I went to the gun range today to shoot the 358 BLR. Things went pretty well. I used some of the cases I had formned into 358 from Remington 308 cases loaded with the Winchester 125 grain HP pistol bullet over 44 grains of IMR 4198 to get on the paper and rough zero at fifty yards. It then took 3 200 grain factory loads to get it just about right at the 50 yard line. Move to the 100 yard line and in two shots had it hitting 2 inches high. 2 3 shot groups ate a hole in the target of around an inch and a half. Recoil with the factory loads is a bit more than my 270 but the BLR is lighter than the 270. I scoped it with a older Weaver 4 power with a thick post reticle. I found some 200 grain Hornady spire points at the range shop and have some 200 grain RNCL's coming from Graf's. Think I'll try IMR 4198 and 3031 under both bullets. The pistol bullets shot pretty good at 50 yards but you could tell they were expanding on the 1/4 inch plywood backing of the target frame and throwing lead smears around the bullet holes.

Sounds like fun. I have two of the older BLRs in .358, one of which I haven't shot yet. Reading your post makes me think I'm wasting my time with other things and should be out shooting.

rickt300: In my .358 BLRs, IMR 3031 in my first choice for the 180 grain Speer Flat Nose and the 200 grain Hornady Round Nose. For recreational shooting, I would highly recommend that you try IMR's SR4759 - this load does very well in mine and produces a noticeably softer recoil:

200 grain Hornady Round Nose

26.5 grains of SR4759

C.O.L. = 2.60 inches

I loaded some 200 grain Hornady Spire points and 200 grain Remington RN corelokts on top of 3031 starting with 45 grains and going to 47 grains where the powder level almost reached the case mouth of cases formed from Remington and Federal 308 brass which are shorter than winchester factory 358 cases. Pressure seemed mild in all loadings and a bit of primer cratering is evident in all loadings from the bottom up but extraction is easy and cases fit right back into the chamber unsized. Factory loadings also exhibit this cratering. Recoil though is up a bit from the factory loads with the 47 grain charge. These were shot into the ground just to test for pressure signs so accuracy will have to be checked sometime later.

Rick
I have always thought the 358 was a real sleeper.
It will be a great deer and pig gun in Texas, perfect for black bear, especially over bait.... Oh, do I hear elk bugling???

By far my best load for my older BLR is 46.5gr IMR3031 with 200gr Hornady RN. Hotter than recommended in the Hornady manual but proven safe in my rifle, with no signs of pressure. It will shoot sub MOA if I have a high power scope mounted. Usually a small 2.5X Leupold sits on top.
It is a joy to carry in the woods. Handles like my shotgun.

This being deer season and my sight in time is on the weekends I will have to wait till I'm not hunting till I sight in for my reloads but the fgactory rounds do seem to be somewhat useful The 200 grain RN dorelokt seems pretty fast opening.

Many believe the .358 is a "short-range" cartridge - it is much more than that. The BLR I had gave the Speer 250-grain spitzer 2400 FPS MV with 2 grains LESS WW748 than Ken Waters' maximum load, and would put 3 shots into an inch at 100 yards.

Considering the fact that the Brits used the .303 for long-grange sniping with a bullet of the same MV as that .358 got (from a 20" barrel), the .358 is good to at least 350 yards, and perhaps a bit more, providing the right load is used in it......

Another 358Win convert! Try Blue Dot with your pistol projectiles ... much cheaper and milder to shoot and you can fiddle with your loads to achieve a very similiar sighting at 100m to your full-powered loads. If you can get a FMJ pistol projectile ... they feed perfectly through most magzines.
Cheers...
Con

Con, FYI my 350 mag Ruger used 158 SJHP from Rem, fed fine, blows the heck out of a jug of water at 200 yds but drops fast after that, would fluff a crow or coyote if you connect!

I took my reloads to thee range sunday. 200 grain Remington RNCL's on top of 47.0 grains of 3031 in mixed brass and 200 grain Hornady Spire points pushed by 45.0 grains of 3031 These hit to the same POI but at least 9 inches higher than the 200 grain factory load zero. Accuracy excellent and recoil up more than a little from the bench compared to the factory loading. The Remington bullet's shorter bearing surface seemed to allow for more powder but the truth is either load will do just fine on deer and hogs on my lease. This coming weekend will be a doe tag filling session and I'll see just what the rifle can do on them.

quote:

Originally posted by Con:
Another 358Win convert! Try Blue Dot with your pistol projectiles ... much cheaper and milder to shoot and you can fiddle with your loads to achieve a very similiar sighting at 100m to your full-powered loads. If you can get a FMJ pistol projectile ... they feed perfectly through most magzines.
Cheers...
Con

I use Unique with reduced loads.

As to reduced loads I really only wanted something to get on paper with so as to not waste my factory ammo. Now Is atill have 25 factory rounds to burn up and 20 rounds each of my reloads to hunt with.