Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 358 win bullet for elk

The 200 gr TTSX over TAC in a custom 21" barreled pre-64 M70 worked just fine on an African load of plains game on a family trip in 2012.

Great looking "elk"!

In this 4 and a half year old thread, another vote for the 250 Hot-Cor on elk and the 225 Sierra on deer. One shot, then begins the cleaning process.

I’ve seen blood spray and lung tissue in the snow 20 feet beyond where the elk was standing. With a 243 and 100g Partition.

A slow moving, large caliber, conventional bullet works fine as long as it doesn’t have to take the scenic route through the critter.

A fast moving, large bullet seems to work pretty well also……no matter the route taken! 😉 memtb

RL-7 is one of my fav .358 Win powders. Good speed without needing to compress. Nothing wrong with compressed loads, I just like loads that don’t need to be compressed. And monos can be pretty long bullets, taking up powder room in the case. So powder room can be more critical than in some other rounds

DF

As long as it makes the full trip……

I’ve always thought that was mandatory! I’m very disappointed when I don’t get an exit……it’s been very seldom since about 1993. memtb

The 225 Sierra lays elk down. TAC powder.

I used 250 Winchester Silver Tips until I couldn't find them anymore. Now I use 250 Speer Hot Cores.

I'm curious about the comment concerning long range and 358 winchester. The same identical case except with a 308 bullet has been used by US snipers for decades. So what makes the 358 a short range proposition round? Or was it something read in a gun rag somewhere? Gunzgizzard would never enlighten me with his superior ballistics knowledge. Simply want to know what goes? I killed a spike buck at close to 300 yards with a bulk 35 cal PSP from Midway about 12 years ago with a 358 winchester out of a Savage 99. RZ.

Looking at the Tract Ballistic App the .358 Win with 225gn Nos. PT would still be above 1500 ft-lbs. beyond 400 yards and ~30" of drop with a 200 yard zero. MZ Vel of 2500 fps.

One problem with long range and a 358 is you'll quickly run out of velocity for expansion. That 225 Partition mentioned above hits 1800 fps (the speed Nosler cites as a minimum expansion velocity) at around 360 yards at sea level. It's not about energy, it's about bullets working as intended. Plus the wind drift will be significant.

Rusty, I would be more than happy to buy some of those 225 Partitions from you. 😉

Great to see results from the 225 sgk. I have quite a few of these on hand and they shoot great out of my Hawkeye. I just got this rifle and started loading for it. I’m excited to use the Sierra on Roosevelt elk but have been skeptical about them because of all the mixed results I’ve been reading about them on the forum’s. Either too soft or too hard. Can’t quite make heads or tails whether this bullet is sufficient or not for big bodied elk modest ranges and velocities. But your results are comforting I think I’ll give them a try on blacktail first and see how they do. Thank you

I was skeptical at first also but pulled this one out of mule deer that was quartering to me at about 70ish yards. Traveled from the onside shoulder and caught in under the hide near the offside ham. Plenty of resistance when they are looking at you and a fair amount of travel with 77% weight retention. Guessing impact velocity was around 2400 fps (started about 2600 from my Whelen)



Took the same bullet to AK and killed this black bear at 170ish yards (should be around 2260 impact velocity +/-). The first one went through the heart and exited (there were actually a couple exit wounds so part of the jacket must have separated and exited as well). He ran at the shot so I shot again as he was running left to right broadside. My second shot ended up breaking down his back wheels. Didn't have any trouble smashing bones and he dropped immediately.



I have not shot an elk with one because I have been playing with other guns but would happily do so if given the opportunity.

Wow! Outstanding performance with that bullet. Thank you for sharing medriver! I will definitely be giving these a try this fall. My load is starting about 100fps slower than yours out of my .358 win. If I keep my shots under 200 yards or so they should work great on thick skinned elk. 😎

That 225 Sierra is a darned good killer. It’s my go to mostly for deer in my 35’s. The 200 TTSX is real good as well. Another fella has been doing great things with the 205 Tipped Hammer as well from a Whelen. I’ll see if he can post some pics.

if you practice a bunch with it, the 225 Partition is a very expensive bullet to use. they were over $1/ea when I was buying them a decade ago and probably didnt get cheaper since then. Availability is often a challenge from Nosler too.

I sold my .358 and wish I'd have tried the 225 SGK before I did.

I used the Remington 200 gr. Corelokt round nose, the 200 gr. Hornady Spire point and the 250 grain Speer. Never shot anything past 250 yards but overall I liked the 250 grain Speer the best. My starting velocity was just above 2200 fps using IMR 3031. All bullets killed very well.