Written by Malcom MacPherson, this article was published in Fouling Shot #112, Nov/Dec 1994.
I have been tinkering with guns for nearly fifty years. Upon retiring from teaching shop in our high school I had time to cast bullets on a regular basis. All the cartridges I was using had far too much capacity for the small charges used for cast bullet loads. I spent hours thinking about ways to get a practical small capacity cartridge without needing to buy expensive reamers and loading dies.
To make a long story short, I discovered that a . 35 Remington case could easily be made to fit into the front half of a .30-06 chamber. The .35 Remington has a base diameter of .457", as compared to the .470" base diameter of the .30-06. Case forming was accomplished by lubricating the case and running it into a shortened .30-06 sizing die in one pass. The case was cut off and trimmed to an overall length of 1-9/16", and fireformed and neck reamed to make the prettiest little case you ever saw.
I have been tinkering with guns for nearly fifty years. Upon retiring from teaching shop in our high school I had time to cast bullets on a regular basis. All the cartridges I was using had far too much capacity for the small charges used for cast bullet loads. I spent hours thinking about ways to get a practical small capacity cartridge without needing to buy expensive reamers and loading dies.
To make a long story short, I discovered that a . 35 Remington case could easily be made to fit into the front half of a .30-06 chamber. The .35 Remington has a base diameter of .457", as compared to the .470" base diameter of the .30-06. Case forming was accomplished by lubricating the case and running it into a shortened .30-06 sizing die in one pass. The case was cut off and trimmed to an overall length of 1-9/16", and fireformed and neck reamed to make the prettiest little case you ever saw.
With the case problem out of the way I built a bolt action rifle using an old Mauser action and a surplus '03 Springfield barrel. The barrel was shortened and fitted to the action. I used a .30-06 chambering reamer to headspace the cartridge, but it is very possible to headspace the rifle without one, it just takes longer.
All of the time I was working on the rifle and making cases, I was thinking about how I could get a single shot rile that would handle this cartridge.
As you know, single shot rifles are expensive and most do not handle rimless cases very well. One day while looking over some illustrations of Ballard rifles, it dawned on me that there was a modem rifle that looked much like the old Ballard single shot and was even the correct caliber. It was the 336 Marlin chambered for .35 Remington.
All of the time I was working on the rifle and making cases, I was thinking about how I could get a single shot rile that would handle this cartridge.
As you know, single shot rifles are expensive and most do not handle rimless cases very well. One day while looking over some illustrations of Ballard rifles, it dawned on me that there was a modem rifle that looked much like the old Ballard single shot and was even the correct caliber. It was the 336 Marlin chambered for .35 Remington.
A Mariln 336 .35 Remington converted to a single shot, off-hand rifle. I started visiting gun shops in the area and it was a month before I found what I was looking for. It was an older gun that was banged up but showed little internal wear. Guns of this type are available at prices from $100 to $200 depending on condition and sights. It would be easier and cheaper to start with a .30- 30 rifle and use the original barrel. However, due to the shallow, rifling and short light barrel, I think that it is well worth the additional cost to use a Springfield barrel for my .30 X 1-9/16" cartridge, since .30-06 barrels are readily available in excellent condition for less than $50.
Shortened, necked-down .35 Remington and the Lee 30-170-F
The nice thing about this conversion is that no action work is required, all you have to do is get rid of the magazine tube and replace it with a forearm hanger. The hanger is made to fit tightly in the magazine tube hole and is held in place by using a long 12-28 machine screw through the front screw hole in the trigger plate. There are other ways that you can do this but they all require that you modify the action. On my rifle this screw also holds the palm rest hanger in place. The forearm is supported entirely by the hanger leaving the barrel free floating. The palm rest was made from scrap iron and an old brass door knob.
Although not required, I chose to install a new one-piece firing pin as I felt that it would make ignition faster and more positive. I made a one piece firing pin out of 1/4" drill rod. The new firing pin will require heat treatment.
The action was drilled and tapped for iron sights and scope mounts. I wanted to be able to use both, so I shortened the scope base to accommodate the rear sight. This allowed the scope base to remain in place while using the iron sights. I mounted a Lyman target front sight by modifying the original '03 front sight band. I chose to do this because I had the sight. I would use a front sight that was removable if I were buying one.
You can let your personal taste govern the stock shape. I added a short piece of wood to the butt to lengthen it slightly so that I could use a modified target style prong buttplate. The buttplate is available from Dixie Gun Works for about $10. I patterned the shape of the buttstock, pistol grip and forearm after early Ballard and Stevens rifles. If you are a careful "scrounger" you can have the fun of building one of these rifles for as little as $250.
The action was drilled and tapped for iron sights and scope mounts. I wanted to be able to use both, so I shortened the scope base to accommodate the rear sight. This allowed the scope base to remain in place while using the iron sights. I mounted a Lyman target front sight by modifying the original '03 front sight band. I chose to do this because I had the sight. I would use a front sight that was removable if I were buying one.
You can let your personal taste govern the stock shape. I added a short piece of wood to the butt to lengthen it slightly so that I could use a modified target style prong buttplate. The buttplate is available from Dixie Gun Works for about $10. I patterned the shape of the buttstock, pistol grip and forearm after early Ballard and Stevens rifles. If you are a careful "scrounger" you can have the fun of building one of these rifles for as little as $250.
The target photo shows a typical ten shot, iron sight group, fired from a rest at 100 yards with loads between 16 and 20 grains of RL-7 and Lee 30-170-F bullets cast in linotype. The level of accuracy is far better than my old eyes and reflexes can hold offhand, which is the intended purpose for my new toy.
Ten shots from a "Poor Man's Single-Shot Rifle"