Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 358 Win Pre-64 Fwt

Probably not going full out gunner loads, but get your drift.

That round packs a punch even when coasting along.

I’m think pistols bullet loads will be interesting. Very versatile round. And it’s one I don’t have. Fixing to solve that problem.

Ranchers just want the land adjoining them, a Loony just wants the round he doesn’t yet have.

DF

Man, if that ain’t the truth!

I got my .358 Win dies in from Midway today. A previous order didn't get delivered. They marked those items as returned, gave me credit, sent another set. I thought that was good CS.

I got the Lee Pacesetter set with Factory Crimp die for cast bullets.

I had a hodge podge of .308 cases, military, foreign, R-P, Win, Fed, etc.. I lubed them with Hodgdon lube, ran them thru the .358 sizer using my Redding Big Boss II. Spit three, the rest did great. I guess I could have used Imperial Die Wax, as I had some.

I had some .243 brass handy from shooting the Pre-64 when it was a .243. This was good quality, relatively new W/W brass.

Why not... I lubed and ran .243 cases into the .358 sizer. Split only one. The rest came out perfect. Didn't take much more muscle than .308's, less than hard old military stuff.

Wonder how many .358 shooter have .243 headstamped brass...?

I have 100 new .358 W/W cases coming. So, some will have the correct headstamp. I'm planning to use the assorted stuff for cast bullets, the good stuff for serious loads.

DF

Stock is about ready for the barreled action. I weighed it. 29 oz. Not bad. I was actually surprised how light it is. That .243 Fwt, drilled out to .358 Win is gonna be pretty light, too. This gun is going to be pretty light. Heavy loads will make a statement, don't ya know...

A Hunters Edge usually runs around 26 oz, reportedly some of the later ones a few ounces more.

Brown Decelerator pad is taped. I'm pretty sure I spent more time recutting the checkering than the factory guys and gals spent back when it was originally done.

To me, the sharper, deeper checkering looks better than original and for sure the Tru-Oil finish is better than the original lacquer that flakes off after a few years. I'll polish some of that gloss to a soft sheen when it cures some more.

But, it's not original, so it isn't worth nearly as much, even though IMO, it's actually better.

I'll enjoy it. and that's the bottom line.

DF

Very nice DF - you did a great job! Can’t wait to see the finished product and I’m sure it’ll be a great shooter!

PennDog

It's going to a light weight rifle. Which is good until you shoot a full house gunner500 type load. One of those could loosen one's fillings....

But, don't have to push it to the max for it to be a killer.

So many options with pistol bullets, etc.

I ordered 180 TTSX today, not that you need premium bullets in a med bore rifle. But those in other calibers have been very accurate, may be in this one, too.

I have 180 Flat nose Speers (.35 Rem bullets), 200 Horn SP's and 225 SGK's on the way. Have an assortment ot pistol bullets from 140-158 gr. cowboy action to serious 10mm/.357 170 Gold Dot and 180 XTP's. Some claim those two are good on deer. Nathan Foster in NZ says the 170 GD holds together better than the 180 XTP at ..358 Win velocities in WT type game. Here's the link:

https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.358+Winchester.html

Enough to keep an old Loony entertained for a while.

DF

Foster's quote:

For hunting very light bodied deer species, the .358 can be loaded with .357 Magnum bullets. Hornady’s 180 grain XTP bullet can be loaded to 2700fps; however, this bullet and the 158 grain XTP are better utilized as youth loads, down loaded to between 2200 and 2400fps, so as not to inhibit penetration.

The .357” Speer 158 grain Gold Dot hollow point and 170 grain Gold Dot flat point at .358 Winchester velocities are more reliable than the XTP on light game up to 60kg (132lb). The 170 grain Gold Dot used at close ranges performs well from muzzle velocities of 2400fps up to 2800fps.

DF - FWIW I have never found the .358 Winchester’s recoil objectionable and I have four of them and none are very heavy. I have pretty much stuck with 200 grain Hornady spire points, Barnes TSX, and Nosler 225 partitions. Have used the Hornady bullet the most and have had good success with in on whitetails. The use of pistol bullets is intriguing though!

This cartridge along with the .250-3000 are my “favorite” cartridges - although truth be told I’m not sure there is a cartridge that’s not my favorite😄

Keep us posted,
PennDog

That stock turned out excellent DF! Very nice work!

I don't expect you to have a whole lotta trouble with getting that 358 up and shooting. It's been pretty easy in a few cases. I use the 225 Partition/Sierra with W748 in a BLR and my little brother uses the 200 Accubond and RL10X. Both of them shoot pretty well, even out to lobbing bullets at the 400 yard steel using the Burris BP reticle.

The pistol bullets would be a blast though. I'd bet they make an impact.

Nicely done DF.

Thanks, guys.

I knew the stock was relatively light from handling it. I was impressed that it weighed only 29 oz, which IME is light for a walnut stock.

That puts it almost in Hunters Edge category for weight. Pretty close.

DF

Agree.

I doubt that 170 Gold Dot at 2,800 fps would bounce off much of anything....

Probably make a serious dent.

I didn't expect the XTP (report per Nathan Foster) to be less sturdy at higher speeds than the Gold Dot. I would have thought just the opposite. I like reading Foster's stuff. He seems to go into great depth and detail in his research... Good info.

DF

I'm still here, waiting to hear how it shoots. And I hope the bullets will break holes in the target paper at 100 yards. Be Well, RZ.

Looking good DF!

They gotta reach out to 100 yds first of all...

Then "breaking paper"....

That will take some punch, don't ya think...

DF

I just got the barreled action in from JES. He stamped .358 and 1-12 on the underside of the barrel, didn't mess with the factory .243 marking. Whoever fires a .243 round is gonna pull out a funny looking spent case. Doubt accuracy will be that good.... Now, those bullets may actually hit the ground before 100 yds....

It looks good. Will give it the Hawkeye look see when I get home. Next is glassing, touching up the stock after glassing, mounting scopes, then off to the range. I have some reloading to do. Formed cases are all primed and ready to go. I'm going to shoot the .243 formed cases, the R-P .308 formed cases, etc. as groups for consistency, although that may not matter.

Stuff ordered from Graf and Son not yet shipped. They say they have a 7-9 day delay in shipping. From them I ordered 100 W/W factory .358 cases, round nose 200 Sierra Pro Hunter, and 180 TTSX.

The formed brass looks really good and I'll proceed while Graf gets their "stuff" together... At least Midway gets their stuff out on time, but they don't have W/W brass and the Starline brass I order got lost in the mail. Now, they're out of Starline. Good thing Midway sent another set of dies so I could form .358 Win brass.

DF

Put it together, mounted a Bushnell 4200 Elite, Firefly triplex 2.5-10x50. This is an older scope I've had for a while. The Firefly reticle is thick on the edges, fine centrally for target shooting. At dim light, you hold a light on the reticle for a while, then it glows. It is good in dim light. It may be the one for now.

No glass bedding, free floating yet. It will happen.

Gun is 6 #'s, 8 oz. With this scope, 8 pounds even. Even with the heavier scope, it's still not a heavy gun. It would weigh seven pounds and a few ounces with a Leupold 2-7 or similar.

I checked the bore with the Hawkeye. It shows some fouling, so JES did fire it a few times... I'll clean it, polish with JB and treat with DBC. Should be good to go.

Trigger had already been tweaked to 3#'s, clean break with min over travel. I had to drift out the rear sight to clear the scope objective. No loss, as I don't use irons. I have Uncle Mike sling swivel studs yet to install. Saving the Pre-64 OEM sliing swivels.

DF

That turned out really nice but I agree with you that a Leupold 2-7 would look nicer, the Bushnell sort of overpowers the nice lines of the rifle.

Congrats on some nice work.

drover

That is nice DF. I like your checkering work, I have to get better on mine. I have pretty well messed up some beaters that I have attempted, just when I have a acquired some patience my eyes are shot!

DF that's turning out to be a sweet rifle, congrats; look forward to seeing how it shoots.