THE 358Win AND THIS YEARS HUNTS

[358Win]

THE 358Win AND THIS YEARS HUNTS

I have gone through a lot of load work and detail to get my 358Win Ruger Hawkeye ready for this hunting season. It has been very consistent and extremely accurate for an out of the box Ruger Hawkeye that has not had any work on the trigger or bedding of the stock. I am very pleased with the results. I was able to get very tight groups with my loads and the VX-III 1.5-5x20mm has not hindered my ability to shoot tight groups. Great scope, I really like it.

I will be using it on my bear hunt in Oct. in Arizona, on hogs and deer in Mississippi and Louisiana this year and also this November on white tail in Missouri. It will be my main rifle used this year. I am really looking forward to this years hunting trips and time in the woods.

I finalized my load as follows:

225gr Sierra Game King SBT

Winchester brass

Federal 210 primers

49grs AA2495BR powder


Rifle & Scope:

Targets & Round:

Three shot group using 42grs of AA2495BR

Five shot group with 47grs AA2495BR

Three shot group

Final adjustment of my sights until I check it again the first of October for my hunt in Arizona. Using 49grs of AA2495BR, here are two groups, the top is a three shot group from a clean barrel and was first group fired, then I adjusted my scope's elevation and the bottom five shot group was the second group fired.

I have had a couple of fiends of mine say that I will gain a whole new respect and passion for the 358Win if I use it on all my hunts this year. Infact, our family has a friend of ours who guided for years and that is all he used and he had a deep respect for the cartridge.

I new if I did not commit to using it on my hunts this year that I would tend to pick up the rifles and cartridges I have become comfortable with and not really get to know the 358Win. I am looking forward to the experience.


Here is the ballistic card I will carry with me this year.

Ballistic Chart
358Win
225gr Sierra SBT
2471fps


Sight in at 3" high at 100yds

1000 foot pounds energy as minimum on deer size game

Yards--------Velocity-----Energy-----(above/below line of sight)

0--------------2471------3050-------------(-1.5")

100-----------2256------2542-------------(+3")

210-----------2031------2060-------------(Zero)

263-----------1927------1855-------------(-5”)

300-----------1857------1723--------(-10” P/B-hold top of shoulder)

355-----------1756------1540--------(-10” from top of shoulder)

373-----------1724------1484--------(-14” from top of shoulder)

 

[358Win]

By the way, IMR4895, IMR4064, and Varget were also good powders with good results in the 358Win with the 225gr bullet. Varget produced the highest velocities.

 

[358Win]

Here is my 300Wby which will be my back up if anything happens to my 358Win while climbing in those mountains on my first hunt.

 

[63November]

The 358 is a true hunter's rifle. I hope you are pleased with the results. That bullet is an accurate one, for sure. I have shot it quite a bit in mine. I have also used the 358 to take a few head of much bigger game than what you propose. However, I've never hunted with the Sierra in my 358. I look forward to your results.

 

[358Win]

The 358 is a true hunter's rifle. I hope you are pleased with the results. That bullet is an accurate one, for sure. I have shot it quite a bit in mine. I have also used the 358 to take a few head of much bigger game than what you propose. However, I've never hunted with the Sierra in my 358. I look forward to your results.

Very nice pictures of game you have taken. I have killed elk with my 35 Whelen which I sold four years ago and I used the 225gr Seirra and it was a pass through as it has been on large boar I have taken with it using the Whelen. If I connect and get a bear or anything else I hunt this year with my 358Win I will report how the sierra did.

 

[63November]

My 358 isn't a Ruger, otherwise I'd include it in those pics.

 

[MFD]

Hello 358Win,
Excellent report on your 358Win. and it is most timely for me. About to finish rifle build on Mauser VZ/24 in that caliber and looking forward to putting it to use this fall. Load data you show is very useful and since I have pretty much an unlimited supply of 308 brass I am good to go.
Would ask if there are any special problems in resizing the 308 brass to 358 that one should know about?? Again, excellent report.

martin

 

[Trey Whitley]

I rolled two pigs this morning with my Frontier 358, using 225 grain Nosler Accubonds. Hard to find any fault with the caliber, and running shots with the forward-mounted scope are almost easy.

If I spent a season hunting with just one gun I'd probably have a hard time justifying everything else in the safe, but if I ever do get down to a single rifle, it will probably be my M77 Express in .30-'06 and not my 358.

 

[bigbore45colt]

I've had similar results in my 358 stainless Hawkeye with the same Sierra 225 gr bullet. I plan on using it for PA whitetails and black bear this fall. The load that worked for me was 43 gr of IMR3031 with Winchester factory brass.

BB45C

 

[358Win]

Hello 358Win,
Excellent report on your 358Win. and it is most timely for me. About to finish rifle build on Mauser VZ/24 in that caliber and looking forward to putting it to use this fall. Load data you show is very useful and since I have pretty much an unlimited supply of 308 brass I am good to go.
Would ask if there are any special problems in resizing the 308 brass to 358 that one should know about?? Again, excellent report.

martin

Thanks, I really enjoyed working with this rifle and cartridge. I hope you really enjoy your new rifle build, sounds cool. I don't think you will have any problems in using 308 brass. Just make sure you check your length after resizing. Most of my work was done with 358 brass made by Winchester. What 308 brass I tried I did not have any issues.

 

[358Win]

I rolled two pigs this morning with my Frontier 358, using 225 grain Nosler Accubonds. Hard to find any fault with the caliber, and running shots with the forward-mounted scope are almost easy.

If I spent a season hunting with just one gun I'd probably have a hard time justifying everything else in the safe, but if I ever do get down to a single rifle, it will probably be my M77 Express in .30-'06 and not my 358.

Hey, good shooting. Did you find any issues in seating the 225gr Accubond and did it rob you of powder space?

 

[358Win]

I've had similar results in my 358 stainless Hawkeye with the same Sierra 225 gr bullet. I plan on using it for PA whitetails and black bear this fall. The load that worked for me was 43 gr of IMR3031 with Winchester factory brass.

BB45C

I ran out of IMR3031 before I could really find a load. I did not have much to start with. Good info on IMR3031 and good luck on your deer and bear hunts in PA this year.

 

[Trey Whitley]

Hey, good shooting. Did you find any issues in seating the 225gr Accubond and did it rob you of powder space?

I didn't load these, so I couldn't say...I bought 100 rounds from Conley Precision back when they were ~$30/box (now they're $66/box) in an effort to minimize my time at the loading bench. Conley notes that these rounds are loaded to 2.82" (beyond SAAMI) but they load and feed into my Ruger just fine.

The factory Winchester load doesn't appeal to me much and I'm not about to pay over $3/round so it looks like my attempts to minimize time at the loading bench were for nothing...I was a little heartbroken yesterday when I couldn't locate/recover my brass out of the first-year overgrowth in the clearcut where we kicked up the pigs.

 

[358Win]

Hey, good shooting. Did you find any issues in seating the 225gr Accubond and did it rob you of powder space?

I didn't load these, so I couldn't say...I bought 100 rounds from Conley Precision back when they were ~$30/box (now they're $66/box) in an effort to minimize my time at the loading bench. Conley notes that these rounds are loaded to 2.82" (beyond SAAMI) but they load and feed into my Ruger just fine.

The factory Winchester load doesn't appeal to me much and I'm not about to pay over $3/round so it looks like my attempts to minimize time at the loading bench were for nothing...I was a little heartbroken yesterday when I couldn't locate/recover my brass out of the first-year overgrowth in the clearcut where we kicked up the pigs.

thank you for the info on the Conley ammo. I was wondering if it would fit in a Ruger M77 chamber. Did you chronograph the Conley ammo?

 

[Trey Whitley]

Did you chronograph the Conley ammo?

No, and out of my short 16-inch barrel I'm not sure it would give you a great idea of how close it is to the advertised 2,550 fps.

 

[CP]

My Dark Timber-Backup Rig

.358 Winchester
Action: Stainless Ruger Mark ll
Barrel: 22” Stainless Shilen 1 in 14” twist
Stock: Ruger Factory floated and bedded
Scope: Leupold VX ll 2-7x33/ Ruger factory medium rings
Sights: New England
Weight 7lbs 14oz
Load: 49 grs. Varget under 225 gr Sierras-yields avg. 2415 ft./sec. Zeroed at 200 meters

IMG]

 

[358Win]

Great picture indeed and great shooting, got to love those 358Win's in the Ruger.

 

[jakes10mm]

You guys are getting me all pumped up over the 358. I've become a 45-70 fanatic; just added a Marlin 1895 Cowboy to the collection. I've been hunting the last 3-4 years with a Ruger #1 in 45-70. Anyhow, chatting with a co-worker last week enlightened me to the 358Win. His words were: "If you like the 45-70, you should look at the 358Win". Look I did, and impressed I was. Another one-off cartridge that is excellent but overshadowed by the latest short magnum offering.

I was ready to pull the trigger on an All-Weather Hawkeye in 358, but may hold off for a matte blue and wood version. I do not let a little rain dampen my hunting, so I looked at the stainless as a "near" must. Honestly, my shiny blue #1 has seen it all and still in perfect shape. Bolt actions are a little more conducive to stock removal for cleaning (compared to #1s)....ok, hear me justifying this to myself?

Guess I'll close for now and post again when I have a 358 in my hands.

 

[350Rem]

CP, I can not stop looking at your rifle!!!!!

 

[jakes10mm]

Can anyone tell me if the Hawkeye models fit a Mark II stock? CP's rifle has me thinking....Hawkeye stainless model fitted into a Boyd stock.

CP: Is the front sight band soldered on? That with an NECG peep rear would be great!