358 Norma Magnum build on Ruger M77 tang safety

Bliksem

Bliksem

Active Member
People have called me crazy but I love challenges and when I get bored and left unsupervised my mind goes down rabbit holes.

So a few years ago I traded a DPMS AR15 for a Ruger 77 tang safety in 458WM from a young man that had inherited this rifle from his late grandfather. The rifle had a few issues with the action being loose in the wood but this was taken care of with some JB Weld steel epoxy. After some load work-up this rifle has become my prime hunting rifle for anything from South Texas white tail, hogs and Nilgai using cast bullets. This rifle is not a safe queen and has dings and scratches but I have no doubts in it's ability to get the job done when needed as has been proven on a number of successful hunts.

As some of you may know I'm currently unsupervised as SWAMBO is out of the country visiting her sons and grand babies. A few days ago I was perusing the ads on Gunbroker and I came across a Ruger tang safety in 300WM that looks like it was used hard and put away wet. Perfect for a rescue project I thought and bid on it. Well a few days later I found I had won the sale so now for the rest of the story as the late Paul Harvey used to say.

I don't need another 300WM as I have a Winchester Model 70 in this caliber and have no real feels for it but my thinking was that the base rifle is a good starting point for a sequence of projects that will be a Ruger in 358 NM.

Backstory:

I have rust blued and refinished the wood on a number of Marlin 336 rifles and even though this was quite a bit of work the outcomes have been very satisfying.

Why 358NM? Well, I have a few hundred once fired 300WM cases as I have used some of these for fire forming for my 458WM and I'm also staring to cast and load for the 358Win. The 35 caliber rifles seem to be calling me...

I have never rebarreled a rifle myself yet have most of the tools needed for this in my shop and I love a challenge and it is time that I learn how to do this. Yes, this will cost me more than just sending it to a professional but what is the challenge in this? Any advice on books or other literature on the subject will be greatly appreciated.

I know some on this forum either have done this or similar or own and shoot 358NM (CW I know you do). This will be a longer term project for me as my workload has been crazy ever since the virus situation started in March 2020 so not too much time available.

Below a pic of 2 Marlins I refinished a few years ago. Both were truck guns when I got them with dings and rust. Below is a Revelation 200 and a 336 above. I'll add pics of the Ruger when I get it.
IMG_2117.JPG
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
chambering a barrel is pretty much a basic machining operation.
get the pilot hole straight and follow it until the gauges say to stop.
cut some threads and screw the two halves together so you know where the extractor goes.
mark it and take out the appropriate amount of metal.
 
CWLONGSHOT

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
The Bug Lady Norma is a favorite of mine too. Something about 4500 fpe on tap commands attention.

I throttle mine back a lil near max load of 4350 moves a 250g ORYX bullet north of 2750 fps. Once ya pass 2800 seems recoil is more probounced. No pressure signs for me in my M70 Winchester action with 4350.

CW
 
O

obssd1958

Well-Known Member
I've had had 2 rifles chambered in 358 NM. The first one was a converted 1917, with a thumbhole stock. It was pretty accurate, but had quite a few esthetic issues, so when a friend came upon a Model 700 with a Douglas barrel on Gunbroker, I bought the Remington and sold the 1917.
I love the cartridge, but haven't been able to better the factory ammo accuracy. And I'm down to just a handful of factory (Norma 250gr. Oryx) cartridges.
I have taken two whitetails with my NM. The first was a buck in a field, at 250 yards. Just behind the shoulder, and it dropped in it's tracks. No more damage on the exit than you would see from a 30-30, 30-06 or .243.
The second was a doe, in the trees at about 65 yards, feeding towards me. I figured if I shot her in the neck, when she had her head down, at the same height as the center of her chest, that it would be just another DRT. And it was, but the bullet hit the spine and traveled down it all the way to the tail. Painted all the trees for 20 yards around with what would have probably been 10 pounds of awesome backstrap...
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Nothing beats slow rust blue for durability. For color and finish though, I prefer Mark Lee's express blue (hot-water bluing).

I have threaded and chambered exactly two rifle barrels, so I know just enough to probably give all the wrong advice. I do know you're going to need action and barrel wrenches and an outboard spider for your lathe. Floating chamber reamer holders are optional, especially if money is worth more to you than time.
 
Jäger

Jäger

Active Member
Back in my younger years where I was chasing big bull elk on alder covered slides where you often found yourself sharing space with grumbly bears, a Husquvarna featherweight in 358 Norma Mag and a BSA also of featherweight persuasion rebarreled as a 35 Newton were my go to guns. Originally loaded with Partitions, and later changing both to the original Barnes X-bullet.

First, because that was almost as bang-flop guarantee as you could likely hope for, not wanting elk to run down the hill and die in the middle of an alder jungle. Except for my crazy ass brother who went me one better by hunting with a .416 Rigby loaded with a 300 (325?) grain Barnes bullet at ungodly velocities. That thing killed at both ends. Two shots with that evil wand were enough for me.

And second, because there was always the possibility you might meet up with a grumbly bear in those alder thickets, and having a version of Thor's Hammer in your hands if the bear wanted to dispute the issue was a bit comforting.

I briefly tried cast bullets in both, but for plinkers (which is where I was with casting way back then) I could do just as well with the bulk bullets I bought to reload for PPC competition. I guess I missed the boat on hunting with them.

Now I'm older and not as willing to climb around in alders and pack out elk quarters on my back. And as a certified senior citizen, it might just be my imagination, but now I DO notice the recoil of the big 35's loaded for bear or big elk in the bush, whatever comes first. Not enough to give up on them, but certainly enough that I don't particularly enjoy shooting sessions with them.

So the big 35's have become somewhat the safe queens that occasionally go out when I feel the need to heavy up for bull gophers that might be lurking in the tall grass. I am trying to compensate for my neglect; I should have a new, Mannlicher stocked Husqvarna in 35 Whelan shortly that is the kissing cousin of the .358 Norma Mag, other than the addition of the Mannlicher stock and a few inches less barrel length.

You picked a very fine caliber to build this rifle in!

5-68.JPG
 
CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Gophers In The Long Grass. Only 40 shopping days until varmint season gets under way for 2021. A 358 N/M would provide the confidence edge when facing down a charging California ground squirrel on open hayfields. "Use enough gun" are words to live by. YES, the 9.3 x 62 Mauser has sluiced its share of jackrabbits and dirt rats, mostly with Hornady 9mm Makarov JHPs. Pistol bullets do make a mess when started at near-3000 FPS. I imagine similar stunt work could be accomplished using 125-158 grain JHPs meant for 38 Special/357 Magnum from 35 Rem, 358 Win, 35 Whelen, or 358 N/M.
 
Last edited:
Jäger

Jäger

Active Member
CWLONGSHOT said:
I like the 358439 HP on top of full case of trail boss in my big lady. :D
Click to expand...
I prefer a dirt cheap 158 gr lead SWC that I paid about 6¢ each for a couple of years ago when I last bought 10,000 of them. Then add a primer and about five grains of something like Clays, Red Dot, 700X, Bullseye, W231, or something similar.

Because casting 10,000 SWCs for revolver target shooting is not nearly as interesting (and uses up a lot more WW and time) as casting a few hundred hunting rifle/service rifle bullets.

When people sneer at my bull gopher stopper loads trundling along at such slow velocities you can easily see the bases as they fly when standing behind the gun, I tell them it's the suppressor effect without hanging an expensive, huge, ugly, heavy, can off the end of my svelte hunting rifles.

The bull gophers never hear whispering death coming...
 
Last edited:
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
I loaded a bunch of 125-grain JHPs for my .35 Remington at insane velocities for dusting turtle colonies on stock ponds. The jackets must be just barely holding the bullet together because they poof when hitting even a rotten log.
 
Jäger

Jäger

Active Member
Ian said:
The jackets must be just barely holding the bullet together because they poof when hitting even a rotten log.
Click to expand...
Back when I was young and stupid (well, at least I'm not young anymore), my brother and I bought heavy barrelled varmint rifles. Mine was in .220 Swift. So we had the rifles and a burning desire to shoot them, of course. The only .22 caliber bullets in stock in the only sporting goods store within hours were some 45 grain something or others. We briefly considered a fast trip to the White Elephant in Spokane, but were too impatient: we had .22 caliber 45 grain bullets, reloading data for 45 grain bullets, cases, primers and powder. No point having a flat shooting varmint gun if you aren't going to run the bullets full throttle, so I picked a load a bit short of the maximum for a 45 grain bullet with the powder.

Then it was off to the hay field - you can sight in on gophers, you know. Started shooting at gophers and couldn't hit a thing. Couldn't even see the bullets hitting anywhere. Then my brother said, "I see smokey tracer trails going out towards the gophers from your barrel every time you shoot...." We weren't quite young and dumb enough to keep shooting.

When we got home, we started looking at the bullets we had bought. Finally figured out that maybe bullets that were sold as being intended for loading for .22 Hornets maybe shouldn't be driven at 4000+ feet per second. Hit the White Elephant the next day... and my brother bought an Anschutz in .22 Hornet for all the boxes of bullets we bought before.

And that Anschutz was one of the most accurate, non-custom, rifles I have ever seen. Bughole groups.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.