Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Another BLR 81. This in 358 Win

I traded for one last week. It shot 5-6" groups at 100 yards in an almost perfect vertical line. Someone had put a pressure pad on the tip of the forearm and the whole rifle was under tension. I took off the pad and free floated the entire front end. Now with BLC2 and 225 grain Sierra's at 2417fps it shoots just under an inch. It has a short throat and I wedged a 200 Spire into the lands during load development. ( i made the mistake of not testing pre-loaded ammo) I assumed that 2.7' would work. When I yanked the cartridge out the bullet staid in the lands and I spilled powder into the action (H4895). Until I had cleaned it all up there was no way that rifle would function as the gear action which creates a wonderful smoothness is not good at handling debris. Very close tolerances, so don't take it to war. Used as a hunting rifle and kept clean it is superb.

I am super impressed with the 358 round. A bit better ballistics than my 348 and pointed bullets only increase that difference down range. Recoil is very manageable. Very efficient round from a powder/energy ratio.

About the BLR Accuracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWJe6kLw_Hg&t=47s

My nephew and I hunt together whenever we can get drawn for elk licenses in Wyoming. He has downed two dandy bulls with his Browning .358 rifle; his longest shot was about 175 yards. No problems with this cartridge. My elk rifle is an older Savage 99 in .308 that shoots very accurately with ordinary 180 grain core-lokts.

Sherwood

My gun club in eastern PA has a bunch of them. They like the 358 better than the 308 for bears (I'm a 308 guy). Guys were using 200 or 225 grain bullets, shot were close and holes were big. Great rifle. Good luck with it.

I have BL-C2 and others but Varget and 4064 are my go to powders. Be Well. Rusty

I had one. I liked it. For some reason, I thought I needed cash and let it go. Dumb move in retrospect.

North 61 there are no fleas on the 348 though. What terminal performance do you see with the 348 with the FP bullets? My experience with the 358 Remington bullets, 200 gr FPs ,in reformed LC brass loaded to the middle of the book ladders in 4064 or Varget gets maximum wounds. Whitetails don't move, they drop. The 200 gr PP Remingtons do as well but open a bit slower. 358 seems to be a good diameter. I have experimented with 148 gr wadcutters as a small game load. 158 gr HPs would probably make a varmint load. I have spent some real time playing with the 358 in a savage 99 brush gun from about '72. Again all I ever needed was the middle loads to use for my personal maximum. I suppose you might want near max for bear or other really large beasties. If you reform LC brass drop two grains from your book max due to the heavy brass. It does make a difference. Thanks and Be Well. Rusty

Ihad an older steel 81 in 358, Used for deer and black bear for about 10 yrs. 225gr Nosler Partition over WIN748 worked well. I traded it off after a range day that it pushed me over the edge. It would always shoot the first two rounds then the trigger would not reset. Cleaned it well thinking the sear wasn't resetting. went to two gunsmiths. One fired a full box of my reloads without a problem. The second saw it act up but couldn't figure it out. I h ad enough. Am now shooting 358win in a Weatherby Vanguard {JES} and a Ruger American from Grice. Never needed a second shot on deer or bear.

Get a Leoupold VXII 1.5 x 5 and low mount rings and stock up on brass and bullets. It's going to be fun ride that you will enjoy very much. It will serve you well.

I stoked up on new old stock 358 Nosler Partitions in 225 gr. I have 3 358s, 2 350 Rem mags and maybe others on their way. I have some 308s I bought to have JES rebore to 358 Winchester. Anyone been to www.35cal.com? Lots of info on 35 cal rifles. Good luck and Be Well, Rustyzipper.

I have looked at them repeatedly. I prefer a pistol grip gun so not as many made as the straight grip guns. I also like something longer than 20" barrel in a BLR caliber.
Never the less, a well balanced rifle. The 308 Win and the 358 Win are good calibers, with my preference leaning towards the 358 Win. I don't think that they ever chambered such but the 338 Federal would be a great choice as well. Why not have all three 308 based calibers?

Just got a blr lightweight in 358 Winchester recently. What scope bases are y’all using? I bought the Leupold std 2 piece and the rear base doesn’t fit the receiver properly.

I got my first one in '81 but, it was the first model with the hangy down magazine and in .358. It was a fantastic shooter with cast bullets but, I got stupid and sold it in 2014. Well, I read this thread and got to aching all over for another. What I found last week was a Lightweight Stainless Takedown .358 in at least 95% wearing a Burris FF II 3-9X40. I ran a few cast loads from my other .358 through it last Friday but, didn't get the accuracy I had hoped for so, I'm going to try some 180, 200, and 225 jacketed this week. I will most probably swap the scope out for a 1.5-5 Leupold that I have on hand after load development.

Sounds like a good buy. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

To say I'm pleased with my BLR T/D is very much an understatement!

Getting it sighted in at 50:


1" aimpoint; 200 grain bullet:



180 Speer FN 1" aimpoint:



180 Speer FN @ 100 2" aimpoint: