I have a Howa that was re-bored to 358 with a High Tech stock and love it. Very handy timber rifle for blacktail out in California. One of my most accurate rifles. I load with H335 and Barnes 225 TSX. I paired it with a Kahles 1.5-6x42. For me, my favorite rifle inside 200 yards.
.358 Winchester experience anyone?
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Great choice! Excellent Hog n Deer Thumper! I've used the 250gr. Speer on hogs, and the 200gr. Hornady On deer, No trailing required, mine's a rebored .308 Rem.700 22" barrel with muzzle brake, lots of fun and accurate on 8" steel targets out to 400yds. All with an old Simmons 1-5 power.
Cornbinder57
Well-Known Member
I have had great luck with the 358 and Barnes tsx bullets on elk here NE Oregon, great round out to 350-400 max, hits like the hammer of Thor! DRT!
Jeffrey Van Zandt
Well-Known Member
outstanding white tail rifle round I had the Browning LA back in the 80s and it took many white tails after moveing to Alaska I did a 35 whelin for the wife and it works good up here for everything walking
6.5x300 WBY
Well-Known Member
358 BLR IS ONE OF MY BUCKET LIST TO HAVE GUNS.
sodakota
Well-Known Member
I had a BLR 358. I sold it in time of need.
I bought a 308 700 and re-barreled it to 358. Great for anything in the lower 48 I'd guess (I have not tried it on everything, darn it.) I like 200 spire point Hornady and 250 grain Hornady. The best accuracy I get is with H4895 (and Win 748, but I like the H4895 better due to temperature sensitivity issues.) John Barseness had an article in the Handliader comparing the 338 Federal and the 358 Win. He got 100 fps faster, than what I could get with Any other powder, with 250 grain Hornady bullets in his Ruger 77.
I have several .358 molds and they work very well in the 358.
I'm a big 35 fan!
I bought a 308 700 and re-barreled it to 358. Great for anything in the lower 48 I'd guess (I have not tried it on everything, darn it.) I like 200 spire point Hornady and 250 grain Hornady. The best accuracy I get is with H4895 (and Win 748, but I like the H4895 better due to temperature sensitivity issues.) John Barseness had an article in the Handliader comparing the 338 Federal and the 358 Win. He got 100 fps faster, than what I could get with Any other powder, with 250 grain Hornady bullets in his Ruger 77.
I have several .358 molds and they work very well in the 358.
I'm a big 35 fan!
Wonderful rifles, I own 2 of them. One is a old steel receiver, straight stock, and is scoped with a 1.5 x 5 30 mm Leupold with an illuminated reticle.( this is my go to gun )
I also have a lightweight alloy framed take-down with 2 x 7 Burris Scout Scope. Both rifles will group 3 shots into just over 1 MOA. The only fault about these rifles is the trigger pull, which is both heavy and rough. As a part time gunsmith, I was able to get the triggers down to 3.5 lbs. with virtually no creep. Any gunny worth his salt should be able to improve the factory trigger. These light and quick handling rifles excel in heavily wooded hunting areas.
I also have a lightweight alloy framed take-down with 2 x 7 Burris Scout Scope. Both rifles will group 3 shots into just over 1 MOA. The only fault about these rifles is the trigger pull, which is both heavy and rough. As a part time gunsmith, I was able to get the triggers down to 3.5 lbs. with virtually no creep. Any gunny worth his salt should be able to improve the factory trigger. These light and quick handling rifles excel in heavily wooded hunting areas.
sodakota
Well-Known Member
J.B. Got that extra 100 fps isn't TAC.
I recently built a 358 for a Remington 700 SA using a 26" Lilja barrel that I turned down to permit use of a barrel nut (from PTG) threaded and chambered: muzzle brake on it with a good stock: total rifle weight with scope is 10.15 lbs. Fine shooting rifle < 0.5" groups. Load 200g RN SGK, with 50.3g (case full) of IMR 4064, Federal Large rifle primers, 2650fps, using Starline 308 brass, easily necked up to 358, very little shot to shot variation of velocity. It will be my hunting rifle this year for White Tail deer, maybe an Elk in SW Texas and of course feral hogs. With performance near that of the 35 Whelen, I am sureI am going to like this round. I hunt from stands so weight is not an issue. With a little attention it will be an easy shot out to 300yds, but being a guest hunter on a managed lease, I have to be sure that doe is not a button buck and that the eight point is very old so much over 150yds it just too far away to be sure. Hitting a potentially trophy young buck or a trophy buck is a major NO NO which might cost my son his trophy deer for the season...
I have hunted with 358 since the early 70's and never had to trail deer very far.As another person said DRT!
The only animal I had to trail more than 4-5 feet was a 210 pound boar with a less than perfect shot but only went 25 to 30 yards.
A bear shot with a 200 gr Hornady ran 5 feet and tumbled.
I have never owned a short action rifle that killed as well as the old 358 win.
My Browning BLR likes AA 2520 but I recently tried TAC and its my new powder for 358 and a bit faster at 2590 fps and AA2520 only got 2460 fps.All 358's don't have to be blistering fast to kill beyond belief.
I wish I had kept that old Ruger 77 358 but a very close friend wanted so badly and traded me an older Smith&Wesson mod 29 for it.It wore a Leupold 1-6 vxlll as my BLR has.
I have heard of folks killing animals at 350 yards but I have only killed animals out to 200 yards on a pipe line.
You will love the 358 Win and wonder why its not the most popular round in the whole world!
Just my 2 cents.
Old Rooster
The only animal I had to trail more than 4-5 feet was a 210 pound boar with a less than perfect shot but only went 25 to 30 yards.
A bear shot with a 200 gr Hornady ran 5 feet and tumbled.
I have never owned a short action rifle that killed as well as the old 358 win.
My Browning BLR likes AA 2520 but I recently tried TAC and its my new powder for 358 and a bit faster at 2590 fps and AA2520 only got 2460 fps.All 358's don't have to be blistering fast to kill beyond belief.
I wish I had kept that old Ruger 77 358 but a very close friend wanted so badly and traded me an older Smith&Wesson mod 29 for it.It wore a Leupold 1-6 vxlll as my BLR has.
I have heard of folks killing animals at 350 yards but I have only killed animals out to 200 yards on a pipe line.
You will love the 358 Win and wonder why its not the most popular round in the whole world!
Just my 2 cents.
Old Rooster
Hand Skills
Well-Known Member
greenejc
Well-Known Member
In the new Hodgdons reloading manual, IMR 3031 will give you over 2600 fps with a 200 grain Hornaday Spiitzer. I shoot the .358's big brother, the .35 Whelen. Believe me, the 200 grain bullet from the .358 is a small sledge hammer, and gives you an effective range of around 350 yards. I rely on the Sierra 225 grain for deer, and it shoots flat enough for shots out to 550 yards in the Whelen. MV is over 2700fps. You can get around 2450 with it. Still a good 250 yard load. Varget, IMR 4320 and IMR 4895 should be good, too. You might look in the Speer #15 manual and the Lee manual for more info. Like I said, I use the Whelen, but it looks like 358 guy has excellent advice and he should know. I use the Whelen because my shots range from very close to past 600 yards. The Whelen when loaded properly will do that. Welcome to the wonderful world of the .35's. You'll like that .358 Win.
greenejc
Well-Known Member
Near as I can tell, anyone who has ever used the .358 Win or the .35 Whelen to kill game has fallen in love with them. I've never lost a deer shot with the Sierra .358 225 grain Gameking using the Whelen. And most of them were DRT. None made it farther than 20 or 30 yards, and that was dragging their noses in the dirt and snow, pushing with their hind legs. Shots through the chest just behind the legs tended to paralyze the front legs.
