Why not the .358 Winchester for Iowa Whitetails?

[Bluefish]

Took a nice Iowa buck tonight with a 358 JDJ. Similar to a 358 win, but lower pressure so it works in a contender. 160g Cutting Edge ER Raptor at 2700 mv. First bang flop at about 150 yards.

Lots of good 35 cal cartridges out there. Finding a rifle already chambered in them is the issue. CVA does a nice single shot in 35 whelen. Ssk50/contender can handle the 350 legend, 360 buckhammer, and the 358 jdj. Encore can handle those as well as the 358 win and 35 whelen, almost the same except a few 100 fps difference. For some reason the 06 case is a good fit for the 35 cal. Lots of good powders work including varget. Henry does 360 BH levers and single shot. You can do a custom barrel from preferred barrel.

 

[brianwagan]

When Iowa changed to .35 and larger I did alot of research. I ended up going with 35 Whelen. The reasons I went with 35 Whelen were, I had a .270 as a doner rifle, 35 Whelen ammo was more available, and better performance at longer range. Gunsmith tried to talk me into .358 but Whelen just made more sense to me. I haven't seen any .358 win on shelves here in Iowa but 35 Whelen is available.

 

[Luke S]

I loved my .358 and I could tell all ki ds of stories about it making things dead (bears, moose, caribou).

Bullet selection and keeping velocity high enough for reliable expansion is an issue. Supposedly Cutting Edge bullets open below 1800 fps. I got their 160 grain bullets and shot two into moose at close range. They worked fine but not enough of a sample size to say much. They were super accurate in my rifle though. IF the do reliably expand at lower velocity I'd say they would work well.

A 35 Whelen would probably be worth a look IF you are caliber restricted and IF you want to shoot farther. But I do want think you need it for any other reason. My .358 was really overkill for most things.