Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 356 Win for elk?

Well even at 350 Rem Mag velocities I found the .308 a better killer on caribou sized game. Expansion of 308 bullets is more positive. That's why I did the testing. I used the 358 for two years and harvested 10 caribou and many many seals. The factory loaded silvertips were pretty good. 200 Hornady and Rem spitzers were slow expanders. My speeds were in the 2550ft/sec range, just like factory ammo. I also experimented with 220 Speers, (small wound channels) and 250 Speers (pretty good to 150-200 yards or so).

Bigger game changes things up a bit. I would say that I agree on the publics yawn when it comes to the .358 Win but I was very exited when I first got it. The poor expansion of bullets did make it my favourite Arctic Hare gun and I have a picture here somewhere of me with several dozen head shot Hares and my 358. The fellow I bought it from reported cases only lasting 2-3 shots as he was using Speer Data from the old Manual #3 days. I took a more sedate approach.

As for getting 2800ft/sec with 200 grain bullets from a 358 I'd want to see those loads pressure tested. I'll admit that I never chase the pressure curve and up my powder capacity before chasing the last 100ft/sec. I am happy when I get 2800 out of my 358 Rem Mag with a fair bit more usable case capacity. It's important to note that I also used moderate loads in the .308 and 150 Hornady's at 2600 from a .308 expand a lot better than 200 grain .358's at the same speed.

In any event you aren't going to get these sorts of speeds in a properly loaded ,356 and the slow expansion of most 35 bullets at moderate speeds still limit the long range killing power of the round. Spitzer bullets are mostly built for more speed, roundnoses that expand don't hold on to velocity. I wasn't completely happy with the 35 until I moved up to the Norma Magnum. Now I have two and wouldn't trade them for anything.