should I run to get it? or run away from it?

[Shaylex]

I have been wanting to acquire a barrel for my contender suitable to use for hunting whitetails. It may also be called upon for use on hogs or black bear at some later date. Shots will be limited to about 100 yards. I'm not a reloader so appropriate factory ammo must be available. The other day I came across a used 14" .35 Remington barrel with muzzle tamer. It was equipped with a fixed power T/C lighted reticle scope on a rail mount. Barrel and scope both appear to be in excellent shape and lightly used. Didn't think to look closely enough at the time to see what power the scope was. Now for the questions:

1) Are the lighted reticle scopes and rail mounts durable enough to hold up to this round?
2) After having read about misfire problems in some T/C .35 Rem barrels, does anyone know first hand if T/C will make it right if this turns out to be one of the problematic barrels?
3) What would you consider this combo to be worth in the described condition?
4) My current big game hunting handgun is a scoped 7-1/2" 44 mag Ruger Super Redhawk. I don't want something with significantly greater recoil than what I'm hunting with now. Will the .35 Rem with muzzle tamer fit the bill?
5) Are there sufficient suitable factory loads available in .35 Rem?

Lastly, if anyone has any thoughts on a different caliber that would be appropriate for my stated needs, I'm open to suggestions. I'm in no huge rush to buy right now. Thanks.

[tnwill]

The T/C line of scopes are very durable. Have shot several 45-70's with 2x railmount scopes and they will take the recoil.  As for the 35 Rem. misfires, have shot mine alot and have never experienced a single misfire. I don't think a brake is needed on a 35 Rem, as recoil is not a problem.

[Huntyeraws]

If the price is right and it looks ok - it sounds like a good little package for me!  

Don't feel intimidated by a 35 Rem, I shoot a 30-30 Win with a muzzle tamer and I have shot some short barreled 44 mags revolvers where the percieved recoil is much worse.

[Thomas Krupinski]

Having a number of the T/C lighted scopes including a couple of those being those rail mounts, I found them to be excellent scopes.  The rail mount is very durable and I also use those rail mount scopes on some muzzleloader that have a bit more recoil than the 35 Remington and they have worked fine.  

Also have a 14" 35 Remington and that is good barrel.  I think that rig will meet your needs.  The rail mounts are not very popular now, and you should get a better price because of that, but that just makes the deal better.

[Catfish]

The round is a good one, but which way you run depends on the price. If a gun is to cheap it usually follows me home wheather I have any use for it or not. I pay more for guns that I want, but there is a limit there also.

[fyrepowrx]

I have had 3 different .35's over the years, a 14" blue, a 14" stainless hunter & a 21" carbine. have never had a misfire with any of the 3 using factory ammo, or my handloads, but i have heard of many folks having problems. i have to wonder if they were using handloads that were excessively sized, creating too much headspace. all my barrels shot fine.

i have sent a few  barrels back to TC over the years with various troubles & they fixed them all at no charge.

The lighted reticle scopes seemed to work for me , except i have a bad habit of not remembering to turn the darn things off, and killing the batteries. i have had them on some heavy kickers.

The Remington 150gr factory loads shoot quite well in both my barrels. If you handload, both my barrels do well with a Hornady 180 SSSP over a max load of H4198. accuracy with either averages about 1.5" at 100.

recoil in my ported .35 barrel feels less to me than my non-ported .44 mag, or non-ported .30/30. Recoil in the non-ported carbine barrel is sharp, but controllable, although you probably wouldnt want to burn up a hundred rounds plinking with it!

i see on the various gun auction websites & ebay the .35 barrels usually bring about $175 & the scopes anywhere from $100 to $175 depending on the model & condition. hope this helps.

[wheelgun]

If the price is right buy it.The 35  is a good round and mine has been a good deer hunting barrel.I had a misfire at first but I had pushed the shoulder back too much when reloading.