Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger American .358

Wondering why, since they have the ability to easily produce the barrel in said caliber, Ruger hasn't made it yet.
They produce the ranch in 450 Bushmaster... There certainly has to be a larger market for a mid 30.

I think the 450 was made to meet specific cartridge requirements in 1-2 former shotgun only states. Not a huge demand nationwide, but will sell like hotcakes where needed.

As to 358, I can't think of anything I'd use it for that a 308 wouldn't do better.

Grice Gun Shop had a run of 358 this past year. Believe they are still available on Gunbroker. Heckuva lot nicer than an American. And I'd take my 358 hands down over 308, even though I own both.

Actually, not so much, as demonstrated by commercial failures ranging from the .348 WCF to the .338 Federal.

....but the 358 just won't die. LOL

Pappy348 - +1 on this. IMHO - seems to be little interest (as opposed to NO interest) once over .30 caliber. Until you hit specific rounds to do s certain job i.e. .338WM, .375 H&H for really big game I don't see much "want" in folks for above .30 bore offerings. Business sense here is why make it if you can't sell enough to be profitable. The .358Win has been around long enough to show this and .338Fed trending that way also. Homesteader

Yup, which is not to say they're not useful, or even better for some purposes.

The easy answer for the OP would to get a Predator .308 (heavier barrel) and have it re-bored to .358. I'd be inclined to chase down a Grice special Hawkeye for probably about the same money and less trouble.

I own a 358 and have never owned a 308. I think if one's shot's are more up close and personal rather than a couple of hundred yards away the 358 Winchester has the advantage.

Having said that, I just built a 450 Bushmaster in an AR15. In NYS the 450 ammo is nearly impossible to find outside of a gun show. Can't find 358 ammo anywhere either.

Thankfully there's still a couple of online ammo retailers that will still ship to NYS.

I'm on a couple of Facebook pages for the 450 and those Ruger Americans in 450 are selling like hotcakes in Michigan.

Dan

I wonder if the predator has enough "meat" to bore out to 358 win and keep threads on there.

Great cartridge for close-range work. Big blood trails, minimal meat damage, relatively easy on the ears, works great from short barrels.... a bunch of blacktail wish they'd never met my .358 M7.

A .358 BLR I had for a while give me the best visual I've experienced.. doe in a clear cut at about 175 yards. Open sights. The very definition of "ass over teakettle". Those 200-grain factory Silvertips are a brutal round; only time I ever used them but wow.

I believe I saw that Natchez has Hornady .358 brass in stock! I just resize .308 but headstamped brass is always nice.

For 99% of hunting ranges, 356/358 is hard to beat.....especially now that we have partitions and accubonds and FTXs. Win 200gr flat point in a 356 case nose-dived and front flipped a big 10 at 209yards for me....for longest I've had to stretch a 35, though I have good NAB loads for twice that, if needed. I always get two holes, never have anything move far, don't have a bloody mess of meat....all you'd ask for, really....but I'm just a 35 junky, anyway.

Heck my local Sportsmans Warehouse has Hornady .358 win brass on hand everytime I go in there. Luckily I must be the only one in my town to reload for it so they keep it there just for me

I'd buy a RAR in .358 Winchester in a heartbeat. I'd also buy a long action RAR in .35 Whelen.

I know they wouldn't sell a boatload of either but they would indeed round out the RAR line nicely with a real medium bore (or two) in the mix.

I'm going to get a .450 Bushmaster model. I don't need it, but I think it would be fun and make a nice, handy tent gun for while camping in bear country. Probably will need to hand load some tougher bullet for it, as i'm not sure yet about factory Hornady loads and bears. I think I'd like maybe a 300 grain over a 250, anyway.

I guess the idea that they prefer to spend RD $ for new calibers instead of building something that they have all the puzzle pieces for on hand, evades me.

Probably more guns made in .338 federal today than when it came out 10 years ago... AR's, Sako, Savage, etc.

I love my federal, but really want a Kimber Montana in 35 whelen!!!

Maybe, but will never set the world on fire. The medium medium phenomenon has been explained and dissected many times. Ruger's dipped their toes in this market more than most, so probably have a handle on the sales potential.

If and when they see an opportunity, they'll respond.

Starline is now manufacturing .358 Winchester brass, and their web site specifically states that the reason is because of increasing demand from AR-platform .358 Win shooters. 'Magine that!

Just a simple rebore away.

Now that is interesting!

Ought to be quite a pig thumper.

Mjduct - "Probably more guns made in .338 federal today than when it came out 10 years ago..." And like the .358W it is a 'niche' round. Now we have two of them... They both fulfill a small number of users wants/needs but not enough to maintain a sales volume to justify continued production. FYI - I've a Ruger All Weather in .338 Fed as I like the ballistics of .338 bullets but try finding factory ammo for it or the .358W in "most" stores.

Now, the .308W in another story altogether. Homesteader