Has anyone tried the Ruger Frontier or Hawkeye in .358? What kind of groups are you getting? Any problems with the rifles?

quote:

Originally posted by Tanker:
Has anyone tried the Ruger Frontier or Hawkeye in .358? What kind of groups are you getting? Any problems with the rifles?

A friend has the Frontier in 358. He is getting around 1.5 MOA with the factory 200gr Win ammo.

Hope that helps.

Has your buddy made any mention about blast?

Tanker:

I picked up a Ruger Hawkeye All-weather in .358 Win. last fall. Needed to fill the gap between the .35 Rem. and the Whelen . I posted the following on this forum a couple of months ago:

"... with a box of the current W-W SUPER 200 gr. Silvertip factory load I got four 100-yd. 3-shot groups that averaged 1.28", and one 5-shot group that was 1.19". Average velocity was 2462 fps at 15' from the muzzle.

"With reloads (in once-fired Winchester .308 brass necked up, and CCI-200 primers) I have tested the 200 gr. Hornady PSP with 3031, 4064, and Varget. For each powder, I tested 4 rounds each loaded with 5 different powder charges (1 gr. intervals to book max., fired at 100 yd. with the chronograph at 15'); each powder was tested on a different day, and each test group was separated by about 15 min. of cool-down. Temperatures were between 10 and 20°C. With 3031 I got a sub-MOA 4-shot group with the middle load (and 2378 fps), but subsequent 3-shot groups average about 1.5". With 4064, the second lowest powder charge gave a sub-MOA group. I've only tested this load once since; it put 5 in 0.69" (centre-to-centre); velocity averaged 2294 fps. My last test was with Varget. The worst group was the starting load, at 1.26"; three were sub-MOA, including the max. load (2442 fps).

"For sighting-in and barrel break-in, I loaded 10 cases with the 200 gr. Hornady RNSP, and the dregs of a can of 4320. I only needed three to get on the bull; the remaining seven went into 1.23", but velocity was low (2221 fps). This load revealed the only flaw with this rifle; it will not feed round nose bullets. I had to insert the cartridge into the chamber and then close the bolt on it. Trying to force such a round in from the magazine just resulted in a jam with a deep crescent being formed in the nose of the bullet. Subsequent testing with dummy rounds has shown that it will not feed the 180 or 220 gr. Speer FNSPs either. However, it feeds slick with the Hornady PSP, the 200 gr. Remington PSP-CL, and the 225 gr. Sierra PSPbt."

Since then I have only had time to test IMR4895 with the Hornady 200 gr. PSP; groups were not as good as with Varget, but the maximum load showed potential, with the first 3 shots going into just under an inch (the 4th shot opened it to almost an inch and a half.

I haven't noticed any problem with blast with the Hawkeye's 22" barrel. What I have noticed is that the Ruger is definitely more pleasant to shoot off the bench than my Whelen (an M700 Classic)

Cheers, Al

Al: Sounds like you have done some promising work. Too bad your Hawkeye doesn't like RNs. That leaves out a lot of good bullets and probably deletes most handgun bullets as well. That would really be a detracting point for me since I like to use pistol bullets in my .35s for varmints. Think you might get a smith to polish up the ramp and make it feed? By excessive blast I was refering to the Frontier with its 16.5" pipe.

Tanker:

If I didn't already have the .35 Rem I would probably get some work done on the Ruger. However, since I bought it for use with 200 and 225 gr. spitzers, I am going to leave it well enough alone, at least for the moment. Using pistol bullets for varmints isn't an issue for me; our varmint licences restrict us to less than .23 cal.

I figured you were asking about the muzzle blast from the Frontier. My comment was more for the benefit of those who seem to have a phobia about the .350 bore

Cheers, Al

classicAI

John Barsness just did an article in the August edition of Handloader magazine on the .358win . He was getting an honest 2,750fps with 200gr bullets, using 52grs of TAC, which is made by Ramshot.

He points out that the .358win has historically been down-loaded because of the lever action rifles that it was originally loaded for (M88, M99, BLR) his test were done in a Ruger Hawkeye, and he even stated that he could have loaded even hotter than that.

The problem with the .358 win is that its case is so small that most of the good powders for it run out of space before you can hit Max pressures. I have used Varget which is very good, but i get crunchy loadings at max with it.

I am going to try TAC in my BLR and i think it can handle it as its a lever operated bolt gun in reality.

With its 20" barrel it no more of a blast than my 35 Whelen and recoil, even with 225's is not noticable.

mine brand new hawkeye in .358Win is back to Ruger, it had a headspace issue. I was pleased with their UPS pickup, politeness, and interest in fixing the problem, we will see what they wind up doing. For more details go to 24 hour campfire under reloading section.

Muzzle blast? I have the Frontier in 308, and a friend has the 358. To be honest, I cannot tell the difference between either of them and my old Ruger 77 in 270 Win as far as blast is concerned.
But it is subjective. What doesn't worry me, might annoy you.
In short, I imagine the blast might be worse, but I cannot tell the difference.

JMHO.

Thanks, fgulla:

I just read that article this evening. Definitely something to try.

Cheers, Al

i have been interested in getting one of those good looking hawkeyes, whats the recoil like on them?

M7LSS:

Since I have yet to use a bullet heavier than 200 gr. in my Hawkeye, I can't speak for recoil with the heavier bullets. With the 200 grainers, I don't notice the recoil sensation being any greater than the .308 Win. or the .30-06. However, I always wear a PAST recoil sheild, even with a 22 RF - I have longer than normal arms, and that is the cheapest solution to getting a greater length of pull - so I'm probably not the best person to answer this question for you. Hopefully someone else has 'unpadded' experience.

Cheers, Al

Has anyone worked up accurate varmint loads using pistol bullets in these Rugers?