I have a pre-81 BLR and an early 60s Savage 99 in 358 Win. The BLR is the gun I use for black bear and I have taken several of them with this gun. I shoot 250 gr Hornady round nose over H335 in it and they have done well. The factory Silvertips have left me wanting on thetwo bears I have shot with them. Shooting over bait is a close range affair and the Silvertips seem to be a bit soft for the purpose. The bears did die but the blood trail was pretty poor and did not instill confidence when following in the dark.
The 99 isn't blooded yet, at least not by me. The Silvertips scattered all over the target in this gun and the Hornadys ran around 2" at one hundred yards. I saw Mule Deer's article on the 358 so picked up some 220 gr Speer and some 225 gr Sierras as well as TAC which I hope group better.
