Reloading .35 Remington Ammunition

mrtcnut

I presently reload about 200 rounds of 35 Remington per year. I will be loading ALOT more starting this year. I had a guy at my gun club tell me (as he knew I just bought 500 rds.of new brass) to size the necks up to .370 then size them down to the correct size and it will extend the life of the brass considerably? I remember reading something about that but can't track down the article or any information on it. Anybody out there know if this is correct and if it does work, why it works? Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, mrtcnut (Mr.T/C Nut)

PA Shootist

What I understand about the metallurgy of brass cartridge cases suggests there would be no benefit, but rather the stretching and resizing would work the brass unnecessarily, and work-harden it a bit. Then there is the possible distortion of the case shoulder area in the expansion process. I reload .35 Remington myself, and case life appears to be very good already, probably due to relatively low working pressures not working the brass as much as higher-pressure calibers would. I would be interested in whatever theory might say otherwise.

Rocky Raab

It's a bit lengthy to describe. The little 35 Rem has a very small shoulder and thin brass, as you already know. In some rifles, the firing pin strike can shove the case forward hard enough to set the shoulder back a bit before the primer fires. When pressure locks the neck and shoulder area to the chamber, the rear of the case expands backwards to the breech again. That stretching soon creates a head separation.

By expanding the neck first, you create a very small secondary shoulder that may support the shoulder just enough to prevent that initial deformation at the firing pin strike. Provided you don't iron the shoulder out again by full-length sizing, that is.

Then again, it's probably sixes whether the adding working of the neck creates premature splitting there, thus shortening case life as much as the head separation would. It makes good sense to form that secondary shoulder with new brass for the first firing, however.

For all subsequent loadings, the best course is probably to size only barely enough to chamber a round, and do it that way every time. If you have more than one gun, you might have to have separate brass and possibly even dies set up for each one.

mrbruce

I needed to neck up a lot of 35 Remingtons for a TC contender, and then size them back down to get them to reliably go off... It only needed to be done the one time...........
As mentioned they have a very small shoulder and need to be fitted perfectly to the chamber or they will not go bang........

Rocky Raab

Yup, the Contender is particularly bad about allowing the 35 Rem to "slip the extractor" and slam the round deep into the chamber. Other guns may be nearly as bad.

PA Shootist

Excellent illustrations of the possible advantages of necking up, then sizing down, and sounds perfectly logical. I suppose I was coming from my own experiences only, in that I have always reloaded once-fired factory cases the first time, and never brand-new cases. One would wonder what the factory does differently in loaded ammo than they do in new cases; I have never heard of any reliability-of-ignition issues with factory .35 Remington ammo. I also would surmise that only a very small percentage of .35 Rem ammo gets reloaded, so the case-head separation problem from forward-driven cases expanding tightly into the chamber, forcing the case to stretch aft, wouldn't come up often. And my experience in this caliber is with a couple different Marlin 336's only, over 40 years.

Rocky Raab

The extractor on the 336 might be robust enough to prevent the case being driven forward. The extractor can be key in this.

richbug

quote:Originally posted by Rocky Raab
The extractor on the 336 might be robust enough to prevent the case being driven forward. The extractor can be key in this.


The extractor isn't enough. One factory round in 10 will not go off, same for handloads in new brass. Fired brass is fine as long as you don't size it too far.

PA Shootist

The old .35 Remington is a staple in my neck of Pennsylvania, especially by old-timers, and very common in Marlin 336's and older Remington pumps. I have NEVER heard of a factory-ammo misfire; I have probably shot 300 to 400 new factory .35's myself over the years (far more reloads), and NEVER had a misfire. I am sure the ammo companies know how to manufacture for general reliability. I would have serious doubts about a 1 misfire in 10 ratio with new factory-loaded ammo.

Ambrose

I have had to do that with .300 H&H cases for my Winchester 70. If I don't, the cases are coming apart (head separations) on the third firing. If I start with factory cartridges, same thing, three firings. I neck them up to .32 and then size & try them until I get a light crush fit when I close the bolt. As has been said, it only needs to be done once, prior to the first firing. I find that belted brass is particularly bad in this regard even though the belt is supposed to control the headspace. However, I have a 721 Remington in .300 H&H that requires no special treatment and the cases are still going strong after 6 firings. I guess it just proves that each rifle is a law unto itself.

Rocky Raab

Belted cases suffer from over-sizing. If the size die is adjusted down to the shellholder (per the instructions) it will almost always result in the shoulder being set back too far. Case separations are inevitable.

In fact, it can happen with ANY bottle-necked round. Set the shoulder back incorrectly and one of two things will happen. If the extractor is strong, the round will fire and the case will stretch to fill the chamber, thinning it and quickly cracking it. Or, if the extractor looses its hold, the firing pin will drive the case forward. The round might not fire; but if it does fire, the round will again expand and stretch to eventual breaking.

chiefr

quote:Originally posted by Rocky Raab
It's a bit lengthy to describe. The little 35 Rem has a very small shoulder and thin brass, as you already know. In some rifles, the firing pin strike can shove the case forward hard enough to set the shoulder back a bit before the primer fires. When pressure locks the neck and shoulder area to the chamber, the rear of the case expands backwards to the breech again. That stretching soon creates a head separation.

By expanding the neck first, you create a very small secondary shoulder that may support the shoulder just enough to prevent that initial deformation at the firing pin strike. Provided you don't iron the shoulder out again by full-length sizing, that is.

Then again, it's probably sixes whether the adding working of the neck creates premature splitting there, thus shortening case life as much as the head separation would. It makes good sense to form that secondary shoulder with new brass for the first firing, however.

For all subsequent loadings, the best course is probably to size only barely enough to chamber a round, and do it that way every time. If you have more than one gun, you might have to have separate brass and possibly even dies set up for each one.


Agree Rocky, I have been loading this round for many years and one I NSO (Neck size only). I have a Rem 14 for this cal & shoot it often. I am still using cases I have had for years however I keep my reloads at "Starting Load" pressures. I know the Contender guys like to work up max loads and some have case life issues. One advantage of the TC is the ability to use spitzer bullets.
In closing, I want to remind anyone who reloads this cartridge for lever or pump actions to use round nose or flat nose bullets. Spitzers can be hazardous to your health.