Has anyone ever done a 358 Win?

[geezer56]

The Whelen we all know about, the 357 Mag/Max has been discussed at length (several times) and the 35 Rem has even been done.  Has anyone taken a Mag barrel out to 358 Win?  It looks like a great option, the caliber is great, but not many people have one in any kind of gun.  Just stirring the pot/muddying the waters here.

[quickdtoo]

There have been several discussions on it, but I don't recollect anyone ever actually following thru with it, with the recent discovery that modern 357mag barrels are all likely 1:15½" twist, it should be a great alternative to the Max and Whelen. 

Tim

[myarmor]

I have a lot of 308 brass and I would love to have a 358Win!
 It's a great cal. In it's own rights and I am in the woods enough to use one here in my parts
Plus I have an older 357 I am sitting on..





-Aaron

[gunther66]

I have a 357 barrel on the way.Plan is to take it out to 356/358 winchester.I have a 307/308 that larry did for me and it's great.Seems to me this 357 barrel could be a real hoot! wish me luck.  G66

[myarmor]

Keep us posted gunther!

[geezer56]

Tue confessions time.  I have a brand new Whelen that checks great with a go no-go gauge set.  I have 2 357 barrels that have both been reamed to Max.  I am seriously considering reaming one to a 358 Win.  I am a cast shooter, I think the 358 is more cast friendly than the Whelen.  It isn't over capacity for powder like the Whelen can be.  I have a couple of other projects to finish, then we'll see.

[NFG]

I think there is something wrong with a lot of hunters when they overlook or blow off the 358 win.  I don't have a NEF barrel in 358 Win but I DO have a Marlin 336 in 356 Win that I use 358 W cases in and BOTH are SAAMI spec'ed at the SAME pressure, so they are interchangable...BUT...I don't want to get into that argument again.

I have a 338-06 so I haven't bothered with the 35 Whelen as they are pretty much identical as far as hunting goes and you CAN find 250 gr bullets for the 338 cal.

The 358 W is more efficient and uses less of a slightly faster burning powder to get almost identical ballistics as the 35 Whelen EXCEPT with the heaviest bullets.  You can get into the hair splitting here very easily but if you are talking about hunting and NOT smoke blowing, there isn't enough difference to bother about.  You cal ALWAYS get more velocity out of the larger case, tho'.

I don't think you can go wrong with the 358...if you bother to look at the BC's of the 35 cal bullets and do some ballistics checking you will find that the 358 is just as good a "long" range shooter(within reasonable ranges) as it is a "brushbuster".

If I had an extra 357 cal barrel I wouldn't hesitate to do a rechamber to 358 W OR a 35 WSM OR a 35/284 just for kicks.

Luck

[tony212]

The .358 win is one of my all time favorite calibers. If H&R offered rifles in this caliber I think I'd probably be first in line to buy one.
Tony212

[Handi-Fan]

I have a rechambered 357 mag to 358 my smith that did it wasn't sure about the out come. but it shoots the 180 Hornady single shot pistol bullit real well. I use Bl-C(2) and H4895 the only problem you may have at this vel. is the bullit tends to come apart on game. The 180 barnes x does fairly well, holds together better but I have to use max powder charges to get it stabilize and it does well out to 150 yds. after that groups start to grow. This barrel has a 1:15 1/2 twist. I think a 35 rem. would be a better choice if you were going bottle neck cartridge. But I believe 357 max would be the better compromise, I'll find out once I ream this new 357 mag barrel out to max. will let ya know results.

[dpe.ahoy]

It's something I've really thought about.  Right now I have 3 of the Maxie's and would consider getting a 358 done, almost had one boxed up to send off for a 35 Rem rechamber but got another Marlin in that chambering instead.  I have a BLR in that caliber, but haven't shot it yet .  Too many toys and chores, not enough time.   DP

[gunnerguy]

Hey Guys,
The .357 barrell has a groove diameter of .357". The 358 Win has a groove diameter of .358" These are two of the very few calibers that are named for their true bullet sizes. You could safely use .357 bullets in a 358 Win but if you load .358" bullets in a 357 barrell, The pressures will be higher if you use load data for .357" bullets of the same weight.

Gunnerguy

[quickdtoo]

Bore size is a moot point between the two, the SAAMI tolerance overlaps, so you could have a tighter bore in a .358" than a .357", I've had no problems shooting .358" bullets in the 35 Rem barrel, 180gr @2450fps with no hint of pressure issues, in fact I'll be increasing the load to see where it goes. Many here, including myself shoot 180gr Speer FP in their 357Max with absolutely no problems, the bore discrepancy is a non-issue. 

Tim