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I purchased one of the Savage Model 11/Nikon combos from Cabela's. It is chambered in .308. I recently picked up another .35 Whelen and am strongly considering a .358Win. This model has the detachable box magazine. Aside from the new barrel and reaming the chamber, is there anything else that needs to be done? I have never owned a .358Win. and the only one I have fired was an old Savage 99(I would just about kill for that gun right now).

I guess I'm just looking for any reasons why I SHOULDN'T make the change to .358. I own plenty of .308 guns and have been leaning on the 7x57 and 7mm-08 lately, so changing the Savage is no "loss", as far as no longer being a .308. Opinions? Mark W.? Spitpatch? Anyone with experience in this, please chime in. Thank you.
 
As long as the base of the case is the same as the bolt face is set up for (which the .358 and .308 are the same) and the OAL of the loaded cartridge is within the length abilities of the short Savage action. I can see no reason anything else would need to be changed. The case diameter between a .358 and .308 where it relates to the magazine is the same. So IMHO it should be an easy swap.
 
Simple barrel swap and reaming. Bolt face is good and overall length is good. I say go for it. I have never enjoyed the. 358 but that means nothing. In 5 years I could be all in love with it like I have so many other calibers and projects. This morning I woke up wishing for a. 221 Fireball for some odd reason. I say buy/build them all and shoot the ones you like.
 
What are you reaming? Just buy a pre-chambered barrel and go/no-go gauges and swap them out. Its very easy and takes 10 minutes if you've got the tools and a good vice. I recently went from .22-250 to 7mm-08 a few months ago and have no fear of doing a savage barrel swap again.
 
What are you reaming? Just buy a pre-chambered barrel and go/no-go gauges and swap them out. Its very easy and takes 10 minutes if you've got the tools and a good vice. I recently went from .22-250 to 7mm-08 a few months ago and have no fear of doing a savage barrel swap again.

Reaming isn't necessary? Does this mean that I can simply swap barrels back and forth? And, for the sake of being clear and at the risk of sounding dense, we are talking about a Model 11?

I am very confident that either Pac-Nor or E.R. Shaw will leave me very happy. Both are great companies. But I was under the impression that I would be sending the rifle to the barrel maker(that would make me lean toward Pac-Nor) and have them do the fitting. I will look further into their websites and then call them on Monday.

I'm 99.999% sure I'm doing this. If I can do it myself without the rifle ever leaving my possession, even that much better. I guess I'll upgrade the stock as well, as it is the only part of the rifle I would call "cheap". Does anyone know if a Savage Accu-Stock can be installed on a Model 11?
 
Wow. I guess going to their websites in the first place would have answered a lot of questions. It looks like Pac-Nor does every Savage model BUT the 11. Not only that, but I knew they would be more expensive, I had no idea it would be prohibitively so. From what E.R. Shaw tells me on their site, they can send me the entire kit for $199.95. I didn't see a .358 barrel there, though. I will be calling them on Monday. It can't be possible that the place with .358 barrels doesn't do Model 11's and the place that does Model 11's doesn't do .358 barrels. At least, I hope not.
 
Wow. I guess going to their websites in the first place would have answered a lot of questions. It looks like Pac-Nor does every Savage model BUT the 11. Not only that, but I knew they would be more expensive, I had no idea it would be prohibitively so. From what E.R. Shaw tells me on their site, they can send me the entire kit for $199.95. I didn't see a .358 barrel there, though. I will be calling them on Monday. It can't be possible that the place with .358 barrels doesn't do Model 11's and the place that does Model 11's doesn't do .358 barrels. At least, I hope not.


I don't know why Pac-Nor doesn't have the 11 on their site, as far as I understand there is nothing special about it.
Does it have a barrel nut that looks like this?

102531-500x500.jpg

If so, then it can be swapped, an it won't matter what barrel you buy for it in the calibers were talking, a Savage 10,12 or 16 will work. For instance I used one of the E.R. Shaw barrel kits off MidwayUSA and they are all listed as a Savage 110 barrel kit. Well the 110 is a long action, but I used the kit to put a new barrel on my Stevens 200, which is a short action (.22-250 to 7mm-08 both SA calibers). So, I believe you could simply get THIS KIT and upgrade your model 11, to 358 win. There is no difference in shank size or thread pitch, the Savage large shank barrels are for WSM and SAUM calibers, as well as other magnums after 2002. Also, with that kit from E.R. Shaw you'll still need an action wrench and a barrel vise. Dad and I used his shop vise and made some wood blocks to hold the barrel.

Last EDIT....I hope.

Just so I am clear, while MidwayUSA lists all the barrels as a 110 or long actions, some of the calibers listed are short action calibers, so they will work on short actions rifles, like in this instance where we are talking about going from a .308 to a .358 Win. They are both SA calibers. You cannot however put a long action calibers on a short action, so no going from .308 to .35 Whelen. Also, on certain conversions you may have to swap out the bolt head as well, i.e. taking a model 11 in .223 and converting it to .308.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't know why Pac-Nor doesn't have the 11 on their site, as far as I understand there is nothing special about it.
Does it have a barrel nut that looks like this?

102531-500x500.jpg

If so, then it can be swapped, an it won't matter what barrel you buy for it in the calibers were talking, a Savage 10,12 or 16 will work. For instance I used one of the E.R. Shaw barrel kits off MidwayUSA and they are all listed as a Savage 110 barrel kit. Well the 110 is a long action, but I used the kit to put a new barrel on my Stevens 200, which is a short action (.22-250 to 7mm-08 both SA calibers). So, I believe you could simply get THIS KIT and upgrade your model 11, to 358 win. There is no difference in shank size or thread pitch, the Savage large shank barrels are for WSM and SAUM calibers, as well as other magnums after 2002. Also, with that kit from E.R. Shaw you'll still need an action wrench and a barrel vise. Dad and I used his shop vise and made some wood blocks to hold the barrel.

Last EDIT....I hope.

Just so I am clear, while MidwayUSA lists all the barrels as a 110 or long actions, some of the calibers listed are short action calibers, so they will work on short actions rifles, like in this instance where we are talking about going from a .308 to a .358 Win. They are both SA calibers. You cannot however put a long action calibers on a short action, so no going from .308 to .35 Whelen. Also, on certain conversions you may have to swap out the bolt head as well, i.e. taking a model 11 in .223 and converting it to .308.

That all makes sense and I believe you are correct. Still, for the sake of having it shipped and finding out the hard way that something is different, I will call on Monday. That way all is clear and E.R. Shaw can tell me directly what will and won't work.

Thanks. You guys are great.
 
Once you know how to do it and have the wrench, Go and No Go gauges for each caliber it takes about 15-20 min to swap a barrel on a 10/110 11/111 12/112 14/114 16/116 savage rifle. There are two different thread sizes (if I remember correctly its the Short Magnums and a few other magnum calibers that have a larger shank diameter.

Here is an excellent page discussing this Savage FAQ
 
What about reboring the barrel on your rifle, if I understand right you could do this. I haven't used this guy yet but am going to on a project. Home - Reboring by J E S. He is somewhat local.

The barrel is rather thin. I considered reboring, but I am liking the fact that I can go back and forth from .308 to .358 or whatever other caliber I choose(as long as I am using short action cartridges and don't need a new bolt). I am strongly considering having a 7mm-08, .338 Federal and possibly a .260 Rem. barrel all sent at once.
 
Once you know how to do it and have the wrench, Go and No Go gauges for each caliber it takes about 15-20 min to swap a barrel on a 10/110 11/111 12/112 14/114 16/116 savage rifle. There are two different thread sizes (if I remember correctly its the Short Magnums and a few other magnum calibers that have a larger shank diameter.

Here is an excellent page discussing this Savage FAQ

That is a helpful link. I had never heard of that site. Thank you.
 
I was just thinking of chambering an AR-10 for it.
So I say go for it!!!
If you already reload a 358 round, then there is no reason not to! ;)
You could even load pistol bullets for plinking rounds.
 
So, I am just going with the .358 barrel for now. Once I get that I can decide if I want to turn my rifle into a poor man's T/C Dimension. If I like it, I may go with the 7mm-08 and .260(or 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x284, something 6.5 anyway) barrels as well.

I sure do appreciate your guy's help and input. I have to say, based on the reputation of both companies, I would only go with Pac-Nor if I was very uptight about my money staying in the state. Since they are both great makers, why spend an additional $150-200 for the Pac-Nor?
 
I was just thinking of chambering an AR-10 for it.
So I say go for it!!!
If you already reload a 358 round, then there is no reason not to! ;)
You could even load pistol bullets for plinking rounds.

158 grain Hornady XTP's work great in the Whelen with nearly no recoil(relatively). I just need to find the right powder charge for them to group consistently. My Whelen likes 250 grain Hornady Spire Points. I plan on keeping the .358Win. in the 180-225 grain range, simply for the sake of keeping both .358's relevant.
 
.308 Win is the parent cartridge of .243 Win, .358 Win, 7mm-08 Rem, .260 Rem, and .338 Fed and will all work in the conversion you mentioned without the need for a new bolt face. If you decide to go to say a 300 WSM you will need a new magnum bolt face or IMO better yet a new bolt.

Don't forget my .375-08 Ackley Improved Square! It's hell on seals and sea turtles!

But in all seriousness, I've got plans of a .358 one day myself with an eye on working up three loads for it: a revolver bullet plinker, a 200/225gr load for elk and bear, and then some big 300gr Woodleigh for bubblegums and giggles.
 
I sure do appreciate your guy's help and input. I have to say, based on the reputation of both companies, I would only go with Pac-Nor if I was very uptight about my money staying in the state. Since they are both great makers, why spend an additional $150-200 for the Pac-Nor?

With the E.R. Shaw barrel kits, you get what's in the package. With Pac-Nor, you can choose alot more options, like barrel profile, length and twist rate. Now, I only have experience with the E.R. Shaw, and the quality seems to be great, but Pac-Nor is generally excepted as a higher quality barrel. Personally, if this build is intended to be a woods gun, a hunting gun, I would be happy with the E.R. Shaw barrel kit, as long as it fit what I wanted as far as length and profile. If I was building a bench rifle, I'd go with the Pac-Nor, or Shillen or McGowan, or Brux or Douglas or one of the other higher end barrel manufacturers.
 

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