like Guns&ReligonCop said, its 9" to worry about,.... Not 1 1/4. Hopefully, come 11/16 I'll have something to brag about.

[Pygmy]

Actually, varget is in the same general burn rate range ( medium) as other powders that do well in the .35 Rem case, such as 4895, 4320 and 3031, so I'm not surprised at the accuracy. RL 15 would also be a good powder to try. It works great in my 7mm08.

RL-19 and 4350 ( medium slow burners) might be accurate enough, but your velocity would suffer. They are better candidates for larger standard cases, such as .270 Win, .280Rem or 30-06.

[erussell]

I would think 2" would be good enough. Your shooting a 9in target at 100 yrds or less most of the time. Not prarie dogs at 500 yrds. Shoot, big ole mossy horns steps out youll be all over that 9 in's anyhow.