GUN NOTES
The Great .358
This heavyweight member of the .308 family hits like a truck and shoots flat enough for most real-world hunting situations.
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American hunters tend to be impressed by high velocities and flat trajectories. But there are situations where heavy, large-diameter bullets traveling at moderate velocities work better. Combine these features with a fast-handling, light-kicking rifle and you have a winning combination for tough, large-bodied game at woods ranges. And that pretty much describes the .358 Winchester.
Based on the .308 case necked up to take a .358-inch bullet, the .358 Winchester was introduced in 1955, initially chambered in both the Winchester Model 88 lever action and the bolt-action Model 70 Featherweight. Savage quickly added the .358 to its Model 99 chamberings.
Winchester's intent was for the modern, rotary-bolt .358 Model 88 to replace the older Model 71 lever-action in .348 Winchester. Although both the Winchester 88 and Savage 99 are stronger than the rear-locking Model 71, the .348 case has much greater capacity than that of the .358. In factory loads the 200-grain .358--at 2,490 fps--is just a bit slower than the .348's 2,520 fps. And the .358's heavyweight (now discontinued) 250-grain Winchester Silvertip loading at 2,250 fps is a full 100 fps slower than the .348's 2,350 fps with a 250-grain bullet. And in velocity-conscious America, this probably didn't help the .358's popularity.
But so what? It wasn't intended for long-range work. With a 200-grain bullet the .358 is flat enough for 250-yard shooting without a whole lot of calculations. With a 250-grain bullet it drops a good deal quicker, but it's still fine for 200-yard shooting. This is more range than you need for most black bear and wild hog hunting and plenty for a whole lot of timber shooting for elk, moose and whitetail.
I'm also a fan of the .348 Winchester cartridge, but for most hunting applications the .358 is superior. The box-magazine rifles it has been chambered in can use spitzer bullets while the tubular-magazine Model 71 is restricted to flatpoints.
In factory loads the .358 starts slower, but bullet aerodynamics quickly close the gap. With handloads the .358's velocity can be increased a fair amount. But even at factory velocities a 250-grain, .35-caliber bullet (or a 250-grain, .348-caliber bullet) hits like a freight train. Thanks to its short case, the .358 has the advantage of fitting into short actions that can be built into light, compact rifles.
I didn't grow up with the .358, but I haven't been without one for the past 25 years. All of mine have been lever actions--Savage 99s, Winchester 88s, Browning BLRs. I have no issue with chambering a short bolt action to .358, but for me it's a lever-action cartridge, and in that mode I love it for black bear and hogs, and I've used it on other game up to and including moose.
Winchester discontinued .358 ammo for a short time, but it's now back in the line. Demand isn't high, so the company only runs it once a year. But factory loads are still available, and, thanks to Browning, so are brand-new .358 BLRs. That's the good news. The bad news is that only the 200-grain factory load is still offered.
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