James B

If they still make, the Barnes 180 grain X bullet would be great for deer. The Barnes is the one bullet where the SD would not be as critical. I also had the BLR in that caliber.

I just checked with Midway. Barnes makes the TXS in a 200 grain for the 35's Talk about a deer bullet, this would be it.

eldeguello

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Yes, I used to use the 200-grain on deer. I used the old Hornady 200-grain spire point. This bullet may have been a little on the tough side, for it ALWAYS went through, and gave a tremendous blood trail. Even though the deer did not always drop on the spot, I never had any trouble finding them!

Although a little on the OVERKILL side for most deer shooting, the .358 is an excellentcartridge for all bigger North American game. In addition, it is MORE than a mere short-range cartridge, way betterthan the .35 Remington!

My favorite load is with the Speer 250-grain spitzer and 51.5 grains of WW748 powder. In my 20" barrled Browning BLR, this load shot under 1" @ 100 yards (three shots), and gave 2420 FPS @ 10' from the muzzle. With Nosler now making Partition Jacket bullets in .358, those would now be my choice. (I haven't used this cartridge since Nosler began making .35 caliber bullets.All nay-sayers, note that this load is 2.5 grains LESS than Ken Waters' maximum for this bullet, published in Handloader Mag. years ago. Of course, his loads were worked up in a Mannlicher Schoenauer.)

Chris W.

Great round with surprising ballistics for a short action cartridge with such heavy bullets. It still amazes me that the .358 Winchester never really took off in popularity. Here's a great link with reload data.

http://www.reloadersnest.com/frontpage.asp?CaliberID=191

cybersniper

Thanks guys for all the advice. I'm taking the gun in to have it looked over before I completely rebuild it. They had a problem with these old Model 88 .358 Winchesters jamming and I want to see if that problem can be fixed before I dump a lot of money into it.

I apprecate all the advice!

358WINMAN

I'm so glad to see some fans of the .358 Win.!!!
My name says it. Its my favorite cartridge. I've used a BLR 81 in .358 since 1990. I handload it, and get impressive results both in accuracy and knock down power. Why this caliber never took off is beyond me. If more guys would buy one and use it for a few seasons, we'd see more favorable press on it and once the press says its good, companies make as much stuff to go with it as possible so they can make money off of the press hype!
After many years of playing at the reloading bench with this round, I've proven to myself that the .358 loves the bigger pills. I've shot a lot of 200 grainers out of it and they're accurate and kill deer well. But... The 225 grain pill really shines in the .358 winnie. At the range, there's minimal difference bewteen impact points at 100 yds with the 200 vs. the 225. The 225 grain Sierra Gameking hits 1" lower at 100 than the 200 Rem PSP.
My load for the 225 is 48.5 grains of IMR4895.
My 200 grain loads are:
BL-C(2) 50 grains/ 200 grain Sierra RN-- very, very accurate out of my gun. You'll have to see what yours likes. My smallest group is a 2 shot group at 100yds measuring .245" and the 3 shot group is 1.01".
also try W748 powder at 52 grains with a 200 gr Barnes X. Not quite as good as the recipe above, but a solid deer killer yielding a 3 shot group of 1.411" at 100yds.
I'm going hog hunting next weekend in PA. Of course, I'm taking my .358 Win. I'm using the 225 grain load. I'll keep you posted on the result of el porko vs. the .358!
Hope these loads help you.

ranger140892

The 358 Win is far from a 356 with no rim. The 356 is a low pressure cartridge, with thick case walls and less powder capacity than a 358,making itsuitable for weaker lever action rifles.
I've had two guns in 358 Win. One rifle, one pistol (XP100). Both were great deer & pigguns. I especially liked Sierra 200 gr RN's.

eldeguello

Opps! Been here, done this!

stalkingbear

The .358 win came out in 1955 and is a .308 necked up. I love mine for deer and elk hunting. It's an awesome cartridge for anything on north american continent within 200-250 yards in right hands.
The 180 gr bullets work great for any whitetail. Don't be surprized if you discover you like it better than you thought you would to the point of using it exclusively.

TerryM

In my .358 rifles I had good results with 2 bullets. The 200 gr Hornady Spirepoint was best and the Sierra 225 BT was also good. The Hornady worked with every powder I tried in 2 different BLR's. I love the .358 and presently shoot a .350 model 7 custom KS but the one I would really love to see is a Ruger 77RSI mannlicher style in .358 win. ARE YA LISTENIN RUGER ??????