Thread: 358 Win load help and sggestions

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

Hi Sidelock, thats a nice looking unit you have and some good looking food on the ground.
Did you get them with the Gamekings or the JHP?
Any idea what sort of velocity you are getting
I opted for the 358cal GK's after running into a mob of pig with my 243 last year. I put 3 down but the large boar took a bit of anchoring.

I have not shot anything large with the gamekings yet. Hope to get a spring hunt in got a large Red deer so will try it them them.
As noted the 357cal 158 gr at 2550 would not be much good on a large animal in close but once the velocity drops they work well.
Zane

I use gamekings for everything with hooves.

357 jhp is an explosive pill in rifle loads, i only use them on fox, badger, cat etc or headshots. Would definately load them for roos and goats if I still lived in NZ. Loaded subsonic with trailboss they mushroom perfectly, highly recommended bullet for such loads.

Dont know how suitable 243w is for big and tough animals, over here 6,5x55 with 156-160gr pills is legal minimum. You can go as low as 140gr but that requires handloading and a fair bit of ”optimism” to reach minimum energy requirements for shooting big game.

My shorty is not keen on building velocity, I get about 2250fps with gamekings and 2400 with noslers, though I know others who use the same loads and they all get 100-200fps more. Not relevant at bush range, I have taken pigs, moose and various deer aswell as small game and know of moose taken past 300m with 225gr gamekings so Im confident that my velocity will be adequate for what I do.

What you can expect to see when a gameking is placed in the boiler room (if the animal doesnt drop) is that whatever you shot KNOWS it was hit. No running 100+ yards as if nothing happened, instead the animal will slowly stagger 20 yards or so and then kneel. Very low meat damage, usually looks like you poked a broom handle through the ribs.