Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Loads for .358 WIN and Barnes 180 gr. Tipped TSX

I would like to try the Barnes .358 180 gr Tipped TSX in my .358 Win but manual number 4 does not include the 180 gr.

What would be a good powder to start with?

Ramshot TAC

I used to load for a Savage 99 in 358 Win. Hornady 200 grn. spitzers & round nose did good w/ w748. Max or near max loads.

I might consider H322 and R10 as well.

I used to load for a Savage 99 in 358 Win. Hornady 200 grn. spitzers & round nose did good w/ w748. Max or near max loads.

Today I might consider H322 and R10 as well.

Will try TAC, I received a PM with load info using RL 7 which I have of so will try that too. No W748 on hand so that will be tried later on.

My 35 Whelen likes RL 15 which I have 8 lbs of but so far no RL 15 loads for the .358..

Another vote for TAC. Use it in my 350 remington mag. Exceptional accuracy and velocity excellent performance on deer as well. I got some data floating around somewhere. Got it from muledeer. Might send him a pm and see what he can offer.

I think R15 will work, to a degree, but probably not give optimal velocity, my guess is that it is a little slow for the 358. I like it very well for the 223 & 308.

I loaded some 250 grn. lead bullitz in the 358 w/ case full of IMR4350, they shot fine. The old Speer 165 round nose in the 308 w/ a case full of IMR 4350 shot very well also, no doubt it would kill a deer. But I could get least another 200fps / a 'quicker' powder.

Most any powder will work, to one degree or another.

my .358 is a Rem 7KS, it gets fed 52gr TAC with the 180TTSX....

got out today with my new Montana .358, it was too wind to worry about groups so I setup the magneto speed chrono at a in door range just to check load speed.

My short barrel gun shoots better than I could have hoped, started with Hornady's factory .358 200 gr. Hornady's spec's with a 24" barrel is 2475 my 19" barrel averages 2437. I was shocked it was that close!

Next was my reloads 200 gr Tipped TSX and 46.0 grains of Benchmark came in at 2511 same as Barnes manual states

Then to my 180 gr Tipped TSX 42.1 grs of RL7 ran 2642 fps, jumping up to 43.1 gave me 2712!

I could not have been happier with how the short barrel is working, I switched to a Weaver 6x38 with the Weaver on it weighs 5lb 8oz making it a sweet pack gun.

Efficient!

I've got some tac loads to try in my 358's, really want it to shoot in the carbine.

Old Willys, Using Barsness's article (Handloader 254) as direction, he states one should be able to achieve 103% of the 338 Fed velocity in the 358 Win, all variables being equal. Alliant has the fastest 338 Fed 180 gr load I've found, a 180 AB propelled w/ 48.0 gr. of AR-Comp and giving 2847 fps. Add 3% and you come up w/ 2932 fps for the 358 Win. That's 3437 ft/lb of ME; this is entering 300 H&H territory! Alliant also list a fast 200 gr. 338 Fed load using 52.0 gr. of Power Pro 2000MR at 2725 fps. Expanding that to the 358 Win gives 2807 fps, exceeding Barsness's 358 Win 200 Barnes TSX load fueled w/ 52.0 gr. of RS TAC which gave him 2749 fps. That was in a 22' barrel, 358 Win Ruger Hawkeye synthetic. Using that same model rifle and substituting the longer 200 gr. TTSX for the TSX version (and a Fed 210 primer, not his 215), I produced only ~2610 fps (COL 2.777"= 50/1000 of the lands) and no signs of high pressure. I've yet to try more powder and/or the 215 magnum primer or the 180 TTSX w/ the AR-comp powder.

The Barnes Manual #3 does list 358 Win data for the now discontinued 180 XFB bullet (no grooves or plastic tip). The top five loads (use cautiously, these are quite fast) are:

IMR 4198 44.0 gr. 2845 fps.
RE 7 45.0 gr. 2833 fps
Nrma 201 53.0 gr. 2827 fps
H4198 45.0 gr. 2822 fps
Vit N133 50.0 gr. 2805 fps

I hope this helps provide some working framework. When I shoot my 180TTSX, I will update.
Mark

This weekend I loaded up some Hornady brass and 180 T-TSX up with RL 7 and headed to the range, Barnes book 3 showed a max load of 45 but I popped a primer at 43.5. but I did get 2715.

I have only tried a couple of powders so far but on my first try with Benchmark I got my most accurate groups so far with the 358. I was shooting 200 gr Tipped TSX using 46.5 gr of benchmark, my 3 shot groups were around 1.25 inch at 2532 fps. Not bad for a 19 inch barrel and a gun that weighs under 5 lbs. .

1.25" at 100 should work out to under 4" at 300 yards which is planned my max distance with my little .358 so at this point I am happy.

Plus I have yet to bed the Ascent stock....so more to follow on My little thumper!

30 days later... any new data?

Recoil pretty stout on the Montana/Remington KS? I have a Montana I would like to re-barrell to .358 or a Rem7.

Mark, thanks for the post. Excellent data report! I've been prepping some cases to start a 200 gr bullet load workup, and the TSX was/is my bullet of choice for this. I've been using 250's in my Savage 99 .358, but I don't need that kind of bullet mass for Texas whitetails or hogs.

I haven't tried that bullet yet, but my BLR always is most accurate with IMR 3031 powder, whether the bullet be jacketed or cast, 200, 225, or 250 grains.

No new load testing, temps at the range have been 100+ for the past month. Will take a day off work should it get under 90...

I use RL-10 under the long 200 gr TTSX's for 2700 fps, spect it'd work just fine for the 180's too, good compact powder that doesn't require massive compression to get proper COL's.

I had a BLR 358. IMR3031 was the most accurate in that BLR, but that was before TAC. I sold that BLR and put together a Carbine 700 358. I still have 100 or so of those IMR3031 loads. I will be trying TAC in my 700 with bullet weights up to 250 grain.