Rechamber to .35 Remington

[35RMB]

Is it possible to ream and chamber a .223 Remington to .35Remington. If so, how much do you think a competent Gunsmith would charge for such. I have an extra .223R barrel and keep wishing to have one in .35Rem. to pair it up with my Marlin 336. Inquiring mind wants to know. Thanks is advance.

[quickdtoo]

Sure, but it needs to be rebored too, that'll cost ya ~$300 or so. The 357Mag barrel makes a good 35 Rem with just a rechamber, mine cost me less than $100 for the work done by GBO sponsor Oregunsmithing, Wayne does rebores too, I've had a couple done, 338-06 from 25-06  and 405 Winchester from 38-55. Or you can just wait for a 35Whelen accessory barrel next year. 

Tim

http://home.earthlink.net/~oregunsmithing/

[wtroger]

Anything is possible with enough money. You could have a barrel bored rifled and chambered. But the cost is going to well above the cost of a complete rifle. One of the easiest to do would be a 357 mag to 35 remington. But if it where me I would just take a 357 mag and ream to 357 max there is less than 200 fps difference betwenn the 357 max and the 35 remington with 180 grain bullets. And that may not be true because the listed ballistics for the 357 max was from a 14 inch barrel the 35 Remington was from a 24 inch barrel.

[quickdtoo]

The 35 Rem is capable of much more than the 357Max, specially if you load it to the capability of the rifle. 357Max case capacity is 32.7gr water compared to 50.8gr for the 35 Remington, Super 35 Rem loads exceed the 357Max by a pretty good margin.

Tim

http://357maximum.com/

http://ammoguide.com/cgi-bin/aicompare.cgi?sn=fMjKRfLONJ&loadset=41&xxglbl=1

http://www.suitorsgarage.com/gunstuff/35remington/factoryloadpart1.html

http://www.suitorsgarage.com/gunstuff/35remington/35rempart2.html

[wtroger]

If you reload that is true. Factory to factory they are going to be pretty equal. The 35 Remington is like a lot of older cartridges that came into being at the start of the smokeless era they are not loaded to there ultimate potential in deference to the older weaker actions. I suspect the 35 Remington can be loaded close to .358 win loads which would be safe in a handi or a good bolt gun. But not for one of the original Remington Model 8 pump guns. Don't get me wrong if the man wants a 35 Remington then get after it. It is a fine all around round that will work well out of Handi. and it is a shame that H&R (Remington) will not chamber it when they are going to make the 35 caliber barrels anyway, all it takes is a chamber ream.

[quickdtoo]

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of merit in the Max, a Mag can easily be rechambered by hand by anyone that is the least bit handy with tools just for the cost of a rented reamer.  And just face it, there's not a lot of 357Max ammo available, at least Remington makes 35 Rem ammo, so ya never know, once the 35 Whelen is back, they may reconsider, but I think with the Whelen available, the 35 Rem won't be missed too much. Besides Remington's two loads, Buffalo Bore, Federal, Hornady and Winchester all make 35 Rem ammo, the same can't be said for the 357Max.


Tim

35 Remington Ammo

357Maximum Ammo

[Tallwalker]

Richard Mann had an article on the 35 Reminton in a bolt gun. They changed the shoulder angle just enough so that the loaded rounds wouldn't chamber in a standard 35 Remington chamber, and he was getting some pretty good velocities out of the gun. What do folks see as the advantage of the 35 Whelen over the 358 Winchester? Heavier bullets? Ammo availability? Moose permits are possible around here, and friends have gotten them, but ranges tend to be fairly short. Other than that, deer, and sometimes black bear, and Russian boar are the biggest things on the menu, and a 308 takes them down nicely. I do like 35 caliber guns though, and do have a 35 Remington in a Marlin.

[35RMB]

Thank you all for the info.  It was not my intention to create another .35REM/.357Max controversy. The reason I posted my question about re-boring/chamber my dusty .223Rem barrel and not pursue the project with a .357 is because 1) I already have one barrel which I don't use anymore. 2) I would be concern about firing .358" diameter bullets on a .357" barrel (I know some on here has done it with no issues) 3) I am also concern about the 1:18 3/4 twist on the .357" barrel and bullet stability.
I thought that if I re-bore it with the proper bullet diameter and twist (1:16)  I would get better performance out of it.
Also, since I already reload for the .35REM(Marlin 336) I know what its capable of. I simply love how the .35 performs. If I could duplicate the performance I get from the M336 on the Handy with a .35REM barrel I would be a very happy camper.

I'll ask for a quote from a couple of local GS to see how much $$ would be. If not, when is it that they are going to offer that barrel on the new .338 Marlin Express 

[quickdtoo]

No problems with 240gr cast bullets in the 18¾" twist, at least at 100yds anyway, never shot mine at 200yds yet.

No plans on the 338MX yet, it's still up for consideration, Marlin has their production schedules layed out well into next year, so it will be a while yet before they get to testing it IF these choose to offer it, the poll is just to test market potential just as Marlin is with the high pressure chamberings survey on their website. http://marlinfirearms.com/

Tim