My father gave me his 16" contender barrel to use this deer season. I am just going to use regular remington 200 gr corelokts, is this ok for deer? I know every gun is different but what kind of velocity should I expect? Any and all comments are welcome, thanks in advance.

A 35rem is a good, dependable round. Keep your shots under 100yds. and it should be good deer medicine! I don't know about vel. off hand but those ranges will be fine. mvm

I had a 16" 35 Rem and used the 150 gr. Remington PSP bullet. I was getting 2400 fps with this bullet and H322 powder. I still have 30 rounds of it in my ammo cabinet. Never had a chance to use it on deer.
Greg

I shot a whitetail last year with my 14" tube.180 grain hornady s.s.p. put him down quick at 130 yards.

Used the same bullet, 14" tube, on a bear a few years back. Behind the ear @ ~50 years. Can you say skull full of mush?

My .35 Rem is VERY accurate. Outshoots me, down to at least .75" @ 100.

steve

The 35 Rem is an excellent round in the Contender. You should do very well with it as the other gents here attest to.

I'm assuming you meant factory rounds with 200 gr Core-Lokts?

With factory ammo, be sure that it fires reliably for you before going into the field. Try a few rounds from the particular box you have and if there are no problems firing, you can reasonably expect them to function in the field and not have any headspace/failure to fire problems.

Also, factory fodder can tend to be rather anemic so don't look at a load data manual for an idea of what your factory stuff will do. Chrono it if you can.

Your 200 gr. Core-Lokts should be sledgehammers out to about 100 yds. in factory load power out of a shorter tube.

Regards and good hunting.

[ 08-31-2002, 01:30: Message edited by: Headstamp ]

Agreed, I've had as many as eight out of a box of factories fail to fire in my contender carbine. Once they get the shoulder formed after the first firing, no problem from then on. My 14" pistol barrel is a lot more forgiving. BTW, as some have said on the forum, H322 is the powder of choice. I have taken loads WAY past load book maximums, carefully checking pressure signs, of course. It just keeps grouping beautifully and case life is good. Twenty years later, the frame is still tight. Have got to try the 180 SSPs this year.

TD and others,

How was the performance on game from a standpoint of expansion/damage with the 150 PSP bullet?

What would be the lower velocity limit for expansion based on field results?

Thanks

W Wilson

I'd sure like to hear more about your loads, I have a Competitor in 35 Rem.......the weak link with it is the 35 Rem brass as the pistol will even handle belted magnums!

If I had brass strong enough, I would push it to 308 pressures!

GH,

If you are into tedium, you can make Rem cases out of Krag and Brit cases which should be somewhat stronger than the Rem cases. Just turn down the rims on a case spinner on a lathe or drillpress a cut a new extractor groove with a 3 corner file just enough for the claw to fit and grab it ok.

After that, you can go out and paint the mailbox and cut the lawn with a scissors.

Regards

I have been loading/hunting with the 150(155?)gr bullets midwest used to sell and they did great. Shot a small buck in the spine quartering away from about 70yds and it spun him like a top and that was with a 15"xp. I think muzz. vel. was around 2200-2300fps with not very hot loads. Recoil was very mild also. As all the other guys have said, I don't think you can go wrong. I did have one missfire on a hog but just wrote it off as a load I missloaded, dumb me. Good luck! mvm

Headstamp

I knew that a rimmed 35 Rem could be made from 30-40 brass, didn't know it could be made from 303 Brit??? I'm not certain, but I believe the design of the Competitor would allow me to use a rimmed 35 Rem. without any mods because they both use the same ejector???? I'll have to try it!

Next question, are the 30-40 or 303 cases really enough stouter to make a difference???

GH,

I see those wheels turning!

I would tend to think that the Krag and Brit cases are stouter in that they are loaded to what, 40 and 45 K CUP? Where, the 35 Rem is loaded much lower at what, 28 or 32 K CUP?

The only dimension you may have to watch is the diameter near the base of the case. These can vary but they are extremely close and in fact vary by different lots and manufacturers within the same cartridge designation. The SAAMI drawing shows the Brit at .455" and the Krag at .457" but this may mean nothing with case variables. I actually use Krag cases in my Brit rifle because in my lot they run a couple thou larger at the base than the Brit cases and work well with the overly generous Brit chambers.

If you don't have to get into turning rims down, it may very well be worth experimenting with as it's only a case forming operation.

Hodgdon lists heavier loads for the Krag with the Ruger rifles also.

You are most likely not looking at 308 type case strength but you may get up some to say 45K or so CUP with cases that would most likely last longer at least.

I'll send you some Krag cases to play with if you want to get into it further.

Headstamp

I remembered having a few 303 Brit cases in my brass stores, so I lubed one up and ran it into the 35 Rem die, trimmed it and dropped it into the chamber........looks like a simple counterbore for the rim would make it work perfectly!!!

Now I just need to find a gunsmith that wouldn't charge a small fortune to cut it!

Mike B.

Would you mind weighing in on this???? Is the Brit or Krag brass enough stronger than the 35 Rem brass to make this worthwhile???

While you are waiting, spin a case in your drill press and take the rim down with a file for the heck of it. You can make a case spinner from any tapered shaft material that will fit the mouth of the case. Use a smaller tapered tip dowel to hold the base of the case at the primer pocket with your left hand. Run the drill press slow. File with the right.

See what you come up with. If you make 5-10 of them for testing,you can get an idea of case life/strength and then go for the rim counterbore depending on how your trials turn out.

Just a thought.

Regards

Have you guys checked to see if the 303 British or the 30-40 is heavier. The reason I ask is that I traded a 7-30 barrel off for a 35 that had been cut for the rimmed version. The 30-40 looks kind of thin compared to the 35. Thought maybe the 303 might be a little heavier brass??
Jeff

ahhh !!! yes !!!
the remington 150 grain bullet,,,
i've got a whole brand new box,,

going too try them in my .357 herrett,,,
should be just about the same as the .35 remington ???

thinking ....

??? buckweet