98 Mauser in 35 Remington.

[jimmyraythomason]

I am considering building a .35 Remington on a Mauser 98 action. I have owned a few Marlin 336s in .35 Rem. and loved them. My question to those who load or shoot the 35 is what barrel length and twist rate would be best for a factory 200 grain hunting load. Potential ranges would be less than 300 yards. Thanks for any imput.

 

[NCsmitty]

Here are the twist rates for 3 different makes. Hard to say which would be best, but in a 98 Mauser, you can push the envelope a bit.

35 Remington - 1 in 12" . . . . . . .Savage 170
35 Remington - 1 in 14" . . . . . . .Thompson/Center Carbine
35 Remington - 1 in 16" . . . . . . .Marlin 336; Remington 81, 141, 600, 760




NCsmitty

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Thanks NCsmitty,I'm thinking the Remington 760 to have the longest barrel of the lot at 22". I don't think there is much to gain by using a longer barrel than that(without handloading). My guess is 20''-22'' with 1:14 would be a happy middle road barrel option.

 

[Abel]

If 200 grains is what you're shooting, stick with the 1:16". A 22" barrel would be perfect.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Thanks Abel. Right now I'm sizing up as many options as I can. I definitely want a .35 caliber but not a .35 Whelen. A 358 Winchester would definitely by a handloading proposition. So the 35 Rem just seems like the perfect fit.

 

[Jim Watson]

Best check it for feeding out of the magazine, extraction and ejection.
.35 Rem is a little smaller in head and body diameter than the 8mm etc.

P.O. Ackley once said a customer complained that he had ruined his rifle by putting a 14" twist .35 Whelen barrel on it instead of 16". Which, as P.O. said, "must make Winchester wrong because they use a 12" twist. (Probably in .35 Win or .358, since Winchester did not then make .35 Rem or .35 Whelen rifles.)

 

[Abel]

Look into a wildcat chamber like 35 Krag. Its a 30-40 Krag necked up to 35.

 

[ejbrush]

Why not .358 Winchester

.308 necked up to .358, my dad had a custom 98 chambered in it for many years. An absolute whitetail anchor.

Other than it being nearly extinct, it is a lot more cartridge than the .35 remington ever was. Midway usually has some available, I think Winchester still loads a Super X with 200gr silvertips.

Can't understand why it never caught on better - oh, wait, it doesn't have a belt and burn up powder by the handful.

 

[Float Pilot]

Your action (if it is a true M-98 full length) was made to work with a rim-less case and it works best with a brass between 55mm to 63mm long.

The 35 Remington, while a neat old cartridge, would be shorting you on several accounts.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

I believe dimension wise the .35 Remington should work fine. It is only less than 3mm shorter than the .308 win.case and the head diameter is only .013" smaller. I may have to get an extractor to custom fit. As far as "power" I'm not looking for a cannon. Just a good mid-powered deer slayer.

 

[Jubjub]

Curiosity got the better of me, and I just took the firing pin out of my 98 Mauser .30-06 and loaded a few .35 Remington rounds in. There is easily 3/4" of wasted space in the magazine. They won't cycle at all, with the bullets hanging up on the edge of the feed ramp. That could probably be modified to work.

A shorter action would probably be more suitable. The Remington custom shop builds that little Model Seven carbine in .35 Remington. That action, or a short Savage action, would be a better fit.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

The Remington custom shop builds that little Model Seven carbine in .35 Remington. That action, or a short Savage action, would be a better fit.

]I'm sure but my only interest is the 98 Mauser. I have one I built in .308 Winchester. I built it on a Model 50 Colombian M98 with elongated magazine. There is wasted space in the magazine but It cycles flawlessly without a filler. I haven't personally run any .35 Rem.through an M98 so until I do I'll have to take Jubjub's word for it.

 

[Jim Watson]

The REAL answer is 9x57. The right OAL, shoulder angle, and body taper for the '98.
Americanized a little with .358" barrel and bullets instead of .354".
Not sold at Walmart, though.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Not sold at Walmart, though.

That's fine as I don't buy ammo from WM. One of the appeals of the .35 Rem. is that it is available locally.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Remington also sells a 150 grain w/core-lokt that looks promising. The pointed bullet would likely cycle better(?) than the round nosed 200 grainers.

 

[eastbank]

if you could find a shot out rem 700 short action rifle and rebarrel it, might be the cheapest way to go, er shaw makes barrels with the same contuor as the original rem barrel. so no change in the stock, and the action needs no tapping or bolt bent or safety work and comes with a good adjustable trigger. eastbank.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

find a shot out rem 700 short action rifle and rebarrel it, might be the cheapest way to go,

Thanks but as I said in post #12...

my only interest is the 98 Mauser

 

[jkingrph]

The REAL answer is 9x57. The right OAL, shoulder angle, and body taper for the '98.
Americanized a little with .358" barrel and bullets instead of .354".
Not sold at Walmart, though.

Go one better 9.3x57! Not a 35 cal more like a 36, standard bullet is 286 gr and a real game getter. It's another of the old, mild cartridges.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Thanks but 9x57 and 9.3x57 would BOTH be special order or hand loading propositions and one of the essentials of this proposed project rifle is locally available ammo.

 

[dirtyjim]

if you want it build it.
with a spacer in the magwell it would feed.
thousands of 22-250's have been built on 98's and its even shorter than the 35 remington.
i was even considering building one myself on a turk k kale until midway discontinued the cheap barrels in that caliber.

 

[Float Pilot]

Norma makes occasional runs of 9.3x57mm. So you might be able to get brass as well. Up here I still see a few of them... They are sorta like a mid-loaded 358 Win.
Which would still be easier to find and is a great cartridge.

And then of course there is the great 9.3x62mm.. which seems to work a little better than a 35 Whelen.

I love 35 caliber rifles, but basically already have one of each... So the VZ-24 action I just converted is now becoming a 416 Taylor....As if I really need it...

 

[jimmyraythomason]

As if I really need it...

Truthfully now....does that REALLY ever figure in to getting a new rifle?