I put a lowish bid on a ruger m77 mkII Frontier in 358 win a few weeks back and won it. It's a gun metal grey color, laminate stock with a 16.5" barrel and a scout mount on the barrel. It's new and I'm trying decide whether to set it up and play with it or just leave in the box under the bed for a decade or two because they didn't make them for long. Anybody have one of these or have any experience with one?
Bb
..............B/Boy.............Take it out and use it. I don`t have a 358 Frontier, but do own a Frontier.
Just finished up a quicker than expected, but successful elk hunt. Scored during the mid morning of the second day out with an excellent shooter bull elk. The rifle used on this hunt was my 300 WSM Ruger Frontier with the same laminated at a distance of 328 yards. My 2 1/2 year experience with the Ruger Frontier so far, has been 28 hogs and 2 bull elk in various terrain conditions from the thick brush to wide open areas.
Depending on the hunts, I use both a traditional scope and a scout scope. No other rifle that I know of easily allows for a traditional scope + the scout scope option.
After nearly 38 years experience with full sized rifles, I bought my 300 WSM Frontier, to be followed later with a 375 Ruger Alaskan. As it turned out, the shorter dimensions especially with the Frontier, was and still is a refreshing change.
From the Frontier`s smaller dimension, I wanted a rifle that is handier, is easier carrying, has better manuverability, is quicker to shoulder and is able to be carried by its pistol grip without the muzzle nearing the ground. I also wanted a rifle combo, that when slinged over my shoulder the muzzle would be well below the top of my head, a truck gun, a great rifle for stand hunting in confined spaces, a great carrying/stalking brush and timber rifle, as well as having the ballistic horsepower as a 500 yard elk rifle too. Except for the 500 yard elk rifle part, your 358 Frontier would without any doubt, would apply to all of the above. The shorter barrels have increased noise or blast, but I always wear good hearing protection at the range and protection designed for field use.
My most accurate reloads give moa and less. The only alteration that I changed was the trigger assembly. That factory 5+ lb pull (before the LC6 triggers were intro`d) needed to be swapped out.
As a scope suggestion for your 358 and in keeping with the Frontier`s compact theme, consider the 2.5x FX2 Leupy Ultralite, maybe the smaller fixed 4x FX2, the 1.5-5x20 VX3, or a 1-4x20 VX2. I wouldn`t go too large a scope and over magnify the 358. Too large a scope with larger objective bells would look out of porportion to the rifle.
I also have two friends and hog hunting buddies that own Ruger compacts. One is exactly the same as yours but in the 338 Federal, and the other owns a new (this year) Hawkeye 300 RCM compact. They love `em!
Get out there and have some hunting and shooting fun!!
