Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 358 win or 350 rem mag?

458 Lott, my oversight, apologies sir.

Mike....sweet scout rifle you have there. Thanks for sharing.Dave93

No problem, I just don't want folks to peg Phil as having said some of the things I've said.

You've piqued my curiousity, since I've never noticed either a 150 or 220-gn bullet in .35 caliber... What are you using?? [unquote]

IIRC, when the .350 Rem. mag. came out, remington made three loads for the gun, a 150 gr. Core-loct, the more common 200 and 250 gr. loads. The 150 r. load got dropped early one as I recall but Remington did sell bullets in the 150 gr. size for a while after they were dropped, probably to dispose of inventory. I once bought about 800 of them for someone who wanted them and then backed out of the deal. Said he wanted 500 or more. Guess he waned them for freebies. I was only asking what I paid for them plus shipping so wasn't making a cent on the deal. I ended up selling most of them off to a guy who had a Contender in .357 Herret. He loved those bullets. I did keep a few for myself but never have gotten around to loading them. They alost look like a Hornady spire point bullet but they were made (?) by Remington according to the box they came in.
Paul B.

As I have very little use for any belted mags, I would go with the 358 Win. Brass is easier to come by, plus no animal never knew it was a bullet traveling 100 to 200 fps slower that killed him! Case in point, 338/06 AI vs 338 Win Mag. 30/06 vs 300 Win Mag, 284 Win vs 7mm Remington! Any 06 based cartridge will do for me, the extra velocity for the recoil is not a fair trade for me and mine!

Copy that for me. 358 Win is a solid pick.

Looks like I am gonna do the 358 on my M7, and if that doesn't have enough oomph, I can always have it rechambered to a 350 mag. Thanks for all the replies, and now, to decide on a contour and bbl length....choices, choices.

Saying that a 358 doesn't have enought "oomph" and going to a 350RM would be like going to a 30/06 from a 308. Prolly won't get you a whole heck of a lot more for the effort.


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I had a 20" Model Seven in 358Win for a time. The fellow I bought it from wanted it back, so back it went. I'm now getting together the parts for another, but on a 700 SA to replace the one I sold back. It's a good combo. You'll like it and I doubt you need more.


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If you are going really lightweight (under 7.5lbs w/scope) then go 358. Either cartridge is quite capable.

MtnHtr

Is that kitty in the picture alive?

This is an email from an aquaintence back from Africa in 2003 on the .358:

Just back from a month in South Africa where I got about 18 days of hunting in. Had a hell of a hunt with our group of 6 taking 60 animals (granted 15 or so were warthogs & baboons) from Baboon to Giraffe. Just have to report on how impressed I am with my new "favorite" brush country/bushvelt hunting rifle. Took a new Win M70 classic featherweight in 7mm08 and sent it to Tim Carrick in NC 336-859-5273 to make me a "minature express rifle". What an awesome job he did too............. We used the factory action/stock and customized as follows:

21" med weight PacNor dlx barrel chambered in .358 Win.
Glassed the action and chamber
Full action/trigger job with 3# pull
NECG express sights
NECG barrel band fron swivel mt
Decellerator pad, 1"
Leupold QRW rings & bases
Leupold VX III 1.75x6 HDP

Project turned out even better than I had hoped. Rifle is just a smaller version of a Win M70 Express rifle. Shoots about anything you put in it well and kills game way out of proportion to it's size and recoil level (kicks about like an average 06 with 180gr loads).

Load I used most on this trip was the excellent Swift 250gr A-frame over 45 grains of Varget for an honest 2150FPS (I now know I can get up to 2275 out of this rifle now and still working my "ultimate load" combination). I shot Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, Zebra, Nyala, Warthog (8 actually), bushpig and baboon with this load. I also shot a black Wildebeest with a 225gr Barnes moly coated X over 46 grains of Varget. Everything except 2 baboons (a running shot and a offhand 150 yd shot) were one shot kills. I just can't get over how easy this rifle is to shoot and how well it puts down big tough game. Most shots gave full penetration and we only recovered 2 Swifts and as usual they were perfect and could be used in Swift advertising with perfect controlled expansion and 95%+ weight retention.

Everyone else in our group except my son used Swift A-frames exclusively and we didn't loose a single animal. My girlfriend used the 275gr A-frame in a .338 WM Sako compact hunter. Her one shot kill on a big Eland bull was further proof that this combination continues to work well. Just a lot more kick and blast for very little gain over the .358.
The other guys used .308 165gr, .30-06 180gr, 9.3x62 300gr (this is another great performer), .300 WSM 180gr and .375 300gr.. With this being my 4th trip to Africa using Swift A-frames I can conclude that they are 100% reliable on game. You recover very few bullets, but when you do they are examples of perfect controlled expansion. Ryan used factory Win Failsafes in his .375 to take Giraffe, Waterbuck and Zebra, all were one shot kills and no bullets were recovered, so this whole solid copper bullet thing seems to work well too.

I continue to be impressed with how hard African game is to kill. Often perfect hits with good bullets still resulted in the animal going up to 400 yds before going down. Most amazing was two big warthog boars, both shot thru both lungs. One took a 300gr 9.3x62 bullet and ran 150 yds like we had completely missed him. The other took a .412gr LBT out of the .480 Ruger and ran approx 300yds (not a drop of blood for the first 75yds either). Then my black Wildebeest which are supposed to be real hard to kill dropped in his tracks when hit by a 225gr Barnes X out of my .358!!!! Go figure..............

350.

I have a .358 Win on a Model 660 action, with a 21" barrel thats a little heavier than most sporter barrels. It's a remarkably nice, short rifle - it shoots well, swings well and doesn't weigh more than I want it to. It's easy to handle in the thick stuff too. The manuals tell me I can get 2600 fps with a 200 grain bullet, juuust get 2500 fps with a 225 grain bullet, and get 2300+ with a 250. They also tell me that I have a 300 yard gun - if I sight in the 225 grain load to be 3" high @ 100 yards I'll be about 1/2" high @ 200 & 10" low at 300. It will still have close to 1700 ft-lbs of energy at 300, and plenty of bullet mass too. I've never taken a 300 yard shot in my life and maybe never will, but I can with this rifle. Mine has no recoil pad, so it becomes an issue at the bench after 10-20 rounds. I'll be adding a pad but for winter hunting I don't need one.
The numbers on the 350 mag are even better, but the 358 just doesn't leave me wanting for any more fps, and it doesn't really add much more useable range, so why take the recoil?
I like the idea of 338 Federal even more, as I'm fine with 200 & 225 grain bullets for everything, and 338's fly better than 35's. Might even get a little more velocity because people are reporting 2700+ fps (chrono'd) with the Federal Fusion 200's.

If I were doing this from scratch I would build a Model 7 or a Sako 75 in .358 or 338 Federal, and leave the 350 mag for somebody else.

Just my $.02
Cool discussion though!

Kragman1

Have had and used both the .358 and .350 in bolt Remy's, Love them both tremendously but when I needed some new project funds I sold the 350. There was just no need for the extra pop to accompish the same task. Can't go wrong with either choice, but I vote for the sexy .358

If anyone is interested www.midwayusa.com has after market
Savage 110 barrels in 358 Win caliber available again.
Buy a Stevens Model 200 in 308, swap barrels and your in
business.

Not to drag up a thread more than a decade old, but I will soon have an XP-100 chambered in .350 Rem Mag with a 15" bull barrel on it in the centergrip stock configuration. I've got a lovely 190 gr. GC mold that should work well for it to load it down a bit, but would any of you with experience with the .350 Rem Mag have powder recommendations? The full-house loads have a LOT of powder to burn in a 15" barrel. I'm considering getting a Witt Machine muzzle brake for it, but I want to see how the recoil is before putting a brake on it, as they're ugly as sin, but I also know they work a treat, as I have one on my .357 Max Encore barrel that my 18 y/o daughter uses. I've got several hundred 180 gr. Speer Hot Cor bullets that I intend to use on Iowa whitetails. Any recommendations for the short barrel loads? Will I be better off on the faster end of the burn rate rather than something like H380 (of which I have an 8 pound jug) or RL 15 (of which I have a couple pounds). I've also got lots of faster burn rate options for loading it on the less brutal side, but on my bucket list is an elk hunt with a handgun, and I figured this would fit that bill quite beautifully when that day comes.

I have both. I've had my 600 350 Mag for over 50 years. I have had my 700 with 358 for a few years. I had a 358 BLR for maybe 20 years before that.

If I were going to hunt most anything in the lower 48 I think both would work. If I were going after Grizzly though, I'd go with the 350.

I really like my 350 and I like the 358. If I were to give one up??? I'd probably give up the 358, not sure.

All I've shot at game with the 350, I used 250 grain bullets. I suspect that lighter bullets would work well, I just have not tried them on game. As far as the 358 I've only used it on white tail and I have used 200 grain bullets. There definitely is a difference on recoil between these two loads.

You can easily make 358 brass out of cheap 308 brass - I do. I also have made 350 brass out of several magnums 7mm and 338 for instance, but I have a good supply of 350 brass.

I guess the argument for one or the other could be similar to the 308 vs. 30-06 except these two are both cartridges designed for short actions.
Regarding the 30-06 and the 308, I think with light bullets they are similar but with the heavier bullets the larger case comes into play.

There’s a 35 Remington and a 358 Winchester hiding in every 350 Mag. 😊