Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 358 Winchester mag.... why not?

So why didn't Winchester ever come out with the 358 Win mag? They had the 358 Win & 338 Win mag..... so why not a 358 Win mag to join the ranks of a 358 Norma mag?

I'm just curious and thought you guys could enlighten me.
Thanks

?? Maybe ?? because of the 358 Norma Mag.

I don't know about the timing? ?


Jerry

They had the 338 and the 358 Norma already filled the knitch which wasn't all that big of a knitch to start with. For a company to bring out a new cartridge there has to be a demand, there was hardly enough demand for the 358 Norma, even the venerable old 35 Whelen has a hard time selling in a factory rifle.

Since when did we need a “niche”.....I think it would be a great caliber, added to an already great family of cartridges! memtb

What we think is great and what the majority shooting public is great will probably be two different things. 35cals have never been big sellers, so why offer a duplicate to the 358NormaMag?

What would a 358 do better wedged between a 338 and the 375.
Heck, those two overlap.

Winchester could legitimize the .358 STA.

.35’s are an often overlooked caliber. If you are a handloader, and you “think out of the box”.... jacketed pistol ammo is rather inexpensive and would make great “light-loads” for offseason practice. Or,with cast Bullets....you have sufficient bore diameter to make a pretty decent “small” big game ( Whitetail, antelope, javelina, etc.). With good jacketed or mono, could rival the .338 WM for big game at extended ranges. With enough case capacity.... it would make a pretty good “all around rifle”! Not needed has “never” been an excuse to “not” bring out a new cartridge! memtb

+1

It's called return on investment for the manufacturer, and I don't think there would be much.

It couldn’t do any worse than the .325 Short Mag!

The shell is easy to make in quantity. But bullets have a much larger investment and Winchester was (and is) only making .358 bullets designed to impact at slower velocities. A new magnum with bullets that are not up to snuff is a death sentence for that cartridge. A "358 Magnum" should have bullets of 250 grains or even a bit heavier, and the jackets should have shanks of about .080" to .100 thick with the ogives tapered down to a thickness at the nose of about .015" Design is not hard, but tooling is costly.
So when Winchester looks at the market, a 358 Mag is going to be marketed to the same crowd as the 375H&H, and they already made a 375H&H and everything that goes with it from brass to bullets to rifles.

So my guess is they looked at the potential profits and compared them to the cost of tooling up and found there was not enough potential for such a new magnum.

Today if the .358 bore is your bag, a wildcat would be easy and Swift, Barnes Nosler Norma and Woodleigh all make perfect bullets for it. So it would be a fine cartridge I am sure.
But as was pointed out by others, it would be no finer then the 375.

Exactly, another dumb move.

I have been shooting the 35 Newton for the past two years. Pretty easy cartridge to make, I just neck down the 375 Ruger case, bump the shoulder back a skosh. I have a 338 Win Mag and honestly, the two of them are just about identical, and since the BC is a bit better for 338 bullets most of the time, any extra speed it gives me isn't really there for long. I use it cause I like it, not cause it really gives me anything over my 338. I would like some sleeker .358 bullets, but as a couple mentioned, there are some excellent bullets like the Barnes, Noslers, Swift's and Woodleighs that definitely work just fine for the majority of hunting.

Right now I am in the process of putting a new 1-10 twist barrel on my Newton since I just managed to grab some 275 BBC's I'd like to run.

Elmer Kieth had his 333 okh, It took the swedes to bring out the 358 mag

Winchester used to make the .358 STA in their custom shop.

They could do a SHOT SHOW Special one year in the cartridge.

It already exists, sort of....

35 HCR

I never meant to imply that it would be better, just another option. If you look at 6.5's, there's a bunch. They go from tiny to big. Just thinking that we have the 358 Norma mag and a 350 Rem mag..... just never knew why there wasn't a 358 Win mag.

That's pretty interesting. I never heard of it until you posted it. Thanks for the link. I'm in the beginning stages of a 358 Norma and a 358 WSM or I may have considered it.

Not a writer, but...

Note my Handle....
Figured it was a no brainer both the 338 & 358 WSM over the 325 Anyday.