Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats .358 STA

Does anyone have any experience with the .358 STA? favorite loads?

No Sir, I dont, but if politics continues to make me feel so damn bad, I'm gonna reward myself with a beautiful stainless walnut M-70 in 358 STA thats sitting in Rednecks safe.

Then, like You, I will be on the hunt for 358 STA load data, I'm thinking the 280 gn Swift A Frames and a big charge of H-4831 SC will take anything short of Elephant.

Gunner

With the 225's RL19 is a good place to start.

R-19 and 250 Partitions.......

Wow, awesome critter there aalf! Great looking color on that bad boy

How 'bout some more details on that hunt and rifle?

Nice looking bruin!

The gun started out as a factory S/S Sendero in 7 STW. Ended up with 3 barrels, a #5 fluted 28" Lilja in 7 STW, the 26" Lilja in 358 STA, and a third in a factory S/S 375 H&H punched out to Improved.

The STA deserves a lot more respect than what it gets.

A 250 at 3000+ is no slouch.......

Yeah, cool picture! I like the coloration on that bear. Mid April?

That's a beautiful bear!

I had one before it was officially the 358 STA...but close enough that there was no real difference.Came across a large stash of .358-250 gr Bitterroots out of Sitka,Alaska,so decided to build a rifle around the bullets.

Butch Searcy put it together for me with a pre 64 M70 H&H action, Kriger 12 twist barrel,and Brown Precision stock. I used the 8 Rem Mag necked up to 35 with no other changes(I think the STA has slightly less taper).I used 8 RM cases, necked up,and also got a COW fireform load that used 375H&H brass necked down and blown out.

I arrived at pretty much what aalf and STA said and IIRC my load was about 90 gr RL19 and 250 Bitterroot for about 3000 fps.I also shot a bunch of other 250 gr bullets and also the 225 Nosler for about 3125.

It is a very impressive cartridge,plenty of mustard at both ends,and I like it a lot....but I also discovered I could load a 250 gr Bitterroot from the standard 375H&H case for over 2900 fps with over 10 gr less 4064;recoil and blast were less,and that combo shot about 4-5" less flat at 400 yards than the 358 did,so eventually I got away from it,and stuck with the H&H instead.

Both are great combo's and it would be hard to tell them apart on about anything.

The 12th day of an 11 day hunt.....1st week of May.

Ya mean this one?

That rifle is INCREDIBLE!!!

I just drooled all over my keyboard......

GALL DANG YOU Redneck yeah, that one , now I'm gonna go lay down and whine to Wifey and have her rub my back LMAO

That is the most beautifully brutal slayer I've ever seen, and I can see my checkbook from here, it's laying right over there.

Gunner

Could you imagine the sheer havoc that rifle would inflict on ANY game animal short of Ele. with a 280 gn Swift-A-Frame at 2875 fps?

Gunner

Layne Simpson had an update article on this cartridge in the November 1997 Shooting Times that lists loads. This article was a follow up to his first article in that magazine from September 1991. Both have numerous loads listed.I have mostly used H4350 and 250 grain Nosler Partitions with CCI primers and necked down .375 H&H brass. My top loads with this bullet and powder get just under 3000 fps. My rifle was built with a Douglas 24" barrel in a 12 twist on a Win Classic action that started life as a 7 mm STW and now sits in an older Winlite McMillan stock.

You scared of ele with that load?

Hell no, just an African game Warden. He may wanna write me a really PHAT ticket or throw my cracker azz in the hooscal for using sub dia. fire stick.

Gunner

One I used to load for an old Bud used necked down 375 Weatherby brass, a perfect solution for hunting stateside game.

Gunner

I do like my STA

Damn, now THAT is a rifle.