.35 Remington 150 gr. Pointed Soft Points??

[messer454]

I just purchased a Marlin 336 .35 Remington and it came with 3 boxes of 150 gr. Remington Corelokt pointed soft point bullets.  They look alwful pointy to go in the magazine one behind the other to me.  Has anyone ever reserched this?  Does Remington say they are safe to load in the magazine or are these bullets for a Contender or something?  I wouldn't think they would sell factory ammo that wasn't safe in all the guns made in that caliber but I am cautious.  Thanks

[AtlLaw]

I didn't know they were still making those things!     I would never load them in the magazine, just used them as the first one in the barrel.  Stopped using them all together after I shot a couple of deer with them.

[Graybeard]

I personally consider them a poor choice for anything but varmints but I think they are supposed to be OK for lever rifles. Still there is no better choice than a 200 RN for the old .35 Rem.

[AtlLaw]

there is no better choice than a 200 RN for the old .35 Rem.

I was gonna say that but knew you would!   

[BBF]

They were never meant for tube magazines. If you want pointy you need to get the Hdy flex tip stuff

[messer454]

Pretty much what I thought.  I will shoot them and then load RN bullets in the casings.  Thanks.  Curious though....were the 150's worse on deer then say 150 gr .30-30?

[quickdtoo]

John Albert has a good article on 35 Remington factory ammo and handloads, including the 150gr PSP ammo.

Tim

http://www.suitorsgarage.com/gunstuff/35remington/factoryloadpart1.html

Remington 150 grain Pointed Soft Point

I may as well start with the most maligned bullet of all, the 150 grain Remington pointed soft point factory load. Quite frankly, I think this bullet does not deserve the reputation it has been saddled with, obtained most likely from those who have repeated what they have heard without giving it a try. The ammunition comes with a firm stab crimp applied, very much like you would accomplish using a Lee Factory Crimp die on your own handloads. This was well assembled, smoothly functioning ammunition. Chronographed velocities were very consistent for such a light bullet.

I was unable to get this bullet to come apart in the phone books, even at the range of six feet. The two boxes of factory loads I fired in the expansion testing averaged 2350 fps at around 15 feet. Penetration at the very least equaled, and in some cases slightly exceeded, most brands of 200 grain RN softpoint ammunition, including those available as handloading components. On one example, I did split the jacket along one rifling groove mark to the base, but the core was nowhere near coming out of the jacket. The reason for the split was that it struck another bullet already lodged in the phone books, so I think I can make an allowance for such an extreme situation. It penetrates almost identically to the Remington 200 Core Lokt, only slightly more in some cases. It also has a more tubular wound channel, I think, which is a plus. I got the impression that, upon impact, it opens a little more slowly than the 200 Core Lokt due to its pointed shape, despite the higher velocity. There is very little shank left on the close range impacts, but the cannelure helps to hold things together. It is located further back on the bullet, that is to say, closer to the base, than any other example I know of, even the Hornady 200. The close range impact expanded the bullets to or slightly past the cannelure, but even though the cannelure had been breached on part of one side of the bullets, the core did not come out.

From the pictures of the bullet, you would assume that since the bullet shows so little shank it would not penetrate, but that is not the case. Penetration was from 13 to 15 inches into the wet books, with the deeper penetration at the 100 yard range. Penetration was still 13 inches on the point blank range shot. At 200 yards though, the single example I was able to recover from the books had not expanded, penetrating 19 inches and coming to rest partially sideways at the end of the “wound” track. The reason I was not able to recover any other bullets is that they curved out of the stack after some penetration through the books, especially hits that were not perfectly centered, as most are. This is typical behavior for a pointed, nonexpanding bullet, in that they tend to veer from straight penetration and tumble. I would have liked to test at 150 yards to see if expansion was occurring, but a shortage of ammo did not allow this. I have obtained another box and will try again this spring. I’ll let you know what happens.

I would like to get some of these bullets as handloading components, load them to around 2500 fps, and see how they do, but that is unlikely. There’s not much demand for this bullet for handloading, and I doubt I could get a box to load for myself. At factory velocities, though, I would guess they would work fine for almost any game the .35 is suited for. Pointed bullets do not seem to expand at the lower impact velocities as well as the roundnose designs, even though the 150 Remington has skiving cuts in the front of the bullet to aid expansion. So, even though the pointed shape might suggest a longer ranged load, the small nose opening of a pointed bullet raises the impact velocity needed for expansion to occur. At all normal ranges it should work fine. I have not used it on game myself, but I hear good reports of its performance from those that have tried it (Leverpuller comes to mind). It equals or exceeds the penetration of any of the 200 grain factory loads, save the much lower velocity Winchester 200 grain roundnose on point blank range shots, and that bullet didn’t beat it by much. Remington keeps selling this ammunition for one reason-it is effective, and many people have had very good results using it. If your rifle shoots it well, don’t be afraid to use it for hunting.

[Blackhawk44]

Met some older hunters from Washington who swore by the 150's and had friends across the country look for them.  I sent them a couple of boxes from a gun show once.  They used them in the Remington twisted tube pumps.  Being the wus that I am though, I wouldn't dare stick one in a straight tube magazine.

[BBF]

When I wrote that those bullets were not meant for a tube magazine I meant the straight tubes of course.
I never used those bullets myself but do recall someone showing me bullets fired into some material( don't recall what) that were not expanded at all.

If you want a lighter bullet then the 200 gr types, the Speer 180 is an FN with a small moplat and will expand at 35 Rem velocities  with good penetration. I ended up using their 220 gr. for everything up to moose.

[AtlLaw]

the Speer 180 is an FN with a small moplat and will expand at 35 Rem velocities with good penetration.

Darn Fred!  I was just going to say that!     I used them last year in my 35 Whelen and I'm using them this year in my .358.  When the 35 Rem comes up in rotation again I'll try them in it.  I like the Speer 180.  So far anyway...

[Halwg]

When I wrote that those bullets were not meant for a tube magazine I meant the straight tubes of course.
I never used those bullets myself but do recall someone showing me bullets fired into some material( don't recall what) that were not expanded at all.

If you want a lighter bullet then the 200 gr types, the Speer 180 is an FN with a small moplat and will expand at 35 Rem velocities  with good penetration. I ended up using their 220 gr. for everything up to moose.

you sir, are correct.  However, there is nothing wrong with using the 150 in tubular magazines.  Numerous tests have been performed to see if there would be a mag tube detonation, and it never has occurred.  I used them in the 60's exclusively before i started handloading.  Now I use the 180 gr and 220 gr Speer bullets. The 150's will work, they just aren't the best bullet for the 35.

[SCGunNut]

I have a Remington 7600 Carbine .35 Rem that loves the 150 gr load. I would have never bought this ammo for deer hunting but somebody gave me a few boxes and they shot so well in the 7600 that I decided to try them on deer. Season before last I shot a decent 150 lb 8 point at about 40 yards. He swapped ends and crashed within another 40 yards. The bullet basically turned inside out, expanded almost down to the base and came to a rest behind the off-side shoulder. I couldn't find fault with its performance and wouldn't hesitate to use it again on deer in that weight class because it did what it was designed to do and killed cleanly. It would not be my pick for overgrown deer, hogs and certainly not bears. After my small stock of the 150s is exhausted I'll likely go to the traditional 200 gr RN because I much prefer an exit but I wouldn't lose any sleep using the 150s, based on results on that one deer, whatever that's worth.