My wife and the .358 win?

[Clipper]

My wife was with me at the gunstore recently, and fell in love with a used BLR in 358. She currently shoots (and loves) a Rem 141 in .35 rem, and a Sav 99 in .300 sav. She also enjoys my Win M-70 fwgt .25 WSSM and my Win M-12 20 ga. However, even though I'd get a soft recoil pad installed for her, I'm concerned about recoil being a bit much for her. So how do you think the .358 with a 1" shotgun style recoil pad would compare, say, to her .300 savage with the factory butplate. I told her I would think she'd feel about half again the recoil, and she says that would be OK. Do you think I should pick her up a new gun for Christmas?

 

[Car Knocker]

(She) fell in love with a used BLR in 358.

Do you think I should pick her up a new gun for Christmas?

Answer seems obvious to me.

 

[Clipper]

I'll spell it out for you...Wife thinks she can handle 1.5x her .300. Is that a realistic comparison to .358 with a good pad? I haven't got money to gamble $500.00 unnecessarily. I'd buy her anything she wants as long as she isn't likely to be afraid of it. However, I've never shot a .358 either, and my estimate is only a guess. I wanna know if I'm in the ballpark or all wet. Someone with .358 experience can enlighten me...

 

[Gordon]

How light is the 20ga? IF it's around 6 3/4 pounds or so toss in a mag buckshot load (or a 3" mag) and see if she likes it

 

[steveno]

I had a 358 BLR a long time ago with the steel receiver. it was a well made rifle but the stock desigh sucked and it wasn't much fun to shoot. with the aluminum receivers they use today I would not own one. I would rather shoot my Ruger #1S in 45-70. the 358 is a good round and if you reload you could work up loads to find the recoil tolerance

 

[Ol` Joe]

Recoil can be almost as much as 1 3/4x as high with a 250 gr bullet in the 358 compared to a 150 gr in the 300 Savage. Lee load shows 24 f/lb for the 358 and 14 f/lbs for the 300 in 7 lb rifles.
As noted the stock of the BLR isn`t the best for reducing recoil. My brother has an old BLR, steel recievered, in 308 and it definately has a more noticable kick then my dads M70 in 308. Both rifles are close in wgt the stock shape makes the difference. The BLR has a lot of muzzle rise compared to a straighter stocked rifle.

 

[AKGuy]

I'm late to this thread, but for the benefit of others doing searches on relevant topics, I'm chiming in...

I've got a BLR 358 W and shoot 200gr and 225gr Barnes 3x bullets with max listed powder loads out of mine and I say it falls somewhere between my 308 BLR and an old Remington semiauto in 3006 that I used to have. Way less than a 12 gauge with express loads. Basically, I think it's totally painless and that recoil with my 358 (and the loads that I've used) isn't even an issue of any kind. I'm about 5ft7in and 200lbs, if that matters to any readers. I've also got a bolt Ruger Mk 2 in 338 Winmag, and while I still wouldn't consider that gun terribly brutal, the 358 is significantly less harsh than that, for sure. FWIW.

 

[Ky Larry]

Let her fire off a few rounds with a .338 Mag if you can borrow one. If she can handle that, she should be good to go. If this gun will be used mostly for hunting, she probably won't be shooting it a lot at the range so it won't be that bad just to sight it in. I saw a 110 lb woman put 50 rounds thru a
. 340 Weatherby Mag in a single range session so anything is possible.

 

[Wedge]

....

 

[SwampWolf]

While my Savage 99 in .358 cal. in terms of recoil is no elephant gun, it's not a .308 either. The .358, particularly when shooting 250 grain bullets, will push you around a bit but nothing like, say, a .300 Weatherby.

 

[Gordon]

Yeah my .358 99 is nothing like a 7.5 pound .300 weatherby or an 8 pound .338. Recoils like a 16 ga. shotgun with hi brass loads.

 

[pbrktrt]

the smaller you are the more you will give with the recoil. a lot of women that shoot don't seem to be bothered by recoil as much their 200+ lb hubby's. it's just physics. and like the other guy said, she loved the gun.