my 356 big bore

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive owned this 356 for about 10 years. Got it in a trade with my buddy. Gun was shortened to 17 inch by reggie nonoman other then that stock. Never really played much with loads in it. It had a Williams peep on it and I shot a few deer with factory ammo and thrown together reloads. I put a 1x4 leupold on it the other day and took it to the range yesterday with handloads using speer 180 soft points and speer 220 soft points, ww factory 200 grain ammo and handloads using the rcbs 200 grain gas checked mold and the 220 grain lbt mold I have. Both cast bullets shot at 18 bhn and 10 bhn. Both were powder coated and shot at full jacketed pressures. The worse 5 shot 100 yard group the gun shot was 1.5 and that was one load with the harder cast bullet. EVERY OTHER group was between 7/8s of an inch and 1 1/16. I don't think I have a more consistently accurate sproter weight bolt gun in the safe!! The soft cast bullets really surpised me. I wouldn't have bet a penny that at those pressures they would have shot under 3 inch let alone 1 inch.

[Kestrel4k]

I've got one of these .356's and have always been impressed with its accuracy.
IMO & from what I've read, the .356BB's were the most accurate Model 94's that Winchester ever produced. :)

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I share your like of these rifles. About 30 years ago a customer ordered one from me. When it arrived it had a deep scratch on the left side of the receiver, and the customer justifiably refused the rifle. About that time the distributor went out of business, so I was stuck with it. Eventually I decided to see what I could do with it, and removed the scratch and re-blued it, but cut the level of the bluing back from the very high polish to
about a 600 grit finish. The fore stock had some fancy grain, but I really disliked the high comb very plain butt stock, so I ordered a semi inlet in fancy walnut, fitted it and added a black Old English butt pad, finished both pieces with a satin finish. From a distance it looks like a fancy grained standard 30-30 carbine. It shoots beautifully and is one of the last I'll ever let go of. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for elk-sized game.
I'm glad that I installed the cushy butt pad, because when you shoot full house factory ammo you know that you've shot something!

[dragon813gt]

Im a fan of the cartridge. I had a Marlin 336 converted to it. I started w/ a clone of the RCBS 35-200 FN and didn't bother trying any other mold. It's more than accurate enough for hunting purposes w/ a Skinner Peep. I can't bring myself to put a scope on a lever but I'm sure it would be around MOA if I did.

[Texas by God]

It sounds like it has the family accuracy of its rimless brother the .358 Winchester.

[dragon813gt]

It sounds like it has the family accuracy of its rimless brother the .358 Winchester.

They're essentially one in the same when it comes to cast bullets. Stronger actions allow the 358 to be loaded hotter w/ jacketed bullets. But that type of velocity isn't needed w/ a lead bullet.

[nekshot]

we have a 444 BB 94 that is incredibly accurate and I never had it apart. Sure would love a 375 BB! All the reports I read apart the BB's seem to indicate very good accuracy with them.

[Texas by God]

Negotiating for a 336 30-30 as we post.......JES get ready.......

[dragon813gt]

Negotiating for a 336 30-30 as we post.......JES get ready.......

If it's like mine it will feed 358 brass w/ no issues :D

[ballistim]

If it's like mine it will feed 358 brass w/ no issues :D

Mine does too!

I'm able to use reformed 7.62 military brass, and it feeds flawlessly.
Shot it last weekend and it was doing fine at 242 yds. with an NOE copy of the RCBS 200 gr. from a CU enhanced alloy, same load shoots just as well at the same distance from my Ruger M77 tang safety in .358 Win., am definitely a big fan of both the .356 & .358 and the .357 Maximum.

35 caliber rules!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lloyd Smale]

I'm going to have to try some necked up 308 brass in mine to see if it runs it. 356 brass is very hard to find.

[ballistim]

I'm going to have to try some necked up 308 brass in mine to see if it runs it. 356 brass is very hard to find.

I didn't see in your post if you have a Marlin or a Winchester, from what I've heard the Marlins usually have less problems feeding the .308 brass than the Winchesters, something to do with the extractor difference between the two.

JES did a great job on my 336 rebore, and I'm 100% satisfied with the results, am thinking about other possibilities to have rebored in the future, a 35 Whelen seems to fit a gap in my collection.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Lloyd Smale]

I ran some 308 through my 356 die and seated some cast bullets in them for dummys. They fed and extracted but unless you really ran the action hard they didn't have enough ejection force and just kind of fell off in the action. Guns a win big bore by the way.

[dragon813gt]

I didn't see in your post if you have a Marlin or a Winchester

He started the thread which is about the Winchester BB. I derailed it w/ talk of my converted Marlin.

[ballistim]

He started the thread which is about the Winchester BB. I derailed it w/ talk of my converted Marlin.

OK, I must have skipped over that.
I was surprised how well my 336 feeds and ejects the .308 cases after the rebore. I'd mentioned when on the phone to JES that I had intended to try .308 brass, and I'm not sure if he did anything different or it just came out like that, either way I'm thankful for the results since it works like it was made for those cases.
Lloyd, I'm glad they feed for you, and I read somewhere of mention of Winchester ejection being modified to better accommodate the .308 brass, but I'd guess that modification of an original .356 chambered gun would be something most owners wouldn't want to do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Texas by God]

Can .356 brass be made from 7 or 8 X57R?

[dragon813gt]

Can .356 brass be made from 7 or 8 X57R?

You'd have to look at case dimensions. The parent case for the 356 is the 307 Winchester. That doesn't really help because it's really hard to find as well.

[MT Chambers]

My '94 in .356 just loves the Saeco 245 grain fpgc, also hits hard!!

[Lloyd Smale]

I used to have that mold. Don't know where it went. I must have loaned it out and it was never returned. I agree though. It was a great bullet.
My '94 in .356 just loves the Saeco 245 grain fpgc, also hits hard!!

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have a 375Win Big Bore, but have been on the lookout for a 356 for many years. I have 5,000 gas checks and some moulds sitting there just waiting, haha.

You have an amazing rifle.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

444 Marlin brass is best conversion for 356 and 307 Winchester, neck down using normal dies, lots of lube and care, cut to length, anneal would be good. Starline and Hornady make 444. For 356 and 307 the shorter Hornady are fine.

[Larry Gibson]

Had Winchester made the BB M94 356 and 307 an AE in M64 or Black Shadow style with 24 or 26" barrels I would have both. The bean counters failed to look at baby boomer demographics.....they're the ones most likely to buy lever guns and would have appreciated the longer sight radius to still see the front sight clearly.

Larry Gibson

[White Oak]

I have to agree with Larry on the sight radius issue. The inability to focus on the target and sight at the same time has my 1950 336SC sitting idle most of the time.

MostlyLeverGuns is correct on the 444Marlin Brass conversion.
I purchased 250 Starline cases and a Redding Form and trim die. It is an easy convertion.
They run flawlessly in my Marlin 336ER.

[shdwlkr]

Larry
the 26 inch barrel on a .375 winchester is a great choice, would also be better in octagon shape. Also think heavier bullets than were made for it. 300 grain is good also 268 grain. Many of the early ones seem to be more 38-55 length that was hot roded up to 52,000 psi