Well, my choice would be the .358 Win. or the .35 Whelen. In fact, I have five rifles in the .358 and three in the .35W. so you know where I stand.
In either case, no pun intended, both rounds while OK in factory form are better when handloaded.
Recoil from my 99 Savage is rather stout in comparison to my other rifles chambered to the round. I have put a pachmeyr decelerator pad on the gun but haven't shot it since the installation. I know it will not be as bad though as when it had that very hard piece of plastic. I wouldn't worry too much about it though. Savage 99s in .358 aren't the easiest gun to find and the normal going prices will definitely make you think twice. Think four figures.
Probably the easyest ones to find will be the Browning BLR or the current Ruger.
Mine are trhe Savage 99 already mentioned, two tang safety Ruger 77s from the first limited run, the first version of the Browning BLR and a Kodiak Mauser. All are good shooters except the Mauser and I'm working on that one.
The Kodiak mausers were made from milsurp Mauser actions sometime after the Gun Control Act of 1968. The took the actions and rebarreled them to various cartridges. I've only seen three, a .243 Win that I got in a trade that was very accurate, a .308 Norma magnum that belonged to the editor of a small town newspaper. It too was very accurate although I wished they'd put a recoil pad on the thing. A plastic butt plate on a magnum is downright ridiculous. The third, of course, is my .358. One of these days I'm going to do a serious glass bedding job on it and replace the military style trigger. That should cure the problem.
FWIW, the .358 properly handloaded is not just a brush gun. Anyone that thinks that is the case, I invite them to put up a target at 250 yards and find out. I only use 250 gr. bullets in my .358s amd .35 Whelens BTW.
Paul B.
