I've had a BLR 81 in .358 for about 10 yrs. now. I had wanted a Savage 99 but never found one. The BLR was bought new at a local (high dollar) shop that discounted it deeply and was willing to take most anything in trade, including cast bullets. Most of their customers were buying whatever the newest magnum was and had no interest in a .358. This was in an area where shotguns only are allowed for deer so I don't know what they had in mind. I'm glad I'm still in a rifle area. Lots of hours on a stand, on and off an ATV and wading through second growth so thick you couldn't see 15 yds. led me to decide it would be the perfect rifle for black bear where I hunted in Quebec. Up until that time I was a single shot and bolt guy - this was to be a "specialized" rifle. I mounted a Leupold 1X4 with heavy duplex (shotgun) reticle. It shows up at dark-thirty on a black bear, which is about the only time I see them. It's quick in handling and in reloading. Though a second shot hasn't yet been needed, it's nice to know it's there fast if it ever is. Like my old Ithaca 37 shotgun, it just seems to reload itself without conscious effort - after firing a round I cycle the action automatically. I like that. Where I hunted in Quebec had to be accessed with an ATV and many times I'd be on and off the machine a dozen or more times setting bait for the outfitter. Being a "newbie", I liked having the rifle with me. The outfitter rarely carried one, when he did, it was an old Stevens single shot .22 (which I ended up repairing for him so it would fire reliably). Though it wasn't a necessity, the detachable magazine is very handy to load and unload quickly without having to run the cartridges through the chamber. I have a couple mags and though pricey, they have a good spring and follower and have been reliable, feeding spitzer, flat and round nose bullets very well. I have to admit that I haven't worked up alot of different loads. When it was new to me I tried several jacketed bullets in the 200-225 gr. range. 250 gr. were not available locally at the time and I was so happy with the Speer 220 FP that I haven't felt the need for any other jacketed bullet. I worked up a load with IMR 4064 and haven't changed that either. It groups 1.5" at 100 yds consistently if handled well from the bench. That bullet/load has performed extremely well on black bear and deer with positive controlled expansion and has always exited, even on a deer a couple weeks ago at close to 300 yds. Short range my a$$! That is the longest shot I have ever taken on an unwounded game animal. Most of the time, game is taken at bow range. This was on a doe at the end of a morning hunt. I had already taken one up close earlier and wanted another one since it doesn't take much longer to pack up 2 for the freezer than it does for just one. There was minimal expansion but the flat point still did what it was supposed to without fuss or muss. This bullet holds together on deer and bear very well but a coyote shot broadside at about 20 yards was almost in 2 pieces - not enough to be worth skinning. That one I don't understand, maybe a piece of rib bone did the extensive damage. Had I seen that before ever using the Speer FP on game I probably would have chosen a different bullet. Glad I didn't... I've always been a cast bullet fan and early on worked up small game/plinking/finish 'em off load using SWC bullets. They were accurate but I was never able to develop a load that shot anywhere near point of aim or top of duplex post with my jacketed load. Some of my other rifles don't either and I just change the sight setting from season to season. I want "little thumper" always ready to go with the full power load. I guess it's the "speciality rifle" idea I've always had about the BLR .358. In the past couple years I have bought two 35 cal. "group buy" molds, casting 180 gr. and 220 gr. FP bullets. Mild loads of Herco ('cause I have 8lbs. of it) group extremely well at 50 yds. and a very slight change to my new full power sight setting group these to point of aim at 50 yards. I still only have 1 jacketed full power load for this rifle and will probably settle on using the 180FP cast bullet as a mild load. My "short range thumper" could take the place of everything else in the rack if I needed it to. It would be hard to design something better and I fell into it. How much more can you ask for?
