Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 358 Win Pre-64 Fwt

Were your cast bullets plain base or gas checked? Plain base need to go slower but, 16 grains of 2400/ Lyman 357156 GC shoots great in mine. Also a lot of jacket fowling will play havoc with cast accuracy.

Plain base.

The DBC treatment keeps fouling down, not that bad.

I tried some CAS cast bullets, a 147 Mounton for the .38 Spec. 1873 and pistol 158 SWC, none with gas checks.

I may just stick with jacketed, those jacketed pistol bullets shooting so well.

DF

Got in my second box of Midway "200" gr. FTX's, both are actually in black boxes, not blue.

These are 180 gr. like the others, not 200 gr. as advertised.

This gun shoots 180's very well.. But, I can't really push these 180 gr. FTX bullets to what the gun can do with 180's, like 2,700-2,800 fps, unless I want a varmint type load.

I'm assuming the terminal performance velocity window for these FTX 180's is similar to that for the 200 FTX, which is reportedly 2,600 fps tops. These could actually be a bit more fragile than the 200's based on smaller size, but I'm just guessing. At any rate, I think 2,500 fps is about tops for them and the 200's, really a mild shooting load. '06 kicks a good bit more.

DF

Saving this thread. Great info.

I just bought an old Sako / Westernfield L57 .243 win , that has 22" barrel with .568 OD at the muzzle. It's going to Jes for a .358 win rebore same as yours and then ceracoated.

That should be a good one.

Of course, expect photos when you get it done.

UPS or USPS both ways will take more time than JES.

Amazing turnaround, good price and great work...

DF

Question for you guys.

I have a can of LT-32 not being used. I want to use it in the .358 Win. My target load, 180's at around 2,500 fps.

I researched .308 data, as there isn't much LT-32 data available. And, I know it's a niche type, specialty powder. But, I have a can and wanna use it.

I found .308 load data showing loads falling between Rl-7 and H-322, both good .358 Win powders with lighter bullets. By aiming for 2,500 with 180's, I'm well below max, generally around starting.

41 gr. RL-7 and 46 gr. H-322 will push 180's at 2,450 or so in the .358 Win. .308 data for various weight bullets puts LT-32 loads about half way between RL-7 and H-322 for approximately the same velocities.

I'm gonna split the difference, try 43.5 gr LT-32 with these FTX 180's and Speer FP 180's in the .358 Win.,which should run a bit short of 2,500 fps. LT-32 burn rate is between RL-7 and H-322, so that seems to make sense.

Because it's in the starter range, not pushing the envelope, I think it'll work out OK. It could be a while, thanks to all these hurricanes, before I get to check it out and report.

What ya think?

DF

Yep He's done a couple for me already. 35 whelen and 375 winchester. I've been very happy with the guns and the turnaround.

I have a 9x57 mauser that I load for and have a nice mild load with a 200gr Remington RNCL. A couple hundred fps faster than a 35 rem and it has been effective on deer. I also have about 10 pounds of the old 150gr remington pointed corelocks. I used to load them in a .350 mag and they were bombs on armadillos and such. For most of my hunting I can use very mild .358 loads, but I can always add the juice if it's called for.

It's amazing how many JES seems to turn out. I guess he's got it down where he can crank out quality work quickly and at a reasonable price.

You hear of JES rebores all the time. And, from all reports, they evidently shoot pretty well.

DF

Just loaded 43.5 gr. LT-32, powder came up to the neck, about to the bottom of the 180 gr. FTX, seated to the cannelure.

So, no crunching powder but no air space, which should be about optimal. Hope they shoot optimal groups. Will see what they’ll do when it dries up a bit.

I have 200 of these bullets minus what I’ve shot. There may not be any more as they’re not a catalogued item. I’ll make the most of what I have.

DF

I've mounted this VX-3i 3.5-10x40 CDS in the Warne Maxima Horizoltal Low rings. Will get another set for the 4200.

Thanks, Mathman. Good suggestion. It works.

I'm going to have the Bushnell 4200 3-9x40 set up for FTX 200's, maybe the 175 FTX's that Midway sold, the VX-3i for 225 gr. NPT's, NAB's and SGK's. The CDS will give me good 300 yd effectiveness. I have another scope, a Simmons Pro Hunter, 4-12x40, that I'll use for 158 JHP pistol bullets. It actually has pretty good glass for a cheap scope.

Easier to swap scopes than re sight.

DF

Well now, wouldn't ya know. That VX-3 went tits up.

Yeah, adjustments had NO effect on POI or POA. I even tried it on another rifle, as they recommend, same deal.

SO, it goes back to Leupold. I like their scopes, but am getting a bit aggravated; not my first one to go back, as if I don't have enough stuff to do....

Like a good bud said about Dodge trucks, they're OK around the house, but he wouldn't want to take one on the road. (Not sure that's true, just one opinion).

Leupolds, and I have a number that do well, can be interesting. It's OK when you send them back, they'll fix or replace. May not be too cool in Zim or other far away place. But, what are extra scopes, already sighted in, taken on far away trips good for..?

Oh well...

DF

You're clearly delusional, of a fuggin American company hating commie.

VarmintGuy

That wouldn't have happened if you were skilled at shooting.

John Burns

Have to admit.....Finally got around to shooting the SB 6x42 PMII I bought from camaraland....After bore sighting at 100....got lucky and it was on paper.....Should be 4 or 5 clicks over and the same up to center....Well it was real close....so essentially a 2 shot sight in....Then a couple for fine tuning and they also went were they were supposed to....Clarity? Stunning is an appropriate description and it beats the Luepold 6x42.....I was impressed...

Sounds interesting. What, if I may ask, did it cost?

And, how much bigger and heavier than the Leupold?

DF

The 24 hour special run didn't sell out....so he gave a nice discount.... Been a while since I bought it so not sure....1K Plus a little...

Bigger and heavier....Specs say 16.8 ounces....It's a chunky....

DF

I just ordered 150 gr. CEB Raptors to try. They were out of 160's, the 150 is the one that frags and I like that design.

From data I've been able to find (not a lot out there), I think I can push them nearly 3K fps. They should be pretty destructive on hogs and WT's.

The CEB bullets I've shot in my .308 (135 gr.) and my .375 H&H (235 gr) have been very accurate. We'll see how these shoot in this gun.

DF

DF; please let us know how the CEB bullets work out.

Will do.

My .308 Win experience with their 135 gr. Raptor is covered in this link. See the review I wrote with pictures.

https://cuttingedgebullets.com/308-135gr-er-extended-range-raptor

I don't really expect this level of performance in a rebored .358 Win, but who knows until you try. My .308 is a Kimber Classic that had a bad EOM barrel. A 23" Broughton 5C SS really morphed that rifle into a tack driver. It shot the group in the photo. If this M-70 will shoot the CEB 150 gr. Raptor, that bullet at near 3K has to be a bomb.... They're just expensive, but how many does one actually shoot at game..? Practice with cheap stuff.

So far, the POI with this gun varies from load to load, thus my idea of more than one scope sighted for different type loads. Well, until the VX-3 went bonkers.... Still not a bad idea.

The .308 Kimber factory barrel had tight spots and the Hawkeye showed the problem(s). Kimber wasn't too excited about fixing it, so I had the Broughton fitted. At least this JES .358 Win has a really smooth, consitent bore. A tight patch, as I posted earlier, passes down the bore with an even stroke, no tight or loose spots. Even with tool marks and some chatter with the rifling cutter, an even, uniform bore seems an important factor for a shooter. As this barrel smooths out, groups seem to be getting better, some 3/4", others 1". But it's finicky about what it likes. It also has shot some 2" and 3" groups, telling me it does not like those loads..

As posted earlier, I tried 200 gr. FTX and later 175 gr. FTX. It seems to like the 175 gr. a bit better, so maybe the fast 150 gr. CEB's will do well. I am afraid to push an FTX (a 35 Rem bullet) too fast, as 2,600 fps is reported to be at the top of the design window. I don't need varmint bullet performance on a WT. As a mono, the CEB should be able to handle speeds up to around 3K fps.. I have .358 Win, 150 gr. CEB load data showing 3K fps out of a 22" barrel with IMR 4198. With the 175 FTX's, H-4198 in my .358 Win shot tighter groups than IMR-4198. RL-7 is another good one.

DF