.358 win?

[marshland_max]

Yeah every gun is different. Mine is a Stevens 200 short action with an 18" Shilen prefit barrel. It was the first semi-custom hunting rifle I built, so I really didn't know much about chambers or freebores enough to specify anything other than their standard reamer. It has turned out to be a great barrel. Even with the crappy Bushnell Banner 1-4 I keep on there for bear drives, i can print sub MOA groups at 100 with it and the Barnes bullets. It seems to be one of those "fast" barrels, because even at 18", I'm never that far off from Barnes' load data with 24" test barrels and I follow their data and don't go over.

Anyway fellow rokslider marshland_max turned me on to TAC and sent me his 358 load data to develop my own. He is topping out at 52 and he says it is hot for sure, but is not getting dangerous pressures.

That's correct. Couple of things to point out. I have considerable more mag length and I m able to seat that bullet out a bit further than most standard mags. If you don't have the Mag length the TSX is the better way to go if your using barnes. I have the 180 but i m not a fan, I can get the 200 TTSX moving at a consistent 2675 fps with out issue in my rifle. I m also using a full 22" barrel which is a must for that kind of FPS. I also have loading programs and use 2 chronys to verify everything. Its safe in mine rifle, but its probably not in someone else rifle.

Ok I will add this if a guy does decide to go with the 358 on a short barrel build right now the only powders I would even consider are Exterminator and Tac. H4895 as a thrid choice.

One of my personal favorite all time loads in either the Sierra Gameking 225, Speer 220 or Nosler PT 225 over 46 - 47 gr of IMR 3031 its an absolute dream to shoot usually stupid accurate and in my rifle with get 2450 fps + with outstanding accuracy.

I have killed lots of deer Mule/Whitetail with this rifle. They are bang flops . The Speer 220 with 3031 is a very nice round and will work for the BLR and 99' guys easily.

Another note worthy load is the Speer 250 with 48 gr of Tac in my rifle that is a shooter and usually I can crak 2400 pretty easy without pressure.

Cheers

 

[Hillclimberwv]

Yeah every gun is different. Mine is a Stevens 200 short action with an 18" Shilen prefit barrel. It was the first semi-custom hunting rifle I built, so I really didn't know much about chambers or freebores enough to specify anything other than their standard reamer. It has turned out to be a great barrel. Even with the crappy Bushnell Banner 1-4 I keep on there for bear drives, i can print sub MOA groups at 100 with it and the Barnes bullets. It seems to be one of those "fast" barrels, because even at 18", I'm never that far off from Barnes' load data with 24" test barrels and I follow their data and don't go over.

Anyway fellow rokslider marshland_max turned me on to TAC and sent me his 358 load data to develop my own. He is topping out at 52 and he says it is hot for sure, but is not getting dangerous pressures.

How is the muzzle blast with an 18" barrel? I'm planning a JES rebore on a howa and haven't made up my mind on finish barrel legnth after the rebore. It will be used mainly for black bear and deer drives so not necessarily concerned with velocity for close in work. However I'm not a fan of excessive muzzle blast. I was thinking between 19-21. If you were doing it again would you go a little longer than 18"?

 

[TauPhi111]

How is the muzzle blast with an 18" barrel? I'm planning a JES rebore on a howa and haven't made up my mind on finish barrel legnth after the rebore. It will be used mainly for black bear and deer drives so not necessarily concerned with velocity for close in work. However I'm not a fan of excessive muzzle blast. I was thinking between 19-21. If you were doing it again would you go a little longer than 18"?

I actually like my 18". I find I don't lose a ton of velocity from the load data published velocities which are most often measured with 24" barrels. I built the gun for bear and deer drives in PA as well, where we hunt super thick rhodo and laurel choked mountains, and I find 18" is about perfect for that kind of cover. The muzzle blast isn't too bad. I'd rather shoot my 358 without ear pro than a 16" AR. The fireball out the front is dependent on your powder choice. I loaded some 225 TSX with a bunch of bulgarian 7.62x54r powder (very close to 4895) that shot a 2 foot flame out the muzzle you could see in the scope. When I ran out of that, I switched to Benchmark, and the muzzle blast wasn't much different than any other rifle I have seen. Now I use TAC and it is about the same.

To tell you the truth, I like my 18" 358 so much that I am currently doing a bunch of accuracy improvements and taking it to Utah for mule deer. It already shoots great, but with the upgrades I'm doing it should be sub MOA no problem. With the right load it'll be capable out to 400-450.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I snagged a Ruger American 358 from a buddy who wanted something different. It has a vx2 3-9 on it but I havnt shot it yet, I have brass and dies but just have not gotten around to it.

May buddy used it on 2 or 3 moose without any issues.

 

[TauPhi111]

I snagged a Ruger American 358 from a buddy who wanted something different. It has a vx2 3-9 on it but I havnt shot it yet, I have brass and dies but just have not gotten around to it.

May buddy used it on 2 or 3 moose without any issues.

I was really surprised when they came out with that chambering for the American. I thought it was all but dead except with the select few guys that like 35 cal.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I was really surprised when they came out with that chambering for the American. I thought it was all but dead except with the select few guys that like 35 cal.

yeah the only reason I got it from my friend is that I thought it seemed like an interesting gun. I never even considered the 358 before.

 

[longbarrel]

Both the .358 Win and the .35 Whelen are good and proven rounds, but Ken Waters gave several reasons why he preferred the .338 Federal and .338-06.