Help buying used 358 Hoosier rifle

[art338wm]

In a attempt to keep my total cost to a minimum, am considering buying a used rifle in 358 Hoosier. As I have never owned a rifle chambered in a wild cat cartridge, is there any questions I need to ask the owner of said rifle prior to buying? And is one particular parent factory rifle manufacturer any better than another? For example are rifles built on a T/C Venture a better choice than one built on a Savage 200 or 110? 

I also need to know the answers to the same questions concerning buying already preformed and ready to reload brass and reloading dies. As I said, I know next to nothing about what one needs to know when buying a used rifle in a wild cat caliber, so I wish to be as well informed as possible prior to purchasing any rifles, dies or brass. I should add I am a experienced reloader, having now been reloading for all my rifles and HGs for nearly 3 decades. I haven't bought or shot any factory ammo out of my bolt rifles in over 25 years.

Thanks,
Arthur

[Jamie Brooks 1John5:13]

Hi Arthur,

I don't know anything about them, but would sure like to see one. Do you see many used ones out there? Where does one buy a new one?

[art338wm]

Unfortunately, I'm not having much luck finding a rifle even close to my price range. At this point to keep my costs including a new rifle, dies, and brass under $1000 is beginning to look simply unobtainable. My only option at this point is to buy used, unless I stumble across a great deal on a new one.

I PERSONALLY can't justify spending $1300-$1500 on a rifle, dies and brass that I will only ever use deer hunting in Indiana as I already have a gun safe full of wonderfully accurate rifles, all of which are unsuitable to be changed over. I will continue to search diligently for a deal on a new or used 358 Hoosier or 358 WSM, but based on what my research has turned up so far I will need to luck out in the truest sense of the term.

[Jamie Brooks 1John5:13]

I really enjoy shooting my Savage 220 slug gun. It's accurate and has plenty of range for where I hunt. However, I would like to hunt with a rifle, but it may be a while before I do it in Indiana.

Would you have better luck finding a used bushmaster 450 or 458socom?

[span870]

You might be better off building one yourself. I was going to build one off a marlin .243 I have. I called and it was going to be $450 to convert it to .358. Maybe find a used rifle and send it off yourself.

[parson]

Don't know if this guy does the Hoosier, but it might be worth checking on. I have read very good reports on his work.

www.35caliber.com/index.html

[oldhoyt]

A barrel swap with a Savage or similar gun equipped with a barrel nut is a simple procedure. There are plenty of videos online. If I had taken the time to see how easy it is to re-barrel a Savage, I would have done my Hoosier myself and saved some money.

You do need a vice to hold the barrel, a wrench and some go no-go gauges (these can all be rented or bought).
Assuming you can buy a donor gun for about $250 (should be doable for a used savage in 308 or similar), tools will cost you about $150 to buy or maybe less to rent, that leaves you quite a bit to spend on the barrel and dies, and still be under $1000.

[art338wm]

Thanks for the advice and info, will give it serious thought. I'm not complaining, as considering my level of experience I should have been better prepared for the costs I would likely face. Any way one looks at it if you add in the cost of brass and dies, $1400-$1500 for what would be for any hunter like me a single state, single animal rifle is simply unjustifiable.

[art338wm]

oldhoyt, I need to get to a few gun shows as I haven't been to one in years in hopes to find a cheap doner 308 Savage, as the best deal I found so far on a used acceptable savage was about $300 W/tax.

[lawrencecountyhunter]

Jon Snow mentioned the .450 BM... It's no long range rifle, but 200 yard shots are a piece of cake with mine. Much less recoil than my .30/06, I'd say pretty close to a .30-30. They aren't cheap either though.

[dbd870]

I have purposely held off on building one because I though it would be opened up. I will probably still wait and see a bit but I have a XL7 with a VX3 3.5-10X (I know, its long action but short action cartridges have been done successfully on long action rifles) that I would be willing to use as a base rifle and I have the tools already to do the swap - yeah, I'm thinking about it.

[oldhoyt]

I just saw one go for around 250 on a gunauction site.

If I were to do it today, I'd go with a 450 Bushmaster rebarrel on a Saveage Model 10. Barrels can be had for less than 200 (Bisongunworks). No need for expensive custom dies, and could even buy factory ammo.

[art338wm]

I've been seeing Marlin X7's for well under $300, that will likely be my donor rifle. What I really want is a rifle chambered in 358 X 1.8 WSM, all I need to do to get the ball rolling is buy the donor rifle. I will have to do it in stages and research as completely as possible to see if a DIY 358 X 1.8 WSM is within my skill set. I suspect a DIY rifle is my goal, a Savage rifle would serve me best as Savage barrel nut design seams to be the easiest/cheapest rout for a DIY rifle. But if i can find a smith to do my conversion with in my budget, I would likely go that rout.

I figure if I'm going to spend a large sum of money on a deer rifle, might as well be on one that will allow me to shoot to my max personal abilities, and the 358 X 1.8" WSM will do that. I'm not going to spend $700-$800 on a rifle that will only gain me 100 yards of added range over my Browning A-Bolt slug gun.

Does anyone know if a gun show in particular in NW or central Indiana is a best bet for cheap donor Savage or marlin?

[nfalls116]

Aug 6, 2015 20:44:17 GMT -5 art338wm said:

I've been seeing Marlin X7's for well under $300, that will likely be my donor rifle. What I really want is a rifle chambered in 358 X 1.8 WSM, all I need to do to get the ball rolling is buy the donor rifle. I will have to do it in stages and research as completely as possible to see if a DIY 358 X 1.8 WSM is within my skill set. I suspect a DIY rifle is my goal, a Savage rifle would serve me best as Savage barrel nut design seams to be the easiest/cheapest rout for a DIY rifle. But if i can find a smith to do my conversion with in my budget, I would likely go that rout.

I figure if I'm going to spend a large sum of money on a deer rifle, might as well be on one that will allow me to shoot to my max personal abilities, and the 358 X 1.8" WSM will do that. I'm not going to spend $700-$800 on a rifle that will only gain me 100 yards of added range over my Browning A-Bolt slug gun.

Does anyone know if a gun show in particular in NW or central Indiana is a best bet for cheap donor Savage or marlin?

Bought and sold quite a few guns on hoosier topics if you haven't already ya better check it out

[omegahunter]

Aug 6, 2015 20:44:17 GMT -5 art338wm said:

I've been seeing Marlin X7's for well under $300, that will likely be my donor rifle. What I really want is a rifle chambered in 358 X 1.8 WSM, all I need to do to get the ball rolling is buy the donor rifle. I will have to do it in stages and research as completely as possible to see if a DIY 358 X 1.8 WSM is within my skill set. I suspect a DIY rifle is my goal, a Savage rifle would serve me best as Savage barrel nut design seams to be the easiest/cheapest rout for a DIY rifle. But if i can find a smith to do my conversion with in my budget, I would likely go that rout.

I figure if I'm going to spend a large sum of money on a deer rifle, might as well be on one that will allow me to shoot to my max personal abilities, and the 358 X 1.8" WSM will do that. I'm not going to spend $700-$800 on a rifle that will only gain me 100 yards of added range over my Browning A-Bolt slug gun.

Does anyone know if a gun show in particular in NW or central Indiana is a best bet for cheap donor Savage or marlin?

WWWAAAYYYY too labor intensive to make brass for the 358 WSM 1.8! It also has way more steam than you would ever need for a grizzly (would do massive damage to a whitetail). I like to eat meat too much! Do yourself a favor and stick with buying a used 358 Hoosier or getting one built. I have a couple 358 WSSM rifles (mine and one for the wife) and could easily have them both rechambered for the 358 WSM, but when I found out what all it takes to cut down brass, form, and thin necks by reaming or turning it just was not worth the few extra 100's of fps gain.

With certain newer powders the 358 Hoosier will match the 358 WSSM and there is really not a NEED to better it.

[art338wm]

Aug 7, 2015 14:24:13 GMT -5 omegahunter said:

Aug 6, 2015 20:44:17 GMT -5 art338wm said:

WWWAAAYYYY too labor intensive to make brass for the 358 WSM 1.8! It also has way more steam than you would ever need for a grizzly (would do massive damage to a whitetail). I like to eat meat too much! Do yourself a favor and stick with buying a used 358 Hoosier or getting one built. I have a couple 358 WSSM rifles (mine and one for the wife) and could easily have them both rechambered for the 358 WSM, but when I found out what all it takes to cut down brass, form, and thin necks by reaming or turning it just was not worth the few extra 100's of fps gain.

With certain newer powders the 358 Hoosier will match the 358 WSSM and there is really not a NEED to better it.


Omegahunter, could you share with me the powders you speak of for the 358 Hoosier? And thank you for educating me on the cost/difficulty of making brass for the 358 WSM. A 358 Hoosier is well with in my budget and I know of a 358 WSSM for sale at the moment. How expensive is 358 WSSM brass and how many reloadings can you get per piece of brass? Lastly what is your thoughts if any on annealing 358 WSSM case necks/shoulders to maximize brass life?

Thanks,Arthur.

[omegahunter]

10X is great in the Hoosier. I would need to check to see what a friend is shooting in his Hoosier as it will shoot faster than with 10X and still no pressure signs in his rifle. He says that he runs out of room in the case for the powder before he gets signs of excessive pressure (cratered primers, hard to open bolt, ...).

The 358 WSSM is a great round and pretty easy to make brass for (just expand the neck a few steps with lubed elliptical expanders), but near impossible to find new brass. I had a heck of a time getting the annealing right to convert some once fired 25 WSSM brass for a friend's rifle. Wasn't annealing enough, kept splitting the necks. Finally annealed long enough to start getting good 358 WSSM brass. I won't bother annealing my brass until I start getting some necks starting to split.

If the 358 WSSM comes with a decent supply of brass, you might consider getting it. Mine does not seem to be hard on brass.

But the Hoosier would be easier to convert back to a standard chambering if you would ever get to that point also.

[art338wm]

Thanks Omegahunter. Am patiently considering my options, several used 358 Hoosiers are available and are seriously considering them. After a great deal of research have decided on the 358 Hoosier as its the best combo of performance and cost effectiveness/affordability. Was seriously considering other faster 358 wildcats, but initial cost and difficulty and cost of making brass for them ruled them out.

[oldhoyt]

I've used Accurate 2230 and H322 in my Hoosier. Both work well enough as far as accuracy, based on the limited shooting I have done. At the max loads given to me by AJ Brown, I have seen flattened primers.

I'm sure it's common knowledge, but forming brass from 358 Win is as easy as it gets.

[358loader]

Id recommend getting with Danny Dewitt in Upland Indiana, he is building one based on the 460 WB Mag as a parent, and reaching 300 win mag velocities.