Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General BLR 358 WIN accuracy

What is your most accurate 358 WIN load for your BLR? How accurate is it?

215 fed primer, 250 speer seated out to max length the magazine allows with 44.5-45 grains grains of IMR 4064 is what most of the guys in my elk hunt club use, most of those BLRs will hold a 1"-1.2" 100 yard group with a decent rest and a good 2x7x scope.
we all sight in to hit 3.5" high at 100 yards

you simply sight in at 100 yards off the bench on the yellow dot and have all the shots print over the smaller red dot, print the target so you get it sized for 1" squares


when you get out in the field, hold where the light green dot is it will produce a fatal wound out too a bit past 300 yards, you sure don,t have to use this method or even agree but I can assure you its resulted in a bunch of dead elk

http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator

http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballistics/detail.aspx?id=118

http://www.reloadersnest.com/query_bw.asp?CaliberID=191&BulletWeight=250

http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_detail.cfm?MetallicID=1033

I shoot 39.5 grains of IMR-4198 behind a 200 grain Hornady spire point. 2450 fps.

I get around 1"-1.2", 3 shot groups if I do my part and if everything is perfect in the world I have shot just under an inch couple of times. I guess I got a BLR with a decent trigger.

With factory ammo it shoots just under 1.5" at 100 yds.

Dan

I too shoot 200 grain Hornady's in my 358, but have not spent enuf time in load development. I have always had good luck on game with Hornady interlock bullets. I've had excellent accuracy with 250 grain Speer and 250 grain Hornady's in my custom built 350 RM, but I have had poor luck with expansion on some Speer hot core bullets in other calibers, so have not tried them on game in my 35's. I'll probably use the 358 primarily on deer, unless horseback and scabbards are part of the elk hunt, then the BLR would really shine. Another advantage to the (old style with the drop down magazine) BLR is: the BLR is also one of the fasting rifle I have to point/aim - similar to the 94 Winchester carbine for me.
I'm curious 340mag have you recovered any of those Speer bullets in elk? Have you used that load on deer?

BTW 1" to 1.2" in a 358 sounds good to me. Thanks

Yep, same here with a 200g Hornady. Don't remember the load but it's 1-1.25" at 100 yds.

While I own and have hunted with my 358 win BLR and used it to kill several mule deer and two elk,most of the results Ive seen were the result of helping my late hunting partner,Ron, dress out game,he used his BLR 358 win almost exclusively for decades ,so dressing out the game he shot with his impressed me and got me to buy mine, I have generally used my 375 h&h sako or 340 wby.
now Ive rarely seen a 250 speer bullet recovered,most exit, but I have seen a good many dead elk and deer as a result of the several BLRs in camp being used. Id point out that both myself and Ron,generally hunt thick timber and I can,t remember any game shot at over 300 yards and most were pass through heart/lung shots, the few recovered speer 250 bullets were generally from elk shot facing the hunter , found in the guts.

Were those recovered bullets expanded. I don't suppose it makes that much difference if the elk is dead and dies fast.

This was the load I used when I had a .358 BLR. It was devastating ton hogs and deer. I have taken Black bear with my .350 mag, but the .358 would have been equally effective.

yes the bullets expanded nicely, and IM not the only guy that likes them

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/65...358-diameter-250-grain-spitzer-box-of-50

http://35cal.com/35bullet_study/35bullet_study1.html

http://www.35cal.com/bullets.html

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...67761/all/35_Whelen_and_Speer_250_gr_bul

theres many guys who seem to feel the 358 win is far less effective than the 35 whelen, in real world results youll rarely see a difference as the same bullets are launched at about a 150-200 fps difference, so you could expect identical results if you were a bit closer when you shot game with the 358 win.

my hand loads (WHICH ARE LISTED AND NOT THAT HOT)of 44.5 grains of IMR 4064 with that speer bullet have been used for 3 decades plus by several guys in my group and theres never been a single complaint as to lethality or accuracy, remember most elk we have killed were killed at WELL under 300 yards and I can,t remember many people even seeing elk in timber over 150 yards

ELK COUNTRY IN MY EXPERIENCE LOOKS MOSTLY LIKE THIS

Well the 250 grain Speer bullets and the 250 grain Hornady bullets both shoot under .5" at 100 yards with full power loads (H4895 and another - I think it was WW748) in my custom Rem 600 350 Mag. I am sticking with H4895 due to temperature sensitivity.

Due to poor (no) expansion with 100 grain 6mm Speer Hot Cores, I've never again tried Speer bullets on game. they do shoot accurately though like they are made for bench rest shooting in my 6mm and my 350.

I'll try your load in my BLR.

The pictures you show for elk country is like that in the land of AZ (close to Flagstaff). Where I've hunted in Colorado, Idaho and SD it seems the area was much thicker or meadows/parks. I carry the 350 in the thick stuff and a 338 in the open areas, if possible.

I've aimed at nice bulls at 300 but never felt to compelled to pull the trigger.
I've not had groups that I'd brag about in my BLR, but have not done a lot of load development. Thanks for the info.

I do not have a BLR, Sadly.

I do not have a .358 Win. Even more sadly.

I just come on and say, 340mag is making way to much sense for a gun forum.

THANK YOU!
IM glad to see a few guys reading the threads info might realize that experience gained after 45 plus years of freezing my butt nearly off,and occasionally coming close to having a heart attack packing out 70-80 lbs of elk in a back pack,(and not just my elk either) then spending many hours looking for lost partners,who swore they would meet at a suggested location at an agreed on time and loading most of my hunt clubs ammo for the cost of the components,and living out of a back pack for days at a time, might have proven useful
I think most guys fail to realize that consistently finding an elk and getting into decent range to make a shot is going to be far more important difficult as a skill than they might think and the caliber of the rifle used or its trajectory are much less so.

I haven't tried 250's in my .358 BLR yet, but I do have a bunch of Hornady 250's on hand. So far I've only shot Winchester factory 200 and handloads with Hornady 200 SP over IMR3031. I'll have to try the 250s in it. I noticed when comparing the Speer vs Hornady 250 that the Speer has a higher ballistic coefficient of .446 vs .375 for Hornady. I'm a little surprised at that much difference. Thanks for the info 340mag. Ah, one of these days I need to go hunt elk.

I have a straight stock BLR in 358 Winchester.

My last range session. 358 BLR---- 220 Speer at 2400 fps at 100 yards

Fotis, as usual, you've got that one well dialed in!

Fotis, have you used the 220 Speer on game yet? If so, how'd it do?

Yes sir 2300 fps from a 356 Win. Hit a boar in the neck shoulder junction and it traversed the body lengthwise exited through the opposite ham.

Thanks Fotis. Neat photo and a sweet rifle you have there. That Win 94 looks similar to my 1965 444 Marlin. Straight grip, monte carlo stock, etc.

Yeah been on a lever kick for a while too many of them now

Fotis, I've started down the same road...never was really interested in them before. Now I have a 26" Model 94 30-30, a Marlin Cowboy 26", and a stainless/walnut 20" BLR in 358 Win. They are addicting :-)

Next will be a 26" 1886.

I think I have it as bad as most of you. In the last year I picked up:
Henry .22 octagon barrel
Henry .22 mag octagon barrel
Browning BL .22 with octagon barrel
Two Winchester 94's in 30-30
Savage 99 in .300 Savage
Browning BLR take down in .308 Win
Browning BLR .358
Henry 45-70
Winchester 1886 High Grade in 45-70
Winchester 1895 take down in .405 (used to take a bison in Feb)

though I love carrying it, I've not had luck getting "great" groups from mine. I have a straight stocked, stainless takedown model. Trigger got lightened down to around 4.5#.

I've spent most of my effort working with the 225 PT. Best groups were 2" using 4320. I tried to up my speed using 4895, then TAC, but groups opened up to about 3" when I did.

I finally got to test what I'd hoped would be the perfect 358 bullet in the 200AB. Those projectiles have a pretty long taper to them to boost the BC. I loaded them so far out I had to feed them 1 at a time and they were still a long ways from the lands. Groups were 4-5". =/

Best groups to date are 225 PT, 45.5gr of 4320 at 2354 fps. Inside 200 yards, it's plenty good.