Looking for recommendations on which powder to use.
Savage 99 358 Winchester
180 grn Speer flat pt
I have the following powders...
IMR 4064, 4895
Win 748, 760
Tac, Big Game

Thanks for the input

IMR 4064 is great place to start

4064 or 4895


Mine is great with 4198 and 3031 as well if you have those available

I load my .35 Whelen with IMR 4064 with 225gr. bullets and IMR 3031 with 180gr. Ken Waters Pet Loads is where I got the IMR 3031 load which was listed as most accurate and it proves to be so in my rifle often producing three shot cloverleaf groups @ 100ydsw

With 200 grain bullets mine shot about .6 4 shot group with the 748 powder. Never saw a reason to change that!

IMR 3031 and W748 in my custom bolt gun.

Hip

Have used 4064 and it worked fine but space is tight with the big crunchy sticks of powder. My remaining supply of IMR 4320 is reserved for the 358. Have dabbled with TAC and 2520 as replacements but the jury is still out.

Dale

This is a good place to start. I'd throw in H322, Benchmark, and IMR 8208 if you don't have success with the above. .

The issue you will likely run into with 4064 and 4895 is compressed loads. I use a 12" drop tube for my 338 Fed and still compress powder. H322 and Benchmark don't seem to have that issue. Short stubby bullets also help keep from absolutely smashing powder - the 358 isn't a long range cartridge anyway - more of a short range thumper. My 338 Fed likes H322 under a 185 TTSX and Benchmark under a 210 Partition.

I've had good luck, accuracy and velocity wise with both TAC and W748

TAC for the win! I shot a black bear in the head at 265yds with a TAC fueled 180gr Barnes TTSX years ago. MV was 2669fps. 😎

The 200 gr TTSX via TAC dropped a truck load of critters in Africa 2012.

180 gr Barnes ttsx and 51 gr of TAC works perfectly in my 16" carbine, if you don't mind the fireball.

I got to shoot Ken Howell's 358 Winchester, that he was pic'ed with in Nosler Reload Manual # 2.

It was loaded with RL 7....recoil was almost as light as a 223...definitely in the 22.250 range...at least in my book...

Scott F was given it, by Ken Howell..

Scratch W-760 and Big Game from the list. The rest are GTG

You weren't pulling the trigger hard enough!!!

Hip

TAC for the win. You can get a lot in the case and it's pretty temp stable. My mild load is a 200 AB at 2540, max load in my rifle is a 200 AB at 2680. I can fit 50grains in virgin starline brass at 2.80 COAL (200 AB, which is a long bullet).

X-Term and RL-7 both work well, less powder compression than TAC. JB liked TAC in his .358 Win article.

RL-7 is my current fav with 178 gr Shock Hammer.

DF

One of its victims.

Nice.

That round whacks’em way above its wt class.

I like it.

DF

Of the powders you list I'd start with IMR 4064 and TAC. 4064 has been great in my BLR with the 180 and 200s. TAC gave me more velocity. I'd think 748 would work well too, I've never used it though. If you see any Xterminator, it works great too and especially in my 356 Win with both the 180 and 200s.

I can get TAC velocity, or pretty close with X-Term and RL-7.

The .358 Win case capacity can get critical. I like the bullet to touch powder with no air space. Probably doesn’t matter, but us Loony types can get a tad squirrelly. Ya reckon??

I chose RL-7 over X-Terminator because groups were slightly tighter with the 178 gr Shock Hammer. TAC is a great choice. I just don’t like to crunch powder when I seat bullets. Does it make a difference? Probably not.

DF

I hear you, I'd rather not compress which is why I tried Xterminator myself. I was going to mention RL7, I was getting 2700 fps and good accuracy with the 180 in mine, I may need to work some more with it.

I have had zero issues with compressed load in a number of rounds.

Gunner500 had mentioned RL-10, so I tried it. Just didn’t get the accuracy I got with X-Term and RL-7.

DF

TAC was third most accurate in my rifle.

DF

Thanks again to all.
Tac question
Does it need a MAGNUM large rifle powder ?
The IMR powders all call out regular large rifle primer.
Thanks

TAC, i-4895, 3031, Varget, 4064 have all worked well in my 358. Havent chrono'd any of them but TAC has worked with every bullet Ive tried.

IIRC, it’s been reported that Ramshot powder does well with mag primers. I use mag primers with those powders.

I’d suggest trying both and let your rifle tell you.

Agree, std primers with IMR.

DF

Thanks everyone !

Good information. Always looking at the loads for 358. I’ve used 4064 and 3031 in my Ruger Hawkeye. 3031 seems to work best for me.