I've never heard a shot go off when shooting at game. But stock length and fit is important ! A short bolt action is a fine idea but you will be much happer with a lever rifle, Buy an old beater Model 88 win and have it rebored or rebarreled. Or find a Browning blr 81, not the new one. Once you shoot a little game with one you will wonder why you ever used anything else. A guide friend Arnold Holmes in Sask. usehas used one for years and won't use anything else. The number of Moose,elk and bear he has taken with it is astonishing. I've killed 30 bear with mine, and never had to track one !

Actually in my experience somehow that extra 2" is noticed and add another 2" and its a PIA. I am talking brush/timber rifle. When I get into an alder thicket a 24" barrel seems about 4 feet long, it must be a magical transistion or something.

My question would be with this gun whats your odds of ever shooting over 125 yds? If it is rarely or never why are you even worried about a loss of 60-70 fps when you are using a heavy 35 cal bullet? But I guess I am being just as stubborn on my 7mm project, and trying to get another 100 fps.

Ruger 77 w/ 22" and it works fine in the brush. I'm kinda in Bwanabe's camp on this one...2" isn't going to hinder you, and I hunt some really thick crap some days. That said, it won't hurt to go short either. I think the Encore/Contender pocket rifle concept has illustrated that adequately. Only thing to consider as the velocity drops off though is bullet construction. Although I've heard reports of the Hornady 250's having unreliable expansion at lower velocities I've not had the experience. My preferred bullet for the .358 is the Nosler 225 Partition though, and they will perform nicely at lower speeds.

Alright, fine. I'll dissent. Ask me, by the same logic, that 2" on the end simply won't be noticed. The 358 does not have "power to spare," so why not leave it a little room to burn the powder?
I'm sure a 16" bbl would kill, but if it were mine, I'd go 22" simply b/c of no reason not to.
But that said, I'm sure you'll get by with 20" and if you like the short-and-sweetness of it, that may mean more to you than 60fps.

I have 2 rifles in .358 Win. The first is a Ruger 77RS carbine with an 18.5" barrel; the second is a custom Tikka with a 24" barrel. I have never had a problem carrying either in the woods/brush. You could split the difference and go with a 21" barrel. I would suggest that you go with a 1-12" twist barrel as I have found that the Ruger with its 1-16" twist has trouble stablizing some 250 grain bullets.

Last spring I had a friends M77-1 358W to work on. He had the barrel shortened to 19". It was not shooting well and the problem seemed to be that the headspace was just too much and some other things.

I did not like the barrel that short. The velocites were 75 fps less than the same loads shot in my .358's. Somehow this was important to me.

If it's not going to have a front sight put on right off then order it 22" and try it out. It's easy to shorten a barrel.

Yesterday @ a gun show I picked up a little H&R handi-rifle in 280 remington. Once I got it home I was quite stunned to discover that it actually has a 26" tube!! I wouldnt have guessed that by looking at it. That makes a couple rifles I have that are quite light on the rear end but with plenty barrel to give it lots of poop and ballance things out.



The point is that since the rifle is already lightweight, a little more barrel might actually be a good thing, and it seems to be the general consensus that a little extra bbl weight helps in aiming.



In the end its just a matter of personal preferance really, Ive packed some 9+ lb. rifles with 24" bbls through some pretty thick brush. Granted the stubby ones are just a little eaysier, but I think it is an over emphasized benefit. I value a rifle with a good ballanced feel over all of the rest of it including the ballistic advantage of the longer bbls.



One more thing you might consider is that a 358 loaded up with some 250 gn bullets is going to let you know that you aint shootin the old 308 anymore! And going from a 20" to a 18" tube as such might give you a pretty good jolt.



If it were mine I would probably make it a 22". Thats what I consider short.

I have a Winchester M70 Featherweight in 243 going to the 'smith this Thursday for conversion to 358Win. In my view 20" is a little short particularly if the original barrel profile is used, I definately don't like muzzle light rifles and avoid them at all costs. I've decided to stick with a 22" barrel for my 358Win, but just can't decide whether to use a No2 or No3 profile.
Cheers...
Con

My trusty computer says you will get the same efficiency from a 20.77 inch bbl in .358 as a 24 inch bbl in .308. Cutting the .358 to 20 inches will give you an INCREASE in efficiency over a 22 inch .308. ENJOY!!

With the .358 Win., believe me, the 20" is 'all right"!! I had a 20" BLR, and it shot three 250-grain Speer spitzers into 1" @ 100 yards, at 2420 FPS using 51.5 grains of WW 748!

I had a Savage 99a with a 22"bbl it balanced and shot well,l I also had a Win.88 in .358(rebored from .308) with a 22" bbl. Then I decided I would cut the Win bbl to 20 inches, Ruined the balance of the rifle and in comparison to the 22"bbl lost 70 fps.
I have hunted many years now with a Blr81 in .358 and shot a lot of bears with it, it has a 20"bbl and I get 2318 fps with a .250 grn speer.
I just bought a model 88 win in .308 22'bbl and I'm sending it to norm Johnson to be rebored to .358 win. So I've come full circle. The 20" works fine but I just want a little more vel.
I shot a huge black bear June 5th with the little BLr 20" bbl and it hit the ground so hard it almost bounced.
A 22'bbl seems to balance a short action rifle a little better, my browning seems muzzle light with the 20"bbl But, don't let anyone tell you a .358 is marginal for black bear ! I've shot too many of them, along with moose, elk, hogs, etc to know better.

I'd be more concerned about stock fit, but pick whatever length balances best. You'll hit better and faster, which will more than make up for any difference between one length or another.

Also, a short barrel is a LOT louder than a slightly longer one, especially in a hot-loaded high pressure cartridge like the 358. Hope this helps, Okie John.

20" should work just fine for what you intend. I've seen 35 whelens that were shortened to 18.5" and shot great. An animal inside of 150yds isn't going to mind the little bit of velocity loss anyway.

Your on the right track . i am sure there will other's chiming in that would like to see a longer barrel
but from one brush hunter to another 20 Inch's will work
fine . the barrel lenght is not the real issue it's the
site you have on top the rifle are ya going to use quick
peep site's or the normal open V site's
the quick peep work well but i stayed with the normal open
V site .

I'm going to get my .308 rebarreled for .358 and am wondering about barrel length. The big issue is that the rifle is a Winchester model 70 ranger compact which currently has a 20 inch barrel. I want to use it as a woods rifle, for game up to bear, elk and maybe canadian moose. Should I go up to 22 inches, or will 20 be alright? I want to get decent performance out of the gun, but I don't want it to be too big to walk through the brush with. Recommendations...?