I'm contemplating putting a 358 cal barrel on a Brno 602 .There are various H&H based cartridges such as the 358STA, 358/340 Wby, 358 Barnes,350 Mashburn super mag & 35 Ackley Imp Mag. These will add about 200 fps to anything the 358 Norma can do. Then there is the 404/Rum calibres like the 358 ultra mad Towsley or the 360 Imperial. They likely add another 150 fps. Anyone out there with one of these calibres?? Any comments pro or con. Anyone have a set of dies in one of these calibres they want to part with ? I leaning towards the H&H based rounds. Cheaper ,easier to get brass ,one extra round in the mag. Thanks for any comments

Only Downside is not many make 358 bullets.

Snowman,

Why not let me sell you a 358STA Winchester 70 at a price cheaper than you can build one. PM me if interested.

Sam

As they say in the court: asked and answered.

Rich

Snowman, i have two. One is a 358 Griffin & Howe Improved. Brass is easy to make. I take 340 Weatherby brass and put 25 grains of Unique in, fill the case to the neck with cornmeal and plug the case with toiletpaper. Bang and its made.
The other is a 360 Imperial. With that one i use Norma 404J brass. I neck it down and set the shoulder, fill it up the same as the other and fireform. The i load up a mild load with a bullet and finish fireforming.
The G&H will do 2850fps with a 250 Nosler Partion. The 360 Imperial will 3100fps with the same bullet. Both are great rounds that will take care of anything on our continent.

I was going to throw in the 350 G&H too.
I have never owned one, but I do have some ammo and it is a great looking cartridge proportionally.
Another one to consider is the 350 Rigby magnum although its not based on the H&H case.

My .358x404 IMP will push a 250 grain bullet out at 3100 fps; maybe more? A home brewed muzzle brake was necessary to tame it a little. roger

Express Rifle

just how many 35 cal bullets do you need??

200 horn or 225 sierra for plinking

225 XXX for most hunting

280 swift for brown bear

works for me!!

Dont forget Nosler Accubond 225 grain , high bc in it, very flatshooting,

And Woodleigh 225, 250, 310 RN soft and solid , and 225, 250 and 275 Protected point.

quote:

Originally posted by waterrat:
Express Rifle

just how many 35 cal bullets do you need??

200 horn or 225 sierra for plinking

225 XXX for most hunting

280 swift for brown bear

works for me!!

Very true, not many needed.

quote:

These will add about 200 fps to anything the 358 Norma can do.

Years ago I had a 358Norma I rechambered to 358STA when if first came out. I saw about half of your 200fps forcast. Same 24" barrel.

Sold it and went back to a mannlicher 358Norma.

Let's see, lack of 35 cal bullets.... So bullets from Norma, Sierra, Nosler, Barnes , Hornady, Woodleigh, Swift, Hawk, North Fork, Speer,Remington, Lost River and RWS, among others, aren't enough?

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:

quote:

These will add about 200 fps to anything the 358 Norma can do.

Years ago I had a 358Norma I rechambered to 358STA when if first came out. I saw about half of your 200fps forcast. Same 24" barrel.

Sold it and went back to a mannlicher 358Norma.

Interesting. My load for my 358 NM chrony's at 2780 average with a 250 Speer and 24" barrel. I still left some horsepower on the table. That load was just darn accurate in my rifle.

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My load for my 358 NM chrony's at 2780 average with a 250 Speer and 24" barrel

I was right at 2800 with a 250Part and a 24" and no sign of pressure. In the STA I was just over 2900 but had very flat primers. Of course this is only one data point. With 225s the difference was even less.

I have shot two .358 STA's for several years. Bullet selection is not a problem, you can pick from 185 grain up to 310 grains. My most accurate bullet is the North Fork and they come in 225, 250 and 270 grains. That selection alone would suit my purposes. I have shot a 270 grain North Fork and 280 grain Swift A-Frame 3000 fps plus. I can get more speed with the lighter bullets. One of my barrels is faster than the other by 50 to 100 fps per load. You can buy the brass with the correct headstamp if you look for it. The STA is awesome in my opinion. Good shooting.

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I have shot a 270 grain North Fork and 280 grain Swift A-Frame 3000 fps plus

That is around 100+ over most posted loads for a 250 in a 26". I'm too lazy to go look for Layne's original write up on the STA. In my testing of the STA and STW I always found him a touch optimistic. What is your barrel length. JUst curious because looking after the fact my 24" actuals matched QL real darn close.

Using a 26" QL says you are in the 74,000 range to move a 280 Swift to 3000.

Hey if it works what the heck.

Both of my barrels are 26" and each has a Muzzle Brake. One is a Winchester from their Custom Shop and the other is a Custom also with a Lilja barrel. The Lilja will give the faster speeds on every load. Try RL-22 powder with the Federal 215M primers, it is my magic powder. I have read everyting written about the STA including Layne Simpsons original article, with tweaking I beat them all with no problem. With the North Fork bullets my rifles are real killers of game, when I do my part. Both are super accurate. My son killed a 5X5 Bull Elk at 125 yards, with a 270 grain North Fork. The bullet then traveled another 25 yards and killed a Cow, hitting her in the head. We dug the bullet out of the scull on the opposite side of where she was hit. The bullet still had 91% of it's original weight. Yes, he was tagged for two Elk that year. Good shooting.

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Try RL-22 powder with the Federal 215M primers

I was using MRP pretty much the same thing.

I'll leave the STA to you. My little Mannlicher sends factory 250s downstream at 2750 from a 20" barrel. Don't see any reason I need to hit anything harder than that. If I do I'll go to my 380 or 400.

Glad it worked out for you.

My 35 magnum wildcat idea is just a simple neck up of the 338 Lapua to 35.
At long range you don't need 4 down.

Boomstick ----- I think the Lapua necked up to .358 would be a tremendous round. My son and grandson and I have shot the .338 Lapua for years and have great respect for the case. It would provide another 8 grains or so of powder compacity over the STA, which is quite a lot. The question becomes, how much additional benefit is all that powder gain over and above an already substantial performing cartridge. Thanks for the idea, something to ponder. Good shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by phurley5:
Boomstick ----- I think the Lapua necked up to .358 would be a tremendous round. My son and grandson and I have shot the .338 Lapua for years and have great respect for the case. It would provide another 8 grains or so of powder compacity over the STA, which is quite a lot. The question becomes, how much additional benefit is all that powder gain over and above an already substantial performing cartridge. Thanks for the idea, something to ponder. Good shooting.

Good question! Even though I designed and built the .358 X .404, IMP. I can not give you an honest answer to that question . roger