Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Who can tell me about the .358 Win.

Looking at picking up an older (steel reciever) Model 81 BLR in .358 Winchester.

I am familiar with the rifle, just wanted to get some info on the caliber and best ammo to use.

Any thoughts and experiences with the .358 appreciated.

Thanks,

JM.

You couldnt handle the recoil.............

How does a .358 compare to Brooksie's recoil?

Since you have experienced both...

JM

Highly recommend it.
200 gr. Hornady for me. I've only slayed a single bear and a couple of chunky whitetails with it but it made all of them quite sick.


No idea why the 257 bullets are in the foreground of this pict.

Now now Jonny boy.

JM,
I've got a BLR in 358, and am very pleased with it. Have been using 200gr RN Core-Lokts which have been very effective, accurate, and cheap. And I'm picky.

The trigger was terrible, but I had it worked on by a gunsmith, and all is well now.

Steve

Its a caliber that doesn't seem to have enjoyed widespread popularity except for those that have actually used it, that being said, I own two rifles chambered for it and have hunted with the cartridge quite a bit. I favor the 250 gr RN Hornady bullets for it while hunting in the big timber where shots generally aren't more than 50 to 100 yds, though its useful range is further than that. The animals that have fallen to it have gone down rather quickly. It hits them with some authority.

John,

I have two Browning BLR-81's. Also Two Mausers, and a M-Seven MS. I gues you could say I like the cartridge. I've not done a lot of load work-up. Thus far, I've use the 225 Nos Prt. and the 200 gr. Norma bullet. I've plans for the 220 Speer, and the 200 gr. Horn RN.

Personally, I think the .358 is one of the most useful rounds of today. A great combination of striking energy, penetration, and reasonable recoil.

I have plans for two more... another bolt gun... Likely a M-700 Rem, but perhaps a tang safety Ruger. (I have donors of both...) And a M-760 Rem. I'm thinking the M-760 will be a stellar Michigan woods rifle. 'Course, the BLR ain't too shabby either...

I'd also think the BLR would work extremely well in the southern swamps and woodland thickets. But still shoots flat enough for 200+ yd shots.

Any powder that works well in the .308, will work well in the .358. I've had good luck with BLC-2, H-4895, and Re-15. I intend to work with IMR-4320, as well. 4320 is a particular favorite of mine in the .350 Rem Mag.

Good luck!

Edw

What Grasshopper said. I have a BLR in 358 win and have used it for hogs, deer, antelope and black bear. I mainly use 200 gr hornady and 250 speer. It is quite accurate to past 200yds and hits with authority. I have also used IMR3031 under the 250 speers. Brass is seasonally available, but you can use any 308 based brass. I have used Nosler 308 brass with great success. I have a Leupold 2-7x33 scope on it.

I'm poor and only own one. A 1960's era Sako carbine with the full stock and 20" barrel, 2x7 Leupold. A rebore job.

All I've killed with it so far is a handful of elk.

For that chore I dote heavily on the 225gr Nosler partition...in fact I feel it's pretty much all the bullet you'll ever need in that cartridge, for any purpose that the round is suitable for.

It'll do it in the jungle at close range or as far as you'd care to toss it. I'd love to show you a nice picture of one from game, but the danged things have never bothered to stay inside one for me to find.

It's much friendlier to shoot than my .338 maggie and makes two big ole holes in game. It's easy to use and kills well.

Store bought ammo is hard to find and spendy, but it's a handloaders dream.

It's been a great deer thumper for me. I load 200 gr Hornady spire points.

Pistol bullets can be loaded for plinking or practice.

Dale

I had a BLR in 358 that I got somewhere and dumped it on, err I mean sold it at a loss to, Grasshopper the 1st chance I had. ;-)

Unless I was shooting something bigger/tougher than deer in the timber, or I was collecting some uncommon variety of rifle, like the 77 RSIs that WBR had made up for some of his buddys at the Blue Mountain Forest Association in Croydon, NH, I can't think of a good reason for me to own a 358. The only factory load available is a 200 grain ST from Winchester/Olin that is a seasonal production item, so be sure to buy several boxes whenever you find it, 'cause you might not see it in stock for several months. I know that folks who hold the 358 in high regard reload a variety of bullets, but they often run into OAL issues with bullets heavier than 225 grain because of magazine length limits.

I do have a 358 shooter, but it is in the form of a 356, a Marlin 336SD that Regan Nonneman rechambered from 35 Rem. It shoots good groups with the 180 grain Speers, for deer, and the 220 grain Speers, for anything bigger/tougher. I don't recommend the 220 grain Speers for deer, as they didn't expand much on the deer that I shot with them. In retrospect, I don't know why I put this rifle together, probably just a slow day or a bad bottle of Grey Goose. That said, if you're looking for a cheap 358 shooter, a rechamberd Marlin 336 will function with rimless 358 brass or rimmed 356 brass and you won't have much $$ into it.

Jeff

I had a .358 BLR. Very cool package. I ended up liking the cartridge so much that I had Pac-Nor rebarrel my M7 to .358. Then I sold the BLR.

See if you can find an article called "The Great .358" by, if memory serves, Boddington.

I've killed deer with factory silvertips, 200-gn Hornady SP's (great bullet) and the 225 Partition. They all worked great. I'm with BT53- the 225 Partition is a great "one load" for .358. It has a decent BC unlike the 200 Horn which truly sucks past 200 yards... the 225 NP works for me out to 400 yds, and the 225 Sierra hits the same even out that far so it's a great cheap practice load.

One nice thing about it that nobody has mentioned is it's relatively easy on the ears in the field. Lots of "boom", very little "crack".

Finally it just flat kills deer daid, with a big ol' hole but minimal bloodshot.

I resize new .308 brass in one pass with a Hornady New Dimension die. Good neck lube is key. I use a leather boot dressing called Obenaufs. Other guys speak well of Royal sizing wax (I think that's right).

One thing that's a pain with my die is seating pistol bullets. I have to get things just so or it crushes the shoulder of the case.

John Barsness knows a lot about this cartridge. He turned us on to TAC, which is, in my humble opinion, the Nectar of the Gods for .358. If you want, I'll PM you my RL7 load that gives 2640 fps with 200's from my 20" barrel but I don't want to post it publically as it's way over book. No pressure signs, long case life, and no compression though....

Do you mean Imperial Sizing Wax?

Jeff

Imperial. That's it. Royal was close!

The 220 Speer flat nose absolutley flattens pigs . I have 2 pre '64 model 70's in .358 and love them both. The best shoots under 1 " and the other is about 1.25 " .I use 225 gns Partitions in one and the 220 gn Speers in the other . Varget is a good powder for the .358 win.

I got two also, a Savage 99 and a custom MRC. I reload using 200gr. Hornady SP, they are both accurate and lethal. Great round and always a converstion piece around a campfire.

Get a Lyman M-Die. See page 4 of the pdf.

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/catalogue-download/pdf/Dies-and-Die-Sets.pdf

My BLR in .358 shot 225gr NBT into 3/4" groups at 100yds and the 200gr Hornady PSP were 1"-1.25" consistent. I got rid of my BLR and picked up a .358 Win Ruger Hawkeye.

I have the Ruger Frontier in 358 w/ scout scope. Neat little package.

I'm planning on having a 308 Carbine Rem auto-loader bored up to 358 this spring/summer. :-)