Here is mine, not pretty but a work in progress so don't laugh.
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I took a Ruger American 358 Winchester and modified it.
- I cut the barrel to 16 inches and installed iron sites (the rear is a removable peep site).
- I replaced the stock with a slimmer and lighter stock from a Youth model 308, this saved 2 oz.
- I trimmed the fore end down to save 2 or 3 oz.
- To hide the trim I put the tip of the fore end back with a screw. I then smoothed it out using Brownells bedding compound and painted over the seem.
- The recoil pad is missing so I taped a peice of foam on as a stop gap fix.
The rifle is now 5.5 pounds with iron sites. I was planning to run it with a 1-3 scope. But I have a 4oz Prism site in the mail that I might try.
This rifle has a special job. Where I live there is a fairly narrow window of time for hunting moose and caribou. So I spend a lot of time scouting good hunting areas but not actually hunting. However, bear season is open year around. The plan is to do a lot of scouting trips early in the summer to prep for moose season. If I see a bear while I'm doing that the 358 will enable me to hunt opportunistically.
I'll also carry this rifle as backup when I take kids hunting (they have a 308). Who knows I might hunt with this little rifle when moose and caribou season starts. With a 2-7 scope I could probably reach out to 300 yards. That's good enough most of the time.
I need to clean things up a bit bit so far I really really like this rifle. It handles better then my old 30-30 but it has way more wallop and range.