Any love for the .358?

[robtattoo]

Any of you guys have much experience with the .358 win?
I know Luke is a fan & I've been messaging back & forth with him, but I don't want to be any more of a pest than I already am

I just picked up a deal on a Remington 700 (brand new, out the door, under $350) specifically for this project. The aim being to end up with a 7lb or under thumper that's as at home in the Tennessee thickets as it is in the Rockies.
I'm sending it out to Jesse at JES today & should have it back in around 10 days and I've also got a line on a Brown Precision Kevlar stock to wrap it in.
So basically, I've got 2 weeks of anticipation to resize a load of .308 brass & put some loads together.

Anyone have any bullet preferences? Load data etc.....

Good or bad experiences?

 

[luke moffat]

Any of you guys have much experience with the .358 win?
I know Luke is a fan & I've been messaging back & forth with him, but I don't want to be any more of a pest than I already am

I just picked up a deal on a Remington 700 (brand new, out the door, under $350) specifically for this project. The aim being to end up with a 7lb or under thumper that's as at home in the Tennessee thickets as it is in the Rockies.
I'm sending it out to Jesse at JES today & should have it back in around 10 days and I've also got a line on a Brown Precision Kevlar stock to wrap it in.
So basically, I've got 2 weeks of anticipation to resize a load of .308 brass & put some loads together.

Anyone have any bullet preferences? Load data etc.....

Good or bad experiences?

Thanks for that...totally hate talking guns and ammo....wouldn't wanna anymore of that nonsense

 

[VernAK]

I had one in a Savage 99 about 50 years ago......great cartridge!

I took a couple moose and a grizzly with it IIRC. Bullets in those days were not of the quality of today's. I loaded some 200 Core-lokts designed for 35 Rem and they were way too soft. Finally, I bought some Norma 250 gr with a kind of silver/nickel jacket......they really made a difference.

Today for a very light knock-around rifle and cartridge, I carry a little Kimber in 338 Federal.

 

[KClark]

Something that's always made me scratch my head is the bullet choice of guys who use the 358. They choose to go with a medium/big bore and then use 185gr to 200gr bullets in it. A 308 handles 200 gr bullets just fine, why not use 250gr in the 358? That's where the 358s advantage would be. A 200gr bullet fired from a 308 will penetrate much better and have a flatter trajectory than a 200gr bullet fired from a 358 because of sectional density and ballistic coeffecient.

Am I missing something?

 

[luke moffat]

Something that's always made me scratch my head is the bullet choice of guys who use the 358. They choose to go with a medium/big bore and then use 185gr to 200gr bullets in it. A 308 handles 200 gr bullets just fine, why not use 250gr in the 358? That's where the 358s advantage would be. A 200gr bullet fired from a 308 will penetrate much better and have a flatter trajectory than a 200gr bullet fired from a 358 because of sectional density and ballistic coeffecient.

Am I missing something?

For me it was first and foremost to try something different.

Secondly a 358 win can shoot a 180-200 grainer slightly faster with a 16" barrel than my 308s can with a 20" barrel. Cause I wanted an ubershort handy rifle.

At 358 win distances (sub 300 yards) the extra BC of the .30 cal doesn't matter much if I can drive the same weight bullet slightly faster with 4" less barrel.

Another bonus of the 358 win I just started exploring is being able to shoot pistol bullets that will expand a slow speeds.

I loaded 110 grain pistol bullet to just under 1000 fps and even in a 5.25 scoped rifle the recoil is on par with my 17 HMR for small game and would be simply awesome suppressed small game hunting, far better option for sub sonic with the pistol bullet selection than my worthless 300 blackout.

Also I can load 180 grain pistol bullets at 1800 fps for a load that will still expand just fine at 150 yards to kill deer but have the recoil of less than a 243 shooting a 100 grainer at 3000 fps which would make a handy little low recoil load for a kiddo, but still give you the option to shoot a 225 grain Nosler Partition at 2400+ fps out of a 16" barrel for general hunting for everything upto and including brown bears.

Any 357 Mag handgun hunter would love to get 2000 fps out of a 180 grainer for deer hunting

It does nothing well I admit. But it does cover a lot of bases from full house brown bear loads with 225ers, general game hunting with 160-200 grain rifle bullets. Low speed, low recoil handgun speed pistol bullets load, and even a subsonic load that still expands below 1160 fps

Did I mention its mostly something new to try and fun to see what all you can do with this cartridge?

It is a short light little hammer inside 300 yards...especially when it ends up being 4.5 pounds scoped.

 

[AKMAN]

Is that a Kimber action I spy???
#wellplayed

 

[Ray]

I started using lighter short action rifles a few years ago due to an injured left arm. I've been shooting a 358 for two years now after finding a new stainless ruger hawkeye for cheap. It likes the 250 grain speer hot core bullets. I did find some 250 grain Woodleigh but have not made the time to build anything with them due to selling/buying/moving homes and other projects.

I installed a Leupold B&C BDC scope on my rifle and found that the bottom hash mark was dead on for drop at 200 yards when the cross hairs were set for 100 yards.

When things settle down on the home front I plan on doing the same as Luke and building some small game pistol bullet loads.

 

[luke moffat]

Is that a Kimber action I spy???
#wellplayed

Possibly

 

[AKMAN]

Is that a #3 contour??

 

[LaGriz]

View attachment 47868 View attachment 47869
robtattoo,
I attached 3 pictures of my Pre-64 Featherweight in .358" win. Have trouble posting pictures on this site. Will have to get this explained some day to my dumb ass.

This "Jewel" is my go-to dark timber and deep woods rifle. She weighs 6.6# un-scoped. The stock is French walnut (I love the wood) and I added a grind-to-fit recoil pad. It shoots a factory 200 grain Winchester Silver Tip in groups 1" or less. Perfectly matched, is the Leica scope. A 1.75-6X 32MM unit (30MM tube) that is awesome in low light. QR mounts are made by Warne, reticle is a heavy-plex with fine cross hair center.The barrel got bobbed by the previous owner (not my choice) to 19" with no real harm to accuracy. Factory ammo is as rare as hens teeth. I don't yet reload, and I'm down to my last 2 boxes of Winchester ammo. have tried two Double Tap loads in 225 AB and 200 Gr Barns. Neither lets me close the bolt with out effort. I'm afraid this will cause increase pressures so I will not use them (for sale or trade). It would probably make more sense to chamber a new build in .338 Federal and get the same "Short action hammer" you are looking for. This thinking is why I would choose a 338-06 over a 35 Whelan. However, if this cartridge floats your boat, go forward with it. Especially if you already reload. Best of luck with the build.

LaGriz

 

[luke moffat]

Is that a #3 contour??

Its the original barrel that came on this Kimber Montana.

 

[robtattoo]

I did toss around the idea of the .338 fed, but it doesn't give me enough of a difference over my .308 to be worth the money & trouble. It was Luke's mention of powder puff pistol bullet loads that got me thinking. I mean, the .35 can literally be a 'groundhog to grizzly' gun!
Thankfully I do reload, but even then, finding .358 bullets is a challenge compared to .30s & 6.5s!
Most of the research I did on .338 also points the fact that although there are a lot of bullets available, 99% of them are designed around the .338-06/.338 Wm & Lm velocity range & wouldn't perform as well as expected in a short action cartridge.
I also read a report, although I can't claim it's truth (but it WAS on the internet so.....) that factory .338 fed loads use a unique powder/primer combination & that it's almost impossible to replicate factory velocities without encountering significant over pressure problems.

Sent from a mountain somewhere, using telepathy.

 

[KClark]

For me it was first and foremost to try something different.

Secondly a 358 win can shoot a 180-200 grainer slightly faster with a 16" barrel than my 308s can with a 20" barrel. Cause I wanted an ubershort handy rifle.

At 358 win distances (sub 300 yards) the extra BC of the .30 cal doesn't matter much if I can drive the same weight bullet slightly faster with 4" less barrel.

Another bonus of the 358 win I just started exploring is being able to shoot pistol bullets that will expand a slow speeds.

I loaded 110 grain pistol bullet to just under 1000 fps and even in a 5.25 scoped rifle the recoil is on par with my 17 HMR for small game and would be simply awesome suppressed small game hunting, far better option for sub sonic with the pistol bullet selection than my worthless 300 blackout.

Also I can load 180 grain pistol bullets at 1800 fps for a load that will still expand just fine at 150 yards to kill deer but have the recoil of less than a 243 shooting a 100 grainer at 3000 fps which would make a handy little low recoil load for a kiddo, but still give you the option to shoot a 225 grain Nosler Partition at 2400+ fps out of a 16" barrel for general hunting for everything upto and including brown bears.

Any 357 Mag handgun hunter would love to get 2000 fps out of a 180 grainer for deer hunting

It does nothing well I admit. But it does cover a lot of bases from full house brown bear loads with 225ers, general game hunting with 160-200 grain rifle bullets. Low speed, low recoil handgun speed pistol bullets load, and even a subsonic load that still expands below 1160 fps

Did I mention its mostly something new to try and fun to see what all you can do with this cartridge?

It is a short light little hammer inside 300 yards...especially when it ends up being 4.5 pounds scoped.

Well thought out and I certainly understand the "something new to try and fun" part.

 

[AKMAN]

I hate it when I stumble into posts that turn into rifle builds. (not really)
Luke - thanks for the info. Now I just need to find a guy with a crappy shooting 84M....

 

[elkguide]

I bought a Ruger 77 in .358 many years ago and it loves the 225 grain Noslers.

Not a super light rifle but very accurate and it does make animals get very wobbly on their feet for a step or two!

 

[luke moffat]

I hate it when I stumble into posts that turn into rifle builds. (not really)
Luke - thanks for the info. Now I just need to find a guy with a crappy shooting 84M....

That shouldn't be too hard to find someone with a "lemon" that lost from "Kimber Roulette"

 

[AKMAN]

That shouldn't be too hard to find someone with a "lemon" that lost from "Kimber Roulette"

Thaaaaats what I'm betting on. Seems the short actions fair a bit better, but still...

 

[ScottinPA]

I might have a box of Swift 250gr 358 bullets if anyone is interested. I got them to try in my 358STA but it shoots 225NP and Gamekings too well to change.

 

[robtattoo]

Jesse got my barreled action today & I should have it back by next weekend. I also spent a couple of hours annealing & resizing a bunch of brass. I'm actually amazed how easy it was to run them through an RCBS die.
Spent a few minutes gaping into the hole.....Looks like you could fit a cat head in there!
I also picked up a couple hundred Speer 220s on sale for break in & fire forming.

Doing a little math, with the barrel weight reduction (I'm still undecided about chopping the length down. It's only 20" anyway) + the Brown Pound'r stock & a Leopold Vx2 it looks like I'm going to be right around 6½lb!

I'm getting further down the damn rabbit hole......

Sent from a mountain somewhere, using telepathy.

 

[robtattoo]

Also, who likes what, powder wise?