NOE 360-214-FN in the .358 Winchester

[Rick R]

I have a 20” .358 winchester Encore barrel somewhere in USPS land, headed to my house.
My first time with this new to me cartridge and while I’ll initially shoot some jacketed bullets I hope to use it mainly with cast on paper and steel out to 200-300 yards with the occasional excursion to shoot venison bearing critters at 100 yards or less here in Appalachia.

Are any of you guys using NOE’s 360-214-FN in your .358 which is apparently similar to an RCBS design?
Or, does anyone have a suggestion as to a better mold design?

Thanks in advance.

[Ben]

The 200 gr. RCBS .35 cal. is considered by most to be the " Holy Grail " of cast .35 cal. rifle bullets.

[RJM52]

Have been hunting with a Ruger Frontier in .358. Have killed deer with the Speer 220 FP that they just DISCONTINUED(!) but the bullet is really too tough for anything less than a .350 RM/Whelen. Have sinced switched to the MP Mold:

https://www.mp-molds.com/product/mp-359-220-wnfp-hp-gc-2-cav/

With RL-7 powder it is running just over 1900 fps. Have not killed anything with it but my friend who hunts with the same rifle killed his last deer with the 200 grain RCBS 200 grain version.

Accuracy has been EXCELLENT under MOA at 50 and 100 and 3" at 200...

I think the cast HP will do a better job on deer than JSPs or cast solids...

Bob

[Rick R]

Thanks guys!

RJM52
Maybe I will try the HP version. Heaven knows they’re not really harder to cast.

[TXTad]

Have been hunting with a Ruger Frontier in .358. Have killed deer with the Speer 220 FP that they just DISCONTINUED(!) but the bullet is really too tough for anything less than a .350 RM/Whelen. Have sinced switched to the MP Mold:

https://www.mp-molds.com/product/mp-359-220-wnfp-hp-gc-2-cav/

With RL-7 powder it is running just over 1900 fps. Have not killed anything with it but my friend who hunts with the same rifle killed his last deer with the 200 grain RCBS 200 grain version.

Accuracy has been EXCELLENT under MOA at 50 and 100 and 3" at 200...

I think the cast HP will do a better job on deer than JSPs or cast solids...

Bob

Dangit. I've wanted a .358 for 40 years. I've just never gotten around to getting one. I really need to fix that before I'm gone.

This post is giving the me the itch again.

The MP site says that "Big round and blank pins [are] included" with that mold. What is "big round" and have you tried it?

[TD1886]

I'll vouch for that MP bullet especially the hollow point. I shoot it from all my 35 caliber rifles including my 350 Legend.

[TD1886]

Just had a friend kill a deer with that bullet in his 35 Whelen. He got some cull permits from the states. Was an 80 yard shot. She went down like a sack of WW's. Not much meat damage. Didn't recover the bullet, went through her.

[cwlongshot]

This is my favorite version if the bullet. It has a larger meplat then the RCBS, MP or LEE bullets. I like the MP version as it has HP versions in same profile. All shoot very well and I agree with Bob he suggested that re7 load and I tried it in mine and its a dandy!!

A couple more good ones is the Saeco 245g and MP 220. Same profile just more weight.

CW

[Rick R]

Well to circle back on this topic,

I bought the 4 cavity gas checked flat nose version of the NOE mold and with minimal work I’m getting 1” groups @2,400fps using Varget. Really I’m just water dropping a mix of range lead with about 30% COWW and then weighing them to sort out the boolits that aren’t within 1/2 grain of 217gr before I size, lube and check them. Recoil is mild and the 20” Encore is fun to shoot.

I believe I’ll use the little rifle to fill my antlerless tag this year once the season rolls around. Satisfaction is filling the freezer with venison I harvested using a boolit that I cast and stuck in my handloads.

[Rick R]

319062

Yesterday I finally got a chance to shoot the NOE boolit (33% COWW/66% soft lead, water dropped) into a line of one gallon water jugs. Penetration was into the eighth jug, knocking a hole in the back of it.
I’m not sure if you’d call this “expansion” but the eight jugs were both shattered and perforated by fragments in a pretty devastating manner.

The main slug ended up at 113gr, down from 218gr.

[MT Gianni]

Have been hunting with a Ruger Frontier in .358. Have killed deer with the Speer 220 FP that they just DISCONTINUED(!) but the bullet is really too tough for anything less than a .350 RM/Whelen. Have sinced switched to the MP Mold:

https://www.mp-molds.com/product/mp-359-220-wnfp-hp-gc-2-cav/

With RL-7 powder it is running just over 1900 fps. Have not killed anything with it but my friend who hunts with the same rifle killed his last deer with the 200 grain RCBS 200 grain version.

Accuracy has been EXCELLENT under MOA at 50 and 100 and 3" at 200...

I think the cast HP will do a better job on deer than JSPs or cast solids...

Bob

The 220 FP Speer was designed as an Elk bullet for the 356. It doesn't need heavy velocity to expand, just heavy tissue resistance.