Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 358 Winchester .... need info

So I found a rifle I really like in 358 Winchester. Is this a good big game caliber? What’s the recoils comparable too? Do companies still make this Ammo ?

Good caliber good cartridge. A bit too much for me, but suits others.

Lots of ammo.

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/358-winchester

Love it. A 308 case with a big thump on the end. Don't know about factory ammo, but reloading is a cinch for it. One of my all time favorites. Recoil is very tolerable, my stepdaughter shoots mine with no problems.

I have one in the BLR, and always thought it was a pussycat to shoot, much more docile than my 7 Rem Mag, for example. Others have disagreed.

If you don't shoot past 300, it'll make a hole in whatever you're shooting at without wasting much meat. It does start dropping quickly past 300, and bullets may not expand.

Is recoil like a 308? A little more like a 30/06? Or more like a modern 45/70?

DrDeath,

The .358WCF is a GREAT caliber for ANY big game in the Americas. Further, a GCCB of 270-300 grains is CHEAP to load & a great KILLER at 1800-2000FPS out well past 250M.

Fwiw, my favorite CB load is a 285 grain GCCB in front of 38 grains of IMR 3031.

yoursw, tex

Recoil is like a 308 with a heavy bullet, but seems less to me than an 06. A lot depends on fit with any rifle though.

+one on feeling like a 308

hornady makes good factory loads that i have used with good success. 358 recoil is comparable to a 308.

And lastly when compared to a 308... am I getting much more with the 358? Over the 308?

I really like my 358 Win Ruger Hawkeye. I'm shooting the 220 Speer @ 2447fps, the 225 Accubond @ 2437fps and the 200 Hornady @ 2580fps. Mine is also very accurate with 158gr pistol bullets in reduced loads.


I don't know if you gain anything over the 308 other than a 358 isn't seen as often.


As for recoil, with the 220/225 loads mine is pretty brisk.

You're getting a larger caliber, heavier bullet.

It doesn't shoot as flat.

Do you want or need the extra weight? Do you hunt stuff that would need the weight and caliber?

You know your situation better than we do.

My favorite rifle cartridge. You'll have to roll your own to get the most of it, but you'll also have to change your handle to "DrSuperDeath".

Here are mine...

Ruger 77RSL



Tikka T3 CTR (Re-bored/chambered by JES)

a 358 is a 308 casing opened up to 358. just like it's big brother the 35 whelen is a 30.06 opened to 358.
i bought a browning blr some time ago and love the darn thing.
to me, recoil is not objectionable, but that is subjective.
I like 35 caliber bullets, big fat ones.
at the ranges i shoot it's perfectly aedequate for distance. I also like the range of bullets from pistol caliber .358 to 250 grainers.
It does wack stuff.
couple of years ago friend of mine shot a mulie at about 150 yards, i think you could of pushed a golf ball out of the exit hole.

They're perfect.

The End.

That’s a gorgeous 77!

Stump Buster, if that Ruger shoots half as good as it looks, then it shoots twice as good as it needs to.

DrDeath, the 358 is a great thumper out to 300 yards or so. Mine really likes 225 grain bullets over Reloader 10x. My oldest daughter has killed bear and whitetail with mine and I think her plan is to make it hers.

Had a 358 in a Win 88 Carbine.and dang if the gun didn't get too valuable to use. I didn't find recoil an issue at all. Opened up plentiful 308 cases to reload. Sold the gun for ridiculous money.

Great round, I just finished my build it time to take it to PA for deer and bear in 2 weeks,




Montana .308 rebored by JES to .358 Win chopped to 19.5" gun is 5 lb 5oz with the Leupold 2.5x20 scope I have on it for now. Took it to the range and with 43 gr of RL7 I was getting 2728 fps shooting 200 gr T-TSX.

That is the only load I tried and at 300 yards am getting 4" groups good enough for Whitetail.

After season I will take time and tighten up those groups..

I have never owned one for myself, but I have made a few for customers and they all speak highly of how well the caliber kills.

It's not a flat shooter like a 270, but for those who know how to hunt and are not more focused on "what if" then they are on 'what happens 49 time in 50" the 358 is just fine. It's easy to make hits with at 350 yards with just a few boxes of ammo for practice.

2 other calibers that are in the same class (and can be made even more powerful if they are built on strong actions) are the 9X57 Mauser and the 9.3X57 Mauser. I am making a 9X57 now and I used a chamber reamer with a pilot to fit the American size .358" barrels instead of the German size .356" barrels. That makes this gun a hand-loaders rifle, but I will sell it with a set of dies so for most customers it will not be any problem at all to feed it, and they can use the same bullets you use in the 358 Winchester, and the 35 Whelen

I own two 9.3X57s. In fact I was just out on the mountain with one about an hour ago looking for elk (didn't find one today)

The 9.3X57 is a shell most American don't think of, or even know of. It's nothing but the 8X57 necked up to 36 cal (.366")
For use in the 96 and 98 Mauser actions it's super easy to make guns for. No action work at all to do. Just install a barrel and chamber it.
It fires a 250 grain bullet at about 2350 in standard loadings, and a 286 grain at 2050 in standard loadings. The old shell was made in M94 actions so the pressures are kept low in case of the ammo being fired in one of the older actions.

But made on a strong 98 it can be loaded to the same pressures as any other shell that can be fit to the action. Running it at 1940s 8X57 pressures it will move the 250 grain at 2500 and the 286 grain at 2340.

One point of interest in the .366" bullets is that (as of today,) if you go to Midway-USA, Garf and Sons and Mid South you'll find that .366" bullets on the American market actually outnumber the ,358s. How that happened I don't know, but it's true. You can go look and see..
So loading ammo for the 9.3X57 is every bit as easy and available as the 358 Winchester. So is the 9x57.

Keep in mind, if you don't handload now, and in any of these calibers the cost of 3 boxes of factory ammo would pay for a basic loading set up. So if you want a 358 do yourself a huge favor and just go into the project with the intent to make your own ammo.

The reason I bring this up in this thread is that the ballistics of the 9X57 and 9.3X57 are pretty close to the 358 Winchester. I have only information on kills that my customers have told me about the 358, because I have never used on myself on game, but I have used the 9.3X57 and also the 9.3X74R in both mild and hot loads. I can assure you they are REAL good killers. I can't imagine the 358 would be all that far behind the standard 9.3X57 loads, if at all.
I am betting you'll like it a lot.