.358 s.t.a.

[Larryjk]

Just finished a fun project for my son. He wanted an Alaskan rifle "just in case" and picked the idea of a weatherproof .358 STA. He furnished me a Remington 700 BDL in 7mm Rem. Mag. with a laminated grey stock in all stainless metal. We figured the rifle should weigh about 9 1/2 lbs. ready to go so it would not be painful to shoot off the bench. I rebarreld it with a Shilen #4 so the contour would be close to the original. The length is 24" since top velocity is not a concern on the medium caliber. The barrel was maeked by laser engraaving on the left with ".358 Shooting Times Alaskan" and on the right "by Sportsman's Service". The lettering is all in script and is a nice touch. He insists on all metal so the bottom was replaced with a Pacific Tool and Gauge stainless bottom metal. The stock was drilled and a mercury recoil suppressor installed right behind the pistol grip. A Pachmayr Decelerator was added. The scope rings and bases were stainless Talley products and naturally the scope is a Leupold 3x9x40 in silver finish. The finished weight was 9 3/4 lbs. and it was a little butt heavy. I removed the pad and drilled two 3/4" holes parallel to the recoil suppressor hole. This brought the balaance point to 1/2 " back of the front guard screw. Looks and feels good. My son found a source and purchased correct headstamped brass. The dies are from RCBS. The initial loads are 225 grain Nosler Partition fueled by 91 grs. of H4831, which should move the bullets at close to 3100 fps. On a nice weekend we will set up the chrono and run some bullets over it to see if we are close to expectations. Should make a great large prairie dog gun.

[buckhunter]

That should be a good one.

[Rapier]

"Should make a great large prairie dog gun."

How big of prairie poodles you got in WY Larry?

Sounds like a nice thumper for AK stuff. What twist did you settle on, a 12 or 14?
Ed

[Larryjk]

Rapier, We went with my experience with the .35 Whelan and barreled the .358 STA with the 1X14 twist. My 35 Whelan shoots 225 and 250 gr. bullets just fine and what else is there, except may be heavier bullets, or using pistol bullets for kicks. We haven't shot the .358 as yet but will one of these days. My .35 Whelan puts 225 gr. Sierra or .225 gr. Barnes into 3/4 " groups with 60 grains of BL(C)2. What more could I want? I actually did shoot some of our Wyoming p-dogs with the .35 Whelan as fun practice for big game. Do you think I was over-gunned?

[Jack]

"Do you think I was over-gunned?"
Did any charge when they were wounded?

[Rapier]

Larry,
I like the 14 twist myself in my 358 guns.

If I had such critters around here, I guess I would end up shooting them with something that would anchor them, like my 458 L. Those wounded PDs can be very dangerous.
Ed