.358 Winchester question

[FTIII]

I thought it might be a good short range (out to 300 yards) rifle to hunt the timber or brush with. Plenty of power for bears, elk, pigs or most anything you might happen into around here or other places in the U.S. I prefer a bolt gun but so far can not find one, not a popular cartridge here in this part of the country. Browning still makes a lever gun for around 1,200.00 give or take a bit and thats just a little "spendy" for a tight wad like me. The 356 Win would also be a useable cartridge except its only on the 94 Big Bore and just as hard to find and as expensive as the Browning. I'm beginning to think that one of my mausers could be the only way to a reasonable priced .358 Win. At this moment if I was to consider a lever gun I think I would look around for a good used standard grade mod.71 in .348 Win. At any rate thanks to all that gave ideas.

FTIII

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[Rick]

I thought it might be a good short range (out to 300 yards) rifle to hunt the timber or brush with.

I guess if you think the 30/06 with a 180 grain bullet is a short range rifle, then you can safely say the .358 Winchester is also a short range rifle. I don't know who else is selling .358 factory ammo these days, but Double Tap sells .358 Win with the same 180 grain bullet I load for my wife - the Barnes TTSX (which replaced their earlier 180 gr version). 2800 fps out of the .358 is about the same as you're going to get with a 30-06 with the same weight bullet and the same length of barrel. Of course, the .358 is not going to have the same ballistic coefficient, but then again it is going to have less recoil, all else being the same, due to the lighter powder charge and expansion ratio being on your side.

I've given up trying to get my .358 Winchester back from my wife, and am looking at one of those BLR takedowns to replace it - might be just the thing for backpacking and dual sport rides as a camp gun. I started her out on it using swaged lead pistol bullets at about 850 fps - dirt cheap and she honed her skills on gophers with those loads. Then she took her first deer with a hunting handgun bullet loaded to about the equivalent of a 30-30. Now she tips over elk, deer, and the occasional moose just fine with that 180 grain bullet. And being able to put 250 grainers in there is comforting when chasing elk in the alder thickets, where bumping into a grizzly bear on those trails is not unusual.

The .358 is a marvelous cartridge for handloaders due to the fact such a wide variety of bullets are available for it, and it offers such good performance. For those who have been stuck with the anemic loads Winchester has been offering all these years, it is pretty ho-hum.

If I wanted a cheap one, I'd pick up an inexpensive used Remchester rifle or one of the new, inexpensive entry level rifles like the Stevens, Mossberg, etc, in .308, and then have a gunsmith rebarrel it for me. I think it's worth it.