.358 -> How hard is it to find good factory ammo

aomancini

aomancini

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.... in Canada ofcourse?

I really was talking myself into a BLR 358, you know short action, hard hitting, acceptable recoil and best of all BLR (my personal favorite) BUT I am really not wanting to start the hand loading. To be honest I worry about be able to get access to +200 rounds at a decent price with little hassels.

Anyone care to weigh in?
 
Your not necessarly going to find it around every corner, but if you look for it with some effort, it should turn up. The only factory loads i have found are the 200 gr winchester silvertips, but i haven't looked hard, as i was just after some proper brass.
 
There is only one factory load, the Winchester Super X 200 gr Silver Tip. They can be hard to find, and normally go for about $44.00 a box, last time I checked at Russells or Wholesale. For volume shooting and getting the most out of the round ballistically, the 358 is really more of a handloaders cartridge.
 
I own two 358Wins (BLR and Ruger77) and like em both.
But unless you handload don't buy one - unless you only plan to shoot only a few rounds each year - sighting in and hunting. Ammo is scarce and too many $$$$ if you really like to shoot at the range. It is available every now and again from Winchester but only in a 200 grain load. The 250grain loads really up its thump factor on bigger game IMO but are not made any more.

However the caliber is very easy to handload and necked up 308 cases work about as well as 358Win cases. Roll your own or forget 35s in general.
 
Stick with a .308 in the BLR. Game doesn't know the difference and neither will you. The .358 just isn't a popular round and unless you handload there isn't much choice of ammo out there. The .358 sounds ###y, but does nothing more than a regular .308 available just about everywhere in more configurations than you would ever wish to try.
 
get a 308 BLR rebarreled to 338 Federal. Your choice in factory ammo will be : 180 gr Accubonds, 185 gr Triple Shocks, 200 gr soft point, 200 gr fusion bonded, 200 gr tipped bear claw, 210 gr Nosler partition ~ all loaded by Federal


;)
 
I Agree with "Why Not" ... all my research has lead me to believe that the .358 is the ultimate middle ground between a big game thumper (with heavy well constructed bullets) and a flat shooting cartridge for deer. Furthermore sporting a lever it is a good defensive cartridge against almost all dangerous North American game save the Browns and perfect for hunting large Black Bear over bait.

Personally I came to this cartridge because I love levers, short action and want knockdown power (push large bullets) with out foolish amounts of recoil. Can anyone else suggest a better cartridge ... do they make 350 Rem in a lever?

AMAN
 
I bought a 9,3x57-knowing it also was a ''handloaders'' proposition-which I had never attempted before -but believe it or not-is not as hard as I thought it would be-and kinda fun too,especially off season or on days when you can't get out
 
Why Not Handload (was .358 factory Ammo?)

SuperCub said:
Why the aversion to handloading? Even with standard/common cartridges, it's the best part of the whole shooting thing.
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Well to be honest I don't want to layout $$ for equipment and to be honest I have hunted deer from 2 different .308 rifles over the last 6 years have killed lots of deer with every load from a 125gr MR Rem to 180 gr Win and I do say most of that ammo is just great. Point being you really don't need to hand load to get sub 1.5 MOA groups at 100yards these days ... so again it is the time, dollars and perceived difficulty :)

"bore size and velocity with the heavier bullets gives killing power far in excess of its paper ballistics"
 
I think you may have percieved the difficulty level at a higher than realistic level. Handloading is pretty simple, i've been doing it since i was 16. If you can read , you can handload. This is a useful hobby for more than just tight groups. You can get yourself into the premium bullets way cheaper than factory rolled loads, or shoot bulk bullets for practice at a ridiculously low price in a centerfire round.

Lets take the 358 for example, i am loading the 250 gr speer hot-cor for mine at a price of about $30-40 per hundred, and for plinking/coyotes/gophers, i am shooting the winchester bulk .357 Dia 158 gr JHP pistol bullets for $20 per hundred or so.

With a lower end starter kit, this means you will pay for your press in ammo savings in no time (check out the Lee 100 Aniversary Kit, i think that gets you all you need for under $300)
 
aomancini said:
Well to be honest I don't want to layout $$ for equipment
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Well to be honest ....... good luck finding cheap 358Win ammo. It just won't happen.

aomancini said:
Point being you really don't need to hand load to get sub 1.5 MOA groups at 100yards these days ...
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Point being ..... loading for a 358Win isn't about accuracy, it's about availability.

You won't find very many 358Win shooters out there that don't load their own ammo. It's a great cartridge and worth the extra effort and expense. Unless you are willing to either spend alot of $$ on ammo or invest in some loading equipment, you'll be better served shooting heavy .308Win factory loads.
 
It is really too bad that Winchester no longer loads the 250 gr ST in the 358.

As well, looks like they no longer offer their 200 gr load for the 308.

The shortest answer to the original question, ".358 -> How hard is it to find good factory ammo?" is, "Hard." :D

Ted
 
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todbartell said:
get a 308 BLR rebarreled to 338 Federal. Your choice in factory ammo will be : 180 gr Accubonds, 185 gr Triple Shocks, 200 gr soft point, 200 gr fusion bonded, 200 gr tipped bear claw, 210 gr Nosler partition ~ all loaded by Federal


;)
Click to expand...

just what I was going to say...but just buy a 338 Fed bolt gun and be done with it.....
 
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