I have been wondering peoples experiences with this cartridge. How well does it do?

As my boy used to say when he was two: "BOOM! Fall Down!"

Makes nice big holes in animals, cheap to shoot, easy to load for. HTH, Dutch.

I am excited about dropping the first animal with mine - it will be a hog next month, I hope!

Well for shooting big game at close to medium range it just doesn't get any better.. Just put a bullet from a .358 where it's supposed to go and watch what happens..

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! IMO, it's one of the most underrated catridges around. It'll do anything you ask it to do within 250 yds, and do it with finess. I prefer 225 grain Sierra BTSPs.

I have my dad's old original Win M88 in 358. Everything pointed at with it has gone down...hard. Mostly deer, but moose too. The lone factory loading is pitiful, and it requires handloading to get full potential.

I've found the Nosler 225gr Partition to be the perfect bullet. Nosler redesigned this bullet with a different ogive making the bullet shorter, about 7-8 years ago, to give more powder room in the 358.

Very underrated cartridge, having real world range and power much more that the "brush" cartridges it gets lumped in with.

I'm still at the load development stage of things ... its recoil I'm finding is grossly overstated. The 200gr factory load is very mild, and even a stout 250gr load is very manageable. Both have a useable trajectory to 250m. My M70 still has its hard rubber red pad, place a Decelerator on it and I'd be confident of anyone shooting it comfortably. Pistol projectiles with a bit of Blue Dot behind them will take a rabbit to 100m and make cheap practice loads.
This cartridge definately deserves another go as a factory chambering... you dont find them secondhand for a reason!
The "short" .35s have a real place in my view and at the moment we seem to be seeing a "mini" revival but unfortunately only with the 350RemMag. Ruger have chambered the M77, and Remington sound like they're preparing another rifle to hit the market. Wish either woudl do a 358Win whilst they're at it.
Cheers...
Con

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch:
As my boy used to say when he was two: "BOOM! Fall Down!"

Makes nice big holes in animals, cheap to shoot, easy to load for. HTH, Dutch.

Pretty much says it all.

I, too, find the recoil with a 225 grain bullet at about 2500 fps to eb rather mild - similar to my 7x64 with 160 grain bullet.

The 358Win. is one of the best medium range cartridges ever made. I was fortunate enough some years ago to come onto mine, a Ruger 77RLS
carbine. It wears a Leupold 1-4x (Vari-X,II). It's fairly lightweight, and VERY accurate. And, I'm using the Winchester 200gr. factory stuff. The action has been bedded, and the barrel free floated. Half inch or less groups at 50yds., and 1-1/2" or less at 100yds.
For deer hunting, couldn't say it any better than as noted above, "BOOM - fall down!"

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch:
As my boy used to say when he was two: "BOOM! Fall Down!"

Makes nice big holes in animals, cheap to shoot, easy to load for. HTH, Dutch.

RIGHT! If anything, my experience has been that it is overkill on whitetails. Fine cartridge, deserving of greater popularity.

It is a kissing cousin to the 35 Whelen, and I have used both.

With 250 gr Hornady RN, bang... plop. Over and over.

It is not a long range weapon, but in the bush, it is tough to beat it.

I've owned a number of them. For deer, I load it to 35 Rem ballistics with a 200 gr bullet (like the Hornady SP) and consider myself set for the sub 150 yd deer hunting... Very decisive deer slayer...

My two former .358's are the two rifles I miss the most. First was a Ruger M77 tang saftey, bro-in-law trashed it badly. Then a Ruger #1 which started as a .357 Mag, then .357 maximum, then a .358 Win. Now that was a rifle. I must be the stupidest memebr here now to think on it for getting rid of these two...

Guys:
I would LUV to have a BLR 358 Win. for where I hunt. Our rifles were acquired by my father during the 60's to 80's when ner' but velocity mattered. Nothing we use in Western PA for deer is at all inappropriate, but, if you saw where I hunted, my 7X57's 140 gr loads would seem about as applicable to the task as a 7mm STW. Deer here live and move through wood, brush and pole timber. Even the big woods are replete with bullet catchers, all getting in the way of a clean shot. I don't know that I could ever SEE anything at 150 yards. I long for a 358 Win. BLR 81 or a Bolt action with similar handling/carying/shooting characteristics. Concerning how fast they move, I replied to an ad in the paper for a 358W. BLR 2 days after is was posted and the rifle was gone. Next week, a 358 BLR showed up for sale ($600) in the "Weekend Shopper" or some such named thing. Hmmm... Wonder where THAT rifle came from, eh? As much as I like my M77 7X57, a better choice would be my Mom's Rem. Mohawk 600 in 308. Seriously... There are several "perfect" eastern deer rifles: those that strike the perfect balance of what they need to do, all around, all day in most any situation. The 358, (along with the 308, 7X57, 7-08 and some others) is one of that small handful.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Lou:
ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! IMO, it's one of the most underrated catridges around. It'll do anything you ask it to do within 250 yds, and do it with finess. I prefer 225 grain Sierra BTSPs.

That's exactly the way I feel about the .35 Whelen.

A friend of mine came bear hunting with me 25 years ago. He bought a Browning BLR in 358 for the task. He shot a Black Bear on one hunt. He never fired it again. About 6 months ago he came by and handed it to my 16 year old son as a gift. It was poorly taken care of but never more than 50 or 60 rounds through the barrel. I spruced it up, had the stock cut and a new limb saver recoil pad put on and it's ready to go. My son is fired up and can't wait to shoot it. We just haven't found the time yet. I'm sure once he shoots it he will never give it up.

I have a BLR in 358 and love the gun it is just plain fun. I have not had the opportunity to kill with it yet though. I do plan on shooting a doe in january with it however. You guys are gonna hate me but I bought mine at a small gun show in CO (Durango I think) It was one of two that I handled that day! I payed 225 for the more expensive one because it had rings on it, both were in good shape.

quote:

I payed 225 for the more expensive one because it had rings on it, both were in good shape.

You're right - I hate you

Everyone should get a deal like that once in a while!

...so how many of you have taken the time to write the gun makers asking for a nice lightweight .358 Winchester...I'll bet none of you. I've written Kimber, Ruger and Remington...if just 20 people all wrote maybe someone would make one... At least there is one company making a .358, but no lightweight bolt guns...

So for now I just shoot my M600 .350 Magnum and keep looking for a nice clean reasonaly priced M600 Mohawk .308 that will become a doner rebore rifle...

Bob

The little 358 is about as good as it gets for a meat getter. It also shoots all of the .357 pistol bullets well with reduced loads and is a fine 150 yd varminter. Propably packs more punch per ft-lb of recoil than ANY cartridge ever developed.

I dropped my deer with my Savage 99 in 358 this Year. It was the first animal I've killed with it. Sure was impressed with the results.

In this life there is little chance of finding a more practical and lethal cartridge. The bore seems fond of accuracy regardless of action and recoil trends toward mild though it has enough thump to let you know it's dispatched the messenger. I've seen nothing exercise more authority on game...equal perhaps, but no better. 250 grains of Hornady is fine, the 225 Partition is perfect. I would not shrink from any animal in North America with the cartridge in my gun, and very few in Africa. Beware however of the 16" twist sometimes given such rifles, it isn't the best for the long spitzers. 12" twist is more better.

I had one built on a model 77 ruger action, tang safety, was a 308, restocked it with a thumbhole laminate stock. Very pretty electric blue. Barrel is a douglas #2 cut down to 19". Had the metal re blue with a finish that's supposed to be rust proofed/ I think it's just powder baked but it was free. Killed one deer with it Bang/ flop Total cost for making gun including 308 rifle $1050 minus $30 I sold the take off barrel for on AR, so grand total $1020. I plan to use it for my elk hunting trips that I take in Idaho. I've shot 200 gr hornady's and 225 nosler bullets sofar and get good accuracy. around 1" at 100 yards ( Rifle shoots better then me). In fact I may have a model seven Rem that I just aquired rebarreled into 358 also.

I wanted a one in a light bolt gun pretty badly so had to have one built on a M70 Classic Compact. It makes a neat little gun that handles like a grouse gun and makes everything I hit with it very dead very quickly. I also found that the recoil was really not as bad as people (gun writers) seemed to indicate. I use the Speer 250 gr. Grand Slam loaded to about 2300 fps. Shoots flat enough to hit as far away as I can see them and hits with authority.

I saw the rebarreling post and BOING!, it hit me. My dad has a FN actioned 308 and a Rem Mohawk 600 in 308. No reason for both, right? the FN is a standard action, of course. Not sure which one to do it to, but I'm thinking, when I get some $$$, that one of those 2 should become a Win 358. I had to alter the Mohawk, as it has become something of a cult classic. Maybe the FN would "like" to be a 350 Rem Magnum or a Win 358. What is your input on this, guys?

What I find ironic is there is all of this praise for the 358 Win (and deservedly so) and yet no one seems to want to embrace the new 338 fed cartridge.... How much difference will there be between them really? Same potential on all fronts with a slightly higher BC, what is so wrong with that?

It seems to me that at least we may have finally come full circle with the magnum craze. It is no problem finding a chambering that will kick the living snot out of you, and now there seems to be a trend toward refinement of cartridges that should have happened 30 years ago as opposed to the more is better theory.

The 358 is indeed underrated, as are a good many other chamberings.

Wstrnhuntr

The 338 Fed looks like a good one, the only sticking point that i see is that .338" bullets are usually long for caliber. A 250gr .358" bullet will be seated a lot less into the case than a 250gr .338" bullet. Besides that small thing no animal in the world could tell the difference with proper shot placement.

I see the 225gr bullets as optimum for the .358 win and its case capacity. I would imagine a good 200gr bullet in the 338 Fed would be just about a perfect compromise of speed and S.D.

I just shot a spike this year with my BLR 81' light-weight in .358 win, with a hand loaded 200gr Hornady S.P. first kill for the rifle and the .358 win. Unfortuantely the scope on this rifle was off and my shots were not really even close but i did manage to get the animal and kill him quickly. The bullet was tested to the extreme, after punching through the rear femur and continuing into the body cavity.

The next day i went back to where i gutted the deer, to see if any bear were around. After looking at the remains i found the heart, which i normally eat, but left on this deer.Sure enough i saw something imbedded in the heart and then proceeded to pull out the remaing jacket, which had shed the core and ripped apart. Talk about bullet failure! This failed bullet ended up in the heart after a rear raking shot on the femur, through paunch, and into the chest cavity. All that with a cheap bullet of light weight, imagine what a partition or TSX would do?

A rechamberd M760 or M7600 from 35Rem to 358Win makes a heck of a deer/bear rifle. It's my new favorite "baby Whelen".

I have used the 358 Win with the 200 gr Silvertip and the 180 Speer since 1966. It's more effective than anything out of the 30-06 or 7mm RM out to 200 yds on whitetails.

Some 358's

I just cant get one on a kimber action out of my mind. whats wrong with me!!!!!!!!

Hey...a Kimber Montana .308 rebored to .358Win

Heck of an idea! Might be a little stout with 250's though...

WN

Well, I did not want to build a 358 to my liking-as say a M70 short barrel-perhaps mannlicher like the custom shop made them (for 2-3k), or wait on a 338/08, so darned I sprung for a 350 Ruger Stainless.

I think the 210 is to the 338 Federal what the 225 is to the 358-the heaviest for case capacity and seating depth and still get the job done but I guess you can go heavier.

My 350RM will get 225 for less recoil but I may try some 250's.

Sure don't look forward to extra recoil but I wanted a bolt 358 or 338/308 and this is less money than a barrel job and I can 'down load' if desired.

Oh, my new Marlin 357 is SO much fun to blast milk jugs off hand up to 150 yards. 200 and further those blunts fall out, but you would be amazed at how fast it gets to 150 and drop is not bad at all.

Getting to really enjoy my new experience with 35's

Virginia 7, I have had four .358's.Savage 99,Browning model 81,Ruger 77,and a Remington custom shop 35 Rem that I rechambered to .358.It was my understanding that Ruger made about 500 of the 358 Model 77's.Mine had a soft firing pin and cost me a nice buck.Sold it the next day.It also has the loudest safety of any rifle that I have owned.
http://www.shooting-hunting.com

I have had a burning desire for a Savage 99 in 358 for quite a while. If I find a nice one, I will mount a lyman peep sight on it and work up 2 loads for it. The first will be a big game load using the 225 gr. Nosler partition. This should work nicely for any north american game animal, except big bears. ( It would probably feel like a red ryder in a Kodiak alder thicket!) The other load would probably be a 180gr pistol bullet for plinking, small game and other cheap thrills.

quote:

Originally posted by smallfry:
I have been wondering peoples experiences with this cartridge. How well does it do?

Hit a feral tomcat in the chest with one, with a 140 grain .357 mag pistol bullet at near 3000 ft. per sec.........does real well. Looks like some kind of dissection exercise from a freshman biology class. Hit a eight point buck that's running straight away, about four inches under the root of the tail, with a 250 gr. Silvertip, and watch him dive onto his nose...stone dead! .358s work real well..Grant.

I think you'd be surprised to know that .358 Winchester's are also highly coveted in Germany.

When one of the few rifles in this cartridge that exist here go on the market they are quickly scarfed up; mostly in Browning BLR's as fast, hard-hitting rifles for Wild Boar Driven Hunts.

Sort of a .358/9.3 Short - for those that use them - they swear by the cartridge!

Gerry, I have never come across a .358 in Europe, but I can certainly see the merits of the idea. What bullets would people use, and what about components (brass) for sale??

- mike

The .358 just doesn't measure up to the Whelen!

mho

Brass? Take some .308Win and run them through the .358Win resizer...Walla!

WN