Is the face of the magazine follower "concave and/or dimpled" for better centering the soft Hornady FTX tip? If it is, then it already has had the newer design installed; the old design has a "flat" surface. That said, my older .35 rem still has the original old design follower with a flat face and it cycles/feeds the Hornady LE FTX ammo fine without any issues... yours may too? I actually bought a newer design follower for my .35 rifle when having to get one for my 444, but just haven't gotten around to replacing it yet since no issues. The older follower/jam issue with the FTX bullet seems to be more of a problem with the bigger bore rifles due to the steeper angles involved, bigger case diameter, mag tube bulge, etc., but all depends on the individual rifle I guess. Btw, you can get the new design follower in several materials online, stainless, brass, aluminum, and the plastic/delrin if wanted.
I'm not sure exactly which bullets you're referring to, but any off the shelf brands with a round or flat nose should be fine; with the spire/pointed bullets out there to be avoided. For what it is worth, my own .35 rem groups best with that Hornady LE 200gr ammunition... really impressed me when first trying it.
Good luck to you.

 

I can't answer your follower question but it shouldn't be too hard to find out if you have some of the gummy tips.

Don't worry about the ammos you mention. The flat or rounded points on them cover a majority of the entire primer pocket which renders it safe. What you don't want is a bullet with a pointed tip (the size of the firing pin) resting against the primer.

In other words, if you put the tip of a nail against the primer vs. the head of a nail against the primer, and hit it with a hammer, you will get two very distinctively different results! :thrasher:

 

I have some oldies, 1951, 52, 57, ect. and they still feed and shoot the LE ammo. Some of them like the LE factory Hornady ammo better than anything else I've found. I have yet to have any of them jam up using LE ammo, but have not used it in any bore bigger than my 444's. DP

 

I also have an older 35 Rem with the original follower and have had no problems.

 

My 1953 336 RC feeds and shoots the LeveRevolution just fine.

 

If you have problems feeding the Hornady LE ammo and don't want to buy a new mag follower--simply load a RN or FP round first and then continue to load up with LE ammo. That should get rid of any jamming problems.

 

Wow, interesting indeed. YEs my mag follower for the 1960 is the metal with flat face style. So I guess I will try all three brands of ammo to see how they cycle and group. Im trying to figure out why the last round of a Hornady flex tip would jam up though?? Also isnt that pointed flex tip dangerous against the primer since it fits right into the recess? Or is it that soft that it wont start up anything?

 

Some Marlins owners have reported that the FTX bullets have a tendency to slide when pressed up against the older flat surfaced mag follower. The newer concave (or dimpled) followers are supposed to keep the last FTX round securely anchored within the tube mag.

 

The flex tip is made so that you can have a pointed bullet that is safe to shoot in a magazine like the Marlin uses. I have never had a feeding problem with a 30-30 or a 35 Remington with gummy tips. I did with the 45/70 but it was not the follower and was easy fix.

 

I always put in a rem round nose first on my older Marlins like "Ret Eng" said earlier. Problem solved. I have never gotten down to the last round when hunting anyway. 35 Rem gets the job done with one shot.

 

Cant argue with that advice either!!ha ha ,ok guys thanks for all your input and have ab great summer!!

 

I have a 1973 336 in 30/30. I need to change out the follower because it doesn't like the FTX bullets. But, it shoots the FTX bullets better than anything I have ever tried. Well inside of an inch at 100 yards. When hunting I have loaded the first round (Fed Fusion 150 grain) and the rest Hornady 160 FTX. They hit at the same point of aim in my gun at 100 yards.
Pb

 

Interesting responses.

 

Juts a noe here. I took apart the magazine ,spring and follower and cleaned it all up. The follower was a steel flat face and had some thickness up front. So I used my drill bits and created a small recess hole in the middle not too deep . Tried some Hornady amo and it all cycled out perfectly.