Bear load

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Nature Boy

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No, really.

I’m actually going on a black bear hunt in Canada this summer and I’ve decided to take my Browning BLR in .358 win.

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I’m sure any of the loads I’ve worked up for deer would be more than adequate but this gives me an excuse to try something different

I recently purchased some 250g Hornady SP Interlocks from a guy online and figured this would be a good reason to see if I could work up a decent load with them. A 250g bullet is at the upper limit on this cartridge’s capability.

For comparison, a 150g .308 on the left and 250g .358 on the right

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I chose H4895 for the powder and both Hodgdon and Hornady load data were in agreement for the load min-max

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I loaded some up in a range from 42.5 to 44.5 with the hope of finding something that would deliver consistent accuracy and terminal performance out to 150 yards, which, according to the guide, would be the max distance I’d be shooting.

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Got to the range after work yesterday and shot my test loads and the best turned out to be 44g giving me a 2,223 avg FPS and very good accuracy. 5 shots at 100 yards:

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Loaded this into the ballistics app and it looks like it will work well

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Next step to to load up some more at 44g to see if it’s repeatable.
 
Brings back memories. In the 80’s I reloaded and shot .358 in a Browning BLR. Nosler Ballistic Tips were new then. Let a past friend talk me out of the gun with a promise he’d sell it back to me. He traded it away.
 
I'm just beginning to experiment with my .358 BLR.
But something I've noticed that seemed to be fairly consistent with other guy's BLR data is that the barrel loses accuracy after the 3rd or 4th shot, due to heat. But that seems to be less of a problem with the .358.
I wonder if it may be true that the .358 barrel is less prone to lose accuracy after a few shots than the .308 - or if that's just coincidence?

Impressive group BTW!
 
I wonder if it may be true that the .358 barrel is less prone to lose accuracy after a few shots than the .308 - or if that's just coincidence?

I notice that heat has an affect so I use an air mattress pump to keep the barrel cooler between shots.

The rifle ergonomics and heavy, creepy trigger are more of a detriment to consistency, IMO. I have to be very focused on what I’m doing in order to get meaningful data from load testing
 
I'm about to teach myself to do trigger jobs on my BLRs
The trigger assy comes out without removing the bolt so I'm going to go for it.
I worked on my Contender pistol, successfully, last year. Those are another gun that uses a sear lever between the trigger and hammer.
Takes patience.. I think I'm ready to try
I know it will help the accuracy - The trigger is pretty bad

There's a guy on you tube with a .358 BLR and he says he shot tighter groups after removing the barrel band.
His is one of the forends that attaches to a long stud at the front.
 
I always drafted my barrel between shots with my Model 81, someone at the range asked me why I was doing that and I told him, it was to maintain a more consistent barrel temp, he looked at me like I was nuts.
Nature Boy, is yours a Model 81 BLR or the BLR light hunting model?

Your picture in post 1 really looks like a Model 81 Miroku from the early 90s. It looks identical to my Model 81 30-06.
Those were extremely good rifles.
 
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Nice group! Mine shoots similarly though I haven't recorded a group that tight, last time I tried for a nice group it measured about 5/8"W x 1.2"H roughly, I did let the barrel heat up a bit which I attributed to the vertical stringing. BTW mine was made in 82.
 
I checked out your bore lapping thread... Good stuff



So, the Teslong you bought - Is that the same one that's on Amazon for $49?
I need one at that price

the $49 dollar unit isn’t wireless and won’t pair with an iPhone. It will work with Android devices and Windows based laptops using a USB cable
 
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