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

I used the 250 gr. Speer exclusively in my 358 on feral hogs with great satisfaction. My load is 42.5 grains of IMR 3031, necked up Winchester 308 cases and CCI 200 primers. 2250 fps and used under 250 yards. Way under rated cartridge.

I reload and use 225 gr. NP's over a stout load of Ramshot TAC in my 358 Win. I've only taken deer with this load but would not hesitate to use it at a reasonable range for elk.

Any will work, but I'd say the Nosler Partitions will be at the top of the heap overall.

Try and name a .358 caliber bullet that won't work on elk......

Very true statement right there!

Just wanted to make a quick update. The Speer 250's where my first choice. As loading progress I had worked in some Sierra 225 GK. Man those just flat shoot in my rifle. I mean little bug hole groups.

My loads are Averaging 2494 fps with the 225 SGK. I m more than please. I have decided to put all my efforts into the 225 SGK and basically this is the load I will be using on elk this year. I also have made a scope change. The rifle will be wearing a Leupold VX-III 2.5x8-36 with BDC reticle that I was able to match using one of my ballistic apps. All in all everything has been positive. I need to do some trajectory validation yet, but I m waiting for the cooler nights to do that.

If anyone wants to know, The load is as follows. 225 gr SGK, 49 gr Ramshot TAC, CCI 250 primer, Hornady Brass and its yielding very good results.

My favorite load for the .35 Whelen uses the 225 gr. Barnes TSX bullet at 2710 FPS. Elk killer galore. Two elk DRT and three more hit so hard they went down but still had their heads up. Just totally unable to even try to get up and go. The load is accurate in my custom Mauser but too hot for the Remington M700 Classic. I have tried it in the M77RS Ruger as it has a potential headspacing problem. I got a total case head separation fro a Remington factory load so it's been sitting idle for a long time. I figure I'll use it for a cast bullet shooter where I can seat the bullets into the rifling eliminating the excess headspace. I'll use it as a fun gun.
Funny thing, before I got the custom Mauser I was playing with the 250 gr. Hornady's and 250 gr. Speer Hot cores with interesting results. Then came the Mauser and a coveted Kaibab National Forest deer tag. Hunters were asked to voluntarily use monometal bullets and the state would furnish them for handloaders free. I got the TSX bullest and bought 100 more and worked up to my 2710 FPS load. Biggest surprise was groups ran from .50" to .75" depending on how carefully I shot the group. The load was a keeper so I never bothered to try anything else. I still have a bunch of the Speer, Hornady and Nosler bullets to try when I get around to it. That is if I ever do. Maybe I'll try and use those in the M700 for a back up rifle.
Paul B.

For sure. At the stated velocities , about any C&C bullet. I use 220 gr RN in my .06 at about 2400fps.About the same thing as 225 in a.358 .They flat out kill elk .

I found the Federal 225 gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw to be very effective on elk and deer in my .35 Whelen. I have a .358 Win but have never taken it elk hunting since I hunt areas where longer shooting is usually required. No doubt any 225 gr bullet would be effective as long as there is sufficient velocity at impact to ensure expansion and good penetration.

Not to hijack the thread but I have a box of 50 250gr Speer HC 358 bullets that I'll never use. Make me an offer shipped. Prefer 225gr NP.

Cool. I m very excited. I m going to check expansion but it should be fine.

Bobber257 who did your gain twist barrel. Thanks for your time. Cheers NC

I would pick the Barnes. They are freak nasty at point blank, plus they scoot on down range. If you can group em.........they will smoke em!

So here's a good one.

Since I was running out of 225 pills. I pulled some Speer 220 FNSP off the shelf and loaded them ahead of a case full of IMR 3031. Well off to the range I went and holy hell these bullets shoot! By that I mean 5 shots into the same ragged hole! I had no idea they would shoot so well! They look cool as heck loaded into the 358.

Does anyone have any experiences with these bullets?

My god they should be just about perfect for the 358. Ballistics ain't to shabby either. They are running over the chrony at 2410 fps. I would guess that would be just about perfect for that bullet. Might just use this load on Elk and Mulies this year.

Another thing is they are easy to find, I can use regular primers with the 3031 and that is also easy to find. I ran out of Ramshot TAC and just flat out don't want to make the 2 hour round trip drive to get it.