[Hyphenated]

I have a new project underway that I thought about for far too long and finally decided life is too short not to pull the trigger so to speak. My newest toy is a wildcat 35/30-30 Marlin SC.

Just got the rifle back in my hands last week so Monday was my first opportunity to go to the range. It was a vintage day at the range. I took a 30-30 Marlin RC and the 35 wildcat, both late 1950's vintage rifles.

I fire formed 35 rounds of Hornady brass using my tried and true method of grits and toilet paper. The range officers were amazed at how simple it was and how well it worked.

Now that I have new brass in hand I'll be filling them up over the next day or two. The first batch of loads will all be jacketed bullets to break in and smooth the barrel. Then I will start working with cast bullets,

Photos aren't too good because of the heavy overcast sky, but I know you want to see pics.

 

[SHOOTER13]

Wow...first time I heard of that !!

Please explain to me what exactly fire forming does...how it helps the brass ( barrel ? )...

and why grit and toilet paper over another ( ? ) method. I'm not a handloader...

Thanks...

 

[greyhawk50]

Wow...first time I heard of that !!
Please explain to me what exactly fire forming does...how it helps the brass ( barrel ? )...
and why grit and toilet paper over another ( ? ) method. I'm not a handloader...
Thanks...

I'm with you SHOOTER13. Except I am a hand-loader.
I see two different rifles.
One is a 30-30 Marlin RC that shoots a standard 30-30 round, right??
The other Marlin shoots a .35 Wildcat?? What is the donor case?? I assume it uses a .358 pill? What velocities are you getting and what is the benefit??
And I too haven't heard of fire forming with grits and TP. Please explain.
I assume that you use a small charge of powder, topped with grits and TP??
Thanks.
I'll have to change my user name to "Easily Confused".

 

[tango6]

I am assuming he took a 35 Remingtton case and necked it down to 308(30-30). I would be interested in the ballistics.

 

[FOUR4D4]

Is that like paper patching bullets? Ok its noting like it

 

[SHOOTER13]

Welcome to the Marlin Firearms Forum tango6 !!


...I take it you are a reloader ?!

 

[Hyphenated]

Okay I will try to cover all the questions. Not all wildcats are designed to create a "Super Whiz Bang Magnum". Sometimes they fill a small niche or were created out of necessity to solve another problem. In the case of the 35/30-30, in the early 1900's when older 30-30's and 32spl's became worn they were re-bored larger....the 35/30-30 was born.

Performance wise it pretty much duplicates the 35 Remington except the longer neck makes it a better platform for heavy weight cast bullets. I had my rifle made with a 1 in 14" twist so it will handle the Saeco 245gr cast bullet. That twist rate will handle even heavier bullets if so desired.

As far as advantages...
1) 30-30 brass is cheap.
2) Head spaces on rim instead of tiny shoulder.
3) Longer neck = heavier bullets.
4) Better bullet selection than boring up to the .375cal. (Plus I already own a .375win and two .38-55's.)
5) Last but not least..."I wanted one".

Fire forming 30-30 brass up to 35cal or 375cal is very simple. De-cap and prime your donor brass. Fill with 8gr of Bullseye, enough grits/cream of wheat to reach the shoulder of the case and top with a 1/4 sheet of TP to hold everything in place. Load your squib rounds in the chamber one at a time, point rifle in safe direction and let it rip. I caution against using bacon flavored grits because it always makes me hungry.

Edit add...here are some blown out cases and bullet options.

 

[greyhawk50]

Thanks for the explanation. Now I understand.
That is sooo cool or neat or whatever people say these days.
The whole idea of the 35/30-30 makes perfect sense.
And the "bacon grits" comment made me LOL.
I've heard of several methods to fire form brass but I like yours the best. Safe, functionally effective and cost effective. Thanks for the lesson.
Those are both nice looking rifles. It's just me, but I prefer the 336 with the classic look prior to the factory machine checkering.

A little off subject but, how do you like those Weaver Rings that are split. I tried a couple sets at one time and wasn't real impressed. Can't give a reason why. Maybe I'm just too old school.

 

[Hyphenated]

Greyhawk...
The split weaver rings aren't as sturdy as a set of milled steel but they do okay. You just have to be careful not to over torque them or you will strip the threads. Having four separate straps seems to overcome the need to over tighten. I need to buy split bases and a lower set of rings for the Model RC in the above pictures. I swapped scopes and misjudged how high I needed to be. I would like that scope lower and a little closer to my eye.

I'm with you on the older rifles, not that the rifles from the 70's, 80's and 90's are bad. but the 336's from the 40's and 50's are works of art.

That short carbine has a cool story to it that I will share as I reload and shoot it more. I'll need better pictures of it so you can appreciate it.

 

[SHOOTER13]

I learn something new everyday...thanks !

 

[greyhawk50]

I need to buy split bases and a lower set of rings for the Model RC in the above pictures. I swapped scopes and misjudged how high I needed to be. I would like that scope lower and a little closer to my eye.

I'm with you on the older rifles, not that the rifles from the 70's, 80's and 90's are bad. but the 336's from the 40's and 50's are works of art.

That short carbine has a cool story to it that I will share as I reload and shoot it more. I'll need better pictures of it so you can appreciate it.

I noticed how high that scope was but didn't comment. I feel this forum is meant to help and not to take apart someones equipment. Wouldn't want to hurt any feelings or come off looking like a know it all.

One of my rifles is an 81 and the other an 86. Both have the classic look without any checkering.

Looking forward to the cool story and pics. We like stories & pics.

 

[jcw]

Interesting project. I like the idea of head spacing on the rim. Am looking forward to seeing your load results, accuracy etc. Who did the conversion and what was involved with that? Ball park figure for the conversion?

 

[FOUR4D4]

Grits & Toilet Paper?

 

[Hyphenated]

@ jcw...It' a very straight forward and easy conversion. (Easy for me to say I didn't do any of the work) What I mean is the re-bore is the only work that has to be done to the rifle. No parts have to be changed to accommodate feeding from the mag tube, cycling or chambering. When your rifle comes back it's ready to go.

JES Re-bore did the work and it costs $225. Third one he's done for me and they have all been excellent shooters. Now that I have brass formed and some ammo loaded I will post the results as soon as I can. I won't be too concerned about accuracy with this first batch. I just want to shoot a couple dozen to break in the barrel a little bit.

 

[Hyphenated]

I promised GreyHawk a long time ago I would tell him and everyone else the history of this rifle. Well I finally got a good day for taking pictures so you can see it better than at the beginning of this thread.

I found this rifle on Gun Broker. I really wasn't looking for anything in particular just making the rounds on all the auction sights. I came across this rifle listed for sale "parts rifle as is". It was shown in the ad with deluxe wood, but the butt stock was broken. The seller also stated lever locked up and would not cycle. It didn't look all that bad in the pictures and I have a soft spot for the short carbines. I thought it would be a cool winter project so I put in a bid. I put in a reasonable bid and told myself I wasn't going any higher. If I win it great, if not I wouldn't be too upset.

Other people bid on the rifle. It pushed me to my max bid with a day or so to go, but at the end it was mine. I contacted the seller and low and behold he was a local guy about 40 minutes from me. We made the deal face to face and I didn't have to incur shipping or dealer expenses.

I got it home and as the ad stated the butt stock was toast. I had a pretty nice piece of wood on hand for another short carbine I was rehabbing. This rifle really didn't need the wood I was just up grading it. So it was an easy decision to put this fancy wood on my new deluxe model. The seller was also correct the lever did not cycle, but that turned out to be a $5 carrier bolt.

So after a little TLC this is how it stands today now re-chambered to 35/30-30.

 

[greyhawk50]

Thanks Hyph for the reply. Great story on how you saved and restored that ole war horse.
That is a beautiful stock for that rifle. The wood grain is unique to say the least.

The idea of the 35/30-30 is a great topic for this forum. Could be more than 1 person on here that would be interested in doing the conversion. So far, good information. Keep us posted on how it shoots.

 

[dwhuts55]

35/30-30??????

yes i am intrested in that conversion i have the 336,- 35 cal

 

[Hyphenated]

Welcome to the forum dwhuts55... I'm not quite sure if there is a question there or just a statement. Either way I would be glad to answer questions to help you through the process. The more I fool with this project the more I learn. For example I just figured out how to combine parts I had on hand to make my reloading dies. Probably saved me at least $100.
Regards

 

[dwhuts55]

conversion

hi ty so how do you convert the 35 to a 30-30 does it shout both ?? ty

 

[greyhawk50]

hi ty so how do you convert the 35 to a 30-30 does it shout both ?? ty

Sorry for the confusion but you convert the 30-30 to a .35 cal.
In every case that I'm aware of, the bullet size is mentioned first and then the donor cartridge.
For example; 7mm-08 is a 7mm bullet in a 308 case, a 6mm-284 is a 6mm bullet in a 284 case, etc.