358 Stw
- Thread starter Sgt. Rock
- Start date
- Location
- calgary alberta
Not aware of any factory offered 358 STAs but have built several. Nice to shoot, plenty of thunder, as Dennis points out very similar to 340 Wby but slightly larger bullets. This is 1 I always wondered about, why Layne Simpson chose 35 cal when there are a very small number of bullets available, when he could have gone 338 where there are LOTS of bullets to choose from. I have made a wildcat of sorts using 358 STA as the base , but necked it down to 338 and it works GREAT!!! No real advantage over a 340 Wby other than I dislike Wby cartridges and price Wby commands for brass
I don't have one - I shoot a .358 Norma Magnum which is kind of close - but my brother does. Bill Leeper built it on a Weatherby action for him and it's a tackdriver (like most of Bill's rifles).Sgt. Rock said:
There seems to be some concerns about bullets, but frankly that puzzles me a little. High quality hunting bullets are available for the .35's running from 180 grains to 300 grains. Makers like Barnes, Nosler, Hawke, etc are generally acknowledged to make pretty good bullets. This range, it occurs to me, covers pretty much anything you might want to point a medium bore hunting rifle at in this country. If you can't get it done with that selection, then it isn't the choice of bullets that is the problem.
Of course, .35 caliber rifles have one large advantage over .338's: they readily accept .358 handgun bullets. Which means if you want to pop something small you can do it with a handgun bullet intended to work at those velocities instead of blasting it with rhino roller loads.
More importantly, pistol bullets and some Red Dot equals very cheap reloading for going out and having some fun with your rifle without burning the barrel and your pocket book out shooting hunting bullets and hotter loads. My brother regularly hunts gophers with his .358 STA, and I doubt many .338 Win or .340 Wby owners can say the same thing. Pretty hard to miss an elk with the same rifle you've been warming up with on gophers once in a while.
I don't think the .358 STA offers a significant advantage over the .358 Norma magnum - you burn a lot of powder for the extra velocity you generate. And I find the .358 Norma with 250 grain loads in a mountain rifle to be just about my limit as far as recoil goes (about 50 ft. lbs.). In fact, even the 358 Norma might be a bit of overkill and a .35 Whelan the best bet of all - but there's no question the .358 NM does have the extra authority at longer distances.
However, I do think the .35's offer significant advantages over .338's to those who want to shoot their hunting rifles regularly and lots, without going broke doing so, wearing out barrels prematurely, or putting up with the pounding of full power loads. Others, of course, may disagree on this.
358 Norma gives you 2800 fps with 250 gr bullets, 358 STA will give you 3000 fps with the same bullet. Pretty much the difference between a 30-06 and a 300 Magnum. They are a thumper (on both ends), have no real advantage over a 340 Wby (except the slightly larger hole) and cost more to build and set up for. I like 35's, so I say run with it, but that's just me. - dan
I never owned one but shot one custom built on a Mark-X action / Brown Stock and Smith barrel (I think). I found the recoil terrible in this light gun but my buddy took it Brown Bear hunting in Alaska and enjoyed carrying it around, the load was a 250gr Jensen J26 bullet and it worked well on his bear. I like the 35's but this is a big caliber that pushes on both ends in a light gun.
bigbull
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