Ramblinbill

Send me a PM concerning this Krag.

I have a WW2 luger all matching but the blank side plate which appears to be an older replacement. Contact me if interested.

PM sent

greg, I may have found the problem. I called Ruger technical department and asked what accuracy I could expect at 100 yds with a Hawkeye in 280 caliber. The answer was "three inches or less". All my groups are now 2" and under. It looks like that's all I get.

BTW - the twist is 1:9.5 RH.

The rifle is an all weather Ruger Hawkeye. I bought it in Alaska for black bear hunting. ( I hunted poorly - no bear) I was getting some vertical strings and a few vertical flyers before I gave the rifle a thorough cleaning with Hoppes. Now I get nice little, or not so little, triangles. Although the book calls for 3.225 my OAL is 3.207 because the rifle is somewhat short chambered. I had trouble with my first handloads chambering until I seated them a little further into the case. I'm pretty careful on the bench and hand weigh every powder charge. The brass is R-P once fired, full length sized, trimmed to 2.530, deburred and chamfered, fired in this rifle then neck sized. I have reduced the problem to three possible causes: #1 My shooting - maybe you could come down here and shoot a few groups. You do pretty damn good, and that would take me out of the equation. (joking) #2 The rifle itself, maybe that's as good as it gets for a Ruger Hawkeye. #3 I haven't found the right bullet, powder, primer combination yet Any ideas would be appreciated. I would be satisfied to keep a steady 1" group @ 100.

I'm trying to work up the most accurate load so the combinations vary. I had high hopes for 150 gr BTSP Sierra over 54.6 gr IMR 4350 with a CCI LR primer and R-P twice fired brass, neck sized. Theoretically this should give me 2900 FPS, good enough for Tennessee. I have also tried 160 and 168 gr bullets and various powder charges. I stick with IMR 4350, having gotten good results from it in the past with various calibers. After rechecking the scope mount and giving the rifle a thorough cleaning I reduced the powder charge to 52 gr IMR 4350 behind a 150 gr BTS Sierra. I shot six groups letting the barrel cool between groups. The results at 100yds were: 2" 1-1/8" 1" 7/8" 1-1/4" 2" (this from an old box of reloads) Good enough for hunting deer, but not good enough, consistent enough actually, to make me very happy.

I'm on a small farm near Lynchburg. I just got back from checking the edges of one of my hayfields, and there were four active scrapes that weren't there three days ago. No fresh rubs, just a lot of them left over from rubbing velvet.

I've had the same thought myself.

I need a little help here. I’m working up hunting loads for my 280. My last 4 shot group yesterday was 7/8†at 100 yards. I left the rifle and the ammo outside in a shed all night to duplicate hunting conditions this morning. My first 3 shot group was even smaller. I really thought I had my load. I left rifle and ammo in the shade for an hour and shot another group. This one was 3 inches. WTH – has this happened to anybody else? The scope is a Leupold and is tight. Any help would be appreciated.

If you get a chance take a look at "Cartridges of the World" by Frank C. Barnes. In it there is an IMR 4198 loading for 90% of the old black powder rounds from the 35-30 Maynard thru the 58 musket (Berdan). It might be a powder you want to try. I have good luck with it in 45-70, 45 Danish, 44-77 and 43 Spanish. Sherman Bell's pressure experiments, documented in "The Double Gun Journal", indicate that a 40% load of IMR 4198 gives almost exactly the same pressure curve as black powder. You'll want to check this yourself of course.

I posted this here so Tennessee Black Powder shooters would know how little Sportsmans Guide thinks of us and our sport. Each can make up his or her own mind as to what action they will take. I appreciate the helpful advice, but I've been shooting black powder for over 30 years so am pretty well informed as to the alternatives for purchasing BP firearms. If you aren't interested then skip the post. There will be some serious BP shooters who are interested.

I just called Sportsmans Guide to ask why we (TN) is on the restricted list. They were less than cooperative but finally gave the answer that "although there are no state or federal laws or regulations barring shipment of black powder firearms to Tennessee, it company policy not to do so". I couldn't believe it. I requested they stop sending catalogs, and said I would spread the word. They really didn't seem to give a d*mn.

I'll be leaving Alaska Monday and hope to make it back to Tennessee by mid or late October. I don't plan on traveling with a schedule. Hope to meet some of you when I get back home.

Where did you get your CIB?