.358 blr ON WHITE TAIL BUCK

[brucew44guns]

I finally got my new BLR in .358 out in the woods to try her out on deer. Had the gun 2 years, but had not used it hunting. A 10 point buck with decent weight and size ran out in the clear near me, 64 long steps away. The shot got him just ahead of the front shoulders through the neck. He literally dropped instantly without a twitch. 200 Grain SilverTip factory bullet. Looks like we got some meat in the freezer for a change. Very impressive rifle, glad I bought it.

[Dave]

Nice shooting! Deer can't take that neck shot.

[TedH]

Very good! But where's your pics???

[crs]

Congrats, but where are those pictures?

[rjohns94]

congrats, look forward to pics of buck and rifle. I have seen nothing since opening day of archery that had horns on it.

[Old Savage]

Bruce, congratulations. Front shoulders?

Pics of your rifle?

The buck?

[AndyM]

great going! But where are the pictures...

I buddy from my hunting camp has used the same gun multiple times with much the same success of whitetail. He has an Aimpoint red dot on top and we call it the 358 short mag for the way it drops deer...

[RIHMFIRE]

Congrats...
and what they said....pics!

[2ndovc]

Glad someone had some success.

Out of me and the five guys I know none of us connected this year.


jb

[dr walker]

Congratulations

[O.S.O.K.]

Awsome! Congrats and ....



And your buck!

We're merciless aren't we?

[Modoc ED]

Congratulations!!! The heck with the pictures. Send me a pound of the backstraps.

[jimincolo]

Congratulations on a fine deer. The .358 Win. is a superb cartridge, as you now know. It becomes even better when you develop some good handloads for it. There isn't much walking around this half of the world that cannot be handled with a 225 gr. Partition at 2500 fps. or a 250 gr. Speer Hotcor at 2400 fps.

Pictures!

[gamekeeper]

Congratulations!

[BlueStateSaint]

Yes, congrats! But, to echo most of the posters here, where are the pics?

[BenT]

SWEEEET! I found the same thing with my 356 and factory 200 gr.loads. Drops them in their tracks.

[brucew44guns]

I apologize for no pics. Wife got me a new camera to do just that, post pics on the forum. I won't let the camera set as long as I did the rifle. Will try to get a pic of the horns and skull when I get it cleaned. Deer had a fair 4 point each side rack, and average brow guards. But good body and big hind quarters.

[iceman]

Nice going!! I shot a small doe this year in more or less the same place with black powder 50 cal same results DRT. Enjoy your steaks.

[FOTIS]

[RKrodle]

brucew44guns,

Congrats on your buck. I also have a BLR in 358 and it does a good smack down on deer.

Congratulations on a fine deer. The .358 Win. is a superb cartridge, as you now know. It becomes even better when you develop some good handloads for it. There isn't much walking around this half of the world that cannot be handled with a 225 gr. Partition at 2500 fps. or a 250 gr. Speer Hotcor at 2400 fps.

Pictures!

jimincolo- Are you getting those speeds out of a BLR? If so would you mine sharing your load data. I putting together a list of loads to try out this winter with various 200 and 225 grain bullets and 4 or 5 different powders. This is more for fun and my entertainment then anything. But one of my goals is a 225 load at 2500 fps.

[WCF3030]

Way to go!!

[Ysabel Kid]

Congratulations Bruce!

You know better than to tease this bunch though! Better post some pictures fast!!!

[PaulB]

There isn't much walking around this half of the world that cannot be handled with a 225 gr. Partition at 2500 fps. or a 250 gr. Speer Hotcor at 2400 fps.

How is that Speer Hotcore bullet on deer anyway? I'm a little concerned it might be hard enough to "pencil through".

I once did some research on loads for the 250gr bullets, normalizing all the velocity figures to a 20" barrel (which is what my BLR has). The fastest "official" load I found was on the Accurate online site, that listed a load with the Hornady 250 RN, 48.0gr of AA2520, W-W brass, WLR primer. It normalized to 2310 fps.

For the 225's, the fastest normalized load I found in the Barnes #1 manual (which to me is a little suspicious because those early Barnes X bullets generated a lot of pressure). It was 45.0gr of AA2015 for 2472 fps. I'd feel better with the next fastest load there, from the Nosler 3 manual, Nosler 225gr Partition, 49.5gr IMR4895, W-W cases, WLR primer, 2468 fps.

[jimincolo]

RKrodle & PaulB-

Yes, my .358 is a 20 inch barrelled BLR. It's one of the newer lightweight models, purchased 3 or 4 years ago. Like most BLR's I have used, it's very accurate & has a really lousy trigger.

I began reloading for the rifle almost immediately, as the factory fodder was hard to find, & rendered the gun a close range weapon only. I wanted 250 yard loads that were capable of completely penetrating elk sized animals.

I went through all the usual powders: Re7, W748, 4320, 4064, both 4895's, AA2520, etc. The results were always the same; I could never get enough powder into the case to even approach maximum levels. Some of my loads were so compressed that they forced the seated bullet forward over time. Accuracy was fine, but velocity was lacking. This made expansion at 250 yards a problem.

I heard that John Barsness had done some load work using TAC powder. I called Ramshot, & got the needed data. My compressed powder problem was answered, & velocities were up slightly, but still not what I wanted. I resigned myself to a load using 4895 & the Sie 225 boatail at 2400 fps. The bullet was soft enough to expand at long range, but would come apart if it hit heavy bone close in.

A year later, a friend suggested using magnum primers. I did, & as they say, the rest is history. Using WW brass, Fed. 215 primers, & TAC powder, my chrono results are as follows:

Sie 225 2506 fps.
Nosler 225 Partition 2503 fps.
Speer 250 HotCor 2416 fps.
Speer G.S. 250 2400 fps.

Zeroed at 150 yards with the 225 Partition, I'm about 3 inches low at 200 yards, & about 8.5 inches low at 250 yards.

In the August 2008 Handloader, Mr. Barsness published new data on the .358. Using a 22 inch barrelled Ruger Hawkeye, he acheived slightly higher velocities with the same loads I copied from his earlier work.

These are hunting loads, & as such, are not max, brass fully resized, bullets crimped where appropriate, & overall length limited by rifle magazine length.

For good .358 info, please see August 2008 Handloader #254, & a website named Whelen's Northwoods Trails 35 caliber. The website is excellent.

I hope this will help you get the most from a really great cartridge.

[RKrodle]

RKrodle & PaulB-

Yes, my .358 is a 20 inch barrelled BLR. It's one of the newer lightweight models, purchased 3 or 4 years ago. Like most BLR's I have used, it's very accurate & has a really lousy trigger.

I began reloading for the rifle almost immediately, as the factory fodder was hard to find, & rendered the gun a close range weapon only. I wanted 250 yard loads that were capable of completely penetrating elk sized animals.

I went through all the usual powders: Re7, W748, 4320, 4064, both 4895's, AA2520, etc. The results were always the same; I could never get enough powder into the case to even approach maximum levels. Some of my loads were so compressed that they forced the seated bullet forward over time. Accuracy was fine, but velocity was lacking. This made expansion at 250 yards a problem.

I heard that John Barsness had done some load work using TAC powder. I called Ramshot, & got the needed data. My compressed powder problem was answered, & velocities were up slightly, but still not what I wanted. I resigned myself to a load using 4895 & the Sie 225 boatail at 2400 fps. The bullet was soft enough to expand at long range, but would come apart if it hit heavy bone close in.

A year later, a friend suggested using magnum primers. I did, & as they say, the rest is history. Using WW brass, Fed. 215 primers, & TAC powder, my chrono results are as follows:

Sie 225 2506 fps.
Nosler 225 Partition 2503 fps.
Speer 250 HotCor 2416 fps.
Speer G.S. 250 2400 fps.

Zeroed at 150 yards with the 225 Partition, I'm about 3 inches low at 200 yards, & about 8.5 inches low at 250 yards.

In the August 2008 Handloader, Mr. Barsness published new data on the .358. Using a 22 inch barrelled Ruger Hawkeye, he acheived slightly higher velocities with the same loads I copied from his earlier work.

These are hunting loads, & as such, are not max, brass fully resized, bullets crimped where appropriate, & overall length limited by rifle magazine length.

For good .358 info, please see August 2008 Handloader #254, & a website named Whelen's Northwoods Trails 35 caliber. The website is excellent.

I hope this will help you get the most from a really great cartridge.

jimincolo,

Thanks for the info, I have the article that you speck of. I ordered some TAC but I haven't loaded any up, yet. That's real encouraging to see your results.