35 Remington bullet

[tipiguy]

I have been using a 180 grain hornady spssp bullet in my 35 remington.  I was loading it with 39 grains of H322.  

This season I shot a large doe at about 35 yards with this round.  It was a front quartering shot.  the bullet entered just above the shoulder and destroyed the lungs.  She jumped and took off.  There was no blood or hair and she ran a good 100 yards.  There was no exit would.

With this load I expected the deer to at least be knocked down (especially at this range).  The bullet was pretty flat and lost just over 50% of its weight according to my digital scale.  It the entry wound its expansion must have been immediate as it put a large hole and borke two ribs.  I have never seen such a large entry wound.

Now I feel this bullet combo is sufficient for deer, I do need to reavaluate when I go bear hunting.  In PA, 300-600 pounders are not uncommon.  This year more than 50 bears were taken over 500 lbs.

I am looking at the 180 grain Barnes X-Bullet.  I have heard good things about them but not from Contender users.  Has anyone ever tried them in a Contender?  How accurate were they?  How did they perform?

tipiguy

[Graybeard]

Nothing works better in the .35 Rem than the 200 grain RN bullets which are specifically designed for it. I know lots of others like lighter bullets for more velocity but velocity is NOT what the .35 Rem is about. It's reptuation has been built around the 200 RN. Use it and be happy.

[Lone Star]

I have to agree with Graybeard here, the 200 CoreLokt is arguably the best all-around bullet for the .35 Remington.  I can't say the same for all 200-grain roundnosed bulelts as some are designed for higher velocities from a larger range of cartridges.  Not so the 200 RN CoreLokt, it's just for the .35 Rem.

I have used 180 Speers on medium to large deer at longer ranges, and I really like the 150 Corelokts for smaller deer.  For bear, the 180 Speer is a Hot Core bullet which makes a smaller mushroom than most designs and thus penetrates better than other 180s.  They work very well IME.  I'm not certain if the 200 CoreLokts work better or not, but I'd use those 200s on larger bear.  I took a moose with a 250 once - but that's another story.

[Reed1911]

There is also a 200g Core-Lock PSP that I prefer, expansion is just as good with a slightly better BC. Not that it really matters much, but in the .35 REM every ounce of possible flatter shooting is a landful. In reality it's probably a wash for what you give up in initial meplat "smack".

[Graybeard]

Inside 200-250 yards there is no real world difference in trajectory of RN vs. spitzer designs. BUT the RN is made for the .35 Rem and the PSP is made for the .358 Win. The PSP is not as likely to mushroom properly especially at longer range in the .35 Rem as is the RN. This little round just ain't no long range proposition no matter how you cut it. But it is one mighty fine hunting round.

[kirkwhitaker]

i agree with them on the 200gr rn...it is the right bullet for the 35 rem...but don't expect it to knock a deer down... i think the key to what makes the 200gr rn work good is it expands and exits the far side most of the time... the 180gr ssp is a good bullet..but expands faster than the 200gr will...so it doesn't penetrate further...you can get those rem bulk bullets pretty cheap from suppliers...buy you 500 and you ought to be set for many years of hunting...and get you a 200gr rcbs fngc mould in 35 cal...use it to plink with..heck hunt deer with...i use them in my 357 mag...at 1450fps they penetrate like crazy...just imagine what they would do at 1800fps to 2000fps out of your 35 rem...
kw

[Blackhawk44]

I also think that you will find the Hornady 200gr RN a great bullet.  Has the shortest bearing surface of any 200gr and allows it to get close to 180gr velocity within pressure limits.  Has worked great out of by 357 Max, a cousin of the Rem.

[gary/mt]

I have used the Sierra 200 gr. RN in the .35 Rem for a lot of years for Antelope, deer, black bear, and wild hogs with great success.  I once used the 180 gr. ssp, but had poor expansion on an antelope shot through both lungs, early on when I first started handgun hunting with the TC and had to make a long stalk which took half a day to finally finish off the antelope.  The bullet did not expand at all, and made one small hole, with very little bleeding.  I don't like to see animals suffer like that, so I switched to the 200 gr. RN bullets from then on, and I have had no more problems with bullet performance.  I do use a max load out of the Sierra manual of 40 gr. of H322, a Fed 215 primer, RP cases, which chronographs at 2151 fps muzzle velocity.  No primer flattening, never a misfire, just good performance from that bullet and load.  Black bear, through the lungs at 40 yds., ran aprox 30 yards and went over backwards with a death bellow.  Lungs extremely damaged through good expansion, and bullet passed clean through. :grin:

[tipiguy]

Thanks for the responses.  I think I'll get some 200 grain round nosers and play a little more.  I saw that the Sierra manual lists a Federal 215 primer (large Rifle Magnum).  Anyone else use a magnum primer?  With the speed of H322 I would not have thought a mag primer necessary.  Maybe I'm missing out on something...

tipiguy

[sawfish]

In one of the manuals I have, Sierra recommends Magnum Primers in all handgun loads.  As I understand it, the reasoning is that it helps to achieve a more complete powder burn in shorter handgun barrels.  In practice, I have found that is not necessarily true in all cases.  However using a Magnum Primer may cause substantially higher pressures in some instances. Accuracy may also be affected by primer choice.

IMHO, I think it is better to tailor your primer to the powder being used i.e. magnum primers for ball powders, and other hard to ignite propellants; "regular" primers for the rest.  Unfortunately, there is no set standard for primers.  One company's standard primer may equal another company's magnum primer.  

Find a load that works safely and accurately in YOUR gun, rather than just blindly interchanging components on one company or person's suggestion.  Always reduce maximum loads when substituting a different component.  Good Luck

[Lone Star]

I bought into Sierra's magnum primer idea when I first started to load a T/C Contender in .35 Remington.  For years I used F215 primers, one of the hottest primers made.  But a few years ago I tried F210 primers and noticed better accuracy and plenty of velocity consistency.  That's all I've used for several years and see no reason to go back.  If you think about it, why would a 14" .35 Remington need magnum primers, but a 15" .308 doesn't?  Makes no sense.

[RonF]

I could be wrong about this, but it is my impression that Sierra recommended magnum primers for the .35 Remington in an effort to get more consistent ignition.  Lots of folks have written about the high incidence of misfires in some .35 Rem. barrels, likely caused by a small shoulder and minimum dimensions of factory rounds (or too much sizing of reloaded rounds).  Also, the Contender having been designed originally for pistol rounds with their soft primers, the pistol doesn't have the hardest firing pin strike, so I think Sierra was just trying to get a bit more fire for uniform ignition, not trying to get a hotter primer to burn all the powder in a 14" barrel, which is probably not possible anyhow.  In any case, I've been using CCI 250 primers since day one and getting no misfires and excellent accuracy with both RL-7 and H322.  Of course, I am also careful to not size the brass too aggressively....

RonF

[Lone Star]

If that is the case - and it certainly could be - then Sierra never mentions it in their manuals.  What they do say is: "Magnum rifle primers should be used in order to get good ignition with handgun loads." [Third Edition].   One could assume that since they recommend the very mild Remington 9 1/2 primers for rifle loads then poor headspace control was not the issue.  But by recommending the hot F215 with its very hard primer cup Sierra would be increasing the chance of a misfire from a light hammer hit. If a primer goes off - even from a light hit - it would ignite the powders Sierra listed in their Third Edition, none of which are tough to ignite.

Sierra doesn't mention magnum primers in their text for the current Edition V manual, but they do go into detail about how to correct headspace problems with the .35 Remington handgun.  They also state that all of their rifle loads can be fired in the Contender, but that efficiency with the slower powders used in those rifle loads may suffer.

While magnum primers certainly work in the .35 Remington, since switching to standard rifle igniters I've never had an ignition problem, even in sub-zero Alaskan weather.