Powder for .358 Win. rifle with 200 grain cast boolits

[Jim22]

I'm still waiting for sighting equipment to show up for my Remington 660 that I had JES rebore to .358 Win. In the mean time I have been studying loading manuals for loads with the 200 grain cast at about 2,000 fps. I found data in the Lee manual, the Lyman cast bullet manual, and I have a copy of a write-up in Rifle Magazine by C.E. Harris. For some reason the Lee manual lists only Accurate powders - seven of them: 2495, 2015, 2520, 2460, 2230, 2700, and 5744. I have 2520, 2300, and 5744.

Lyman has data on the 195 grain cast boolit and the 204 grain cast. They list 2400, SR4759, IMR 4227, 5744, IMR 4198, VV N130, and Reloder 7. I have all but 2400, SR4759, and VV N130.

Harris suggests also some IMR 4064.

I think the pistol powders are too fast and stuff like 4064 is too slow for my needs.

I checked my powder burn rate chart. It lists 149 powders and numbers them with 1 being fastest and 149 slowest. 2400 comes in at 55. Next fastest is IMR 4227 at 65, SR4759 at 67, 5744 at 68, Reloder 7 at 71IMR 4198 at 72, etc.

I'm thinking I should try loads in the 65 to 75 range. My rifle has just a 20" barrel which also points me toward a bit faster burn rates.

Does any member have either experience along these lines or an informed opinion?

Jim

[BK7saum]

i would not worry about the 20" barrel and needing a faster burn rate. The expansion ratio of the 358 is such that even H4895 and varget are good performers. With cast the slower powders are sometimes best to provide a more gentle acceleration of the bullet.

[zymguy]

I shoot the 205g rcbs clone boolit right around 2k fps with both rx7 and 4227.

[high standard 40]

Reloader 7 has proven to be accurate in my 358.

[Nobade]

Hard to beat IMR 3031 in the 358.

[Texas by God]

Hard to beat IMR 3031 in the 358.

Mine was fond of 3031 for cast and jacketed.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I've used Reloder 7, Accurate 2015, IMR 3031 and IMR 4895 for good accuracy and power in a couple of Savage 99 358's.

[richhodg66]

Mine likes 40 grains of IMR4320 with that 200 grain bullet.

[Lloyd Smale]

no experience with the 358 but have loaded a ton for my 356 which is about identical and with cast bullets re7 is tough to beat. 4198 works well too. For jacketed i like 4895 and 3031

[farmbif]

lots of people use 5744 because it just plain works in so many calibers. 2520 is often overlooked these days because there are so many new powders available. but there is lots of load data in many calibers that western powders actually did load tests on using cast bullets. You might just be surprised how good Camp Perry Powder/2520 actually is.

[Jim22]

Thank you all. I guess I was thinking about faster powders unnecessarily.

Jim