Hello, I am having a custom rifle built chambered in 358 winchester. I will be using it to hunt deer in northeast Kansas. I am going to start reloading for it. My question is bullet choice. Does anyone have any experience with the Hornady 200 gr RN, the 250 gr RN, or the Remington 200 RN? Shots will be 150 yards and under.

Welcome to the fire. My 350 rem like the 200 grain sierra rn, and my Whelen likes the 250 Hornady rn.

No experience with the RN but the hornady 200 grain SP will kill deer dead all day long...

Thanks. I'm kinda leaning twards the Hornady 200, but was considering the 250. Kinda worring about the 250 with expansion on deer at 358 win speeds though.

2 deer killed with 225 Accubonds so far have impressed me and them...

I have probably taken more deer with the 358 than any other caliber. Tried several slugs including 200 hornady sp, 200 barnes x, 225 nosler bt, 220 speer and 225 sierra. The 200 hornady sp is my favorite. perfect match for the 358 and deer.

What he said,

Dale

I used the 200 Silvertip from 1966 til they were discontinued.

Since then I have loaded the 180 Speer which is proven on deer. My late dad made me a tool back in the 80's to swage a spitzer meplat onto the flat nose 180 Speer.

Same as posted above in regards to Hornady 200 gr. SP. I load them in Whelens for myself and two other guys. In your 358 I can't see anything working better for you on deer.

Plus 4 <g>, the 200 Horn SP is a great deer bullet.

My other favorite is the 225 Partition.

RL7 gets my 20" M7 well up over 2600 fps with the 200's; TAC is the magic pixie dust for 225's.

In some lengthy posts in the past, the R-P 200 gr PSP CoreLokt bullet has been highly respected as a good deer bullet.

http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?tabId=1&categoryId=7284&categoryString=9315***652***19785***9016***&refineSearchKeywordDisplay=remington&refineSearchKeyword=remington

In the 358 win with it's moderate velocity, use the bullet that shoots the best. 200grs or 225grs will get the job done with no tricks for deer at 150 yards. At that range, even round nose bullets would get the job done.

The thing with the 200's is that the BC on them is wretched. The .358 is fully 400-yd capable, even with some wind, with the 225 Partition. A good elk load (I presume) and it does just hammer deer. Very versatile and maximizes what a .358 can do- IMHO.

Only downside is cost- which is brutal at about $50/box.

I have killed deer with the 358win and 35Whelen at the ranges you're talking about. I use the 200gr Hornady RN and it hammers deer like they should, and they bullets hold up well. At 2500-2700fps they break anything that gets in the way and don't leave you with a bloody mess to throw away.

I like your preferences in bullets for a .358 to be used at moderate ranges. My .358 has a 19" barrel and I use the Hornady 250 gr. RN exclusively in it. With 42.5 gr. IMR 3031 it produces just about 2200 fps and is very accurate:



I am mightily impressed with the accuracy of this bullet. It shoots 3-shot groups in way less than an inch very regularly. I think it will do anything you would ask of it at .358 velocities.

Sighted 2 1/2" high at 100 yards it is 2 1/2" low at 200. I consider it a 225 yard gun, although I suppose that could be stretched a bit if necessary. So far I have only taken one black bear with it but it did a great job and the bullet howled off into the sunset somewhere after putting the bear down. I think it would be just fine for deer as well. I like to have just one load for each of my rifles, and I stopped looking when I saw how the 250's grouped.

I've had very good luck with Speer 180 grain bullet.

TR

Kansas82,
I have shot a 35 Whelen since 1989, since then I have killed close to 40 deer. I can assure you than any bullet you try will do a great job on deer with your .358 Winchester.
The most accurate in my rifle was the Sierra 225 boattail.
The 200 gr. are not very accurate in my rifle but they do a good job of killing them on the spot.
The 250 does a great job and are accurate but are more recoil.
I would try the 200 gr Hornady first and then go up if you need to. The 180 Speer will do a good job as well.
There is really no need for a premium bullet in this caliber.
The deer will not appreciate the difference.
Have Fun,
whelennut

There are certainly no flies on the 200 PSP Core-lokt!

I've used the 200gn Rem CoreLokt in my Whelen (2717fps) and found it hard on pigs if hit behind the shoulder. The pigs tended to run 40 - 100 metres before going down. If put into the shoulder pad and through bone, the piggies drop right there.

FYI - Natchez now has the Hornady 200 Gr. SP in stock for $30/100.

I haven't been able to find them anywhere in stock for the last few months.

The 200 grain Hornady SPs are really good in the .358. If you want reliable expansion at longer ranges and a fun deer bullet, the Hornady 180 XTP pistol bullet works REALLY well also. Flinch

For the 358 Win you have fairly low velocity. Many 358 bullets are more heavily jacketed than lower caliber bullets and long range expansion can become an issue. I love the 225 grain Nosler Partition. It has a good B.C. and expands down to 1700fps. I love em.

Article I wrote about 7 years ago.

http://35cal.com/35bullet_study/35bullet_study1.html

North61 that's a great article!Nicely done and very interesting.

North61,
I fully agree with BobinNH. Well done. Many excellent nuggets of truth in your article.
I got a new son in law a couple of years ago who was just getting into hunting big game. I gave him a Whelen and 50 rounds loaded with 250 gr Hornady's. Told him that he can hunt anything in North America with it, with perfect confidence. My only condition was to try to retrieve the empty cases for free refills.

VERY well done sir. I'm partial to the 225 Partition in my .358.

North61,
Nice article! I took my 35 Whelen to Alaska and killed my caribou with it. I have also taken my first black bear with it. I used the 225 GR. Partition on both animals. The bear was hit in the heart at 30 yards and fell down and never took another step.
I was very pleased.
Do you know anyone who has taken brown bear with the 35 Whelen?
whelennut

200gr Hornady SP's + H4895 in my .358 Win Hawkeye

I did have a deer catch a 225 Partition for me. Sharply quartering away and the bullet skidded along the bottom of the spine a ways.

Thanks all..no experience on brown bears. I'd feel ok with the 225 NP even on the big bears though.

I just purchased a Browning BLR in .358 Win from another Campfire member and was searching for bullet info. I was lucky to find this thread. Learned a lot from the posts and from North61's article. I purchased dies, brass and bullets from another member and now have almost a full box of 200 gr. Hornady FTX bullets. I'm pretty sure they were designed to work at .35 Rem velocities (2200fps and less) but wondered if anyone had any experience with them in a .358 Win. I would guess that they should be good for deer and black bears, maybe even caribou. Any thoughts?

RaystownRon, I don't have experience with the FTX bullets yet. I have a Rem 660 350 mag and I just got a box of FTX bullets to load. I'll load them to about 358 Win velocity. I reckon 2400 fps isn't to much velocity.

I've used the 358 on a variety of game including moose, grizzly, caribou, and used a variety of bullets including 200 PSPCL, 250 IL, 250 HC, and 225 XFB. The XFB was always most impressive though it does run out of the good stuff when the distances get longer. I'm inclined to think the 200 TSX would be as good, and the 200 TTSX even better than the old XFB. (The new 225 TSX is longer than the old one.) The 225 Partition benefits from better speed potential than the 250s. I'm also inclined to think that the 250s, while accurate, are just a big too much for the small case capacity of the 358. The 225 stays within a better ideal operating range.

Raystownron ..... presently working on a 358 project ... contacted hornady a few weeks ago and they stated the FTX should work fine up to 2600 fps .

My thoughts are 2500 should be ideal .

I am also looking of 225 grain bearclaws if anyone knows where to buy them ..... previously purchased these for my 35 whelan in loaded federal ammo but need to roll my own with the 358 win

225 TBBC's

i have used the 200gr core-lokt psp on two deer,with the .358win, the first was a fairly big whitetail buck, maybe 180lbs live weight. Hit him with a quartering frontal and it put him down in a couple of yards. Never found the bullet, it did punch the opposite ribs and break a couple but by then it had run out of steam.

The second was a perfect broadside whitetail doe at around 40 yards, about the same as the buck. She ran about 35yds but was done, great blood trail, and no blood shot meat.

I have also used the Hornady 200gr S.p. for one buck, it did a good job but one of the bullets lost its core with a less than ideal shot. Its a great bullet but i think the core-lokt is tougher.

I dont really see any reason to use another bullet, except the 200gr FTX, for deer. Although the 200gr TTSX does look interesting.

kansas82,

While the 250 Hornady Spire Point is kind of an iffy expander from the .358, the 250 RN will expand nicely.

But as a lot of others have already suggested, the 200 Spire Point is a great deer bullet.

Yes Sir it does... the 250 Horn RN is a sweet deer bullet expands even with lung shots from a 358 Win. In my rifle it also feeds the slickest. Though I'd like to give the 180 TTSX a try just for Sh*ts and giggles. In my Whelen I've had the 225 TBBC just drill a 35 cal hole in the lungs and watch the 100 yard dash. For deer I'd stick with 180's 200's or 250 RN's out of any of the 35's.

Since the original poster said that his shots wil be under 150 yards, there is nothing wrong with either the Rem or Hornady 200 gr RN. Or the 250 gr RN.

For my use at more distance, I prefer the 225 gr Partition or Sierra. Locally, I have to use the TSX.

M1 Garand .... thanks for the heads up on Weidners .... did not think of them ..... now if I can get drawn for a moose permit will put them to good use .

I don't often get to use my favorite rifle due to lack of bullets that hold up at high speed. I had a top notch smith build me a 358 STA 10 years ago and everything I shoot with it HAS to be a head shot or it is a mess. I like the Nosler Combined Tech for accuracy. They are downright scarey accurate, but if a deer or elk is closer than 400 yards, a body shot blows gelled blood into every muscle group withing a foot of the entrance hole, or even farther.
The 225's are accurate. The 250's are slower, but don't shoot well through this 700 action with a heavily fluted Pac Nor bbl. Partitions come completely apart at less than 400 yds, or just pass through leaving a hole you could feed a trident sub through. Head shots blow the skull to shreds every time so antlers are never intact enough to measure, tho I am not much of a trophy hunter.

I have had to pass up some shots on deer and elk that were too close to shoot in the body and too far for a clean head shot......
Anyone had any bullets that performed well at 3200-2900 fps? I hate to see it relegated to a long range coyote rifle, and so do the coyotes.......
Thanks for any with 358 high speed experience.

TSX might be the ticket for the STA