The Hawkeye Strikes

[RugerFan]

After a couple of close calls, I finally got another hog with my .358 Win. The Saw Tooth oaks start dropping their acorns right about now. That being the case I was sneaking up on a Saw Tooth grove I knew of yesterday evening and as I approached, I spotted a rather large boar. I tippee toed up to a pine tree to lean on, but the big hog had slipped out of sight as did a second pig nearly as large. A third somewhat smaller hog materialized and was headed for where the first two had departed. He wouldn’t stop walking, but I was still able to put a cast bullet through both shoulders at 50 yards (Bullet blew clean through – no recovered slug). The hog dropped like a stone without so much as a twitch. The autopsy showed some impressive damage with the lungs in tatters. Load data is as follows:

Ruger Hawkeye .358 Win
RCBS-35-200 (3:1 WW:Lino air cooled)
39.0 gns H4895 (2000 fps as I recall)
Felix lube (One heck of a contribution to our hobby Felix)
WLR primer

[waksupi]

Don't those .358 Winchesters, just give you a warm, fuzzy feeling? Congratulations!

[RugerFan]

Don't those .358 Winchesters, just give you a warm, fuzzy feeling? Congratulations!

Warm fuzzy? Absolutely! I love this rifle/cartridge combo. :Fire:

[6pt-sika]

Nice piggie :drinks:

I was in the local gunshop a couple weeks ago and there was a stainless synthetic "Hawkeye" there in 338 Federal that someone had ordered . I gotta say it's a nice feeling rifle .

I'm not to wound up about the 358 WIN , but I am about the 338 Federal [smilie=1:

Just can't decide whether to get a Encore barrel or a stainless Hawkeye :???:

[Hipshot]

Have a custom Mark X mauser with a Douglas bbl and McMillan stock in .358 Win.-----Shoots great! Have killed many deer with it but alas only 1 with a lead boolit
35 gr, 3031, 200 gr. Lyman 358315? It is the same load that I use in my .35 Rem Marlin 336 with both cast and jacketed boolits. It's a good boolit and easy to cast using wheelweights----shoots real nice!
I find the fatter (larger boolits) easier to cast than thinner ones----ex. .35 cal easier than .30 cal. I don't particularly like Lee molds, due to the fact that they overheat too fast, I would rather take the time to heat up an iron mold than wait for an alum to cool down!

Hipshot

[PatMarlin]

Just found this thread.. wow- poor piggy. Nice job, and 358 Winchesters are the holy grail of cast boolit shooters.. :mrgreen:

[Marlin Junky]

Hey RugerFan,

Did you ever get that Lyman 358315 mold for your Hawkeye? Have you made an effort to drive boolits cast from it or the RCBS 35-200-FN past 2000 fps from your Hawkeye? I'm going to cast up some 35-200's to try in the Hawkeye while my H-R in .35 Whelen is ungoing surgery for a better trigger pull. I actually got the sloppy chambered H-R Whelen to shoot a bit less than 2-3/4 MOA for 10 rounds today by burning 26.5 grains of SR4759 behind a heat treated 260 grain SWC cast from clip-on WW metal. The heat treating process consisted of placing the boolits in a pre-heated 425F convection oven and "baking" for just over an hour, then dropping into a bucket of ice water. The boolits remained in the ice water for at least 15-20 minuntes and were lubed and loaded 2 days later. Shooting took place within about two weeks of heat treating.

After monkeying around with diameters from .3575" to .3605" (the ball seat is .361" in diameter!), it looks like .3585" is a good place to "begin" further load development. Today was the first day I actually shot something resembling a group with the Whelen... I hope it is repeatable. The velocity was 1780 fps and the lube was Javelina. The rate-of-twist on the H-R Whelen is 1 in 16". I'm hoping that using the exact same load after the trigger job and substituting a 2x7 scope for the 1x4 (which it is currently wearing) will shave 3/4 MOA off my group size.

MJ

[RugerFan]

MJ,
Yes, I did shoot some 358315s with pretty disappointing results. No, I haven't really tried to push bullets past 2000 fps....yet. I have been in Iraq since the middle of Sept, so I obviously haven't been able to do any further experimentation. Yesterday I placed an order with Midway for a RCBS 35-250-SP mold. Considering its supposed to take 90+ days for a special order, I thought it would be a good idea to order early (I'll be home in March). Have you tried any 4895 yet? That's worked well for me.

[Marlin Junky]

RugerFan,

Wow, Iraq... my step-son was there for a couple years before Sadam was captured. Thank you for your service and be safe!

Personally, I prefer SAECO #352 over the RCBS 250 and recommend the former highly. IMR 4895 is a good powder and I've compared it to several somewhat slower spherical powders in a couple .35 caliber rifles. In the .35 Remington, I found powders in the AA2520 to H-380 range to be more satisfactory with SAECO #352 at right around 250 grains checked (BHN 14 or thereabouts).

Accuracy problems with the Hawkeye start right around 2000 fps for me while using SAECO #352 which has more groove diameter bearing surface than RCBS 35-250 so I'd be surprised (and confused) if you can get good results beyond about 1900 fps with the RCBS boolit. I guess I'll just start 35-200-FN out at 1700 something in the Hawkeye with 4759 and work from there.

Thank you,
MJ

[RugerFan]

MJ,
My motivation for ordering the RCBS-250-SP is the less blunt profile. My Hawkeye can be finicky when feeding from the left hand mag position. Just depends on the bullet. The Saeco 352 is on my short list of molds to get as well. I've heard nothing but good things about how they perform in the .358 Win and .35 Whelen. Maybe when I return and get to casting, we can swap some bullets.

[Larry Gibson]

RugerFan

You be careful over there, I spent all of 2005 there and retired 30 April. Thanks for your service. Back to the subject; haven't had a .358 Win in some time (like a fool I was talked out of a sweet M99 I had some years back) but I've a M91 Mauser I've rebarreled to 35 Remington (26" 1-14 twist Shilen barrel). I push the RCBS 35-200-FN (6/4 WW/lino alloy) to 2122 fps with 37 gr of 4895. That is a 100% loading density. I never could get any real decent accuracy with the 358315 either. For that wieght bullet I consider the 35 Rem to be "The Holy Grail". However for a heavier bullet the .358 Win is the way to go with a commercial rifle. You obviously have a penchant for Rugers so that was an excellent choice on your part.

If I get tired of the 35 Rem I shall short chamber the barrel to a 35x57 using a .35 Whelen reamer. That cartridge is made by shorteneing the Whelen FL die so a 57mm case forms with the longer neck of the 35 Whelen. Cases can easily be formed from 8x57 without trimming or one can go the '06 forming route. At any rate it makes for an excellent cartridge that feeds in any standard Muaser action without alteration to the action. It is pretty much, though not interchangeable with, a 9x57 Mauser. With the additional case capacity a 250-300 gr cast bullet should make 2300-2400 fps without pressure problems and with excellent accuracy. That puts it into the .318 Rimless Nitro Express class which always had an excellent reputation on big game. Your 358 Win is in that class also. Fine cartridge.

Larry Gibson

[Marlin Junky]

MJ,
Maybe when I return and get to casting, we can swap some bullets.

Super!

MJ

[Jjed]

Thanks for your service. would love to come down there to hunt pigs someday.
Jim

[RugerFan]

Thanks. Having retired last year, I'm now deployed as a Dept of the Army civilian (DAC). This spring we'll be looking to buy a new house closer to where I work and maybe then I'll be able to host an occasional hog hunt.:Fire: