1 MOA from the Stainless Ruger .358

[Marlin Junky]

Best target so far with the Ruger M77 .358 at 2200 fps is posted below.

Boolits weighed 214 checked and were HT'd to BHN 30. Lube was LBT Soft Blue. I haven't been able to equal this accuracy with my homemade lube. :?

The aiming spot is 3/4" in diameter... more testing to follow.

MJ

[Shiloh]

Nice Group !!

Now see if you can repeat it another time or two.

Shiloh

[35remington]

What's the twist?

[waksupi]

Good shooting. I have found that type of accuracy is easy to get with both 1-12 and 1-14 twist, in most boolit weights, and same velocity range.

[Gunslinger]

That is one nice group!! What's the distance, 100 yards?

[Larry Gibson]

Shiloh says; "Nice Group !! Now see if you can repeat it another time or two.

Waksupi says; "Good shooting. I have found that type of accuracy is easy to get with both 1-12 and 1-14 twist, in most boolit weights, and same velocity range."

Larry says; that is nice shooting. When testing the loads what were the group sizes leading up to that one? The question is is that a repeatably accurate load? Looks like it's got real promiss, keep us informed. I forget which bullet (214gr?) you're using?

Larry Gibson

[Marlin Junky]

What's the twist?

1 turn in 12"

MJ

[Marlin Junky]

That is one nice group!! What's the distance, 100 yards?

Yes, 100 yards.

MJ

[RugerFan]

Very nice! What exactly was the load?

[Marlin Junky]

Waksupi says; "Good shooting. I have found that type of accuracy is easy to get with both 1-12 and 1-14 twist, in most boolit weights, and same velocity range.

Easy? Not at 2200 fps with the 6 shallow groove, narrow-land M77.


Larry says; that is nice shooting. When testing the loads what were the group sizes leading up to that one?This rifle has shot the same bullet into 1 MOA before but not at 2200 fps. Each time I push the velocity up a bit the groups open; however, creating a harder bullet brings the group size back down again. It has been my experience that just hardening the bullet and retaining the same powder charge drops the velocity somewhat; therefore, the pressure is probably also dropping a bit with the harder bullets (all else held constant).


The question is is that a repeatably accurate load?We're going to find out.


Looks like it's got real promiss, keep us informed. I forget which bullet (214gr?) you're using?

RCBS 35-200FN cast of 50/50 with a little range scrap added for a pinch more Sb.

MJ

[Marlin Junky]

Very nice! What exactly was the load?

Powder charge was 45.5 grains of Surplus 2520 and the stats over the chronograph were not even that good. COL was 2.613". Primers were Fed 210. Again bullets were RCBS 35-200FN at 214 grains checked heat treated to BHN 30 and lubed with LBT Soft Blue. My very slick homemade lube did OK but produced a couple flyers while shooting 3, five round groups. The holes in the card board made by the bullets wearing my lube were evident by a ring of grease around them... I think I need more Carnauba.

MJ

P.S. RugerFan, the bullets ended up at .3585" assuming my set of calipers are telling the truth. :-D

[Marlin Junky]

BTW, thank you all for the interest.

MJ

[rbstern]

MJ, is that a tang safety Ruger, or the Mk II? Any trigger work or other enhancements done to it?

[Marlin Junky]

MJ, is that a tang safety Ruger, or the Mk II? Any trigger work or other enhancements done to it?

It's a MK II (Stainless Hawkeye). I touched up the trigger a bit but no other enhancements other that mounting a 2x7 Nikon scope to it.

MJ

[35remington]

Hunting has kinda curtailed my shooting. So the .350 is still unshot.

How did the hardened RCBS shoot in the .350? I noticed most of the trials you posted at the time (if not all) had a different design.

Dave's .350 didn't too all that bad with what he's tried in it. It was a one holer at fifty yards with the RCBS at around 16-1700 fps.

He dinked around with some other designs, so hasn't extensively shot the RCBS yet, but things look good so far.

It would be nice to have a 16 twist to compare, wouldn't it?

[Marlin Junky]

Hunting has kinda curtailed my shooting. So the .350 is still unshot.

How did the hardened RCBS shoot in the .350? I noticed most of the trials you posted at the time (if not all) had a different design.

I'm going back to the .350 after I've worked with the .358 a bit more. I'm either going to have the .350 re-crowned or re-barreled because the last 1/2" or so of rifling on one side fades away before it gets to the muzzle. For now, I'm just going to assume the .350 (all else equal) will deliver the same payload with the same accuracy, another 100-200 fps faster than the .358. When I was working with the .350, I concentrated on SAECO 352 but I never used a bullet that registered BHN 30 with Lee's hardness tester.


It would be nice to have a 16 twist to compare, wouldn't it?

You betcha! :-D

[Bret4207]

Sweet! Personally, I like to spread my shots out a bit more for easier counting. When they all cluster together like that my old eyes have a problem discerning how many holes there are!:mrgreen:

[Larry Gibson]

Marlin Junky

Yes the harder alloy helps with shallower rifling but looks like you've hit a good mix. 2200 fps is still a pretty potent load with that bullet. That RCBS bullet is a good one, the best one actually, in my .35. With the 12" twist you'e doing fine RPM wise and may be able to push it a little harder with a change of powder. However, a 1 moa 214 gr .35 cal bullet at 2200 fps is going to kill critters all day long. Good work, good loading and good shooting.

Larry Gibson

[Blammer]

Sweet shooting!

[Marlin Junky]

Thanks. I'm going to move on to SAECO 352 and see what I can do with that longer boolit having more bearing surface. If I can hit 2200 fps with it I may try a nose annealing procedure to draw the nose back to the air cooled BHN (around 10, IIRC). According to QuickLoad I can reach 2160 with 38.4K PSI using 44 grains of canistered AA2520 and a few times QuickLoad has under estimated by 50 fps or better. I've got 2 jugs of DP-74 that is supposed to be slightly slower than 2520 and I know there's a pinch more room remaining in the case with respect to these two powders. I know H380 has done a good job with SAECO 352 at right around 2100 fps with slightly softer boolits but I can't recall if the case was at 100% capacity.

MJ

[JeffinNZ]

Sweet! Personally, I like to spread my shots out a bit more for easier counting. When they all cluster together like that my old eyes have a problem discerning how many holes there are!:mrgreen:

FANTASTIC call.

MJ - Great shooting.