Working with the .358 Win and 225 NAB

[HeathSexton]

I picked up some 225gr NAB's from the SPS just to see how they would do from my .358 Win Stainless Hawkeye. I am a H4895 lover, I would eat it on my ceral if I could, so that's the powder I started with. I hit Scotty up for some quickload info and away I went. Starting at 44.5grs groups were ok, velocity low and spreads were high. I hit 47grs H4895 today and got a 2428fps average - ES 9 - SD 4. It grouped 1.5" but with 2 touching and 1 sitting out high I think some OAL tweaking will tune things right up. I recovered a few bullets from the dirt and will get some pics up later. It has not rained here in a month so our dirt is not different than concrete. Retained weight is from 130-159grs, and I know dirt is not good media.


It's already 93 degrees here so I shut down load work for the day. :mrgreen:


At 47.0grs H4895 I don't even have to lube my cases to resize them throug my die.

 

[SJB358]

NICE! That is a really good load right there Heath. Can't wait to see a few pictures.

 

[DrMike]

That's stepping out there in the .358. Accuracy is not bad, either.

 

[JD338]

Heath,

Sounds like a good load.
Try seating the bullet deeper by .005" and you should be able to walk that 3rd shot into a nice little group. :wink:

JD338

 

[bullet]

Varget and TAC (especially) TAC with give you over 2500fps easily and without going over pressure in your Hawkeye. Glad you are working with the 225gr AccuBond which is my absolute go to bullet in my 358Win. I am getting 2506fps with one load and 2556fps with the other and both under 3/4" and one is under 1/2" using TAC.

 

[HeathSexton]

JD, that is exactly what I did. I came in and tightened the OAL down by .005" and I hope to try them again soon if the heat will break.

 

[SJB358]

Well, hope you have some good results Heath. Hard to beat H4895 in the little 358 if it runs well for you, well, that and you have a ton of it to use!

 

[HeathSexton]

I may go back and shoot some more groups seating deeper by .005" but what I have now works I think.


I seated my bullets .005" deeper than yesterday, my OAL is 2.874". Everything functions through the mag very smoothly, nothing binds and feeding is great.


2.874" - to tip
47.0grs H4895
.358" - 225gr AccuBond
WW Brass
CCI 200

Again, I don't even need lube to resize my cases through my RCBS dies.

2428fps

Ruger Hawkeye Stainless

I shot 3 quick rounds today, it is already 94 degrees so 3 was all I wanted in the heat. I shot prone off a crappy front bag and a good rear bag.

My 1st and only 3 rounds went 1.15" @ 100yds, the one in the white was the 3rd round and honestly I didn't feel real comfortable on that one, so I'm calling it good for now.

Crappy cell phone picture

Pic of rifle with a volunteer to the Test the .358 Winchester Foundation

Recovered 225 AB's from our very dry and hard soil.

From messing with a ballistic chart looks like 2" high at 100yds would put me 13" low at 300yds with almost 1800 ft/lbs of energy. That's about as far as I would ever stretch one anyways.


I might bed the action just to see if things will improve more. I have not had a rifle shoot worse after bedding yet.

 

[SJB358]

Man, that is great shooting with the 358 Heath. Nothing to complain about there, at all! My wife has that same rifle and I am thinking about bedding it as well, gotta at least knock the pressure point out of it, as it starts to walk badly when it heats up.

Keep me in the loop when you get it bedded. Wanna know how it does. 0-300 seems like a dead deer to me, that is for sure.

 

[HeathSexton]

Mine is free floated as it got real wild with the barrel all wrapped up in the stock. I also replaced the trigger spring on mine with one from a model 70 I had. It dropped the pull by about half, it's around 3.5lbs now.


I will use devcon plastic steel to bed it. I've used it on several rifles with great results. I bedded my 700 Mountain Rifle with it this spring and it really helped it.

 

[DrMike]

The load looks pretty good, Heath. It can be tough shooting in high temperatures. Pressure can build pretty quickly. Still, it looks as if you have it dialed in pretty good with that load.

 

[onesonek]

I agree, bedding likely won't hurt,,,but I'd say that load the way it shot is darn respectable out that as is!!!

 

[rjm158]

Tell us a little bit about your "volunteer", please.

Ron

 

[HeathSexton]

Tell us a little bit about your "volunteer", please.

Ron

Just a big old female coyote. I have never seen one colored like that, I wish I would have taken more pictures of her. The .358 was unbloodied and I guess she decided that it was time so she walked right into a 200gr Hornady PSP @ 2450fps. I heard her walking and just could not find her in the brush, did not know what I was hearing other than "critter walking". I started to let her pass because she was so big and colored so strange I thought she was someone's pet. I wonder if she wasn't crossed with domestic dog? I had a Euro of her skull and the guy who did it said she was a young coyote but very large.

 

[OU812]

I may go back and shoot some more groups seating deeper by .005" but what I have now works I think.


I seated my bullets .005" deeper than yesterday, my OAL is 2.874". Everything functions through the mag very smoothly, nothing binds and feeding is great.


2.874" - to tip
47.0grs H4895
.358" - 225gr AccuBond
WW Brass
CCI 200

Again, I don't even need lube to resize my cases through my RCBS dies.

2428fps

Ruger Hawkeye Stainless

I shot 3 quick rounds today, it is already 94 degrees so 3 was all I wanted in the heat. I shot prone off a crappy front bag and a good rear bag.

My 1st and only 3 rounds went 1.15" @ 100yds, the one in the white was the 3rd round and honestly I didn't feel real comfortable on that one, so I'm calling it good for now.

Crappy cell phone picture

Pic of rifle with a volunteer to the Test the .358 Winchester Foundation

Recovered 225 AB's from our very dry and hard soil.

From messing with a ballistic chart looks like 2" high at 100yds would put me 13" low at 300yds with almost 1800 ft/lbs of energy. That's about as far as I would ever stretch one anyways.


I might bed the action just to see if things will improve more. I have not had a rifle shoot worse after bedding yet.

That is a great looking group Heath. I would be happy all day long with that group and go forth and kill, oh wait looks like you did that. Nice yote by the way.


Bill

 

[SJB358]

Great coyote Heath!

Those recovered 225's look pretty good as well, for being shot into HARD DIRT.. Man, they are all about the same weight as well. I should think they might work okay on coyotes and deer!

 

[DrMike]

Just a big old female coyote. I have never seen one colored like that, I wish I would have taken more pictures of her. The .358 was unbloodied and I guess she decided that it was time so she walked right into a 200gr Hornady PSP @ 2450fps. I heard her walking and just could not find her in the brush, did not know what I was hearing other than "critter walking". I started to let her pass because she was so big and colored so strange I thought she was someone's pet. I wonder if she wasn't crossed with domestic dog? I had a Euro of her skull and the guy who did it said she was a young coyote but very large.

Man, you tested out your load on someone's pet! :grin: It is a good looking dog.

 

[Oldtrader3]

You might consider IMR 4064 as well. That is what I use for loading 225 gr .338 bullets in my .338 Federal. I get sub MOA accuracy and fast velocity. It is similar in burning rate to H4895. I get really good consistant Std. Deviations, high velocity (2500 fps) for a small case and really high accuracy. Just a thought.

 

[CatskillCrawler]

Nice work Heath. I love to see 358Win success stories. Seems as if the Hawkeyes are a great partner for this cartridge. That is a nice doggy.

My nascent load work with this cartridge has given me good results with 225gr SGKs and IMR-3031. Accuracy is acceptable at 2450fps. I have 3 loads all ready to fire using 225gr NPTs. The ABs don't allow enough space for powder due to my BLRs short mag length but I don't feel I'm going to be missing anything using the SGKs for WT and BB while the NPTs will be my moose/elk bullet. I also have 5 loads built up using 250gr NPTs, Speer Hot-Cores and Grand Slams. I have used TAC, IMR-3031, and W-748 in these 8 loads. Somewhere amongst them I'm certain to find a load or two worthy for further development.