.375 CheyTac necked to .358

[Pbike257]

.375 CheyTac or .408 CheyTac necked down to .358 or even .366 (9.3mm). Has any of you done this move? If so what type of speed and trajectory advantages did you figure and did it live up to your expectations? Are there good bullets in those calibers to make the move worthwhile?

Thank You in advance,
Paul

 

[vikingsniper]

I doubt you will find much support for that move on this site. There arent any good long range bullets in 358 cal as opposed to the .375 or 338 bullets. Trajectories would be lousy due to the low b.c. of the 358 bullets and you wouldnt see ANY gain over the 375 or 338 offerings. May I askwhy you are interested in the 358 cal?

 

[longrangebo]

Bruce Baer has a 35 cal. on the 408 case, he shoots CE bullets 340 gr. 3200 fps. as of now the bullets are made just for him!

 

[Pbike257]

Well you see that's what I'm getting at.... There are no .358 bullet because we don't use .358. If we were to start using .358, more bullets would become available. Before the .408 CheyTac came to the plate, there wasn't much between .375 and .50 cal.

 

[Pbike257]

I started hunting years ago with a marlin in .35 Remington Caliber. It was a short range gun, but with the weaver 2.5X on it, it was really reliable. Later on and a few rifles later I happened across a model 7 in .350 Remington Mag. That was awesome. The power it had, and the hole it made was awesome. I've read a lot about the .358 STA, but the problems were always too short a magazine for the bullet and that the bullets were built for lesser .35 cal rifles like the .350 mag and the .35 Whelen. My question is when are the bullet guys going to give us some good bullets to venture towards the .358 CT, or .358/338 Lapua Mag ?
Paul

 

[WildRose]

It costs a heck of a lot of money to gear up for production of a new bullet. We really can't expect any of the major manufacturers to spend that kind of money and take the time away from what they are already producing unless there's a strong demand for the new offering.

Till something becomes popular enough to give them a satisfactory return on their investment we just have to be happy with what's out there or spend the money having them custom made by the few who will do such work.

 

[Pbike257]

It costs a heck of a lot of money to gear up for production of a new bullet. We really can't expect any of the major manufacturers to spend that kind of money and take the time away from what they are already producing unless there's a strong demand for the new offering.

Till something becomes popular enough to give them a satisfactory return on their investment we just have to be happy with what's out there or spend the money having them custom made by the few who will do such work.

Right now most the bullets I shoot are custom made by a select few. That's not what I'm asking though.

I guess what I was wondering is if Heavy VLD .358 bullets were available. Would there be a market for them in a cartridge that may have started life as a .375 or .408 CT brass. The only things that would give them a market that was worth persuling would be...

A) are the bullets and Barrels accurate consistently?
B) is there an advantage (Power or Trajectory) one way or the other over going with the .375, or the .338 either up or down in size ?

 

[diderr]

A 225 grn Barnes is the only bullet I see that would be "decent" for long range. Which would useless in a 358 cheytac. You could always just buy a CNC lathe and turn your own...

 

[WildRose]

Right now most the bullets I shoot are custom made by a select few. That's not what I'm asking though.

I guess what I was wondering is if Heavy VLD .358 bullets were available. Would there be a market for them in a cartridge that may have started life as a .375 or .408 CT brass. The only things that would give them a market that was worth persuling would be...

A) are the bullets and Barrels accurate consistently?
B) is there an advantage (Power or Trajectory) one way or the other over going with the .375, or the .338 either up or down in size ?

I don't know of anyone making them or shooting such a cartridge as you are proposing.

There lies the problem.

There's little or no demand for a .358 VLD since there's very few if any who would require such a bullet.

I've always said that if I were go go bigger than what I have now it would be to move to the .375 Cheytac. There's simply not anything else that can do what it does as well as it does.

The problem is I just have absolutely no need for one LOL.gun)

 

[royinidaho]

Well you see that's what I'm getting at.... There are no .358 bullet because we don't use .358. If we were to start using .358, more bullets would become available. Before the .408 CheyTac came to the plate, there wasn't much between .375 and .50 cal.

There's a ton of 375 shooter out here and the only ones listening are a couple of mono bullet makers.

Me thinks yur logic is flawed...

 

[WildRose]

Well you see that's what I'm getting at.... There are no .358 bullet because we don't use .358. If we were to start using .358, more bullets would become available. Before the .408 CheyTac came to the plate, there wasn't much between .375 and .50 cal.

The .416's and .458's were around for decades before the .408 and .375 Cheytacs came along.

The long range .458's have been around since the 1870's in fact.

.45-70 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[TH]

I watched Bruce shoot the 358 408 at Thundervalley two years ago. Accuracy was not the best especially at 1 mile. The 336-416 rigby and 338-408s did way better.

 

[USCGLongBow]

I've been bugging bullet manufacturers about this for a couple years, I've gotten some very interesting replies. I love shooting the 358s and would have ever 35 under the sun if I could. The bullet options are just not there. You can CNC machine your own, or get a set of dies from Corbin and make a ULD 358. The other option, I've seen a number of good old boys do, is run 9.3mm or 375 high BC bullets through a series of sizing dies, then true the tips and base to get a true long range bullet in 358. The process is lengthy and not really worth your time if you just want a rifle to shoot long range on a daily basis.

 

[USCGLongBow]

I started hunting years ago with a marlin in .35 Remington Caliber. My question is when are the bullet guys going to give us some good bullets to venture towards the .358 CT, or .358/338 Lapua Mag ?
Paul

To quote two bullet manufacturers I asked about .358s with better BCs. "When a factory rifle is available that that can handle the bullet." In essence, when Remington, Ruger, or anybody releases a factory 358 mag, or target rifle with a 1 in 10" twist Target barrel. You wanna see the Bullets, you are gonna have to get a lot of people asking for the Rifle till the industry listens. The problem is there just isn't enough difference between a .338 and .358 for most people to justify the switch. You wanna get the Long Range crew onboard, go build yourself a .358 UMT with a 1 in 9.75" barrel and custom 308gr bullets, and win a few long range shooting contests.