.358

[Marlin Junky]

Does the following combination sound like it might produce success?

Ruger Stainless Hawkeye in .358 Winchester

.3575" in the grooves and .350" across the lands

SAECO 356 cast of 50/50 (probably BHN 10 or thereabouts) sized initially to .356" with a .356 Lee PT and wrapped twice with .002" tracing paper. I'm guessing the dried bullet will mike around .363".

Final size after a coat of JPW will be through a Lyman 450 die that produces .3605" boolits. I figure the final product will be approx. .361" or a tad bigger.

Cases fired from this rifle with medium pressure loads have a neck ID of approx. .363".

I'm also considering the use of 100% cotton tracing paper under these conditions because of all the "squishing down" the patched bullet will undergo during its trip from the case mouth to the muzzle. Who knows, maybe the reason I couldn't get this rifle to shoot very well above 2000 fps is due to the difference in diameter between the neck area and the grooves. I've got another Ruger M77 in .350RM with just about the same situation but it has a slightly shorter throat which is the reason I'd like to try the .358 first.

MJ

[pdawg_shooter]

You may have a problem with the patch being loose after sizing. I prefer to size to .001/.0015 over bore size before patching and using 16# paper. I have had my best luck that way.

[Marlin Junky]

I was worried more about the .361" patched bullets going down the .3575" barrel than the patch loosening after being sized from .363" to .361". I sized my patched RCBS 30-180's from .315" down to .310" without loosening the patches.

My .002" tracing paper is 25#. Does that mean it's full of filler that makes it heavier, or weaker and less suitable for patching?

MJ

[pdawg_shooter]

No problem with the .361 bullet as long as it will chamber. The paper will compress with no problem in the bore.

[yeahbub]

MJ, my experience with PP accuracy in rifles has been to get them down to .001 over groove dia., .309 in .308's, .380 in .379's, etc. It seemed to work best when there was a minimum of sizing going on in the throat. If you can get good accuracy with that amount of sizing-on-firing, you're home free. If not, you might try getting them a little closer to actual groove dia. I try to seat the boolit out far enough to get a little resistance on closing the bolt, but still be able to extract the round without the boolit sticking in the throat. This is with alloys as hard as linotype. I commonly size them down by up to .010 with no noticeably loosening of the patch.

The only paper I use anymore is 100% cotton drafting vellum in "E" size sheets (a lot of patches for a couple bucks) in strips cut from the end of the sheet rather than the long side. Cut from the end gives a patch with good stretchability when wet which will shrink on as it dries. It's one of the most durable papers I've found, though I'm told hemp and flax papers can be tougher yet. I cut them about .080-.100 short of the ends meeting and roll them on a hard surface or in a cigarette roller until the ends meet.