Author Topic: Best .35 Rem and .358 Win bullet? (Read 1554 times)

Lawyerman · « **on:** February 06, 2003, 01:08:44 PM »

I am looking at the RCBS 200 grain flat nose silhouette bullet. I have shot a bunch of their 180 .30 fn's and they are very accurate. This bullet appears similar in shape, just a little wider.

Are there other .35's to consider? I think the 200 is the best weight compromise for the two calibers. This will be a hunting bullet for use in .35 Remington and also .358 Winchester rifles.

Ron.D · « **Reply #1 on:** February 06, 2003, 02:38:30 PM »

Lawyerman. I highly recommend the RCBS 200gr. fn. I think it should suit your purposes just fine, both in the accuracy dept. & for deer & black bear. I have 3 molds for my .358 & the RCBS is the most accurate. So far 2270'/s is the fastest I've reached with an alloy around 15-16 BHN over a charge of IMR 3031, with only a little leading. It's a good light & fast bullet in the .358 & about perfect in the 35. It has a meplat of .200. Hope this helps some. Ron.D

Lawyerman · « **Reply #2 on:** February 07, 2003, 11:27:49 AM »

RCBS also has a 250 grainer in their custom mould section but it is kinda pricey at $100. What other .35 moulds do you have? I have several pistol weight moulds 158-180 and need to try them also.

There aren't alot of .35 cal rifle moulds to choose from anymore!

Ron.D · « **Reply #3 on:** February 07, 2003, 03:08:53 PM »

Lawyerman. I've heard good things about the RCBS 250gr. , but haven't tried it. The other two I have are homemade molds, done by a friend of mine. One's a little over 250grs. & the other is a little under. These both shoot quite well but the RCBS does better. NEI had a very good reputation until Walt's (the owner) death. There is a firm in Australia called Ammodump that has a good reputation as well & apparently user friendly service to the U.S. I have on order a mold from "Mountain Molds".Which is what I recommend. I made a chamber cast & sent it to him, & ordered a custom fit soft nose mold. This will have a 60% meplat, a fairly long lead band custom fit to my chamber. It's a 2 cavity mold that will cast a soft nose mold around 230-250grs. One cavity molds only the front point, out of a softer alloy, which is then inserted into the full sized cavity & while the assembly is quite warm, you fill the full cavity with a harder alloy. Those that have tried this setup claim the performance to be close to a Partition bullet. I recommend you visit his website, he has several variations. Casters that have ordered his molds speek very highly of the results & his prices are better than the special order RCBS & custom fit to your chamber as well. Sounds good to me. Ron.D

Lawyerman · « **Reply #4 on:** February 24, 2003, 08:42:49 AM »

I have found I can get a Saeco 245 Grainer for $55 for 2 cavity version. I will try one of those and I have looked into NEI stuff and found I like the looks of their NO. 168 which is a 280 grain unit. They run $75 so not too bad. I will get that and the Saeco and RCBS 200 and go from there. Eventually I will probably find/order the RCBS 250.

I did see an article in Rifle or Handloader that had high praise for the 250 RCBS as a Whelen bullet. They were running it right at 2400 fps or so with great accuracy.

I would have thought there were more folks here that shot the .35's but this thread didn't get many replies.

Graycg · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2003, 10:56:07 AM »

Don't count out the Lyman 358315 RN mould! I have one and the bullet is exteremely accurate in my 357 Max, 35 REmington contenders and also outstanding in my 358 Winchester BLR. This is the only bullet that my 9X56 Mannlicher Scheonaur will shoot worth a hoot, 2-3 inch groups with the issue express sights. I don't like using Lyman moulds as much as others, but this bullet design is very good.
I also use a LBT 180 Grain WFN gas check and that is my bread and butter bullet for both contender barrels. I don't use it in the BLR because it won't feed properly through the magazine.
I also have a mountain mould on order, it is a 2 cavity 242 grain flatnose with 78 percent Melpat. When I get back from deployment and try it, I'll let you know.
I personally like both 30 and 35 caliber cast bullet calibers, but the choices for 30 seem to abound while the 35s are relatively scarce.

regards,
Graycg

Lawyerman · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2003, 05:17:32 AM »

I have read a bunch of Paco Kelly's stuff and he has no love for that particular Lyman bullet. It may be worth a try at some point but I have never heard anything bad about the RCBS 200 and will start there.

You are right. The .35's are the readheaded stepchildren of the cast bullet world as far as availability.