.358 Yeti or .358 SOCOM?

[Will_Power]

Hey guys,

I've long had a hankering for a .358 cal AR for hogs and thick woods hunting and plinking with pistol bullets.

I'm looking at the .358 SOCOM from Tromix and the .358 Yeti from Mad Dog for an AR15 sized gun (as compared to a .358 Win in a large frame).

• The theoretical performance of the Yeti is really, really interesting, but I'm unsure how comfortable I am pushing the gun to 55-60k psi.

• Forming the SOCOM brass is a lot simpler and quicker (downsizing from 375 SOCOM brass versus the Yeti's more involved process of trimming a .308 case, then chamfering/deburring, then sizing, then fire forming).

• Plus the SOCOM cartridges can use standard AR mags (with the Lancers working well) or the 450 BM mags. The Yeti's case size requires tweaking the feed lips and adding a single stack follower to get the mag working reliably.

Those are my early thoughts and considerations.

Have any of you got experience with these .35 cal wildcats?

I'm just interested in these two cartridges. No longer considering .350 Legend, .357 AR, or .358 MGP.

 

[BreechFace]

I, like you am interested in the Yeti. And like you am concerned with the thin bolt lugs handling that kind of pressure and thrust. But the quoted performance is unmatched in the AR15.

I ended up going the 450 Bushmaster route and may revisit the Yeti once more people have vetted it.

 

[DocRock]

I don’t have a 450 BM rifle but do have a 454 carbine and performance is similar - 250 grs at @ 2200 FPS.

I have hunted hogs with chaps using ARs in 450 BM and it is absolutely devastating. Two chaps absolutely tore up a sounder. For eradication, it was truly awesome watching hogs react like p-dogs getting hit with hollow points from a 220 Swift. From a meat recovery perspective less so. That was with the Hornady 250 FTX which I don’t have much faith in, especially at those velocities. With something like the Barnes 275 grs, I think it would be a much more effective hunting round. Anyway, I came away with a respect for the 450 BM as a hog slayer.

 

[troy fairweather]

Yeti, brass will always be able and easy to make.

 

[BreechFace]

Yeti, brass will always be able and easy to make.

agreed a big plus

 

[GoldieMI]

Yeti, brass will always be able and easy to make.

Big Plus- 308 Brass is plentiful and cheap

 

[CarJunkieLS1]

.358 Yeti uses the same proprietary barrel extension and bolt that all of the other large Wildcats MDWS makes uses. 7mm Valkyrie, 358 Yeti, 30 Sabercat, 45VRAP, 6.5 Timberwolf, etc.

You need to follow their load data to the letter and always always always start low and work up. I'm pretty familiar with their stuff as I have a few of them, and there has only been one rifle "blown up" and it was for sure user error. The rifle help up to multiple shots that was calculated to over 70k psi. Didn't even break the bolt, the upper was inoperable though.