I bought a ruger carbine .308 model 77 with the idea of making it a lightweight elk rifle. They only made the shorter barrel for a little while (20")or less and I really like the looks and the feel as is. However I want a .358 any feed back on reboring such a rifle

Skip the rebore, simply rebarrel it. Faster, easier, and less expensive.

That cartridge exists as a commercial caliber. It was a commercial failure, but can be easily chambered for and cases had at your convenience.

If my hunch is correct, you purchased a m77 UL. You can distinguish this particular model by it's black forend tip and extremely thin barrel. This rifle has nowhere near enough barrel wall thickness for a rebore of any kind. If the model is a smaller run I'm not familiar with (with a heavier contour barrel perhaps), the conversion may be OK. The smith you choose can answer that question.

As to reboring in general, IMO it's only warrented when you wish to save the exterior of the existing barrel for it's character, sights, etc.. The good news is that you may end up with an outstanding cut rifled barrel. The bad news is that you may end up with nothing as the smith has no control over the original material used, and it may have problems that were not evident before the conversion.

I would rebarrel in this case.

Gabe