I am considering the purchase of a new Browning lever, with pistol grip in 358 Win. Any opinions regarding the aluminium action and overall quality and accuaracy potential? I am not a Browning fan, but I like the cartrige and I like lever rifles, especially the Sako Finnwolf. Thanks, Lou

I've got about 250 rounds through mine, most being Hornady and Rem 200 gr PSP's. That being said, the accuracy bullet for me is the Sierra 225 GK. It goes about 2300 f/s for me with Varget into <1" groups--it still has over 1000 fpe at 450 yds if you can deal with nearly 6 feet of drop. The action is actually a steel bolt locking into steel barrel recesses, with an aluminum/aluminium reciever shrouding the whole works--should be plenty strong. Mine continues to function flawlessly and locks up securely. I think this is what Mossberg does w/ their blue-collar Model 500 shotgun and they don't 'splode often enough (ever) to make the papers.

High Slot, thanks for the note. What sope, if any, are you using?

Dr Lou-
I presently have a Burris compact 3-9x on it; ultimately I will move that scope to an M7 and put a Leupold VXII 2-7x33mm on it when funds permit. I bought the gun primarily as a tool to hunt black bear in the Appalachians (mostly drives on mountainsides) and want to keep the rig as compact and snagproof as possible. Should be a dandy 150-200 yd. deer thumper as well. Last year's bear hunt proved that the rig does pack well in the thick stuff.

Tnanks for the info., it's greatly appreciated. Lou

Great rifles, often more accurate than a lever has a right to be. Triggers suck, though. But I guess they do that for pretty much all lever actions??
- mike

Dr Lou

I have a newer BLR 81' light-weight, in .358 win and i think its a winner. It shoots the 200gr Hornady S.P. and 225gr Sierra, to 1" and under.

I mounted a Burris compact 2-7X 26mm obj. scope and it is working well so far. I was looking at the Leupold ultra-light 2-1/2 X fixed scope. It is small and very light, im just wondering if 2-1/2 X is enough magnification.

The BLR, with the 200gr Hornady, is going to be my go to set up this season. I have no doubt that ANY buck or bear would be no problem with this rifle and cartridge.

High slot

I use 51grs of Varget under the 200gr Hornday spire point, which is max, i figure i should be getting around 2,500fps give or take. I thought real hard and long on using the Sierra but i went with the hornady and its higher velocity.

I love the clean burning properties of Varget, plus its one of the extreme, line of powders from Hodgdon, which is temperature insensitive. Imr 4064 and BLC-(2) also did well with both bullets.

I have one of the original BLR's that I purchased about 24 years ago and it wears a Weaver K3. I have taken elk to coyotes with a single shot per animal with no complaints. I have used a variety of powders including, IMR-4064, IMR-4320, H-4895, H-335, H-BLC and probably others I've forgotten. 180 grain bullets can be loaded to exceed 2700 fps and 250 grains at 2300 fps. All in all, an excellent little rifle and cartridge that I think you would be well pleased with.

quote:

Originally posted by fgulla:
High slot

I use 51grs of Varget under the 200gr Hornday spire point, which is max, i figure i should be getting around 2,500fps give or take. I thought real hard and long on using the Sierra but i went with the hornady and its higher velocity.

fgulla,

You are correct--I've chrono'd that load in my gun at 2507 f/s. But my juju has to be right on loading day to fit all that Varget into the case and still seat the bullet. Benchmark and H4895 also work close to this velocity (+/- 50 f/s) and aren't as compressed. AA2520 has plenty of V but the accuracy for me is horrible when compared w/ Varget and Benchmark. I'm with you on the Varget and may have to go back and reshoot some of my 200 gr bullet loads now that the gun is settled in.

If you choose this combination you will be making a great choice. I bought mine for thick stuff hunting of elk here in colorado. No kills yet but am confident in the combination. Like you have already heard the sierra's shoot very well, I am presently working up a load with the Nosler Partition 225's a much tougher bullet for my intended purpose. I have also read alot about the speer 250's. so far my rifle will not group them much better than 2.5" @ 100yds. Thick stuff accuracy ok but hunting here in colorado I may need to have something capable of better groups for those 300yd shots.My rifle is the older steel receiver model with a 20" barrel sporting a Bushnell trophy 3X9 with the circle plx. But I do think a good 2X7 might have been a better choice. Good luck with your purchase and the 358 is a great round.

Thanks for the help. Lou

I have gotten excellent accuracy with 250 Hornady spire points and 200 gr pointed Corelokts. W-748 works well, too.

Dr. Lou - My .358 BLR likes IMR 3031 with the 180 grain Speer Flat Point and the 200 grain Hornady Round Nose. It also does quite well with IMR's SR4759 with both bullets for lighter-recoil recreational shooting. The trigger isn't great but it will still shoot 1" groups on my good days. It has been my go-to whitetail rifle for 24 years now - BLRs just feel right to me.

Hi
Good to see there are still some .358 fans out there.. I've been shooting one in a Sav99-358 since the late '70's.
The .358 is got to be the most awesome brush/close-med range cartridge ever developed, and now with the Nosler Balistic Tip it is every bit a 300 yard gun.

Over the years of chronographing and experimenting with the .358 I've found that it will shoot just about any combination of bullet-powder well enough, but for accuracy and velocity with mine anyway, IMR3031 worked the best with 180 to 200 gr. bullets and for heavier up to 250gr. H-335 is the ticket.
I've always used W-W cases and primers.

As for performance on game, you couldn't ask for anything better..
So good luck with your new .358.. Stop back in and tell us how it's goin...