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Post by Headgear on Mar 26, 2013 5:41:34 GMT -5
Hi folks, I'm new here, and am on the market for a deer rifle and have been reading as much as I can on what looks like the two front runners in Indiana wildcats. It looks like these two perform pretty much the same with the 1.8 wssm possibly being capable of a little more velocity.
Some qualifications: I would be having a bolt action rifle built not a break open model. I love long range target shooting and reloading so I am sure I would be doing a lot of tinkering and tweaking as well as hunting. Because of this I would tend towards getting as much range out of the round as possible and am leaning towards the wssm. I pretty much have all of the reloading tools to develop my own brass minus an annealer which has been on the list anyway so this is a good excuse for pulling the trigger on one.
With all of that in mind, what experiences have you guys had that may help galvanize my decision?
Thanks
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Post by HuntMeister on Mar 26, 2013 7:08:03 GMT -5
Sounds like you have already done your homework and have it figured out.
I like the 358 Hoosier due to less work involved making brass. Common commercial .308 brass will suffice, one pass through the dies and no annealing needed. What's not to like about that?
Almost forgot, welcome to H-I!
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Post by hornharvester on Mar 26, 2013 7:53:15 GMT -5
Nothing to annealing brass, just stand them in a plate of water up about half way on the case and use a hand held propane torch held on the neck and shoulder for a 5 count, let cool and they are done. h.h.
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Post by Decatur on Mar 26, 2013 7:58:33 GMT -5
Welcome!
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Post by omegahunter on Mar 26, 2013 10:33:03 GMT -5
Given the groundwork of your OP, I would suggest going with the .358 WSM (1.8). That round will give you the most velocity and stay within current Indiana deer regs.
Good luck. I am plenty happy with my .358 WSSM (1.625) and am not interested in gaining any more velocity for right now.
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Post by Headgear on Mar 27, 2013 5:15:35 GMT -5
Thanks for the input. I can't wait to get one and see how she does. I'm a little tired of hunting with a muzzle loader. I hunted one day this passed season when it was so cold that my gun condensated when I brought it back into the house. I never gave it much thought. I just dried it off and took it out the next morning. I shot at a doe and it went off about half way. I'm sure that the powder got wet. I never had that happen with a modern fire arm. I guess I need to shoot and reload every day or leave it in the garage where it will stay cold and not sweat.
The season before that I shot a nice doe and brought the muzzle loader in, cleaned it, went out the next day and shot at another doe. "Click".... I"d swear I reloaded that darned thing. What a Dork?
Now with the late antlerless season which the rifle can be used for, in addition to the regular gun season it makes more sense to spend the money on a rifle and not have too worry about the muzzle loader as much. I'll be ready.
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Post by HuntMeister on Mar 27, 2013 7:21:12 GMT -5
If you are planning on using it this coming fall you better get your order in quick. Most of the custom builders I spoke to this winter are running several months behind. I believe there are a few retailers carrying completed builds on their shelves. IIRC, Just hunt in Wabash is stocking completed builds and some barrels. HornHarvester here on H-I may know more about that.
Good luck and keep us posted on your final build.
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Post by 45shooter on Mar 27, 2013 7:47:35 GMT -5
If you like to tinker, buy a used Savage model 10 and order a barrel from BFG Custom Cartridges.
I converted a Savage model 16 from a 270 WSM to a 358 BFG. This particular chambering is of the 1.625 variety based on the 25 WSSM. The only tools I needed were a barrel nut wrench a barrel vise and some head space gages.
BFG has their own proprietary 1.8 length cartridge based on the WSM case. Bryan was very helpful during my build.
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Post by Headgear on Mar 28, 2013 5:04:58 GMT -5
I already decided and ordered a 1.8 wssm, Remington 700 build from Just Hunt. Paul said 2 to 4 weeks and he has cases and dies. Can't wait to get it. I have a TC pro Hunter that is just sitting in the safe. I may get a Hoosier barrel for it just to compare and have a spare for when out of state friends want to hunt. Thanks again.
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