Why no love for the .358 Win?

[Rick HOlbert]

Wow, I wish I’d been able to meet him. As close as I ever got were his books. I have a first edition Sixguns By Keith.

Elmer was one of those rare gun scribes who didn't act like nobility and look down his nose at us mere mortals. He truly enjoyed talking to people about hunting, reloading and such. He spoke from his heart and never let on to being the expert or final authority on a given subject. He was always willing to listen to others experiences in the field. But beware the BS artist. Elmer wasn't bashful calling out a liar and could backup his words. I guess his biggest problem (if you could call it that) was that he took his shooting ability as normal and for the life of him couldn't understand why more people couldn't shoot the same way. It's sad that we don't have his kind now days. Then again I think he'd be both shocked and deeply saddened by the anti gun and hunting rhetoric we have now days. When I finally cross the river and walk into that hunting camp, I figure I'll see that familiar ten gallon hat with a cigar poking out beneath the brim and a twinkling eye voicing a welcome and offer of campsite coffee. Rest easy old friend, lord knows you earned it.

 

[7x57Joe]

Rick, your mentioning the cigar made me think of something he said when we were at the book signing. He reached into his shirt pocket and brought out a cheroot and looked at it for a moment and said: "that coyote must have been in a hurry when he left this one". We had a laugh at that!

 

[Rick HOlbert]

Rick, your mentioning the cigar made me think of something he said when we were at the book signing. He reached into his shirt pocket and brought out a cheroot and looked at it for a moment and said: "that coyote must have been in a hurry when he left this one". We had a laugh at that!

LOL!! Yeah, that sounds like something he would have said. His sense of humor was a little rough for gentle ears but having been a cowhand and guide for most of his life there wasn't much polish on his speech at times. Real down to earth I guess you could say.

 

[F. Vaccaro]

Boy I miss mr. Keith’s writings.
Never met him, but he fostered a love of handguns & the .44 Special!

 

[Rick HOlbert]

Yes indeed! by far my favorite revolvers are in 44 special.

 

[rdog]

Boy I miss mr. Keith’s writings.
Never met him, but he fostered a love of handguns & the .44 Special!

As an Australian at 75 years old i read a lot of his books & magazine articles, my 2 sons both gun nuts & hunters now in their late 40s often refer to Elmer & dads love of big guns when we shoot together, he must of left a life long impression on them.

 

[MS 9x56]

I enjoyed reading Jack O’Conner and Elmer Keith and found I fall firmly in Elmers camp. Neither were puppets of the gun industry. If they did endorse something you could be sure it was because they used and liked it. They don’t make them like those 2 anymore.

 

[Rick HOlbert]

I enjoyed reading Jack O’Conner and Elmer Keith and found I fall firmly in Elmers camp. Neither were puppets of the gun industry. If they did endorse something you could be sure it was because they used and liked it. They don’t make them like those 2 anymore.

You're very true on that assessment. There are a couple of decent writers today but not up to the standards of Keith and O'Conner. I'd add Skeeter Skelton to that list also.

 

[steve white]

Maybe if Jeff Cooper had insisted on the .358 Win. as the basis for the scout rifle...
BTW, Cooper sure told it like it was!

 

[leslie hetrick]

it never was going to be a 35 whelen and any one who thinks that will be disappointed, that being said when used with in its limitations its a fine big game cartige and can be made into nice light weight rifle.

 

[steve white]

To day if you wanted to teach school kids about guns & hunting, they would have a SWAT team arrest you.

That's true now, but in 1972 I innocently brought a shotgun to Tyler Junior College as the prop for my instructional speech in speech class. No one and I mean no one raised an eye. Showed it to security and he could have cared less. Prof said, "prop it in that corner--you don't want it to fall down." It was a better time....

 

[MS 9x56]

That's true now, but in 1972 I innocently brought a shotgun to Tyler Junior College as the prop for my instructional speech in speech class. No one and I mean no one raised an eye. Showed it to security and he could have cared less. Prof said, "prop it in that corner--you don't want it to fall down." It was a better time....

And nobody then used it to shoot their classmates!!

 

[Alaska Luke]

We're lucky in Alaska the crazy hasn't spread as much. There is a local High School that host a weekend gun show. Just for fun a took a picture of a Savage 338 Win Mag propped up in front of the school sign.

Steve instructional speaks at my dad's college back in the day led to some fun stories.
- one guy brought a 30-30 for his. No big deal except the police got a call about a suspicious person with a gun so they showed up.
-More concerning was the guy who gave a speech about rattle snakes. He seemed very knowledgeable. Than he reached into a plastic tub and pulled out his live pet rattle snake. He than commented something like "She's really acting up today. I left her in the refrigerator for a while to try to calm her down." All this while he stood blocking the door with his "pet"

 

[leslie hetrick]

in 1960 i broke the firing pin on my cheap H&R brake open .22 revolver i used for trapping, i took it to school in a brown paper bag on the school bus and took it to my metal shop classroom and gave it to my shop teacher who put in into his desk. at a later metal shop class, a good friend and i brazed a shop made firing pin on the hammer and then took it down to the furnace room and test fired it wth shells i had pulled the bullets out and dumped the powder. right before i got on the bus to go home i went to the shop classroom and the shop teacher gave me my now fully operational .22 revolver. when i got home my dad ask how did it and told him no problem. i can,t imagion doing anything like that today. i miss the old days.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

it never was going to be a 35 whelen and any one who thinks that will be disappointed, that being said when used with in its limitations its a fine big game cartige and can be made into nice light weight rifle.

@leslie hetrick
Unfortunately the Whelen was way underloaded in the start and the 358 came horrible close to equalling it. A bit like the 308 and the old loads in the original 30-06. That's why people say the 358 is equal to the Whelen.
As us real people know when the Whelen is loaded properly it leaves the 358 in its wake.
The 358 tho is still a great cartridge that performs out of proportion to what paper balistics say. That's why people love the little 358. A good power house in a smaller cartridge.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

in 1960 i broke the firing pin on my cheap H&R brake open .22 revolver i used for trapping, i took it to school in a brown paper bag on the school bus and took it to my metal shop classroom and gave it to my shop teacher who put in into his desk. at a later metal shop class, a good friend and i brazed a shop made firing pin on the hammer and then took it down to the furnace room and test fired it wth shells i had pulled the bullets out and dumped the powder. right before i got on the bus to go home i went to the shop classroom and the shop teacher gave me my now fully operational .22 revolver. when i got home my dad ask how did it and told him no problem. i can,t imagion doing anything like that today. i miss the old days.

@leslie hetrick
Oh how times have changed and not for the better in a lot of cases.
A friend of mine bought a Winchester pump action 22 to schools a prop in a play. No one batted an eyelid and the other kids did touch it. School army cadets used to hope on the train with their SMLE 303 to go on parade or exercise and people would talk to them and provide encouragement.
I could walk down our main street with a rifle in the 80s and no one cared. Kids were polite with please, thank you and respected authorities. Now it fuck you mister your nothing but an old prick.
Where and when did things start to go to shit and the wheels fell off society.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

in 1960 i broke the firing pin on my cheap H&R brake open .22 revolver i used for trapping, i took it to school in a brown paper bag on the school bus and took it to my metal shop classroom and gave it to my shop teacher who put in into his desk. at a later metal shop class, a good friend and i brazed a shop made firing pin on the hammer and then took it down to the furnace room and test fired it wth shells i had pulled the bullets out and dumped the powder. right before i got on the bus to go home i went to the shop classroom and the shop teacher gave me my now fully operational .22 revolver. when i got home my dad ask how did it and told him no problem. i can,t imagion doing anything like that today. i miss the old days.

@leslie hetrick
Here are some loads I found for the 358 you may be interested in. Nice and poky for the little round.
Bob

 

[akrifleman]

B

I’ve been surprised that with the increase in people using ar10 style rifles in 308 there hasn’t been much interest in ar hunting rifles in cartridges derived from 308.

I’m thinking 7mm-08, 358win, etc. Barrels can be found but I wouldn’t call them common.

Because federal invented the 338 Fed

 

[leslie hetrick]

look up top reloads for the whelen. those loads for the .358 are right up there and i would not start with them.

 

[PerH]

2 fine Mausers this channel have in the film.