The Accurate Reloading Forums
Re: .356 Winchester

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14 November 2004, 08:22
vip
Re: .356 Winchester
Reloading data can be found in Speer #11, Accurate #2, and from Hodgdon. Cases are made by wichester and in desperation I guess can be formed from 444 cases. My 356 likes 200gr RN bullets and blc-2. I found though that this caliber MUST be crimped and the min oal is 2.530" and max oal is 2.560". There are few 35 caliber bullets with the cannelure that allows this. After the introduction of this caliber Speer moved thier cannelure to accomodate this. The older Speer bullets have the cannelure too low on the bullet which makes them too long when crimped. I bought a cannelure tool from C-H tool so I can use the 200gr Hornady round nose. Maybe if you use the Lee factory crimp die for the 358 (you use 358 dies to reload this caliber but use the 30-30 shell holder) you can use other bullets. I found out about the crimp the hard way when I loaded the magazine and fired the rifle, the uncrimped bullets in the magazine became longer to the point that they wouldn't feed anymore. What a pain in the butt unloading the rifle through the loading gate. This is a great caliber especially with a low powered scope for woods hunting where you may come into small openings. Good luck! Paul.
13 November 2004, 16:19
MED
If you can get your hands on a Speer Reloading Manual No. 11 it has the data on the 356. The 356 I have fires the Speer 220gr flat point at an average 2250 fps.

Mike D.