With my new RL-7 find, I'm gonna load Hammer 178's over RL-7 for WT's. They shoot around an inch and reportedly are good deer bullets. This .358 Win likes them, WT's probably not so much....
DF
BTW, the more I shoot this JES .358 Win, the slicker it gets, easier to clean and groups seem to be shrinking. Part of the group thing could be me finding the loads that shoot best. Anyway, after a number of rounds, barrel pretty hot, a soaking or two with Patch Out and it's clean, like Hawkeye clean...
The chatter marks from the rifling machine, the inclusions, voids, etc that I see with the Hawkeye, don't seem to affect accuracy that much. It's an inch and a half gun, becoming a near MOA shooter with the right loads. Without going with a custom barrel, etc. I think that's pretty good for a relatively light medium bore hunting rifle, a re-bore at that.
The 178 Hammer over RL-7 may be a winner. Unlike the 150 and 160 CEB Raptors, the POI isn't that far away. Those shoot 8-10" high. They group pretty good, but sighted for them the gun would be way off for everything else. Whereas the 178 Hammers are not that far off, maybe a couple inches.
358 bullets that light (150 and 160) probably have low B.C.'s, not that big a deal with a .358 Win, but still something to think about. I may sight in another scope just for them, but not now.
For some reason, this gun likes faster powders, lighter bullets, even though it's a 12 twist. Go figure.
DF
