Hello to all, been lurking for awhile but now I have a question. Does anyone have a favorite load for deer and hogs that works in a 14" 35 Remington Contender barrel? I got a sweet deal on one this weekend and have very little time until deer season opens. Any help will be appreciated.

try the 180 single shot pistol bullet from hornady. they work good for deer and also shilloutte. jason

tractorman

Tell us what powder and bullets (if any) you have on hand, then some folks may "belly up to the bar" with some loads to match the components you have on hand.

Otherwise this is so open ended as to be hard to determine what information one may want to respond with.

LouisB

I have great luck with the Hornady 180 ssp and Sierra 200 gr round soft point.The 35 rem is a good deer round in the 14" tube.

The powders that I have on hand are IMR4227, IMR4831, IMR4895, IMR4350, H4895, H4227, H4831, H335 and W296. I don't have any bullets as of yet but something in 150 or 180 sounds about right. I have seen 150s on this board before.

If you don't have time for load development, don't be afraid to use any of the factory loads in 200 grains, they will get the job done out to 100-125 yards or so without too much fanfare and trouble on your part. Just in case you don't have time to play with loads...die adjustment on the 35 rem is critical and if you don't get it just right, you could be looking at lots of misfires. I recommend you check Bellm's website for info.
Good luck hunting and loading. 35 Rem has been a painful but rewarding experience for me.

regards,
Graycg

H335 and any 180gr bullet. Mine shot .75" at 100 yards and 2" at 200 yards.

I'm right fond of the 200 grain Reminton RN pushed by a 35.5 grains of IMR3031. I'll let you know how the do on whitetails this weekend.

I am partial to H-322 in the .35 rem. about 38 gr. and the Hornady 180 SSP..it is a real hammer on deer. I have one set of dies set up just for the contender to get the headspace right and I have never had a misfire with the handloads. My barrel shoots factory 200 real well also. Killed an elk with this barrel using 200 gr rem corelokt.
shortgun