A buddy of mine hunts mule deer & coyotes with his old, original .350 Rem mag. When an uncle of his bought it back in the 1960's or 1970's, he got a case of 1,000 rounds of 200 grain soft point factory ammo. The gun now belongs to my buddy, and he's still working from that original case of ammo. His rifle has never had a scope on it. Makes big holes in mule deer and is way more than enough gun for coyotes...

In your shoes, I'd have been tempted to go with the .358 Norma magnum, for a full-length .35 cal magnum cartridge, making full use of that Mauser action. But the .350 will serve just fine I'd imagine!

Thanks for sharing the project!

Guy

 

In your shoes, I'd have been tempted to go with the .358 Norma magnum, for a full-length .35 cal magnum cartridge, making full use of that Mauser action.

The .350 Remington is a short fat Whelen. The 358 Norma Magnum is a pumped up .338 Magnum. In rifles of equal weight, the .350 is much kinder.

 

That is a beautiful rifle!!!!

 

Neat idea. Short action rounds with heavy bullets have always been a poorly-executed concept, your 798/350 should realize the true potential of the round in a standard-weight gun that won't beat you to death. But I also get the feeling that you and recoil are good friends with a long history!

 

Very good looking rifle though.

 

Roe, I couldn't agree more. The .350 Rem mag an outstanding thumper, right up there with the .35 Whelen, and perfect for a short action rifle.

The OP's Mauser will be a neat rifle, but I wouldn't be able to resist chambering that full size action with a full size cartridge, like the .338 Win mag or the .358 Norma...

Oddly enough, I look at my Ruger Number One in .375 H&H much the same way. Talk about a short action! :biggrin: Also makes the entire rifle short and handy. It's accurate too. And I don't load my .375 bear & elk loads all that hot anyway, only about 2620 fps with the 260 gr Noslers. Excellent performance on bear so far. Recoil is not a problem.

Regards, Guy

 

I think it is outstanding! Should do what you want it to. CHOICES!!

Jeff

 

Many years ago I bought a Winchester 70 Westerner in 300 win. I like it as is? What would I really get by converting to Rem. 350 mag.... Already have 358 BLR. Win AE 94 356 Win.?????
T:hmmmm: NY

 

Giving the 300 Win. mag. is a .308" just think of the selections of bullets that is available in .308" compare to .358"...
T:hmmmm: NY

 

To NY - you get nothing unless you want a 350RM. It's all about sharing a choice that was made. it's not about getting others on the bandwagon. It is a good choice for the one who did the choosing. How's your Spring going? Mine went from winter to summer.

Jeff

 

Understand your thinking but 350 rem. mag isn't that hard to get. I do like my 35 cal.s but the 358 win. is enough for me and the thought of converting a perfectly good 30+ y/o Winchester 70 300 mag. Westerner into something else is a nightmare to me. I remember on gunbroker there was a bunch of rem. NIB in 350 Rem. going for cheap couldn't sell people were looking for 308 w. in this rifle. I think it was Model 673 not sure. But yes to each their own. God bless America for choices. My summer is going slow hurricane sandy has really screwed up our waters and fishing isn't as good as before. The up side is I now belong to a up state sportsman club where I could go and shoot 200 yards and chronograph my reloads without a problem. Something I would like to do is put my chrony at 100 - 150 - 200 yards at the target just to see the velocity and determined the energy at that point.
As far as summer I'm still waiting but I just looked at the fig trees I planted in the yard and I was surprised the winter did not kill them. I guess I cover them well. Its amazing how nature keeps going on with a little help from her friend "me". I would bet this is going to be a great summer. Hey I even have a granddaughter by the name of Summer and she is a heart full of joy.
T:biggrin: NY

 

Nice job. I have a 7mm rem mag I was looking to rebarrel to 350 rem mag as a companion to my 35 rem Marlin.

 

Slamfire just reread your OP. with an open mind and it sound interesting. I will be following your progress good luck.
T:biggrin: NY

 

I still have fond memories of the 600 carbine I had back in the early 70's. Yeah, it kicked the snot outta me but I loved the space age look of that original Remington. You've built a really great rifle with a cartridge having improved performance. :congrats:

 

I have a friend with a Model 7 in 350RM; fantastic shooting rifle - really like what you did there.:congrats:

 

I've got three .350s and used to have another.
Beginning to think it's a sickness...

I'm not trying to sell anyone else on the rifles or the round, but I like loading it a little light (sort of a +P .35 Remington) for whitetail. Having the option to go with hot loads/heavy bullets for bigger stuff if I ever get the chance is just icing on the cake and helps me keep the dreams of that special "someday" hunting trip alive.
In the case of the OP's rifle, having an action, magwell and chamber throat long enough to seat bullets out to where they aren't extending down below the shoulder and impinging on the case capacity should make for a lot of fun experimenting.

 

I like the 350, I like the 798 action you built it on and I like the option to seat bullets out further. Overall a good idea and well executed.

 

.350 RM bear

Just got back from Alberta where I used my .350 RM model 673 on this. The bullet was a 225 Nosler partition. The old .350 is my favorite black bear caliber.

 

If you want a step up .35 from your 358 you may want to consider the 35 whelen. Your present M-70 want work as your have a magnum bolt face as well as a long action hen the 350 mag will fit into a short action. With the present component shortage being able to make 35 whelen brass from 30-06 cases along with Remington still producing 35 whelen brass has it's advantages. The down side it if you need to scratch the medium size .35 caliber you can re-barrel a standard bolt face long action M-70 or find a used .35 whelen on the used market.

I used .35 whelen like likely cost less than the gunsmithing costs $$ to convert your present M-70 300 win mag.

chocdog

 

Like the .358 Winchester, the .350 Remington Magnum is an efficient cartridge. The .358 Norma Magnum provides a bit more muzzle velocity, but diminishing returns are apparent. Maximum muzzle velocities according to Nosler load data for their 250gr bullet -

.350 Remington Magnum, 22" barrel: 2571 fps (58.0gr W748 )

.358 Norma Magnum, 24" barrel: 2628 fps (72.0gr IMR4350)

That's only a 2% increase in muzzle velocity for a 24% increase in powder charge!

350 Remington Magnum ? Nosler

358 Norma Magnum ? Nosler

I will be using the 310gr Woodleigh RN SN bullet in my .350 Remington Magnum. I'm expecting to get a muzzle velocity in the 2300 to 2400 fps range at less than moderate pressure using Re15. Test results to follow.

 

Being the big .35 caliber fan that I am, as soon as Remington announced their 673 Guide Gun in 2003 chambered in .350 Rem Magnum, I instantly placed my order with a LGS and received mine on, get this, 6/7/03! I shot an original 600 with the shark fin sight, two tone laminate stock, plastic vent rib, in .350 Rem Magnum way back when I was 15 years old and it was instant love for me. One of my high school compadres got one as a birthday present and he let me have a go with it in the families cow pasture. I wanted one ever since but had to "settle" on the model 673. Gosh I like that rifle. It is a wee bit heavy but the recoil is really tamed down compared to both of my .35 Whelens, a light Remington Model 700 Classic with 22" barrel from 1988 and a rebarreled Savage 110 which I had the 24" barrel cut down to 18.5". Sorry for digressing.

The OP's Remington 798 now rebarreled to .350 Rem Mag is one handsome firearm! I would be proud of it no matter where I carried it or what I was hunting! Everything that was said about could've, would've, should've been done up in a longer cartridge etc, has merit but you just can't beat the "COOL" factor of the .350 Remington Magnum. Anything that walks, crawls, runs, flies, or bites back is fair game for the .350 Rem Mag. The whole idea of power in a short package was met with the original Model 600 and the .350 Mag cartridge. I have an original box of 250 grain pointed core-lokts for the .350 Mag and man, talk about deep seating. Hardly enough of that 250 grain bullet sticking out for the case mouth to grab onto!!! Of course I hand load for my .350 Mag so I use the 250 grain Hornady Round Nose which just plain looks nasty when loaded in the .358 Win, .35 Whelen, and the .350 Mag!:ahhhhh:I just knew when I bought my 673 it would be a short lived affair, so I bought 300 brand new cartridge cases ($30.00 per hundred back in 2003 as opposed to almost a $100.00 today). Some times I do make the correct decisions. Anyways, I'm having a ball with my .350 Mag (and my other .35's) and I'm ecstatic that I have one and it looks almost as cool as the original Model 600 does. After all the number designation of the Model 673 stands for: 6, based on the original 600 series, 7, built on the Model 7 action, and 3, for the year of introduction, 2003!

358 Win

 

My thoughts exactly on the 350 Remington Magnum - it's an efficient round with a lot of character and cool factor.

 

Hey Roe,
I truly understand your comments about the .350 Remington Magnum's concept of power in a short actioned package. Short cartridges are not always put up in a short actions however. Let us not forget that Winchester chambered the Model 70 in .22 Hornet, which was a LONG action and not shortened in any way to house that diminutive little varmint buster. My best friend has an original Win Model 70 in .22 Hornet and what a hoot to shoot. Loading that little hornet in the Model 70 is like loading a 30-06 into a 16" battleship gun. Until I got the hang of it, I really fumbled around loading that little cartridge into his Model 70.

This is my Remington Model 673, .350 Rem Mag. I topped it with an older Leupold VXIII 1.5x6x33 that I found at a LGS buried under a bazillion other scopes and covered with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. It was buried there for 15 years and I bought it new in the box for a song!

Bob

 

At the range today to test the 310gr Woodleigh RN SN bullet using Re15. I started at 52.0 and went to 55.0 in 1 grain increments. No signs of excessive pressure. Even at 55.0gr pressure is relatively low. Chronograph readings averaged around 2260 fps, so muzzle velocity is around 2280 fps. :top: :biggrin:

The 250gr Hornady spitzer bullet using 57.0gr of Re15 averaged around 2400 fps, and pressure was also relatively low.

The 158gr Hornady 38 caliber HP-XTP pistol bullet with 51.0gr of Re7 (a starting load in the Speer Reloading Manual No.11) averaged around 2750 fps.

(As always these loads are safe only in my .350 Remington Magnum rifle, not yours).

Very fine accuracy at 100 yards from the benchrest! The 2 groups near the top of the target are with the 310gr bullet, and the lower group is with the 158gr bullet.

Recoil and muzzle blast are light (compared to my .458 Lott :biggrin: ).

I'm fine with the 310gr bullet at just under 2300 fps muzzle velocity as my hunting load. A little less emphasis on bullet speed, and a little more reliance on the bullet's terminal ballistics. For a round nose bullet it has quite a high ballistic coefficient of 0.458 for down-range speed retention, and being a heavy-for-caliber bullet it has a very high sectional density of 0.35 for deep penetration.

Impressive results with this bullet on moose at about 200 yards from my .358 Winchester BLR at just 2000 fps muzzle velocity. It expands and penetrates very well. With an extra 300 fps muzzle velocity, its effective range is increased considerably. > :biggrin:

310gr Woodleigh RN SN / 55.0gr Re15

250gr Hornady spitzer / 57.0gr Re15

158gr 38 caliber Hornady HP-XTP / 51.0gr Re7

310gr & 250gr loads

250gr & 158gr loads

Remington 798 .350 Remington Magnum with 24" 1-in-12" twist barrel & Leupold VX-2 Ultralight 3-9x33mm scope

 

Those nice groups you're getting are also possible with much cheaper Hornady 250 grain RN at max velocity in both the Whelen and 358, and I really don't know why.

 

Just for grins and giggles I worked up a maximum load using Re15 and the 310gr RN SN bullet. I increased the powder charge in 1 grain increments from where I left off at 55.0gr.

I began to see signs of increasing pressure at 58.0gr and stopped there. Chronograph readings averaged around 2365 fps, so muzzle velocity is about 2380 fps. Still groups 1" or better at 100 yards from the bench rest. Muzzle energy is at 3900 ft-lbs. :biggrin:

I tried Blue Dot with the Hornady 38 caliber 158gr HP-XTP pistol bullet as a plinking load. Using a Lee 1.6cc dipper (~17gr) chronograph readings were around 1650 fps and the pressure is low. I used a Dacron wad to keep the powder against the case bottom. Groups are around 2" at 100 yards from the bench rest and should improve if I weigh the powder charge.

(As always, these loads are safe in my .350 Remington Magnum rifle, not yours).

The 310gr Woodleigh shoots pretty flat for a round nose bullet. According to the ballistic tables for this maximum load sighted-in 4" high at 100 yards, it's 2" high at 200 yards, and 10" low at 300 yards where it's doing 1850 fps with 2400 ft-lbs energy. :top:

Next step: go see how my .350 Remington Magnum performs on heavy game. :biggrin:

Woodleigh 310gr RN SN / 58.0gr Re15

Woodleigh 310gr RN SN / 58.0gr Re15

Hornady 38 caliber 158gr HP-XTP / ~17gr Blue Dot & Dacron wad

Hornady 38 caliber 158gr HP-XTP / ~17gr Blue Dot & Dacron wad

Model 798 .350 Remington Magnum with 24" 1/12 twist McGowen Precision barrel & Leupold VX-2 Ultralight 3-9x33 scope

 

I think the 350 RM and the 35 Whelen AI are about equal in volume. I get 2424 with 55gr R15 out of my 22" Mod 700 classic, but it has a "fast" barrel too. Like you, I could go way up in charge but my 55gr load at this speed gives me one ragged hole! Mild load too. I tried a Classic in 350 RM a couple years ago, but it just didn't grow on me...seemed heavier in recoil than my 35 AI too. I think your concept of using a long heavy bullet really gives your action choice merit. I (fat guy on your right) shot this 200# hog with my 310 Whelen AI load at about 30yds. No bruising surrounding meat, organs were jello, blew tissue/blood 25 ft out the other side too! It impressed me. Have a ball man!