I'm going to take a Ruger 77 to the smith in the morning to rebarrel to .358 winchester. I was thinking 22" bbl to get a little more vel than from my 20"blr However would 23" work ? don't want to go too long and what would be the proper twist rate ? Also what bbl conture I was looking at douglass but I'm a babe in the woods on this stuff. The offer a #1 and a # 2 also air gaged ? I just want a decent bbl. chrome molly ? He offered to put on a Shaw bbl at a low price but the guys on the forums have convinced me that the shaw bbls are junk. Could use a little help here. Thanks, Carl

A 22" barrel would be the best practical lenglth for a .358 and a 1 n 12 or 1 n 14 twist would be the choices. Douglas is a good barrel. For a contour decide what muzzle diameter you prefer on a 22" barrel and that will give you the contour. A number one would surely be light for a .358 bore. Go to a large gun shop and measure the muzzle diameters on the .338 to .375 bores.

Congrats on a nice rifle to be.

You left out some important considerations--- what are the rifle's uses? How much do you want it to weigh? What handling characteristics are you looking for?

For an open sight swamp rifle I'd take the Douglas #1 and cut it to 20 inches then take the bandsaw to the pistol grip and shorten the forend as I slimmed it down to match the straight grig butt stock.

For a deer/bear stand rifle with a scope I'd take the Douglas #2 cut to 22 inches.

Either way, a one in fourteen twist will stabalize up to 300 grain round nose.....but the Nosler 210 and Barnes X 200 would be my pick and 1-14 is fine for that.

XX air guage Douglas barrels are VERY good barrels. I've never used their cheaper barrels....the few extra dollars are worth it to me.

douglas barrels, past 20" should be contour #3. #2 for 20 or less, as you just run out of barrel (looks in gun safe... YEP)

I've got 358 in 1n10, 12, and 14... the 10 was to shoot 200 gr barnes X, and it does, with scary accuarcy.

jeffe

The 99F's and M-70 featherweights have very thin 22" bbls. The muzzle dia on the Savages is .585" and that's only a 1/8" wall thickness. Now if it shoots that's all that counts. But my experiance is that thin barrels are not as stable as thicker barrels. These rifles balance very well. I like a light barrel on a woods rifle. They come up faster, track better and are easy to carry.

Here are some velocities from an internal program for a 200 gr bullet and imr 3031. 23" 2570, 22" 2550, 21" 2530, 20" 2510, 19" 2490 and 18" 2460 fps. Unless your shooting really far the difference will not matter much. With the expansion ratio that cartridge has a 20" bbl should be fine. Heck bolt action Ultra Lights have 20" bbls in 270's! and compact bbls are even shorter.

In conclusion add a tiny bit of meat to the barrel diameters I have and 20" will be fine.

I really don't like that heavy contour that Douglas bbls have at the chamber area. I had one turned to a smooth radius and it looks really nice. What is the muzzle diameter of a Douglas featherweight bbl 20" long?

I just measured the old M-70 with it's 22" Featherweight bbl. It's .560" at the muzzle. The rifle weighs 7 lbs 11 oz with a 4x Bear Cub scope and Beuhler two piece mounts. It handles very well but a rifle 20" would be just as nice.

.358

In .358 Win. you can get an expansion ratio that delivers what the round can in anything over 18" so simply decide how compact you want it to be. A 20-22 inch barrel is as long as a good argument can be made for though in .358 Win..

JBelk,

That straight griped, trim forended, and light barreled concept of yours sounds great. Perhaps, you will share some background on some like this that you have built. Do You have any photos of rifles like that that you could post? Please.

Fireplug

358

I had a Ruger 77 built for a 358 with a 22" barrel. It has a 1 in 14 twist and at the muzzle mikes .625. With a Nikon 2 x 7 scope and MPI stock it weighs 7.5 lbs and shoots 225 grain bullets very well.

Fireplug----

The rifle I referred to was my personal 458 American I built from a Ruger (short action) M-77 350 Remington Mag. in 1971. It weighed 6 lbs 13 oz with a peep sight that attached to the rear scope ring mount, banded sling swivel and banded ramp. I don't have any pictures of it.....last I heard it was still in Alaska and had killed about everything up there including polar bear and Musk Ox. It shot 400 grain Barnes originals into one hole and ALWAYS left a blood trail on whitetails and wild hogs.....most of the time it left a puddle.

I have a Ruger 77RS in 358 now, but it's still original.

I DO have a pushfeed M-70 in 30-06 AI with a reshaped, straight grip factory stock on it if you'd like to have a picture of that.

Well, my BLR had a 20" tube, and it was plenty long enough to burn the powder in a .358 Win. case!!

JBelk,

Yeah, post the picture. The concept of a very quick, light bolt action pared to only the essentials is interesting. One of these seems to be like the repeating cousin of the European break-open single shot stalking rifles that are so trim and often so expensive.

How did the .458 American get away it sounds like a keeper?

Fireplug

Thanks for all the help, it looks like I will go with a shelin 22" 1x14 twist about 22 inch. I already have a Blr in .358 and I know what it will do in the field and on paper. I just wanted a back up for short range tree stand bear/deer although I have shot deer up to 250 yds or so with the BLR but mostly it is used for bear and really thumps them (32 to date) I've had every commercial .358 ever made at one time or another but had to sell them to pay doctor bill's etc. I think some of the loads I use are pretty hot but I never had any trouble so a bolt might be safer. I sold my favorite blr last week and I just couldn't stand the thought of being without a second, just in case. Just as a side note nothing I've ever shot with a .358 has required a second shot and that includes some big critters. Again, I appreciate all the imput, I haven't ever had a rifle rebarelled before.