356 WINCHESTER & 35 REMINGTON SSP's

[45MAN]

link
THIS A.M. I WENT TO MY RANGE ON THE RIO GRANDE WITH A NEW TO ME 14" 35 REMINGTON CONTENDER BARREL WITH MNP QUAD PORTS AND A FULL LENGTH T'SOB, AND A RPM XL 356 WINCHESTER, WHICH, IIRC, I LAST SHOT 20 OR SO YEARS AGO.

TO THE 35 REM BARREL I ADDED A 4th RING AND MOUNTED A LEUPOLD 4X. LUCKY ME THE WINDAGE WAS DEAD ON. AFTER A FEW ROUNDS WITH SOME VINTAGE REM-PETERS 200gr RN AMMO I SWITCHED TO THE HORNADY 200gr FTX AMMO AND IN NO TIME AT ALL I WAS SIGHTED IN AT 100 yds. WAS NOT SHOOTING FOR GROUPS ON PAPER, JUST BANGING A GONG. THE FULL LENGTH RIB AND THE MNP QUAD PORT MADE FOR A COMFORTABLE GUN TO SHOOT. NO MISFIRES BUT EXTRACTING THE RIMLESS CASES IS NOT A SPEED DRILL. I HAVE PLENTY OF THE FTX AMMO SO NO NEED TO RELOAD.

NEXT I TRIED A 180gr HORNADY SSP LOAD I HAD FOR THE 356 WINCHESTER. THIS IS A 15" BARREL, INCLUDING THE MUZZLE BRAKE, WHICH ALSO WEARS A 4X LEUPOLD. GUN WAS STILL SIGHTED IN AT 25 YARDS SO I SWITCHED TO THE WINCHESTER 200gr POWER POINT LOAD. IN NO TIME AT ALL I WAS BANGING THE GONG AT 100 yds. I HAVE 25 ROUNDS OF THE FACTORY 200gr AMMO LEFT, PROBABLY ENOUGH TO LAST ME SEVERAL HUNTING SEASONS, SO I AM NOT GOING TO EMBARK ON ANY LOADING PROJECT FOR IT ANY TIME SOON.

MY PLAN FOR THIS UPCOMING DEER SEASON IS TO START OUT WITH THE 35 REMINGTON. ONCE I BLOODY IT ON A DOE OR A BUCK THEN I AM GOING TO MOVE TO THE 356 WINCHESTER UNTIL I BLOODY IT ON A DOE OR A BUCK. I HAVE A 300gr SWIFT A FRAME LOAD WORKED UP FOR MY 12" FA 454 THAT I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO TEST THIS SEASON.

[parallaxbill]

I've killed a good number of SC whitetail with my Super 14 35 Remington, it's my favorite deer hunting Contender. Mine is also has the four port treatment and it really settles the barrel jump especially from the bench.
My favorite factory load was the old 200 gr Winchester Silvertip, super accurate in my barrel.

Best of luck!

[edk]

Sept 21, 2023 14:59:40 GMT -5 45MAN said:

NO MISFIRES BUT EXTRACTING THE RIMLESS CASES IS NOT A SPEED DRILL.

The 35 Remington is my favorite Contender deer hunting barrel. Got the barrel from VVCG and how I got talked into it was by Steve Stratton who suggested cutting a rim counterbore for positive headspacing with 30-40 Krag brass. While they also furnished a rimless extractor, it never saw much use as I've always loaded it using 30-40 Krag brass which has a whopping huge rim making extraction a snap.

Good luck with that great looking Contender setup!

[x101airborne]

I did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn last night, but I hear many Krag shooters using 303 Brit brass to make the Krag just with a short neck. I imagine that might help you instead of having to find Krag brass.

[x101airborne]

45Man, I have never seen a RPMXL before. What a old school cool firearm! Thanks for the picture!

[bigbore442001]

I like the 35 Remington, but you must be careful with headspace with a break open action. I had a misfire on a nice fat doe many years ago. Someone told me that a short neck can be a problem. That person taught me to dip the necks in graphite to neck size the brass right to the point where the neck of the case starts.

I did sell that TC Contender barrel and kind of regret doing so.

[edk]

Yes, the 303 Brit brass can be used as well. The Krag measures the same as the 35 Rem at the web with the 303 Brit being 0.002" smaller. The 303 Brit brass does work though, has the same big rim and I'll never leave either one lying on the ground if spotted! All three cases are well represented in my stash of brass. Add a 35 cal tapered expander and a 35 Rem trim die and you're good to go. Anyone can have this modification made to their T/C barrel inexpensively as it is well within the capability of most all gunsmiths and easy/quick. It permanently solves the problem of 35 Remington misfires in break-opens not to mention aiding in extraction (more the shooter than the gun itself). It does not relieve a person from respecting proper headspace when reloading which is essential for safety and good case life.

[revolvercranker]

I'd like to hear you gentleman feeling about the 35-30 and the 357 Herrett on the Contender?

[45MAN]

I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH EITHER.

[edk]

I only have experience with the 35 Remington. What I can say is my understanding is that the Herrett was designed for and shines in a 10" barrel. I originally chose the 35 Remington because I was willing to use a Super 14 barrel allowing it to stretch it's legs. My understanding also is that the 35/30-30's performance is close on the heels of the 35 Remington which is good. What is also good about it is that it can be loaded with 30-30 brass as the parent. This was not of concern back in the last century when my 35 Remington was procured as 35 Remington ammo and brass was much more available than it was today. Apparently production capacity was not all tied up making 6.5 Creedmoor and 350 Legend brass

[cas]

Weren't the Herrett's design to meet a state min/max case length regulation? I seem to recall them being a bit more work to make.

The only thing I know about .35-30 is reading about people on Leverguns having rifles re-chambered to it.


I solved my .35Rem headspace issues by quickly having it re-chambered to .358JDJ.
Though .444 brass isn't growing on trees lately either.

.35 Bullberry would be in the .35-30 class as well, then you'd be searching for .303 British brass instead.lol

[rleprechaun]

I have a 356 RPM XL. It is the most accurate handgun I have ever owned.

[brant]

I have listed over those RPM XL handguns for a while. The. 356 win. cartridge is right up my alley. I have a Winchester so chambered as well as a ruger 77 in 358 win. So when a friend offered to sell me a tc barrel That will take either the 358 win or the 356 win, I jumped at the chance. I haven’t completed setting it Ip yet, but hope to soon.

Good hunting to you.