i think yo'll be pleased with the .358. My bro has now shot a few 'wounded' moose with his .356 lever gun and 250gr. RN Hornady's. He is delighted with their performance at 2,156fps mv.

The .358 will do a bit better than that due to the bolt action and 2" longer barrel. He is using 46.0gr. H335, the same load is listed as max in Lee's book in the .358 Winchester at 2,299fps - no bl. length given.

Another 100fps comes from AA2520, BLC2 and AA2460 powders, which show well over 2,300fps in Lee's book.

We were told that the .356 used heavier 'headed' brass than the .358 and that .358 loads could not be used in the .356 - however much data (Speer, Hodgdon, & etc) for the .356 lever gun matches or exceeds the .358 - go figure.

2,500fps with a 225gr. bullet is pretty good stuff - I'd stay with it, if accurate. I suspect you'll prefer that load to anything the '06 can put out.

The .30/06 would be the equivalent to the .358 Winchester load, if the '06 could shoot a 225gr. .358" bullet at 2,500fps. It can't, so it isn't.