I'm planning to hunt Wisconsin white tail this fall with a .358 Win Savage 99C that I acquired. It shoots group sizes about 1"-1.50" at 100 yds. with 200 gr Hornady Interlock PSP, 49.5 gr of TAC, WLRM primers and Starline brass. I had no experience with this cartridge prior to acquiring the Savage and I would like like your thoughts on the cartridge, the load and to what distance do you feel a .358 Winchester is useful for deer.
.358 Win Users
- Thread starter grry10
- Start date
gerry
Ammo Smith
- Mar 1, 2007
- 6,684
- 1,255
I feel comfortable shooting the 180 gr Speer and 200 gr Sierra RN out to 200 yards at least in mine so you could easily add another 50 yards or so and maybe even more.
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,490
- 4,660
Buddy of mine has a 358 BLR. I don't recall his load, but he dubbed it "killer" for the great success he's had with it on elk.
He's got an Aimpoint red dot on it. Quick. Powerful. Accurate. He's taken a lot of elk with it over the years. I think it would be good to go on deer out to any reasonable range.
Guy
He's got an Aimpoint red dot on it. Quick. Powerful. Accurate. He's taken a lot of elk with it over the years. I think it would be good to go on deer out to any reasonable range.
Guy
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
- 36,905
- 5,069
The perfect cartridge for your hunt. One of my favourite cartridges. I doubt that I'll ever allow myself to be without this particular cartridge. I've used the cartridge on black bear, bison, moose and mule deer. It works fine. I have restricted my shots to under 250 yards because of velocity considerations. Other than that, the cartridge works better than it should.
Have been using a pre-81 BLR in 358 Win for over 15 years. Shoots the Hornady factory 200 gr load well. Favourite handload is the 220gr Speer Hot-Cor bullet over 50.0gr Win748 in WW cases with WLR primers for a chronied 2209 fps and 2365 ft-lbs of energy out of the 20" barrel, giving 1" groups at 100 yards. The 225 gr Nosler Partition over 47.5gr of Win 748 gives 1.2" groups.
Have used this load successfully on elk and moose. It has been my main guiding, horseback/atv and archery backup rifle.
Mounted with a Leupold VX-III 1.5-5x20, a dead on hold with it zeroed at 200 yards, will bust fist sized rocks (my fist is 5 1/2" in diameter) out to 250 yards. Would not hesitate to use it on big game out to that distance. At 300 yards, this load inn my rifle is down to 1700 fps and carrying 1063 ft-lbs of energy, with a drop of 7.8"
Enjoy your new rifle and have fun with it! You made a great choice!
Have used this load successfully on elk and moose. It has been my main guiding, horseback/atv and archery backup rifle.
Mounted with a Leupold VX-III 1.5-5x20, a dead on hold with it zeroed at 200 yards, will bust fist sized rocks (my fist is 5 1/2" in diameter) out to 250 yards. Would not hesitate to use it on big game out to that distance. At 300 yards, this load inn my rifle is down to 1700 fps and carrying 1063 ft-lbs of energy, with a drop of 7.8"
Enjoy your new rifle and have fun with it! You made a great choice!
You've got a great rifle! Among Savage 99 fans (I'm one) the .358 is a great find. You'll find it has a bit of a cult following in Alaska, so if you spend some time searching the Alaska Outdoors forum, you'll dig up a lot of info about loads on the .358 for a Savage 99. That happens to be a rifle on my wish list, so here's one of the articles I bookmarked a while back. The next 99 I pick up is going to get re-barreled/re-bored as a 358.
http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/144178-Savage-99-358-Win
http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/144178-Savage-99-358-Win
Silent Sam
Handloader
- Dec 22, 2010
- 294
- 0
The 358 is one of my favorites and I hunt with it a lot. Deer, moose and elk.
Two things I always consider:
1. Max range I have retained velocity for reliable expansion. I don't know your numbers but will bet you'll be at around 1800 fps at around 250 yds.
2. Max range I can hold on hair and POI will be a kill shot - from field positions. Lots of variables here. For a 200yd zero you will be about 3" high at 100 and around 5' low at 250. Factor in your hold and group size at 250 and how consistent you are at that range w/o a bench and you should get a pretty good idea.
Two things I always consider:
1. Max range I have retained velocity for reliable expansion. I don't know your numbers but will bet you'll be at around 1800 fps at around 250 yds.
2. Max range I can hold on hair and POI will be a kill shot - from field positions. Lots of variables here. For a 200yd zero you will be about 3" high at 100 and around 5' low at 250. Factor in your hold and group size at 250 and how consistent you are at that range w/o a bench and you should get a pretty good idea.
Interesting comments on that forum thread.
They definitely prize their 99 358's in Alaska! The write up on the 358 Win in an older Nosler reloading manual does specifically mention the 99 in Alaska as well, and highly praises its attributes.
The other (third) 358 Win lever is the found only in the pre-64 Winchester Model 88, and I have not seen one of these personally. Have seen a couple on GunBroker in the States, and they too go for premium dollars.
As a note for those who may consider reboring or rebarrelling a model 88 308 to 358, the action internals and magazines are completely different and you need to have the right magazine and may need to alter the internals of the action to get it to feed reliably.
Learning this myself as I rebarrelled a 308 to 338 Federal. While I had the proper magazine, we were unaware of the internal action differences. The rifle would feed and cycle if done slowly while perfectly level, but will not if tried to do quickly or off-level. There is an article online that shows and explains the differences, that a friend found and forwarded to me, that I then sent to my gunsmith who is working to remedy the issue.
https://www.leeroysramblings.com/Gun%20 ... _info.html
The same friend has also told me that he found info regarding many of the Winchester 88's in 358 were sent back to the factory as they did not sell well, and were rebarrelled and then sold as 308's. Have not found that info myself, but would be easy to tell by looking at the inside of the action from the bottom while the magazine is removed.
They definitely prize their 99 358's in Alaska! The write up on the 358 Win in an older Nosler reloading manual does specifically mention the 99 in Alaska as well, and highly praises its attributes.
The other (third) 358 Win lever is the found only in the pre-64 Winchester Model 88, and I have not seen one of these personally. Have seen a couple on GunBroker in the States, and they too go for premium dollars.
As a note for those who may consider reboring or rebarrelling a model 88 308 to 358, the action internals and magazines are completely different and you need to have the right magazine and may need to alter the internals of the action to get it to feed reliably.
Learning this myself as I rebarrelled a 308 to 338 Federal. While I had the proper magazine, we were unaware of the internal action differences. The rifle would feed and cycle if done slowly while perfectly level, but will not if tried to do quickly or off-level. There is an article online that shows and explains the differences, that a friend found and forwarded to me, that I then sent to my gunsmith who is working to remedy the issue.
https://www.leeroysramblings.com/Gun%20 ... _info.html
The same friend has also told me that he found info regarding many of the Winchester 88's in 358 were sent back to the factory as they did not sell well, and were rebarrelled and then sold as 308's. Have not found that info myself, but would be easy to tell by looking at the inside of the action from the bottom while the magazine is removed.
Thankful Otter
Handloader
- Oct 8, 2012
- 783
- 95
358's
Of the three made the Savage is a good one, as is the BLR, the Winchester is not. Since you have a Savage, look for a 250/3000 to go with it and those two rifles will let you hunt anything in N.A. out to 250 yards.
The 200 gr will work well out of it. I dont use Hornady, but others do and like them.
I had the 250/3000 and Dr Mike was instrumental in my choosing a 358 to go with it. albeit a Savage
However having said all that, if your using iron sights, my preference is still the Win 71 348, but I believe now that gil has sold his, I am the only one in North America that still uses one.
Of the three made the Savage is a good one, as is the BLR, the Winchester is not. Since you have a Savage, look for a 250/3000 to go with it and those two rifles will let you hunt anything in N.A. out to 250 yards.
The 200 gr will work well out of it. I dont use Hornady, but others do and like them.
I had the 250/3000 and Dr Mike was instrumental in my choosing a 358 to go with it. albeit a Savage
However having said all that, if your using iron sights, my preference is still the Win 71 348, but I believe now that gil has sold his, I am the only one in North America that still uses one.
I read that stuff on the Alaskan site. I didn't know a Savage 99 in .358 brought that kind of of money. I also noticed they loaded a bit hotter that what I just saw in the latest load manuals. I wouldn't worry all that much using those loads in a bolt action but I'm not so sure about them in the Savage, at least not if you want long brass life.
I have four rifles chambered to the .358, two Ruger M77 tang safeties, an early BLR with the magazine that hangs down below the action and a Savage 99, the later version with the ugly beavertail forearm. Funny thing is the Browning and Savage are head and shoulder more accurate than the two Rugers. I t could be the 1 in 16" twist in the Ruger vs the the 1 in 12" twists in the two lever guns but facts are facts. I had all four rifles at the range and carefully shot for groups and the lever guns won. It was that way with factory and handloads.
FWIW, I was thinking about selling that 99, well to be honest all my .358 Win.'s but did not seem to have that 99 priced high enough based on that 2014 Alaskan forum. I almost feel guilty as I only gave $400 for that 99. Note that I did say, "almost." :mrgreen:
I've been playing with the .35 Whelen for so long now I almost forgot I even had those .358s. TAC seems to be the powder to go with for top velocity so methinks I just might chase down a can and see what's what.
Paul B.
I have four rifles chambered to the .358, two Ruger M77 tang safeties, an early BLR with the magazine that hangs down below the action and a Savage 99, the later version with the ugly beavertail forearm. Funny thing is the Browning and Savage are head and shoulder more accurate than the two Rugers. I t could be the 1 in 16" twist in the Ruger vs the the 1 in 12" twists in the two lever guns but facts are facts. I had all four rifles at the range and carefully shot for groups and the lever guns won. It was that way with factory and handloads.
FWIW, I was thinking about selling that 99, well to be honest all my .358 Win.'s but did not seem to have that 99 priced high enough based on that 2014 Alaskan forum. I almost feel guilty as I only gave $400 for that 99. Note that I did say, "almost." :mrgreen:
I've been playing with the .35 Whelen for so long now I almost forgot I even had those .358s. TAC seems to be the powder to go with for top velocity so methinks I just might chase down a can and see what's what.
Paul B.
PJGunner":1p65dujf said:
I think the demand on the 99s in general has dropped a little bit in comparison to what it was a couple years ago, but your .358 should still bring a pretty good price to the right buyer. I'm looking for a "shooter" .358 rather than something to hang onto as a collector, and have pretty much convinced myself that the simplest and most economical option for me is to find a 99 in a 308 and have it re-bored to the .358.
Well Paul,
If you are still "almost" feeling guilty about only paying $400 for your 99 in 358, I would be more than happy to help you "pay it forward" and ease your pain, by giving you the $400 and taking it off your hands! LOL
Seriously though, I would be interested in it when you are ready to sell. I would of course, have to then get it imported to here, north of the border. As it is the later version, does it have the detachable magazine?
I find my pre-81 BLR, same as yours, and like yours, is capable of good accuracy (MOA) in spite of its terrible trigger. Great rifle and a lot of fun to shoot and hunt with!
If you are still "almost" feeling guilty about only paying $400 for your 99 in 358, I would be more than happy to help you "pay it forward" and ease your pain, by giving you the $400 and taking it off your hands! LOL
Seriously though, I would be interested in it when you are ready to sell. I would of course, have to then get it imported to here, north of the border. As it is the later version, does it have the detachable magazine?
I find my pre-81 BLR, same as yours, and like yours, is capable of good accuracy (MOA) in spite of its terrible trigger. Great rifle and a lot of fun to shoot and hunt with!
