358 Winchester, BLR - Cast loads?

[SJPrice]

When ever I want to tap the real genius regarding a lever action load I end up here. I am wanting to work up a good "around the ranch, woods walking" load for my BLR 358 Win. I picked up several boxes of Beartooth 185 grain flat nose gas checked bullets. They are sized .359. I am trying to decide between using a faster pistol powder like Unique and working up to the 1600 to 1800 fps range. Another part of me thinks I should use a slower rifle powder and load them to a higher velocity. Since they are gas checked I should not have to worry about barrel leading. I am after an accurate load that will be effective for varmint, coyotes, ferrel dogs and ferrel hogs out to 100 yards or maybe a little farther. What do you fellas think about cast loads in the 358 in general and my plans in particular?

[1886]

This is a good article. You might find some ideas. http://milpas.cc/rifles/ZFiles/Misc/358 ... ester.html

[SJPrice]

This is a good article. You might find some ideas. http://milpas.cc/rifles/ZFiles/Misc/358 ... ester.html

1886,
Great article, thank you!

[Marc]

I have loaded cast bullets for the 356 Winchester which is basically the same cartridge. It has been a while but I prefer to use medium to slower rifle powders. The closest bullet I loaded to a 185 was the RCBS 200 grain bullet. It shot well with several powders including a full case of IMR 4350. 4320 was also a good one, I think it was about 42 grains. You really need to try a few different powders to see what your rifle likes. You don't need blazing speed to get to 100 yards. 1800 fps is plenty of velocity.

Leading can also be caused by undersized bullets so make sure your bullet is larger than the groove diameter in your barrel..

[C. Cash]

The Beartooth 210 gr. LFNGC works well in my in my 356 Win. and has a nice flat point for shock. That buggar blew through both sides of my hog at the shoulders and dug a hole on the ground on the other side. Performance was excellent and a quick kill. IMR 4320 works well in mine with this bullet, and recoil is not bad at all.

[SJPrice]

I decided to work on two different loads and today was light load day. I loaded four rounds each of Unique at 11, 12, 13, and 14 grains. The 13 grain load grouped right at 3/4 inch at 50 yards. 14 grains pushed the group out to an inch and a half, so 13 seems to be a sweet spot. I was amazed at how quiet this load was and the 185 grain Beartooths punched through a 4 x 4 post. I would imagine this will be great for plinking and eliminating small to medium sized critters at close range. I would estimate this load at between 1400 and 1500 fps, or pushing towards 357 Mag performance out of a rifle. Now I need to work on a heavier load for hunting varmints, deer and feral critters at a little longer distance. Thanks for the feedback so far.

[Tycer]

My experience wit cast in the BLR has been great accuracy wise. 180-280 have all been acceptable. Darned if any of the good flat meplat bullets will feed from the mag. They smack right into the locking threads. Bah! I love me a BLR, however...
I'm hunting this weekend with a BLR and a bolt gun, both in 358. The BLR chamber is way longer than the mag will accept. Doh! Luckily I have some 150 grain CoreLokts that I had loaded for testing that shot decent groups this afternoon. No clue as to the velocity, but they shot a bit higher than the 200s by 4" with the same charge. The BLR wears my Trijicon Accupoint for early and late hunting and the bolt gun has a Leupold set at a 250 yard zero for the powerline I'm huntng. That gives me a 300 yard Point Blank Zero and exactly six feet of drop at 500.

[Sixgun]

I have used 25 gr. of 5744 with a 250 gr. Lyman gas check for 1734 fps. ---6