Winchester reloading components?

[Jevyod]

Did Winchester make some reloading components? I bought some .358 250 grain flatpoints from a guy, and he said he had them marked as Winchester. If they did, where can I find info on them such as sectional density and B.C.?

[44 AMP]

Winchester has been making reloading components for about as long as they have been making loaded ammunition.

Whether or not that specific .358" bullet you are looking at is in current production is another matter.

A lot of the Winchester stuff is "seasonal" production. What this means is that when their inventory stock reaches a set "low" point, they tool up production and run it until their stock is back up to the desired level (based on previous sales demand), then shut down the line, put away the tooling for the next time, and convert the line to a different product, until then.

Several years may pass between production runs of specific items.

The best place to find info on the bullets you got would be Winchester. (assuming they are actually Winchester bullets)

[Marco Califo]

This site has bullet length data, and Probaby any other key variables. And, yes, reference any Winchester data you can locate.
http://jbmballistics.com
These days Winchester is a brand name, rather than an independent company. Hodgdon handles Winchester powder line, and also IMR's. IMR was once a Dupont owned company, long, long, ago, in a galaxy very far away . . .

[FrankenMauser]

(...)If they did, where can I find info on them such as sectional density and B.C.?

Find a factory load using the same projectile, and see if the information is listed.
Or, call and ask.

That being said...
Winchester, at least in my experience, doesn't sell any components unless they're over-runs (or intentional component runs) tied to ammunition production.
The only 250 gr .35 caliber bullet that I know of coming from Winchester was in a long-discontinued load for .356 Win.
It's possible that enough distributors ordered enough ammunition for them to run some, but more likely that they've been sitting on someone's shelf for quite some time.

[m&p45acp10+1]

They were for .350 Remington, and .358 Norma Magnum.

[BBarn]

I've never seen any ballistic coefficient data for Winchester bullets. The sectional density would be the same as other 250gr .358 caliber bullets.

[FrankenMauser]

There's BC and SD data on their website for most bullets that are currently in production.
Just find ammunition loaded with whatever bullet you're interested in.

They were for .350 Remington, and .358 Norma Magnum.

It's entirely possible that Winchester could have loaded such, but neither of those was popular enough for me to believe that Winchester/Olin would have done so - especially with a flat point bullet.
To make sure I had some ground to stand on with that hunch, I just went through every Winchester catalog that I could find, from 1964 to 1988. There is no listing for a Winchester rifle chambered for either cartridge, nor a single listing for .350 Rem Mag or .358 Norma Mag ammunition.
And the loads are even less likely to have been produced more recently, since they're even less popular today than during that time.

[reynolds357]

FrankenMauser, I would agree about the 350 Rem and the Norma mag. I would guess Winchester made them to support the. 356 or 358 winchester.

[44 AMP]

They were for .350 Remington, and .358 Norma Magnum.

Not if they are actually Winchester bullets.

One thought for the op, actually mic some of the bullets, make sure they are .358" and not .375". Winchester made a .375" 250gr flat point for the .375 Win.

If they are .358", and Winchesters, then they are almost certainly for the .356Win.

The .35 Win, .35 Win SL, .351 WinSL all used round nose bullets, and less than 250gr. I don't know if Winchester ever loaded .35 Rem, but .35 Rem isn't loaded with a 250gr, either. .356Win had a 250gr FP load. .358 Win had a 250gr load, but it wasn't a flat point.

As far as I know, no one ever loaded .350 Rem Mag, but Remington.

Can't find any evidence of Win doing .35 Whelen, or .358 Norma, but even if they had, they wouldn't use a FP bullet.

The bullets you have (if they are .358") are useable in any .35 cal rifle cartridge, (though using them in a .357 Mag means loading single shots), but they were most likely intended for the 356Win, in a lever gun, (heavy weight + flat point).

Can't say for certain but that's my best guess.

[Jevyod]

Thanks for the info....I will mic some when I get home this evening. If they are indeed .358, I will probably load them for my 358 Winchester. With the heave weight and flat point, They should do wonders when loaded to 2200 fps and kept inside 100 yards.

[zeke]

From 1997 Win Reloaders manual, 358 Win 250 grains SP,Win cases and primers, 24 in barrel. It does not specify make of bullet
Max charge
46.2 grains 748 , 2250 fps, 50,000 cup

The listed loads for the 356 used 220 grain bullets.

[T. O'Heir]

Sectional density and B.C. isn't terribly important.
.358 Winchester is not loaded by Winchester any more. Oddly, they do load .35 Remington. And .356 Win on a "Limited Production"(when they feel like it) basis.
They don't sell a .358" bullet as a component at all.
Winchester is virtually out of the component business. Cabela's, for example, shows .22 calibre rifle bullets and a few pistol calibres only.
"..."seasonal" production..." And nobody actually knows or tells anybody, if they do know, when that season runs.

[FrankenMauser]

.358 Winchester is not loaded by Winchester any more.

They run some every 2-5 years, when they have enough orders to justify it.
-- Last time I talked to them, it was a combined distributor/retailer order minimum of 150k loaded rounds, or 125k loaded rounds and at least 50k pieces, each, of brass and bullets for the component market. The minimums are probably a bit higher now.

[Scorch]

Winchester ammo is loaded by Olin. Winchester bullets were sold as regular components until maybe 10 or so years ago. Midway was one of their distributors. I used to use them for my 7X57, 22-250 and 223s. They were sold in little plastic bags. Not as cool as the little red or green or black or blue or yellow boxes other bullet makers used. 35 cal would have been 356 Win, 35 WCF, or 358 Win.

They were for .350 Remington, and .358 Norma Magnum.

Nope. Winchester didn't load either of those. Remington loaded 350 Rem Mag, and not much of it. 358 Norma would have been loaded by (drum roll) Norma.

Can't find any evidence of Win doing .35 Whelen, or .358 Norma,

35 Whelen was not a factory cartridge until 1988. Before that, it was a wildcat.

[m&p45acp10+1]

They also used those in a small trial run of custom ordered bullets for the experimental Wildey .357 Wildey Magnum. It used a necked down .475 Wildey Magnum Case and used .356 bullets. The thing is Hornady made some ammo. The project was scrapped before Winchester could get the order out.

Wildey sent my grandpa a conversion kit with two boxes of Hornady ammo. I had a very hard time finding load data. It took a family friend with a collection of back issue gun rags to find out anything.

I recall seeing a .358 Weatherby Mag back in the day. Though if I recall that correctly it used a spitzer round not a flat point. I only ever saw that single one when hunting moose in the great white north.

[Paul B.]

Going from my not to good anymore memory but IIRC, Winchester dropped the 250 gr. bullets and loaded ammo only a few years after introducing the cartridge. Not enough sales I guess. Until Big W went to that seasonal BS, I never had much trouble finding 200 gr. Silvertip ammo but the 250's were scarcer than hen's teeth. No matter, if I want a 250 gr. load I have some Hornady's I can use.
Paul B.

[Jevyod]

I measured some over the weekend, and my micrometers puts them right at .358 I also weighed one, and it weighed 249.8. They also have several marks at the tip ( expansion? ) that look like the jacket was partly cut in order to encourage expansion.

[FrankenMauser]

Those may just be wrinkles/folds in the jacket.
Power Points have every thin jackets at the tip and tend to fold or wrinkle during swaging. -- Remington Core-Lokts often have the same thing going on.

But, I cannot recall ever having that particular bullet in my hand (let alone sectioning one), so I can't guarantee it.

[Rifletom]

OP, sectional density for the .358 Win is 0.279.
B.C. is 0.375 for spitzer
B.C. for RN is 0.271. Both 250gr.

[Jevyod]

I would actually like to section one. How do you all do it?? Vise and a file??

[Unclenick]

BC should be about 0.229 to 0.267 based on other flat points, with a very wide one like is on the Hornady 300 grain .375 bullet getting the lower number and the and less wide FP, like the Sierra 200 grain .375 bullet shape, getting the higher number.

Sectioning, I drill a slightly oversize hole in the end of an adequate length of scrap 2×4 and use hot-melt glue to glue the bullet (or case) into the hole. When it has set, I use a bandsaw to section it, leaving just a little extra material. After sectioning, I use wet/dry paper spray-glued onto a piece of scrap plate glass or other flat surface to remove the saw blade marks. You may need to go down through a couple of grits to get the finish you want. After all that, I pop the bullet or case half out of the wood and peel the hot-melt off.

[FrankenMauser]

I use a hacksaw, files, and 'sand paper'.
I've always had to get creative for holding the bullet. Unclenick's hot glue is a good idea.

If your file, saw, whatever, seems to get clogged by the lead, use some kind lubricant - or even chalk the file/saw if you have some handy.