I want a .358WIN. Due to the rarity of factory .358 rifles, it seems that it will be more economical for me to purchase a rifle chambered to another short action caliber (.243, .308, etc.) and have it rebarreled to .358. Would a rifle in one of these other calibers be more suitable than another as a starting point? I guess what I'm asking is whether or not there are magazine or feed ramp differences between short action calibers, such that one would require more work to convert to .358 than another? Or is it a straight rebarrel no matter which short action cartridge the gun was originally chambered for?

Any input appreciated.

BTW, the starting action will likely be an early tang safety Ruger.

Thanks,
Bob

Bob,
the only question on this one is who you want to do it and what sights you want.

ID&D will put a douglas barrel on it, remington take off sites, and blue is for about 300-350

Pacnor will do the same, just add for sights

any local smith can take a 308 to 358, and it WILL feed, right out of the box...

this from a guy that has 3 358....

jeffe

I'm getting ready to do the same again. I had a model 88 win, rebored to .358 and encountered no problems. Almost any short action cal. .243 308 etc can be rebored. I once had a Ruger 77 Mk II rebarrelled with a shilen bbl to .358 it was a real shooter but the bbl contour wasn't what I wanted. The cheapest way to get a .358 is to buy one of the new Browning BLr's in .358. I have a couple of the old ones and they are great hunting rifles. Usually ther is no extra work involved except the usual stuff when rebarreling.

Thanks for the input. I suspected that it would be a pretty straight forward conversion. After I posted the question I went and looked at cartridge drawings of the short action calibers and there seemed to be very little, if any, difference in neck length, body length, and shoulder angle.

I can see that there will be no shortage of encouragement as I go through this project!

Thanks,
Bob

I've had two rifles converted to 358. A Rem model 7 and a stainless mod 70 classic. If ya are lookin for max performance with 250gr or the long 225 bt nosler, a "long" short action like a mod 70 should be your choice. My mod 7 limits max loads due to col but it sure is handy with a 20" barrel in the woods.