Rebarrel - 338 Federal or 358 Winchester

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buckchaser

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A Tikka T3 stainless synthetic in 260 Remington followed me home today ...

I have a T3 7mm-08 synthetic blued that I have had Cerakoted. 7mm-08 and 260 are pretty close so I am considering rebarrelling the 7mm-08 to either 338 Federal or 358 Winchester.

I know 358 Winchester allows for heavier bullets and probably packs a bit more "up close and personal punch", but the fact I can easily buy 338 Federal ammunition (saw some in a local gun shop recently) is very attractive as I don't reload.

Thoughts?
 
buckchaser said:
A Tikka T3 stainless synthetic in 260 Remington followed me home today ...

I have a T3 7mm-08 synthetic blued that I have had Cerakoted. 7mm-08 and 260 are pretty close so I am considering rebarrelling the 7mm-08 to either 338 Federal or 358 Winchester.

I know 358 Winchester allows for heavier bullets and probably packs a bit more "up close and personal punch", but the fact I can easily buy 338 Federal ammunition (saw some in a local gun shop recently) is very attractive as I don't reload.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

You also posted this on HBC, I can only pass along the same response.... let us know what you decide...
 
You are probably rebarreling the wrong rifle. The 7mm bullet has it all in balance between sectional density, weight, BC from a lightweight rifle generating moderate recoil and delivering good down range energy. That being said,...it still plays second fiddle to the .308Win which needs no introduction. The 7mm/08 and the .308 will do anything the extreme versions of the case will do, and do more things better than the .243-358 extremes.
I know you probably didn't want to hear anything that practical, so unscrew the .260 and make it a .358WhizBang.;)
 
I think those who have had both find the 338 much easier to live with (not speaking of the 358 here).
 
I own and shoot all of the .308 family... The .358 is a favorite... but if I was looking at a two rifle rig to complement each other with the 7-08 as the baseline, I believe that I would choose the Fed for the second rifle... it is a well balanced cartridge.
 
If it were up to me I would grab a new Mag and bolt stop and mount a 338-06 barrel on that puppy for a nice moose thumper. The nice thing about tikkas is that you're not limited to short action chamberings.
 
Kevan said:
I'll take a 358 over Any 338 bore.
First trip out with my 358 Frontier it filled a tag and earned its own spot in my safe..
Click to expand...
I've owned several 358s over the yrs and have yet to kill anything with one. I'm still sticking with them.

Here's the current. One of the last guns Bevan King put a bbl on.

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The same question has bothered me since the summer. I haven't completely decided but I think the Whelen fills my 358 need better so I've been leaning toward the federal for a light weight short action rifle capable of all big game in Ontario from point blank to 300 yards
Personally I think long actions deserve the right length round
 
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