Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Win M88 / 308 ----> 358 rebore?

Been following a buddy around who's on the hunt for a M88 .308 in reasonable condition. Saw two in a shop yesterday and both look like they'd been drug behind a car.

Also, the bores on both seemed like a scattergun. Not sure what they did for rifling back then, but you could hardly see any rifling. We checked his M100 for comparison, and it didn't look a lot better....however, it's a 2MOA rifle after the forend bedding we did.

Here's my question: If he ends up buying a "project" M88 in, say, 308 or 243, has anyone gone to the bother of reboring out to .358" (358 Win)? Problem is reboring cost on top of what are seemingly really high current prices.

Savage 99's are the answer to this problem.

Reboring/rechambering has never been cheap, doesn't make sense to start with a beater rifle. What are your price expectations for a shooter grade M/88?

I have owned about 9-10 mod 88 win. and they all shoot pretty well. The limiting factory is the poor trigger on most. Still, I think they are a nice gun to hunt and shoot. You will probaby spend at least $600 for a nice 88 and another $300 for a rebore to 358. I love the 358 winchester (I own 9 358's). Another consideration is the clip. The original 358 88's had a special clip and I don't know for sure if a 243 or 308 will feed a 358 shell correctly. I believe they will. Even if it cost $1000 for the conversion, that is way cheaper than an original 88 in 358. They are going for $2500 - $3000. Another way to go is Browning BLR or Savage 99 in 358.

IIRC the ones in .358 that were factory back then had considerable problems with feeding.( that could have been .284's though)

I think there were three chamberings, 243, 308 and .358,but the.358 could have been the Win 284. My memory is foggy about that, but I do know the bigger bore had feeding problems. Can't imagine it getting any better with the .358 if in fact those were .284

If you are interested I have an 88 that we could deal on. It has had the stock refinished, but the barrel is good and needs a new recoil pad.
I bought it new in 1964. It has the oak leaf rolled checkering.

Did you happen to be at DJs Sport and Loan in Bothell, Wa doing that looking?

JES reboring, Jesse Ocumpah(sp) in Washington state ,does a 358 rebore for around $150. I have a savage 99 that was originally a 308 that Jess did and it shoots well. The other one that comes to mind is Redmans also in Washington state i believe. Don

About 15 or more years ago I had my M88/308 rebored to a 338/08, today it's called a 338 Federal.
Smith did a great job, very accurate with my reloads, when it was rebored I sent along a dummy round for them to use, slightly longer than a 338 Federal. Mine shoots the 338 Federal into deer killing groups, but if I want to shoot MOA I have to do my reloads.
My 358 is a Savage 99R.

I took Mod.88 action, had a 24" #4 PacNor SS fluted with the flutes powder coated,had it chambered for the.358 Win.then had it all set into a salt&peper laminated stock. This was about 4 yrs. ago, and the price was in the $900.00 range.
And I am using the original mag. with no problems.
Glad I done it, love the rifle.

One step at a time!

I wanted a pre-64 M88 so I could work the lever!

You know; the one with the good checkering.

First see how the rifle shoots as it is. The 308 is an excellent hunting cartridge. If it's not as accurate as wanted then fuss with the bedding.

After that have the barrel recrowned.

I have shot the 358 for 50 years and if I started over today I might choose the .338 Fed.

For a rebore the 338 F would work!

My 308 M88 shoots just fine! One step at a time.

There was/is an outfit that rebuilds 88s to 358, 260, 708, etc.
I believe they are called Rogue River.

I think Jesse Ocumpaugh is in Oregon:
http://www.35caliber.com/index.html

I knew he was some where on the left coast !!!!

Oregon, Washington... Ehhh. All the same.

I love my 88. Just dropped a new VX2 on it. It is stupid accurate.

I would screw on a new tube before I would rebore an old one.......

The 358 Winchester is a cool old round. I can say I used one for my woods hunting in the NE for a lifetime. Suppose that's the best part of it. A cool old round.

Even though I started as a hunter and marksman with bolts and falling block SS's by chance I lucked into a 99F 358 in 1966 and it's been my primary rifle for that hunting.

Get what you can and use it well. There is more than one right answer to this. If I had a choice 50 years ago I might have selected the 338 Federal.

I was in a shop near here and saying I have 358's. A customer there chimed in and said he has ten of them! When he left I asked the proprietor if it were true and it was!



A Steyr full stock carbine in 358.