35 Remington - 1.800"

[Broom_jm]

Attaching a butt stock to a barrel shorter than 16" in length, w/o a special permit, is illegal. Adding an extension to a Contender barrel makes it legal to be fired as a carbine.

 

[dawcrw]

Shorter than 16" barrel or 26" overall with a butt stock makes it a pistol in Indiana. I believe your referring to the federal law that prohibits less than 16" rifled barrels without a NFA stamp $200.00. I had almost forgotten about the feds. Broom_jm I'm glad you mentioned the 16 inch length issue, you may have saved me some $ in fines.

 

[IN Jones]

I know this is an old thread but I just found while looking for info on the 35 IHMSA.

I haven't read the entire 25 pages yet but just wanted to add some quick notes to some of the questions concerns that I saw on some of the posts.

I also went the route of a 35 Rem trimmed to 1.8 inches but had a custom reamer made so that I can use longer bullets like the 200 gr Nosler Acubond and Barnes TTSX's. Mark Penrod work on the details with me and built the rifle for me and my father on a Remington Model 700 SA. We are using 22 inch barrels. I named the cartridge 35 Indiana.

* I am using reloading data for 35 Rem use in a Remington XP. These loads are around 45K PSI or CUPS (I know there is a difference but don't have the ref. in front of me now!). I don't see a reason why the 35 Indiana couldn't be loaded to 358 Win pressures but I haven't tried.
* Using H4895 with Hornady 200 gr SP and Nosler 200 gr Accubond bullets 2350 fps is reached before hitting max loads with the Rem XP data.
* In our rifles these are accurate loads -- more than enough for deer
* I was able to use a 150 yrd zero and was around 3 inches down at 200 yards
* The load is nearly a full case and with the long Nosler bullets heavily compressed. I did not crimp the bullets -- need to read about working on the Lee factory crimp die -- but there was enough neck tension to keep the same COAL after several months
* I have found that my case shrink around 0.010 inches after the first firing and that I can be a moron when setting up a case trimmer.
* I had a freezer full of Elk, pronghorn and Montana whitetail last year so I haven't killed anything with the rifle yet! So SAD!
* Working with the 35 Indiana is a great experience for me and a ton of fun. However, I could essentially be in the same spot without all of the tinkering several other ways.
* I spent the spring working on the case length issue and have that figured out.
* My first idea of the rifle came out on the too heavy side. I am going to restock with a McMillan Edge and am going to use Leupold 4X.
* When my work let's up a bit, I am going work with the Hornady 200 gr FTX and my current H4895 load. I have not been able to find the 200 gr Accubond bullets so will be switching to the FTX. I am also going to use VV-N135, IMR4064 and Ramshot Exterminator for load development. These powders should all reach max with less than a full case. I don't know that I will have all of these loads worked out before deer season but my original load will work just fine.

Hope this is helpful and/or interesting.

When I have more info, I'll post it.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Scott

 

[Broom_jm]

Good info, Scott. Sounds like you're a wildcatter of the highest order. Have you read the posts about chambering a single-shot rifle to shoot shortened 303 British cases, sized in a 35 Remington die? You can run those up around 50,000psi and still be perfectly safe for both rifle and brass.

 

[IN Jones]

No, I haven't seen the 303 variation. Sounds interesting - time to try out the search functions. There are several possible parent cases for wild cats but I didn't want to go that far down the rabbit hole.

 

[johnwayne]

Here is an excellent article regarding bullet performance in the 35 Remington:

35 Remington Bullet Performance Part II: Handloads

 

[djones]

Shot a doe at 30 yards today with the 200 FTX at around 2200 fps. She went about 10 yards and I shot her again. She dropped after second shot. Both shots in and out of boilerroom. Not very much expansion.

 

[johnwayne]

My nephew shot a doe at about 50 yds today with a Hornady 180 gr. SSP over 39 gr H4895. It was a quartering away shot entering below the diaphragm and lodged in the opposite shoulder. It expanded perfectly. I haven't had a chance to weigh it but it appeared to have excellent weight retention. The doe ran about 100 yards and dropped.

I shot a large buck with the same load through the chest and he was DRT. The bullet exited.

I prefer the 200 gr Remington round nose but can't find them any more. I wrote them and they replied that they are working at over 100% capacity and all of their bullets are being used for loaded ammunition.

 

[Broom_jm]

I've been very happy with the performance of the 180gr SSP bullets at 35 Remington speed.

 

[dawcrw]

Shot my first deer with the shortened 35. 200 gr Hornady FTX with 41 grains of LVR. He was strong quarter at me and I tested the bullet performance. 3 inches below the white throat patch. He reared up and rocked over backwards. Spine shot, expired in seconds. Not ideal shot but the round performed, 80 yards, 172 lb deer.

 

[rjhans53]

broom jm, just be careful in making a pistol into a rifle, the frame is listed as a rifle or a pistol, legally you can't go from one to the other. BATF could get you

 

[djones]

Let's get this thread back on track.



35 rem shortened to 1.79" out if a marlin 336.

 

[Broom_jm]

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!

Way to go, DJones! That could be the very end of this thread and it would be perfect. What an exceptional picture of an Indiana buck, shot with a legal cartridge! Kudos to you for taking the time to get that shot. The angle, the lighting, foreground and background...I can tell you know what you're doing.

As for the previous poster, there was a SCOTUS ruling handed down in a case of the BATF against T/C, wherein the Contender firearm was deemed unique and not subject to the same restrictions as a conventional rifle with a barrel chopped down to under 16". However, if you can cite a single verifiable case where an individual was charged with turning a T/C rifle into a pistol, and then being prosecuted for such, I'm all ears. I've been hunting and shooting with a Contender (using both pistol and rifle-length barrels) for the last 20-odd years. I've researched the topic extensively. My gunsmith has a letter of approval from the BATF, assuring everyone that the way he pins his barrel extensions on makes them perfectly legal.

And the bottom line is this: Indiana is no more concerned about the Contender/Encore situation than the Feds are, for two simple reasons.

1) Relatively speaking, there are so few folks out in the woods hunting with these types of firearms, and those that are tend to be very knowledgeable, experienced, and SAFE!

2) Nobody is going to commit a crime with a single-shot firearm!

Knowing the letter of the law is important, but in this case, the T/C actions/barrels adhere to both the letter of the law (as adjudicated by the SCOTUS ruling) AND the spirit of the law, which was to address 1930's gangsters from cutting down the barrels of BARs. Since there is no danger presented by a single-shot firearm, converted back and forth from the technical description of rifle or pistol, there is no law against them. If you are interested, do a Google search for...here. United States v. Thompson-Center Arms Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[bstewrat3]

I have had great results with my 35 Remington Rimmed 1.8 this season as well. I have taken 3 does and a little buck. I unfortunately did not take any field shots due to them being meat does and a little fork horn. The shots have been from 40 yards to 220 yards. I am using a 180gr Hornady SP-SSP over a book load of Leverevolution in a 30/40 Krag case reformed. A shots have been broadside to slightly quartering and all have been complete pass throughs. I am shooting a T/C Contender as well with an MGM 16" SS barrel and a Choate folding stock.

To touch on the T/C conversion issue as well, the old model Contenders have been given approval to be converted in either direction, rifle to pistol or pistol to rifle, but the approval does not extend to the G2 Contender or the Encore models. The ruling was made prior to the existence of either and attempts by T/C to get the same flexibility were denied. As Broom_jm said though, nobody really gets too concerned with it though because it is a single shot. If you have somebody questioning if your receiver started as a pistol or a rifle you have messed up somewhere anyway.

 

[Broom_jm]

I have had great results with my 35 Remington Rimmed 1.8 this season as well. I have taken 3 does and a little buck. I unfortunately did not take any field shots due to them being meat does and a little fork horn. The shots have been from 40 yards to 220 yards. I am using a 180gr Hornady SP-SSP over a book load of Leverevolution in a 30/40 Krag case reformed. A shots have been broadside to slightly quartering and all have been complete pass throughs. I am shooting a T/C Contender as well with an MGM 16" SS barrel and a Choate folding stock.

To touch on the T/C conversion issue as well, the old model Contenders have been given approval to be converted in either direction, rifle to pistol or pistol to rifle, but the approval does not extend to the G2 Contender or the Encore models. The ruling was made prior to the existence of either and attempts by T/C to get the same flexibility were denied. As Broom_jm said though, nobody really gets too concerned with it though because it is a single shot. If you have somebody questioning if your receiver started as a pistol or a rifle you have messed up somewhere anyway.

Glad to hear your 35RR is getting the job done!

I sincerely doubt we'll ever hear of a deer hunter running afoul of the law because he used a T/C break-action pistol, as a rifle. As you suggested, if a LEO is asking questions, you've probably gotten yourself into that situation from a different direction.

 

[Kart29]

Let's get this thread back on track.



35 rem shortened to 1.79" out if a marlin 336.

Nice trophy! Get that near where you live?

Even have the scout scope on there. Looks just like mine!

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

So... I don't reload (yet), but I do have a lever action .35Rem and I do hunt. Is there anywhere online or local that sells already trimmed .35Rem ammo? I would love to try some out and then be able to hunt with that next year.

 

[Broom_jm]

So... I don't reload (yet), but I do have a lever action .35Rem and I do hunt. Is there anywhere online or local that sells already trimmed .35Rem ammo? I would love to try some out and then be able to hunt with that next year.

If you've got a whole year to get ready, why not learn how to reload? For what you'd be doing with it, the upfront cost would be around $300 and you'd save that back in a year or two, if you do much shooting at all. You might ask for a certain gift next month, to get you started? You might find a boutique reloader that will put you some shortened 35 Remington together, but I tend to doubt it. If you did, they'd charge a pretty penny for 'em.

I bet you could find a reloader out in your area that would be willing to help show you how it's done. Once you saw it done a few times, you'd realize it isn't all that difficult and jump right in.

 

[Hookeye]

IIRC the TC issue with the BATF was centered around the carbine conversion kits.
Gov tried to argue SBR and lost.

Pistol to rifle conversions are no big deal as long as they don't go into SBR form during the build process.

Stephen P. Halbrook, Ph.D. - United States v. Thompson/Center Arms Co.

 

[Hookeye]

Nice buck djones