.358 Winchester, Why Not?

I would use a 358 winchester in very few hunting situations, but mark my word, the thing is top of its class for those particular situations. BIG north american game, up to grizzly. any thing large that is 200 yards or so distant.. So, for me, the only question is where I'm hunting, how I'm hunting, and what I'm hunting.

I have always thought that the .35 whelen in a semiautomatic rifle would be just about the best grizzly gun available. Massive bullet with big bore and deep penetrating mushroom, controllable recoil, rapid recovery for follow up shot.
 
Along those lines, my idea of the "perfect" Alaskan bear rifle would be an all s/s Browning BAR, with a synthetic stock and chambered in .338 Magnum. I'd always be a little leery, though, of a semi-auto action in terms of being completely reliable in really inclement weather that Alaska is known for.
 
I can tell you that of all the AR10 platform flavors I've built--the 358 win has been the most trouble-free right from the git-go.
 
338 is probably even powerful enough to use against african critters short of buffalo and elephant. There's not much on the entire planet that you couldn't kill with a bullet that heavy at the velocity it runs at.

The old time bison hunters would have stayed with their 50 caliber sharps guns, but the .338 could still get a lethal round in at twice the distance.
 
I've always been curious as to what would happen if a .308 round was mistakenly (or in an emergency) fired in a rifle chambered for the .358 cartridge. My guess is, other than less than stellar accuracy:D, not much.
 
Once? Pretty much nothing. It's going to be a blooper, and you may miss the barn.

If you keep going, maybe fate will catch up with you and figure out a way to blow up the gun.
 
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