Ruger Scout in 450 Bushmaster for Cast boolits

[GARD72977]

I have some interest in one of these ruger for cast boolits shooting. It has A 1/16 twist so lots of options in cast. Trail boss and 45acp bullets should do well and you could turn up the power with 350-400gr full power loads.

Im really liking the open sights. Not a real hunter but a RMR red dot would be good for hogs.

I know there are others but I like the quality feel of the M77 and the 1/16 twist instead of the more common 1/24.

Any opinions?

232617

[Ramjet-SS]

I have one and run a 310 grain FN GC loaded to top end with H4227 it is a hammer. Shoot very accurate. I also shoot some 270 grain Keith Style PB HP from that gun medium velocity great accuracy but way to destructive on game. Loaded down they would be fun for plinking amd varmints. It is a great cast bullet gun and I actually like the muzzle break but then again I am not fond of heavy recoil anymore. Even though I own many big bore rifles and handguns. I also have the Ruger American in the 450 as well.

[Bigslug]

I can vouch for the quality of the Scout, having bought my RH .308 after being impressed with the LH version I helped set my mother up with. I'm shooting the NOE/Ranch Dog TLGC for my practice load, and that bullet makes it a catastrophic destroyer of milk jugs at 100 yards.

The notion of the same rifle in what amounts to a short .45-70? I dunno. As your signature line indicates, the .308 version can solve a lot of problems, and do it without the need for exotic brass. It would be one hell of a medium game getter at shorter distances, but then. . .so is the .308. Only advantage I see to the .45 is eliminating the need for gas checks for most of what you'd do with such a thing.

[GARD72977]

The 308 is very appealing to me but I have not had luck with cast in this caliber. I have an AR10 and Ruger with Bartlin 5r bbl. The throats in these guns dont work for any mold I have.

The 450 Bushmaster with 1/16 twist will shoot a heavy boolit. I can see A 350-400 gr8 taking up a lot of case capacity and doing well @ 1250ish for target practice. Love the idea of huge hole for target practice.

Brass is an issue as are dies. I would think brass would live a long time with low PSI loads.
No RCBS dies and have not seen a compete set of Redding. Means Hornady or Lee. Not found of red equipment.
Just thoughts right now. Just spent a ton of money on gun stuff and need to recover.

[GARD72977]

The 308 is very appealing to me but I have not had luck with cast in this caliber. I have an AR10 and Ruger with Bartlin 5r bbl. The throats in these guns dont work for any mold I have.

The 450 Bushmaster with 1/16 twist will shoot a heavy boolit. I can see A 350-400 gr8 taking up a lot of case capacity and doing well @ 1250ish for target practice. Love the idea of huge hole for target practice.

Brass is an issue as are dies. I would think brass would live a long time with low PSI loads.
No RCBS dies and have not seen a compete set of Redding. Means Hornady or Lee. Not found of red equipment.
Just thoughts right now. Just spent a ton of money on gun stuff and need to recover.

[GARD72977]

How are the Iron Sights on these guns. That is a big deal to me. No really wanting to scope this gun

[Bigslug]

The 308 is very appealing to me but I have not had luck with cast in this caliber. . .

The trouble (as far as I can tell) is that the short neck of the .308 is somewhat at odds with the usual approaches to cast bullet design - there's simply not enough room for conventional lube grooves. The NOE/Ranch Dog series of what Ranch Dog calls his ".30 caliber short neck molds" were designed specifically around chamber prints for the 7.62x39, the .300 Savage, and the .308. They are tumble lube designs with gas checks. Loading for the Scout was a complete no-brainer - size, lube, seat to the crimp groove. No fiddling with distance off the lands whatsoever. As I recall, when I last benched for group, it was roughly 2 MOA at about 2200, 2300 fps. What it's large meplat does to water bottles is hugely gratifying. It feeds slick as greased eel boogers in the Scout's single column system. My Mauser '98 likes it OK; My Ishapore Enfield doesn't feed it from the left side.


How are the Iron Sights on these guns. That is a big deal to me. No really wanting to scope this gun

They are a decent sight for the guy who wants to zero for one distance with one load ONCE and then leave the gun alone until the end of time. Otherwise, the method of adjustment (half-turns for elevation and loosen one side, tighten the other for windage would be a bit tedious. I never used mine - first thing I did when I took the rifle out of the box was to take off the irons, take off the Scout rail, and mount a Leupold 2.5-8 in the conventional scope location.

[Tazman1602]

How are the Iron Sights on these guns. That is a big deal to me. No really wanting to scope this gun

Hey Gard,

You will NOT be disappointed in Gunsite scout in ANY caliber. For 20 years M77 was my go to deer rifle.....until Gunsite Scout came along.

I've had/built several "Scout" rifles and the only one I ever cared for is my Marlin 1895 in 450 Marlin ---- and that one is only because of self-preservation of my right eye.....just hard to get used to with the extended scope and my old eyes and the only way I can shoot irons is either ghost ring or diamondhead sights.

From the get go I intended on using a regular scopeand knew I could do it and these guys made it easy to mount regular scope but the ghost ring irons are REAL nice too:

https://www.xssights.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=993608&CAT=8286

Now if Ruger would only expand caliber line in these and the RPR Rifle....<sigh>


Art

[Ramjet-SS]

The iron sights are ok but I installed a peep in the rear scope mount it is a NECG brand (model N-100). But I only use the irons as back up I run a Leupold 2.5 extended eye relief in the Scout Scope mount and absolutely love it for this caliber. Great to distances close to 300 yards if one knows the hold over for that, but it is solid at 200 yards and under. The open sights with the rear mount peep are decent and could be used easily for primary sights.

[Atomix]

I have one and run a 310 grain FN GC loaded to top end with H4227 it is a hammer. Shoot very accurate. I also shoot some 270 grain Keith Style PB HP from that gun medium velocity great accuracy but way to destructive on game. Loaded down they would be fun for plinking amd varmints. It is a great cast bullet gun and I actually like the muzzle break but then again I am not fond of heavy recoil anymore. Even though I own many big bore rifles and handguns. I also have the Ruger American in the 450 as well.

Did I see you were using about 29grns of 4227 for these?

I'm still doing research but it seemed like folks had mixed opinions of the 450 for cast, great to hear you have had positive results. Picked up a CVA single shot in 450 yesterday for a steal, assuming cast would work great...but haven't found a wealth of cast data by any means! Have seen trailboss mentioned elsewhere though.

Looking to optimize the 25" barrel I have as well!

[Ramjet-SS]

Yes 29.0 grains of H4227 this was with a Lee 310 Grain RF sized .452 Alloy is plumbers lead 80% to 20% Printers Linotype. Yes very accurate and hits like a hammer.

Another cast load is a 225 Keith Style GC boolit over 38.0 grains of H4227.

I have had excellent success with big bore straight walled cartridges -cast boolits and H4227.