rechamber a 35 rem to a 356 winchester 336?

[gunther66]

Has anyone rechambered a 35 rem cal marlin 336 to 356 winchester?Can this be done with the barrel still screwed into the receiver and if so how would one ever get the headspace correct? anyone here have experience with this? I really don't want to invest in a rebore. G66

[Graybeard]

I have no personal experience but keep threatening to have mine rechambered to .356 Win. SSK Industries as GBO sponsor has done several and at least one or two GBO members have had them do the work. We used to have some threads on it several years ago prolly on the Lever Action Forum but might have been Marlin Lever action Forum.

I don't think it's as simple as just running a reamer in the barrel and I dunno if that could even be done with barrel on but maybe on a Marlin certainly Winchester guns don't offer such a possibility not that I'm sure Winchester ever chambered a .35 Rem.

I think there is some action work needed to make the larger round feed and chamber properly.

[gunther66]

Thanks Graybeard.I'll check out the SSK  lead. G66

[supertodd]

might give this guy a call or email, he does alot of 35 conversions.    http://www.35caliber.com/

[gunther66]

Thanks for the link supertodd
I talked to Jesse last week.He said he didn't do rechambers,only reboring.G66

[336SC]

The guys over on Marlin Owners Forum have discussed this both pro and con and there are several smiths out there those guys have used.  Search on MO's and you'll find plenty of info.  Being a 35 caliber nut, I did consider
doing the conversion.  I have read an article in an earlier Gun Degest where the particular gunsmith did rechamber
.35 Remingtons to 356W without taking off the barrel and all was fine.  Points to consider before doing this is that
Marlins are super sensitive as to OAL of the loaded round so it does limit bullet selection due to tubular magazine
and cartridge OAL.  Marlin lever action weak point is the barrel threads only being supported by a minimul amount
of the receiver due to design.  Pressures for the 356W are 52,000 PSI and only 33,000 PSI for the .35 Remington.  The .35 Rem is grossly underloaded due to the lower SAAMI pressure specifications than say the 30-30 which is at 40,000 or more.  Rather than rechamber my 336C in .35 Remington I handload it to +P+ levels and achieve 2250fps with a 200gr RN bullet both HDY and RPCL.  That puts the .35 Rem up where it should be and turns it into quite a short range THUMPER.  There are many powders which will achieve the 2250fps threshhold including TAC, IMR3031, H335, and ACC2460 to name a few.  In my particular 336C, best accuracy is
achieved at somewhat milder velocities, but even at 2250fps the accuracy is adequate for slaying bambi.  Another alternative for the .35 Rem is the HDY Leverevolution factory loads or the the FTX component bullet handloaded in it.  The HDY gummie tips put some of the older cartridges into a whole other league i.e. the 30-30,
.32 Win Special, and the .35 Rem.  I know from first hand experience how well the FTX bullets work in the .35 Rem and the .32 Win Special. 
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[Hunter6657]

Nonneman does 35 remington to 356 rechambering.
As was stated, the 35 Rem can be handloaded to achieve velocities within 100fps of 356 winchester loads. The factory 356 ammo never acheived the factory claimed ballistics. 200gr bullets would go 2350fps and 250gr bullets would do 2050fps.

[RIF]

Nonnemans does it, Jes does not.  The reason I did this was because the 356 is more cast bullet friendly, and does not have to rely on that tiny shoulder.  I feel a 356 is more inherently accurate than a 35 Rem, but it is splitting hairs.  356 is thicker in the web, and I feel has more strength overall than the 35 Rem case.  Trying to get 5 plus reloads from hot 35 Rem will result in many split necks.  The 356 is better all around, but the 35 Rem is more popular.  I have chambered all of my 35 Rem Marlins to 356 now.  To me its worth it. 

[gunther66]

Good Morning RIF
Do you load your 356 winchester ammo to be fired in a rechambered Marlin to full power loads,or do you downloal them a bit? Have you run any of these loads across a chrony? Thanks, G66

[RIF]

42 grains of Ramshot X Terminator gets it (200 grain RCBS) going around 2,400, depending on ambient temperature.  37 grains of H4198 gets it going about the same.   These are not max, max, but pretty darn hot.  I don't shoot these all the time, and mainly shoot round ball and pistol bullets from my guns with reduced loads. 

The 356 Win case neck is about .03" longer which helps not having a heavy (long) bullet go into the case body.  This longer case neck helps to align the bullet properly so that it does not get shot down the barrel askew and result in bad accuracy.  The web and overall case thickness of a 356 Win case is thicker.  It has that beautiful rim that eliminates a lot of headspace issues so prevalent with 35 Rem brass, especially when shooting light loads.  When shooting light loads with a 35 Rem, the case does not expand the grip the chamber walls and the pressure and forces the case head to be set back, unduly causing the brass to more wear.  If you have a rim, you don't have to worry about this fact.  That tiny shoulder is the bain of the 35 Rem case.   The 35 Rem can be a very good shooter no doubt, and things like fitting the bullet to the bore of YOUR particular rifle and not the rifle and stats used in a load book are essential, especially when shooting lead bullets, so a 356 Win will not help if those things are neglected to be measured and taken into account. 

[336SC]

RIF,
The bain of the 35 Remington is not the small shoulder, it's the way people set their resizing dies improperly and then set the shoulder back.
I have a test case in my RCBS 35 Remington die box which I loaded 15 times with full power hunting loads and no sign of incipient case
head separation was detected when running a #6 crochet needle inside the case.  I have a backstop behind my reloading shop and I loaded the cartridge, walked out back firing it and reloading it 15 consecutive times until I gave up.  The same complaint has been leveled against
the 35 Whelen about the small shoulder but rifle makers would not chamber rifles in 35 Remington or 35 Whelen if there was not sufficient shoulder to headspace the cartridge in the chamber.  Same goes for ammo makers, they would not produce factory ammo if
there was an issue with headspace.  I have a Wilson head space guage which I used to set up my resizing die and don't have any problems with the "small" shoulder.  I even set up resizing dies on belted cases and rimmed cases to both headspace on the shoulder,
not the belt or the rim.  That method will produce superb case life and less worries.  Rimmed cases have variable rim thickness so headspacing on the rim is not the salvation many people think it is.  Just set the resizing die up properly and get a #6 crochet needle to
check the inside of the case for insipient case head separation.  Every cartridge I load gets checked with #6 crochet needle before it gets resized.  Just my two cents worth on a hobby I have been doing for 43 years.
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