350 REM Mag? NEW ? added

Anfoman76

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Hi guys, I'm looking at building a either a 6.5 Rem Mag or 350 Rem Mag. I'm leaning more towards the 350 Rem Mag because I already have a custom 6.5x55. Do any of you have a 350mag? What's your take on it? Any info would be much appreciated(except the usual "You dont need a 350 Rem Mag when you can get (insert caliber here) it's way better)
 
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good caliber as many.

i had in project that specific caliber but the lack of brass terminated that story.
so be sure to have enough brass before starting that good idea.
 
The .350 magnum was my first "powerful" rifle. The slim M-700 stock from Remington in the early '70s lasted less than a box of handloads, before it split from fore-end through the tang and deep into the pistol grip. The M-600 with its laminated stock was the rifle I wanted, but was recently discontinued, and the supply of new ones had dried up. The TV screen Redfield scope of the day defied it's seal, and would fog up at it's earliest convenience, but that's another story, which doesn't reflect on the rifle or cartridge. Accuracy was good, and in those pre-chronograph days, we just believed what the loading manuals told us, but who knows. It kicked pretty good, so it must of been as advertised, right? The .350 is the round that lead me to dislike short cartridges. Any reasonable load with extruded powder was a compressed load, and compressed loads are a nuisance to load and less consistent in my opinion than loads that use 90-95% of the available powder capacity. For that reason I consider the .35 Whelen the better cartridge although it is considered a ballistic twin. If you do build a .350 magnum, get the most out of the short powder column by loading it with ball powder with a medium burning rate, Winchester 748 would be my first choice, rather than with extruded. The short action rifles chambered for the .350 often had too short a magazine, and too short a throat to seat bullets long, and precluded the use of bullets heavier than 250 grs, although I don't know if that was true of the Ruger 77. Of course if a big power .35 is the name of the game, a .358 Norma is the real answer.
 
The .350 is an excellent cartridge. It can be considered perhaps the first true short magnum. It has the same powder capacity as a Whelen, but in a .308 length action. It is true it will not handle the heaviest bullets as well due to magazine length restrictions, however you get the advantage of lighter and shorter rifles. With the availability of premium hunting bullets, I have never felt disadvantaged with "only" a 200 or 225 grain bullet.
 
Less than half an inch shorter and three ounces lighter. Not much of a reason to choose the 350 over a 35 Whelen. :)

Ted

How did I know you'd say that :) I have a SA to build on and am looking to build a SA thumper and thought this would be a good choice. But if I can't find brass I guess it's not a very good choice :( . I'll have to look into that.
 
The .350 magnum was my first "powerful" rifle. The slim M-700 stock from Remington in the early '70s lasted less than a box of handloads, before it split from fore-end through the tang and deep into the pistol grip. The M-600 with its laminated stock was the rifle I wanted, but was recently discontinued, and the supply of new ones had dried up. The TV screen Redfield scope of the day defied it's seal, and would fog up at it's earliest convenience, but that's another story, which doesn't reflect on the rifle or cartridge. Accuracy was good, and in those pre-chronograph days, we just believed what the loading manuals told us, but who knows. It kicked pretty good, so it must of been as advertised, right? The .350 is the round that lead me to dislike short cartridges. Any reasonable load with extruded powder was a compressed load, and compressed loads are a nuisance to load and less consistent in my opinion than loads that use 90-95% of the available powder capacity. For that reason I consider the .35 Whelen the better cartridge although it is considered a ballistic twin. If you do build a .350 magnum, get the most out of the short powder column by loading it with ball powder with a medium burning rate, Winchester 748 would be my first choice, rather than with extruded. The short action rifles chambered for the .350 often had too short a magazine, and too short a throat to seat bullets long, and precluded the use of bullets heavier than 250 grs, although I don't know if that was true of the Ruger 77. Of course if a big power .35 is the name of the game, a .358 Norma is the real answer.

I agree,

And thank you Ted.
 
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Mark 2 in 350

I bought the Ruger Mk 2 in 350RM from a CGN , I find the Ruger to be of high quality and very accurate. One of the handloads I use, IMR-4320 60.8grs and 200 gr Hornady SP. It's not a real power house load, but it does the job. This mag and the RSAUM have a shoulder angle not as sharp as the WSM, and I believe this contributes to smoother feeding, than the WSMs.
Bill
 
How did I know the moose medalion would show up :rolleyes: Bill your fairly close maybe one day we could meet up and I could pay you a couple bucks o fire off a round or two. How do you find it on Bear?
 
I have had two 350's, still have one built on a Mauser action. With the bullets (250 gr Speers) seated as far out as possible, I get 2615 fps with IMR 4064 powder. I think it is a great larger game cartridge. I also have a 358 NM, 35 Whelen (AI and std versions), had a 358 Alaskan, a 35-378 Wby, 35 Rem, 357 Herrett, 358 Win, 35 Gibbs, and probably a few more I've forgotten. I guess I'm a 35 fan, lol. - dan
 
The 350RM doesn't offer anything over the 35Whelen except a slightly shorter action.

well,...a shorter action is not all it offers over the Whelen,..you can also expect to have bullet to lands vs. mag box length issues as well as feeding that is less smooth than a Whelen;)...I've had both cartridges in customs and factory jobs, I have reamers for both, but I'll never own another 350Mag,.....Whelen is the way to go IMHO,...YMMV
 
Have a model 7 cdl in .350 and love it. It's accurate and an absolute hammer on game, my only complaint would be mag/cartridge length.

If you're building from scratch look into Barsness's wildcat 9.3-.350
 
#50 rm

well,...a shorter action is not all it offers over the Whelen,..you can also expect to have bullet to lands vs. mag box length issues as well as feeding that is less smooth than a Whelen;)...I've had both cartridges in customs and factory jobs, I have reamers for both, but I'll never own another 350Mag,.....Whelen is the way to go IMHO,...YMMV

In hunting ammo, I would not be loading shells long enough to be jammed into the lands, not something you want to be farting around with when the time comes for a quick snap shot at a moose. The whelen: it's OK for a long tailed wildcat but the 350 is just a CLASS CALIBER.

Anfoman 76, yes when I'm heading your way (willies puddle) I can bring the ruger down. Haven't tried it on bear but works great on MOOSE.
Bill
 
It is true that 6.5mm Rem Mag brass is hard to get, but Remington still makes 350 Mag bulk brass and it is relatively easy to find in bags of 50. The 350 Mag actually has a slightly larger case capacity than the Whelen. All this howling and grinding of teeth about the massive reduction of case capacity caused by seating bullets to 2.8" COL in the 350 is merely entertainment. Try it. Take any chambering you want, chrono it, seat the bullets .2" further out and chrono that. Wow, massive change in velocity eh? Not. Ya, ya, theoretically you could stuff a bit more powder in the longer seating, but in reality, it's all just gun mag regurgitations. Zero practicle difference as far as terminal performance. After some experimentation on moose and elk, I like to use the Hornady 250 Gr RN bullet, which is quite short, and negates most of the COL issue anyways, if you look at where the base of the bullet sits when it is seated at 2.8" vs a 250 gr pointed bullet.

If you do go 350 custom, I'd go 1-14" twist rather than the 1-16 that Remington uses. I'm fine with a 20" barrel. The Remington 200 gr bulk bullet is a nice deer slug, either 225 gr TSX , 250gr Hornady RN or Speer Hotcore for moose, bear and elk.

I assume the Anfo in Anfoman means you are a fan of really big booms? Gotta love the stuff.
 
LOL! Gotta love those big booms makes shooting guns seem anemic. Thanks for all the fine info guys. Making it look better and better.
Cheers
Anfo
 
I have a Ruger M77 MKII stainless 350RM. It has performed flawlessly for a number of years and is extremely accurate. It will be along for this year's LEH moose. I have only shot deer with it so far, and I haven't needed to track any of them yet.:cool:

I love the rifle and the cartridge. For me, it is an 'ideal hunting calibre'. Lots of knock down power and plenty of range for what I need.

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I say, build the 350RM - you will be very happy with the results.

Cheers!


James
 
In hunting ammo, I would not be loading shells long enough to be jammed into the lands
Rick isn't suggesting jamming bullets into the lands. He's saying that the mag box is too short for long bullets w/o taking up too much powder room with the bullet jammed into the case.

The whelen: it's OK for a long tailed wildcat but the 350 is just a CLASS CALIBER.
Not quite sure what a "long tailed wildcat" is, but for all the reasons Rick mentions and more, the Whelen is the better of the two.

.
 
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