358 Winchester Groundhog Plinking

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  • Last Post 26 April 2016
lmcollins posted this 26 April 2015

I am looking for some thoughts on using pistol bullets at 700/800 FPS in my 358 for close range ground hogs. I have the 358156 Lyman, and the 180 grain gc Group Buy mould. I was thinking that either would be an improvement over subsonic 22 Long Rifle hollow points. I have on hand Unique, and was wondering about getting some Trailboss. I could get my hands on some Bullseye from a friend to try it. Anyone have any thoughts?  Light load. Put it into the gun. Shake it back to the primer muzzle up, aim and fire. Anyone with experience?

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gpidaho posted this 26 April 2015

lmcollins: For plinking rounds and as a 22lr replacement I use the Lee TL356-124-RN Powder coated, sized .358 and over 6gr TiteGroup this is out of a 35Rem. Should work out of your 358. I would think Bullseye would work just fine too. Larry Gibson put this idea in my head and now I always have a few of these along to plink with after more serious loads are tested. GP

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M3 Mitch posted this 25 April 2016

Probably everyone on this board knows this already, but a low velocity bullet like this is going to be prone to ricochet, and big as it is, even when you hit the groundhog, likely the bullet will go on through and whine off into the distance.

Not saying don't do it, but do be aware of your downrange.

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tturner53 posted this 26 April 2016

Trailboss has worked good for me in really light loads in a .444.

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Ed Harris posted this 26 April 2016

Some years ago I used the .35 Whelen with good success to shoot groundhogs using the #358156 HP with 8 grains of Bullseye, which approximated .357 Magnum ballistics. Not exactly “Cat Sneeze” but the HP bullets broke up well and there were no problems with ricochets. In my .35/.30-30 I use the same charge with 200-grain bullets and they shoot well. I would not be afraid to try 8 grains of Bullseye, 700-X, Red Dot, Green Dot, 231 or Unique in your .358 and see how it works.

The faster powders will be about 1300 fps and the slower ones like Unique about 1000-1100.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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