Just to move away from the true Big Bores for a while, I’ll keep a promise made to have another look at the “Light Big Bores”. Then, after I’ve finished some further testing of “new” (to me) bullets in .458″ I’ll come back to the main theme of Big Bores.
In my early-on blogs under the heading of “So, What ‘s a Big Bore?”, I started with .358″ as a jumping-in place. If you wish, you can go back to January 16/09, and you’ll find my classes of Big Bores. I’ll not repeat them here as they are accessible from the beginning. Suffice to say that I started with .358″ and .366″ (9.3 mm) as “Light Big Bores”.
Some authors have included everything from .338 to .375 as “mediums”. I’ll not debate that issue as nothing is carved in stone. But, I’m comfortable with my groupings of Big Bores.
.358 and .366 (9.3mm) is an interesting class of rifles for game that goes anywhere from 500 lbs to a ton, or more. In several ways they are the most usefull category of cartridges for the game that most of use will actually hunt that comes under the heading of “large game”.
First, most of us will not hunt Africa, or even Alaska unless we live there! While it’s perhaps true that we DREAM of such a safari on The Dark Continent, or a challenging adventure “in the last true wilderness”, the majority of those who read these pages can only dream! And that includes yours truly. Nonetheless… there remains vast stretches of “wilderness” in the lower 48 and Canada! Just an hour’s drive from my home there are huge expanses of nearly unexplored Crown Land (the same as public land in the USA) that’s open to resident hunters, and non-residents with a licensed-guide. In these areas, large game includes moose and black bear. There are also some elk and caribou in particular parts but they are not legal for hunting as of today.
But, if we include legal large game in the lower 48 and Canada, which will not cost an arm and a leg to hunt, there are elk, moose, bear, bison and hogs. And perhaps some exotics. While any of these can be taken (and have been) with a .30-06 and various .300 magnums, there’s little doubt, at least in my mind, that one of the “Light Big Bores” is more effective and appropriate, especially if you handload them. There IS a paucity of good factory ammo readily available for most of them, which includes:
.358 Winchester
.356 Winchester
.35 Whelen
.350 Remington Magnum
.358 Norma Magnum
9.3 X 62
9.3 X 74R
9.3 X 64 Brenneke
There are also a few others that COULD be included (if you handload), such as the .350 WSM and .358 STA (Shooting Times Alaskan). Recently, I saw one of the latter listed for sale. Then, I may have missed your favorite but these are the most common, and even a couple of those listed is stretching the issue beyond what is “the most common”.
Up-front, I’ll let it be known that my favorite of this bunch is the .35 Whelen. Here’s a pic of my recent acquisition for that cartridge:
It’s an H&R single-shot. As you see it pictured, it’s 37.25-inches long and weighs 7.8 lbs. It was at the range yesterday and developed a problem (which I’ll not go into here). But it’s back at the dealer’s for warranty work. Hopefully, it’ll be resolved in short order. Anyway, I managed to fire one round of a 250gr Hornady SP and two of Hornady’s 200gr SPs. It’s intention is as a back-up for moose this fall season (assuming I get a tag from The Ministry). As a “back-up”, I’ll not be too anxious if it falls into some mud or gets soaked by rain. Plus, it’s handy for crawling through thickets. And… it’ll reach out a bit, with the right loads, and touch a moose on the far side of yonder. Like 400 yards or so.
I expect my moose load (or bear load, if we come across one of the behemoths in The North Country) will likely be 225gr Barnes-X, or TSX, or possibly the 225gr NP, at around 2700 – 2750 fps.
The throat in that rifle is very long permitting a COL of at least 3.465-inch! Factory specs are 3.34-inch. That allows some extra room for the right powder and/or the longer monolithic bullets without impinging on space normally reserved for powder.
There are plenty of good to excellent bullets available in .358″. Later, we’ll have a look at some of them. But, I’d choose any one suited to the game and terrain.
Hornady makes excellent projectiles in this caliber, as do Barnes and Nosler. Then, of course, there are a variety from Speer, North Fork, Woodleigh and others, that should satisfy the most demanding criteria and tastes.
That’s all for today. I’ll be back to this theme next time.
Shalom
BOB MITCHELL