Hi I've shot a .358 in a Savage 99-358 since the seventies and think it is one of the most effective hunting rigs ever made.. But these days I only use it for elk in timber where longish shots are not going to happen. Back when, I lived in California, I used it a lot for wild pigs, and I have shot some deer with it.
Now my son, and I use it too, has a Model 7 in 7mm-08 and it has also proven to be a very effective round for deer anyway, as that is all we have shot with it thus far..
I think if one is going to have one rifle, the 7mm-08 would be a little more versatile IMHO.. Just have to decide what you are going to do with yours the most.
If you get to the point where you're lookin at loads for the .358 I got some that worked well in mine..
Posts: 277 | Location: Grants Pass, OR | Registered: 10 October 2004
I had a Browning lever in 358 winchester with the steel action. I like the cartridge alot. the rifle was well made but the stock design wasn't the best as I thought kicked a lot more than it should. I liked the 250 grain Speer Spitzer for a bullet. one of these days I will have a Ruger #1 in 358
Posts: 110 | Location: Minden , Nebraska | Registered: 23 July 2004
I would think that it would be a excellent idea. I've killed lots of game and targets with a 7mm-08. I've recently had a 358 win made and love it. Please tell me what you thinking of. I might want one. Bruce
Posts: 426 | Location: Ticonderoga NY | Registered: 19 March 2004
At a local gunshow I had a hearbreaker passing up a Pre-'64 Model 70 barreled action in .358, taken out of a featherweight a few years back, I was putting some cash aside so my girlfriend wouldn't find out, damn thing was $75 too much... I can't think of a better rifle for heavy timber black bear and moose/elk.
Russ Haydon is building a 7-08 for me on a 700 action and a shilen ss bar. i would use the 7-08 for deer in more open country and calling coyotes but i think the 358 would be nice for my whitetail hunting in idaho where 200yds would be a very long shot most shots are 100yds or less.
I did this exact thing with a 7-08 Savage Scout using a 24 inch Adams and Bennett 358 bbl. Because of the unique lock ring design on the Savages, headspacign is simple...it took less than 20 minutes to swap bbls the first time.
The 358 shoots so well, I hesitate to put the 7-08 back on, so the above advice about using a 243 as the other bbl makes sense. The combination of a 243 and a 358 win is about as perfect as you can get. For plinking the 358 with 5.5 grs of tightgroup and 158 gr 357 pistol bullets is too much fun to be legal...I have shot many, many one hole 100 yd groups with this load and you can see 'em hit the target.
Posts: 1111 | Location: Afton, VA | Registered: 31 May 2003
Quote: anyone have any experience with the 358 win.? thinking about a switch barrell 7mm-08 and 358win. ya or na?
Oh, Ja!
I had one in a Browning BLR. It was a 1 MOA shooter, despite being a lever action without a 1-piece stock. Even with a 20" barrel, it shot the Speer 250-grain spitzer at 2420 FPS with 51.5 grains of WW 749 and Fed .210 primers.
The only game I ever shot with it was whitetail deer, BUT I thought it would have been a better elk/moose rifle than a deer rifle - most bullets I used just went through deer without even getting started expanding! This was before Nosler started making .35 caliber Partition bullets, which would probably expand BETTER with the light resistance a deer provides.
In sort, the .358 is a classic round of great capability. Think of it this way. A .375 H&H fires a 300 grain bullet at 2500 FPS or so. The .358 Win. shoots a bullet that is ONLY 50 grains lighter, at over 2400 FPS! Of course the .375 is more powerful. But not by much!
BTW, a lot of people think of the .358 as a short-range rifle - it is much more than that! For example, using the 250-grain Speer, if you zero it at 225 yards, it will be only 3.8" high at the max. heigth, and only 5" low at 275 yards. This is plenty flat enough for shooting elk or moose out to 300 yards, where it is only -8"!
A buddy was walking back to his farmhouse in Western PA in the pouring rain. A buck trotted out into a field that measured 240 yds away. He took an offhand shot at it. Some would say it's too far but the 180 gr Speer from his Ruger 358 hit the deer in the chest and it fell dead right there. He was astounded.
I agree with all of Eldeguello's observations also.
