350 Rem Mag issues

Fisher86

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So I have been messing around with a 350 Rem Mag for a bit now, the rifle was shooting the now extinct Remington factory's just fine, but on all of my ladder tests, with a variety of bullets and powders I am getting a sticky bolt/hard extractions. These loads are all WELL below book max and very lethargic velocity's. I did notice some consistent "rub" marks on the brass on the loads that were giving me problems, could this possibly be a chamber issue?

Any thoughts or input is appreciated.
 
Fwiw - here is a load I have used with a 350rm (Rem 700 Classic factory chambered) R/P factory brass; 65gr of H380; 200gr Hornady SP; cci 200 primers ; 2840 fps
 
I will try to post pictures when I have a chance, it looks scuffed right above the belt. Brass are not tumbled, FL sized, trimmed, chamfered and deburred. Once fired RP brass, I even tried stepping down to 210 primers and a slower powder to no avail.
 
Once fired in your rifle or you bought once fired brass?

^^ This ^^ ....... or is there some slight rust in the chamber?

I once had a 7x57 that would stick almost any load in the chamber no matter how light the load was. I tried everything to get it to extract smoothly. The solution was a light chamber polish to remove a very slight rust film on the chamber wall.
 
I have a 700 Classic in 350 RM, did some extensive load development back a few years ago. I never ran into your particular issue, but I did have some die issues. One of my issues was a FL die that was setting the shoulder back a whole bunch, which I "fixed" by buying a custom shellholder from Redding.

That isn't your problem. I'm assuming that because your rifle shoots factory ammunition just fine, your rifle is not the issue. It's been my experience that R-P brass works pretty well in the 350 RM, so brass is not the issue. You can chamber the ammo you make, so your dies are not the issue.

Unfortunately, without any more information, I can only conclude that your ammo is the issue. The 350 RM is not hard to load for, but there certainly are some nuances that one needs to be aware of. The 2 main manufactures of rifles in this calibers were Remington and Ruger. They are different.

What rifle do you have? And because there were production changes, what twist rate is the rifling. In an attempt to "correct" issues, the twist became faster and faster as time progressed. It started at 1:16 and the last rifles were 1:12 or 1:10.

The next consideration is the bullet, because in the 350 RM this can make a huge difference, depending of course on the brand of rifle you own.

Another unknown is what OAL you are seating the bullet you are using. Deep seating to accommodate the very short Remington magazine precludes the use of some bullets and changes loading data. Some data is for Ruger rifles, not the same as a Remington. Maximum OAL is just under 3" in a Ruger, and in a Remington it needs to be under 2.8", not much under, but under just the same if you want your ammo to fit and feed properly.

It would be nice to know what powder you are using, and of course how much.

Varget would be my powder of choice, especially with a 200 gr bullet. My bullet of choice is a 200 gr FTX, but whitetails are my game of choice. The 200 FTX may not be the best choice for moose, especially if the distance is fairly personal. The FTX expands at the lower end of the velocity range, having been developed for the 35 Remington, with a tubular magazine like the Marlin 336, also a great bullet for that application. The 350 RM also is nearly perfect for shooting cast, if you are so inclined. The upper limit for the FTX is about 2800 fps, and you can get pretty close to that with handloads.

If I were to guess, you are probably using a 250 gr bullet, seated fairly deeply so it fits in your magazine. In all likelihood you are also compressing the powder slightly. You are probably using data for a longer OAL and you are compressing a powder that doesn't particularly like to be compressed and are experiencing excessive pressure. Of course chamber and reloading die issues may be the problem, but I'm thinking that they are not.

Again, as stated above, a picture of a factory fired case, and one of you handloaded ones would be invaluable. A quick and dirty pressure analysis on a belted magnum is pretty easy, just ahead of the belt there is a short distance that is still within the web of the brass. When fired this area will not usually touch the chamber, unless pressure is fairly high or the chamber is fairly tight. Depending on your die, this area can be sized if your die is somewhat on the small size. If you look at the picture I've uploaded, it shows this area, smallest on the left and largest on the right. There are other factors, but this is what you'd see if you increased pressure of your loads, normal or starting load on the right, approaching max on the left.

zOidzTF.jpg


I hope this helps, if not, could you add a few details and pictures.

Nitro

https://aussiehunter.org/shooting/calibres/5690-2/350-remington-magnum/

http://35cal.com/35bullet_study/35bullet_study1.html
 
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So I have been messing around with a 350 Rem Mag for a bit now, the rifle was shooting the now extinct Remington factory's just fine, but on all of my ladder tests, with a variety of bullets and powders I am getting a sticky bolt/hard extractions. These loads are all WELL below book max and very lethargic velocity's. I did notice some consistent "rub" marks on the brass on the loads that were giving me problems, could this possibly be a chamber issue?

Any thoughts or input is appreciated.

0pC59wi.jpg


This is another thought, personally never happened to me, but possible none the less. Would tend to support your chamber issue suspicion.

I'll quote; "Belted magnum cartridges have been around for over 50 years, and most shooters that reload them are familiar with the case bulge problem that occurs "just above" the belt. This usually happens after just 2 or 3 firings - wasting perfectly good cases. Many shooters have discovered this problem when they find their handloads begin to stick in their chamber, or when they no longer chamber at all.

Unlike non-belted cases, the belt prevents conventional full length dies from traveling far enough down the case. This limits the amount of resizing, and brass is plowed rearward. The brass builds up just above the belt at each reloading, and cases expand. Neck sizing dies don't bump the shoulder back or resize the tapered case wall. The best solution is to full length resize accurately, and use this collet die to reduce case width."
 
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