Lee PrecisionMidSouth Shooters SupplyInline FabricationTitan Reloading
RotoMetals2Reloading EverythingRepackboxWideners
Load Data
Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Ruger M77 Hawkeye .338 Ruger Compact Magnum

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Belfast, ME
    Posts
    560

    Ruger M77 Hawkeye .338 Ruger Compact Magnum

    Got this out since I haven’t shot it in awhile. Left hand bolt. 3-9x scope. Cast load of Lee 220 gr RNGC, 25.5 gr Reloder 7, gave me a 4.2 inch 5 shot group @ 100 yards. Box says loaded 21jan14. I’m 80 now, so not too bad.

    These days, I think it is important to know trajectory in case one has to grab factory ammo (I lucked into 5 boxes Hornady .338RCM @ $35 each at Kittery Trading Post right after I got the rifle). The sight setting putting the CB load on at 100 yards puts the factory 185 gr 9”high, 1” right @100 yards. At 300 yards, the same setting is correct for elevation, putting the 185 gr 5” right, and the 225 gr 9” right.
    "You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest which extends from mountains to ocean, and legions, now quiet, will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary; it puts us in the wrong; it is fatal." Robert Toombs, Democrat of Georgia, warning of the results of the imminent attack of the Confederacy upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, 1861

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Belfast, ME
    Posts
    560
    Went back and measured the 300-yard groups this morning, which I forgot to do yesterday. The 185 gr was 3 shots, 3.5 inches. The 225 gr was 2 shots, also 3.5 inches. Hornady factory ammo with those orange plastic tips.

    The motivation to get this rifle may be of interest. I had a high-school friend who had gotten a .338 WinMag. He lived in Alaska, I in Mass. He complained of the cost of shooting it, so I bought a $20 Lee mold, a sizing die, and gas checks, and sent him 100 bullets. Years later, I was contemplating buying a single-shot Peabody in .33 Winchester, (Providence Arms & Tool, IIRC) at the same time as a mold 338220 (for .33 Win) came on eBay. I bought the mold, but couldn’t come up with the $1800 or so for the Peabody. So now I had two .338 molds.
    As we all know a mold cries out for a rifle to shoot it in, so I started looking for one. I found a nice little Ruger .338 Federal caliber, on GunBroker, and won the bid on it. RH, but I have been used to reaching over the top of the bolt guns all my life, and .338 Federal can be made out of .308 Win in a snap. All set. But as we also know, guns come in threes. No sooner had I worked out some .338 Federal loads, a shooter two towns away put this Ruger .338 RCM in Uncle Henry’s, and it was left handed! Had to buy it. I soon found out why he wanted to sell it; the stock was a little too short and the heavy recoil smacked hell out of the third finger with the trigger guard. I cured that with a rubber Pachmeyer stock boot, lengthening the stock about 3/4 of an inch.

    By the way, the third gun was another left-hander, a Rem 788 in 6mm Rem. Also two towns away, from Uncle Henry’s.
    The buddy in Alaska, I later found out, became a flaming liberal, decided lead bullets poisoned the earth, and threw them away. He never shot any of them.
    "You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest which extends from mountains to ocean, and legions, now quiet, will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary; it puts us in the wrong; it is fatal." Robert Toombs, Democrat of Georgia, warning of the results of the imminent attack of the Confederacy upon Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, 1861

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check