Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 358 Win Barrel Length

I'm considering rebarreling a rifle and chambering it for the 358 Win. I'd rather stay with a sporter profile than a heavy one and think a longer barrel (24") would aid balance. Most factory 358s (not a lot of them, I know) have short barrels from what I've seen. Are there any disadvantages to the longer barrel with this cartridge?

I would go 22" myself.

Mine has a 22" barrel, I like it.

20-21"

I have had 2 built, went with 21" on both. Very satisfied.

Since the 358 is often used in brush, I wouldn't go longer than 22".

Totally depends on what your style of hunting is and how far your shots are going to be. I have two, a custom built Model 7 with a 20" #3 Douglas barrel and a 16.5" Frontier.

If you hunt from a long range fairly open stand like they do in the south and in Texas, longer is probably better. If you hunt tree stands and still hunt, shorter is probably better.

In a short action bolt gun 20" is about as long as I go.

Bob

No more than 22".

Ive got a ruger 77 iron sighted carbine with the 18" barrel that is deadly accurate and puts a big whoopin on things I also have a T/C Encore 358 win. w/ 24" barrel and ya know Im prolly pretty partial to the ruger easier to handle with shorter barrel and all......

Not going to lose a lot of velocity going shorter. Just depends on what you want.

I'd go 21, 22" max.
Mine is a 22" and if I felt like dicking around with the irons up front, it'd be 20 or 21" fo sho.

I believe I have 5 in the vault at the moment... In the past I have had 18.5", 20", 20 5/8", 21", 22", 24" and 26"...

To be perfectly honest, I can't see a reason to have one shorter than 20" or longer than 22".. Because of the expansion ratio, there is little velocity to be gained beyond 22". And truth to be told there is not much difference between 20" and 22"... 21" seems to suit me about the best!

GH

And that surprises me very little.

I have three 358's all twenties. Considering the cartridge I don't see much ballistic advantage in barrels longer than 22ish.

I would go for balance first and the ballistics second. Most rifle loonies with a 358 in the safe will also have something flatter shooting to bring when you really need the range, so trying to really stretch the cartridge isn't nessesary. In my opinion the 358 is just well suited to a shorter easy to carry rifle typically used at ranges of less than 250 yds.

Mine goes 20" and is fine. Agree with the above 20" min to 22" max.

Both mine are/were 20". That's what I'd do.

A 20" .358 is pretty good stuff....

I started at 20" with a Lilja #3 but after receiving it I sent it back to be cut to 19.5 and recrowned . It really helped the balance go from weight forward to neutral for me. I'd say start at 21" and see how it balances and take it from there. I wouldn't give FPS a second thought.

Not really worried about velocity. Prime consideration is balance. I'm a spot and stalk kind of hunter and haven't ever had a problem with overall length, even with a H&R Buffalo Classic (32" barrel). I guess a long barrel could always be trimmed but it's real hard to go the other way and I already have a BLR in 358. Might as well try it long this time.

I have 5 also. Shortest is 18 1/2" and the longest would be 24" on my Encore. The rest are in between at 20" & 21".

Ken

Edit for correction : Wrong count / I have 6 358's