To answer your question I used to shoot high power service rifle match with either an M1 Garand or a M1A Super Match. The M1 Garand was used with M2 military Ball and I used hand loads with my M1A. Barrel life was dependent on how you cleaned the rifle and the quality of the barrel used. Typically, my M1A had a Hart heavy air gauged match barrel with a 1-10in twist. My Garand was using a Douglas Premium grade heavy barrel with a 1-10 twist. Barrel life was typically 5000 rounds for competition. My loads were Std M2 Ball with the Garand (2800 fps with a 150 grn FMJ) and with the M1A I used a load of 41.5 grns IMR 4895 with a Sierra 168 grn Match king BT. I could have easily pushed my barrels to 8000 rds but generally we want to maintain 1 MOA or under at all times with a match rifle. I used to give my takeoff barrels to my friends who then installed them on their rifles and still use them today. These are barrels that I threw away. I could easily put all rounds into the 2 ft Bullseye at 600 yrds using both these rifles and that is with the military peep sights. I think you do not have to worry about barrel life with your 35!!

 

Good to know. Thanks.

 

If you get to shoot enough to wear out a barrel you are one lucky dude. Look at it this way. You already have the brass so all you have to supply is bullets, powder and primer. So lets say each round cost you $.40 to load and that may be low, but $.40 and you get the same 5000 rounds from your gun that is $2,000 in ammo. If you can afford that much for ammo a new barrel for $300-400 shouldn't be a problem. Shoot lead bullets and the ammo price will go down and so will the barrel wear. Most people never shoot enough to wear out a barrel. Too much cleaning or improper cleaning is just as bad as a lot of shooting.

 

I'm no expert, but a multitude of factors affect barrel life. Chief among them is how well or poorly you clean said barrel. If you exercise great care in not damaging your barrel while cleaning, you have just taken a HUGE step in the right direction in obtaining maximum life in ANY rifle barrel. Secondly is heat and pressure, if you don't shoot your rifle rapidly to the point of heating your barrel until it's nearing to hot to be touched you again will extend barrel life.

I NEVER allow my barrel to get hot, I do while practicing for a hunting application shoot my rifle as quickly as I can to get off 3 accurate shots, but that barely heats the barrel to the level of worm. On a low pressure round like a 35 Remington barrel life should be in the thousands of rounds if you exercise care in cleaning and shooting it. If you shoot even 3 boxes or 60 rounds a month it would likely take you close to 10 years to "shoot out" your barrel.

I personally once I have found my hunting load of choice which will be loading that is a balance of accuracy and as much pressure and speed as I can achieve within safe limits, I will shoot much lower pressure plinking rounds as I do with all my other rifle calibers that have MV's as much as 600-700fps faster than my 35 Rem. My favorite plinking round for my .338wm utilizes hand gun powder and makes for VERY accurate low pressure 200 yard practice loads with a MV of about 200-2100 fps.

 

I believe good clean burning ammo contributes to barrel longevity, I see people spend a lot of money on rifles then shoot cheep steel case garbage, I could never understand that.

 

Chuck Conners couldn't burn out a 35 rem. LOL (Rifleman)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rifleman

The opening theme at the beginning of each episode depicted McCain walking down the street of a town while rapid-firing his Winchester 44-40 1892 model rifle that had been modified at the trigger and lever. The rifle's modification allowed McCain to fire the rifle only by hand pumping the lever which had a pin imbedded in it to trip the weapon's trigger.[SUP][3][/SUP] At various points during the series, episodes would show McCain deftly handling and shooting the rifle ambidextrously.[SUP][4][/SUP]

Sorry, not a 35 remington.

 

At .35 Remington velocities, your grandkids will be trying to wear it out..........

 

I'm tryin my damndest to shoot mine out, ask me again in 20 years

 

When I was young I worried about wearing out rifle barrels. Now I try as hard as I can to do so.

 

If you truly "shoot out" that barrel using factory ammo. You are a rich man without any care in the world. These guns will last a
lifetime with proper maintenance.

Andrew

 

You've got at least 14,500 rounds left before you will see velocity and accuracy drop off. That assessment is based on a spec for high velocity 5.56mm NATO barrels. You may expect a little more lifespan with your low pressure, antiquated .35 Rem., or a little less due to a commercial barrel vs. a mil-spec one.

Your cleaning rod will likely cause more barrel deterioration than all the ammo you can afford.

I would not sweat it.

AC

 

More barrels are "worn out" from abuse and improper cleaning than use. Treat it right and it will treat you right. barrel life « Daily Bulletin

 

Parker Ackley noted that bore erosion was unheard of at pressures under 45,000 psi.
Given the .35 Remington operates at 10-12,000 psi below that threshold, I suspect the 'ol .35 will good way past 20,000 rounds. Just keep her clean, and use GOOD equipment to do so.

 

It would be nice to know where to source a drop in Marlin 336 replacement barrel.
From what I've gathered only option is to rebore to larger caliber.

 

It's been shown that it's the pressure of the rounds that correlates best with barrel life. That's assuming you're not shooting a fully auto belt fed weapon until rounds "cook off" in the chamber. Even so, it's still the erosion of the gases.

The rounds Cowboy 23 talks about were easily 60,000-62,000 psi. Your 35 Rem will not exceed 35,000 psi. Gas erosion potential is much, much lower.

It took him 5000 rounds before he lost confidence in his barrels to shoot below 1 MOA (barely larger than 1" at 100 yards). And then his used barrels were still sought after for his friends who were recreational shooters.

Whatever the potential accuracy of your present barrel, with reasonable care and no abuse during cleaning. More barelys are ruined by poor cleaning techniques than by "shooting them out". (Use a bore guide, a good one piece cleaning rod, and clean from the chamber end.) I'd expect your 35 Rem to continue to shoot 1.5-2" groups at 100 yards well past 25,000 rounds and wouldn't be surprised if it were still doing so at 50,000 rounds.

May you shoot so much and live so long!