Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 358 Bullet for Elk?

Got it narrowed down to 3 Bullets for my 358 Win for elk season.

They are Speer 250 gr SP Hot Core @ 2400 fps, Nosler 225 PT @ 2500 fps and the Barnes 200 TTSX @ 2675 FPS

They all shoot well out of my rifle. They are all good to 400 on my charts.

Which one would you choose and why. This is ultimately going to be rifle I use for everything. Deer to Moose and the occasional woodchuck or yote

Real world experience is always welcome!

Thanks

I have a 35 Whelen and use 225 gr TSX and reloader 15. I would like a 358 in a BLR. Son got my BLR in 308. light and accurate rifle. I've read a lot about the 358 and think it is a very underrated caliber.

250 grain is my game. Still have a supply of old Hornady 250 RN. Also use the 250 Spire. They both shoot well out of the 1895 .35 WCF. I like the Speer Hot-cors! That's what I'd try! Need to see how they shoot in the old girl!!

I agree, I m glad to have built it!



Nice Rifle and Nice Elk! The Speer's are easy to load and half the price of the other two.

250 Speer or 225 NP is what I would try in your 358. My 35 Whelen with 250 Speer works well around 2450 FPS. Usually has 2 holes on moose or bear.

The 225 NP works great also but prefer the 250.

No bad choices in your list. I've shot most of my elk with a Speer 250 at a muzzle velocity of 2500 fps. I find it has a wee bit more penetration than the 225s, but i've never tried the 200 ttsx.

If you're getting good accuracy out of the 200 gr Barnes TTSX...I'd go with that one.

The heavier slugs aren't needed when you're using a solid copper bullet. It'll penetrate just as well, be flatter shooting and work fine for deer.


Dan

Going to agree with Kaywoodie (Gasp,the horror! ) and suggest the 250 gr Speer.

I like the bullet a lot. It loads easy and of the work I ve done with it so far its not a bad shooter.

If Hornady still made the 250 grain Round Nose that's what I would have done and never looked back.

II am going to use the 250 gr Speer in my .35 Whelen,when I get it back from the gunsmith.

What ever shoots best in your gun. I have killed elk with just 200 gr c&c bullets too.

The 250 gr slugs leave the 358 Win at 2100 - 2200 fps depending upon barrel length. Not my choice for the shorty 358. We used the 200 gr TTSX in a 358 Win in Africa five years ago and it performed very well on all manner of plains game from springbuck to kudu and gemsbuck. It would be my choice for elk as well.

I've used the 225 Partition at 2500 fps on a bunch of deer. I'd carry it for elk. I would say that it's a "medium" penetrating just based on the fact that I did catch one in a dink deer. The shot was quartering away and it hit the spine and sort of followed the spine for a while. An odd shot for sure- but still, I caught one in a 90-lb deer, so...

Great cartridge. TAC is your buddy with 200-225's.

I use the 250 gr rn from Hornady in my Whelen. Moose, elk, zebra, wildebeest, impala, pronghorn; all of them. Perhaps, though, I'm just easily satisfied when they die quickly

My Ruger All Weather 35 Whelen shoots the Barnes Vor Tex factory ammo with the 180 grain TTSX at 2900 fps into small groups, that's 200 fps faster than the same bullet out of an 06, no experience on game.

The beauty of expansion ratio. I can get 2675 fps with 200's from my .358; that's about all an '06 will do with 200's from a bigger case!

Yes and exactly why in my bolt gun I have been able to achieve over 2400 fps with 250's. It's avg. a reliable 1.25" 5 shot group.

I m going to make some further adjustment to the load, but I m sticking with the Speer 250 Hot Cor as my mice to moose load. I m happy with it. If the numbers hold out it will work out to 400 yards.

More to come.........

Arrrrrrg!!! A .35 Win. in a 1895!! I'd give my left testicle for one of those. Heck, at my age, I'd give BOTH!😖

Haven't hunted elk in eons but have killed upwards of a dozen Bullwinkles with 250 Hot-Cors. Launch them at about 2445 fps. from my 22" barreled A-Bolt .35 Whelen and they typically result in an immediately dead moose.

Only recovered one bullet. That was from a bull that was galloping straight away across a muskeg and rapidly vanishing into the thick early morning fog. A desperate snap shot at about 60 yds. folded him like a mallard taking a full charge of #2's and he went down in a spectacular splash of wet snow & swamp water. The bullet had struck the left hip about 4" from from the anus, smashed the pelvis, ploughed through a couple of feet of intestines and stomach contents (yuck😝) and came to rest just behind the right front leg. The core and jacket were totally mushed up like a wad of bubble gum but still were together. IIRC, it still weighed about 170 grains.

If the 250 H-C can perform like this on a moose, similar results could be expected with elk.

I like the 225 Sierra for my Whelen's. I've had great luck in accuracy and performance with it.

This year a wounded a Oryx with my 7600 Whelen with a 225 grn Hawk bullet. I cant claim failure, but we're almost certain the bullet went exactly where it should have gone and we only found blood for about 300 yds. After about a half mile we found the group of Oryx bedded and jumped them, looking like nothing was wrong with them.

Again, just an anecdotal. These animals are known to be tough as hell, so it might have just been oryx being oryx. It was the first animal I've lost in a long time and it sure did burn.

-Jon

I've handled that same rifle before and didnt know what I was holding until i walked into the LGS a couple weeks ago and found one with something close to a $3500 price tag hanging from it.

-Jon