358 WSSM ?

[sinnful]

Looking for some info on anyone that has some experience with the round. Looking at buying a new rifle for deer season this fall and wondering what the effective range is. Or if anyone has a recommendation on a round with more distance that is legal for whitetail in Indiana I would greatly appreciate your input

 

[42769vette]

The 358 wssm is going to be effective at longer ranges that pretty much anything else legal. You might get longer range with a pistol chambered in 260 or somthing like that.


Contact Fireball168 on here. He was the original designer of the caliber and probably knows more about it than anyone.

 

[sinnful]

Thank you for the information. I appreciate it.

 

[42769vette]

Thank you for the information. I appreciate it.

No problem. I have 2 rifles chambered in his caliber (358 bfg) durring load development I settled on a load that shot 5 shots inside 1.5 inches @ 200 yards on one rifle, and 5 shots inside 2.2 inches @ 200 yds with the other.

At 400 yards I can keep them all on a 6 inch steel plate.

 

[Onebad06vtx]

Longest kill on a deer with a 358 wssm that I know of was 425 yards.
I love mine and am building one in a ar 15 platform now.
Any other questions just ask.
It is a very good caliber and will kill anything that roams the planet.

 

[youngda9]

Is that caliber legal in Indiana for deer hunting ?

 

[42769vette]

Is that caliber legal in Indiana for deer hunting ?

Yes sir, Ive killed a few with it. I pratice alot at longer ranges (400+) but the furthest Ive had to shoot is 200. I like to be confident at longer ranges incase there is no way to get closer, but I get closer if I can.

I figure one of these days Ill see that 1 buck I've hunted all year at 350-400yds at last light. Most folks would say "I know where he is going ill be back in the morning" Ill be glad I praticed and end it right there.

 

[buhmannc]

Did you finish the ar. I just got mine from Dtech and need load data

 

[kludge]

sinful, it might be a little late to start looking for a rifle, and it's far too late to start building one for this season.

Here is my thread about the rifle I built...

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/long-guns/87319-my-358-25-wssm-project.html?highlight=WSSM

 

[Huntinfool]

Is the 358 WSSM the same as the 358 BFG ?

 

[fireball168]

Is the 358 WSSM the same as the 358 BFG ?

Between the different reamer manufacturers there are now no less than 29 different chamber variations called the 35 or 358 WSSM.

When I designed my chamber, there were already 17 different variations - and I thought that was too many, that was even before Indiana opened up 1.625" cartridges.

There are differences in neck diameter, case length, shoulder position, shoulder angle, throat length and diameter, etc.

All of this leads to confusion and potentially dangerous situations when trying to load for an unknown chamber, especially using generic reloading data found on the internet.

The 358 BFG is the 358 BFG, there isn't any guesswork involved.

I designed the chamber to maximize brass life and accuracy potential. The dies match the chamber and brass perfectly, just like it was designed.

 

[Huntinfool]

Ok Thanks That is kind of what I though, but with all the different folks just saying 358 WSSM on all the different post and fourms, I wasn't sure.

Sent you a email a little while ago. - Thanks

 

[kludge]

What fireball168 says is true for any wildcat cartridge. ".358 WSSM" is a rather generic term and it's assumed that people who do wildcat cartridges will have their dies made to match their reamer/chamber, and that their handloads are going to be tailored for their specific chamber and no other. Since there is no SAAMI specificaiton for a wildcat, anyone can make his/her own reamer to suit a particular set of priorities. That is one of the reasons he doesn't list load data on his website but will give it to his customers. (That and he spent a lot of time and money developing the loads.)

For example, some of the things that can vary between .358 wildcats based on the WSSM case are...
Parent case -- .223 WSSM and .243 WSSM have a 28 deg. shoulder angle, the .25 WSSM has a 30 deg. shoulder angle. I think all theones I have seen run 30 deg. shoulder angle.
Neck diameter -- I've seen this dimension vary between about 0.390" and 0.398". Some people want to avoid turning necks - but think of what would happen if you shoved one of those into a chamber with a 0.390" neck?
Chamber depth -- I've seen some at 1.630" (the old max length plus bit) and some at standard WSSM chamber depth.
Freebore -- what is your magazine length, what bullet do you want to use, and how far out to you want to seat it?

 

[Huntinfool]

Thanks,

Lots of good info here for those of us, just getting into the deer cartridges. I think I now know just enough to be dangerous!

 

[42769vette]

Thanks,

Lots of good info here for those of us, just getting into the deer cartridges. I think I now know just enough to be dangerous!

I was the same way when I first got into it. The best advise I can give is to buy from Fireball168 so you have a contact point when you need it. I emailed him over a year after my purchase with a question, and he answered it right away.

 

[Hookeye]

Wildcats.............my dad got a .219 Donaldson Wasp that isn't a regular or a "short". Dunno what version it is exactly, so he's going to have it opened up for reg.

 

[fireball168]

Dunno what version it is exactly, so he's going to have it opened up for reg.

$20 of bismuth would answer your question.

 

[Huntinfool]

Now I'm just getting confused again.

good thing I have made up my mind on what I'm getting.

 

[indianabob]

fireball do you have a name for your shop and where are you located at?