Hello.

Some of you may not know, but I own the factory tooling for the Winchester 88 / 100 magazines.

We are currently in the process of making NEW 358 magazines for the Model 88.

In order to do this properly I need some input regarding what ammo is used in these rifles. Now that it appears that Winchester has dropped this amo, most people will be reloading, If they were not before.
This information is needed so we can check the function of the magazine and follower before we offer them for public sale.

Basically I need to know what is the most commonly used bullet, if is a roundnose 200 grain, or a spitzer 225 grain.

We hope to have these magazines available some time the middle of the summer.

Thank you.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith
www.wisnersinc.com

Jim This may be of limited help as my 358 is a Savage 99. However the 200 gr Hornady spire pt is "THE" bullet in my rifle. In my opinion the RN 200 gr bullets are designed for the tubular magazine 35 Rems. The 358 Win has enough more velocity that the spire pt makes it more than a 125 yd rifle. The 225 spitzers are more of the same. Make that magazine as long as possible to accomodate loaded rounds as long as possible that will cycle through the action.

The tooling for these magazines was made in about 1957. These are the common magazine with the deeper two step bottom.

The normal 358 magazine encountered is the old flat bottom one.
Winchester had made a rebumping die to flatten the side divets that the shoulder of the cartidge engages.
Sad to say this die was lost years ago.

With the tooling we have and the 243/308 magazines that the tooling produces. We will have to reach in from the bottom before the cover is attached, and recut .020" from the inside of these shoulders to allow the neck of the 358 to clear properly. Also the current follower is of a slighlty differnet shape than the older stamped follower. So we will have to remachine the new follower slightly to allow better feeding.

This is why the input as to what bullets are being used the most in this caliber.

The inside length of the magazine is 2.875" so the longest you can reload is to about 2.825 and still feed well.

The new magazines will be stamped 358 which the old ones were never stamped.

We are not trying to create any old fake magazines rather a good using magazine for this rilfe and caliber.
What we are seeing is that a good number of the 308's with worn barrels are now being rebored out to 358.
Thus making a steady market for a magazine that we hope to fill.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

I've been trying to remember the last time I saw a M100 in 358Win, or a rebarrel, but have no idea. Maybe 10 years since I saw a M88 afield and I think it was a 308Win. So, I can't help on that.

Bullets used by the people I know who have had 358Wins, including myself, are the 180gr and 220gr Speers, along with the 200gr RN and 200gr SP Hornady bullets. I don't remember anyone I know trying any of the Plastic Tip bullets, but I'm sure I've seen posts in the past where people have done so.

And there is a fellow who changes his "name" a good bit, so it is hard to know when he posts. His favorite Black Bear bullet is a 250gr Hot-Cor in his BLR, or it used to be.

The folks I know typically Seat to the Cannelure and don't do a lot of Testing at various depths.

Best of luck with the Magazines. One of those rifles without one is pretty much useless.

Jim years ago I made the mistake of giving my Brother in Law my Mod 88/308. I had fallen in love with a Ruger 77 in .358 Win. The prefered bullet for me was the Hornady 250 grain RN over 45 grs of H335. I had tried some of the light weights and the results were too much bloodshot meat. Especially with the 180 Speer, of course I loaded way hotter in my wayward youth! If i was shooting this cartridge today I would almost certainly load the 225 Spitzer style bullets, most likely with V V 135.

I have some 280 gr cast and three boxes of old Hornady 275 gr RNs. I don't know where I will need them as my bulk Remington 200 Gr RN and SPs have been almost entirely bang-flop loads. As to cannelures you can buy the Corbin cannelure tool to make a shorter or longer length outside the neck. I have used it on my home swaged bullets. J Wisner good luck. I hope you do well with these magazines. There has to be a market for them for the reasons you quoted. Packy

As luck would have it, I was digging through some assorted "stuff" today and found a new Weaver Base for a M88/M100.

Amazing. Maybe it was trying to tell me something.

J Wisner when did you hear about winchester not making factory 358 ammo . I spoke with a winchester Tech about a month ago and according to him the ammo and brass is seasonal and will only be manufactured in late summer once a year.

Tanoose

I was going to ask the same question, it well known by .358win fans that the winchester factory load, and empty brass is seasonal, and it seems to go pretty quick.

The average price for a box of twenty is around 30bucks which is crazy, this is why the .358 is a hand loaders round. The 200gr Remington S.P. bullet is very cheap and accurate as well as stout enough for any deer sized critter.

I would have to say that the 200gr spitzer is the bullet of choice for most .358 win shooters. But i wouldnt limit the magazine for this bullet i would make the mag big enough to load a 250gr spitzer in.