I just picked up a Sako L61R in 300 Win mag. It's from 69 to 72. I have never seen a rifle with this much copper in it. Stock needed some work so I've been doing some deep cleaning while that's getting done. After 3 different solvents and a couple rounds of JB compound its cleaned up real good. While waiting on the stock I'm going to run some solvent through it daily. Then bore scope and treat with DBC. If it will shoot 200gr. Nos PT MOA I'll leave it as is. If it don't? It's either getting a Douglas and chambered in 7mm Mashburn or 7mm STW. Or I have been wanting a 35 cal. so the cheaper option would be a rebore to 35 cal and chambered for 358 Shooting Times Alaskan.
I know what the 7's will do and I have a fetish for .284's. I have no use for a 35 cal mag or for that matter a 7mm mag and I'm still sorta young so I enjoy getting the chit kicked out if me. I'm going to build both a LR .284 and a 35 cal something just don't know what I'm going to turn this Sako into. If it shoots real sweet as a 300 win mag I'll dump it and find another base to build off of.
So guys its your call. Talk me into a 358 STA. What brass can I use to get there? Loads? Experience? Anything I need to know? I'm up for all the info I can get.
Thanks guys
I've been a fond of .358 bullets for hunting for a number of years. I've killed big animals (moose and brown bear) with the .35 Whelen and .338 Win Mag. In my experience, at ranges under 300 yards the only difference I witnessed between them was less recoil and gun weight from the Whelen. I had an L61R sitting around that was screaming for a rebarrel and thought about the STA for a long while. In the end I decided to go with the Norma for several reasons.
1. The extra velocity with of the STA does not increase it's LR potential over the Norma. Is the STA "flatter," yes it is. But the difference is really not significant at ranges out to 400 yards and there are better choices for LR shooting than .358 cartridges.
2. Cost was a factor. More expensive to load due to increased powder consumption and I've a ton of .338 Win Mag brass that requires only a trip through the sizer to become Norma fodder. The dies were about half as much for the Norma than they were STA.
3. If I'm going to handle the recoil from the STA, I might as well go get the whole enchilada and go .375 AI. I almost went that route (.375 AI), but decided the Norma would work just as well with less recoil for my purposes--primarily brown bear.
4. I'd never seen a Norma in the field or shot one at all. I've been around a couple STAs so there was no mystique going that route and the 375 AI is fairly common. The Norma was intriguing.
So I decided if the Whelen was as effective as the .338 Win Mag, then the Norma should be more. Less recoil and cost than its bigger cousin the STA and more intriguing than the .375 AI while proving to be its equal in the field.
Presently I've shot only one brown bear with my Norma, but it was everything you'd think on the bear. In my rifle it was easy to keep the weight right at 8.5 pounds (Mickey and a 6x42 in Leupold rings). From the prone position the Norma crushed the bear, just shy of 9 foot at 22 years old, at 173 yards without undue recoil or gun weight. I could have done the same thing with most of my other rifles, but none of them would have been any better..........
