crazyguy117

Ruger Hawkeye

Have any of you guys had the pleasure to shoot this model yet? If so how does she shoot. I hear that ruger has put a new trigger in this model. Is the trigger much better than the old ones? Any info you guys could pass on would be much appreciated.


-Steve-

Dryridge

Steve,

I just finished the absolute longest ordeal I have ever endured getting a gun to shoot. It was a new Hawkeye in .257roberts.(BOB). The bob was a beautiful gun. Nice wood, nice finsih on wood and decent matte finish on bbl. The trigger is NO BETTER, the safety is good if you like the 3 pos. type. It is light. Fits nice to the shoulder.

BUT, the wood to metal fit was absolutely HORRENDOUS. This gun wouldn't shoot for a hoot. I mean 4" groups were "good" for this thing. We tried 18 different loads in 4 different bullet wts. It was very frustrating. I floated the bbl, changed pressure points etc.... The gun had such bad bedding that it moved in the stock every shot. The floorplate wouldn't open after one shot, take it out of the stock, line everything up, it would work fine, then one shot it would all go to pot. A call to Ruger was good in that they were honest about the poor bedding. They offered to find a new stock that "might help but we can't guarantee it".

So, I bedded the action and first 3" of bbl. The tang was AWFUL. I mean there is a line of acraglass nearly an 1/8" completely around it. The recoil lug was worse and from the recoil lug forward to the front pressure point was just a big "hogged out" area full of sawdustthe first time we took it out of the stock. The front sling stud screw protruded up so far it hit the barrel!!!. Once all this was eliminated. The gun will now turn in 3 shot groups of barely sub MOA. The barrel is very thin and cools VERY slowly...must be the matte finish.

Overall I would give the gun a 3 on a scale of 1-10 and that is just because I can appreciate a nicely checkered piece of walnut.

This may be just ONE gun, with bad problems but I doubt it is the only one from the tone I got at the factory.

Just my opinion.

Dave in WV

c j

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, dryridge. My luck with Rugers lately has been just the opposite. I bought a M77 MkII S/S 25-06 about a year ago and did absolutely nothing to it and it shot MOA with two different types of factory ammo. I had even scheduled it to get the trigger done on it before it left the gunshop, but they checked it when it was shipped in and the trigger was exceptional. No work needed whatsoever.

I bought another new 77 Mk IIa few months ago, only this time in 7 WSM. Haven't shot it yet, so I don't know how accurate it is, but I do know Igot lucky again and got anotherlight, crisptrigger right from the factory. Also,I noticed that when it shipped in to me, the package for the scope rings was opened, but I didn't think much of it. Didn't check them out until about a week later and found one of the nuts was missing. I don't know if anyone's ever tried getting just a nut for a Ruger scope ring, but I couldn't find any anywhere. No stores carried them. None on Ebay. Couldn'tfind themto order off Ruger's website or catalog. Finally found them on Midway, but they were on backorder. Because of the backorder and the shipping costs, it was going to cost nearly as much to get the nut from Midway as it would to buy a whole used set of rings off Ebay. Finally I just called Ruger and when I told them what happened and what I needed,and asked ifI could order one (or a set). All they asked was whether I wanted stainless orblued. Sent me one at no charge. Had it within 3-4 days.

Dryridge

CJ...I have had some nice MkII's as well, but the Hawkeye is NOT a mkII. They did some changing...and it doesn't appear it was for the better. The triggers, although lighter than the avg. mkII, has a lot of slop (creep).

Look at the website or new Ruger Catalog. The mkII no longer exists.

Glad you are having good luck w/ruger. I think they made a good weapon and this new Hawkeye, like any new product, will likely need to get the bugs worked out.

See my thread on the outstanding groups I shot with the new ruger mkII I got for my daughter.

Dave

A10A

I shot my Hawkeye S/S 30-06 for the first time Saturday. I put a Nikon Monarch 3-9X40 on it. The trigger is a touch heavy. Guessing (swag) about 4 lbs or so. Absolutely zero creep and the break was clean and crisp. I shot a few rounds trying to get used to it and then fired Fusion 165s for effect. It was very windy with the wind swirling. I really think it was me, but all I got out of the Fusion was about 3" at 100yards. I swapped over to 150 grain Power Points and whoa!!! I didn't fire traditional groups. What I did was fire 2 shots, then waited. Fired 2 shots, then waited.... (the object here being to simulate the first shot and a relatively quick follow up). Ten shots in 1.65". I will certainly live with that. Although I'm going to play with handloads to set the rifle up for different types of game, I think I've already got my deer round!

frizzellr

They are still on the website and as far as I know still being made by Ruger.

Dobber1978

Any more input on the Hawkeye? I am looking at my first rifle, in the 30-06 calibre, Outdoor Canada gives the Hawkeye a best buy approval,

I am also considering a browningA bolt $900
T3 Hunter 800
Hawkeye All Weater $740

The browning is pushing the limits of my spending range and going this way I would be cheaping out on a scope,

Thanks
Jeff

bigpapa

This past spring I picked up a M77 MkII for about $520. I was skeptical about the Hawkeye. I hate getting new products be it rifles, car's, trucks, or anything. I don't like being the guy to find the glitch.I read all the hype on the new trigger, new pad, new bla bla bla. Then I bought the MkII. Cause it was tried and true. The trigger was at about 4 when I got it and creepy so I took it to a smith and for $65 it breaks like crystal at 2.5. I couldn't be any happier about it. My suggestion is go out and find a MkII that's priced down. Get a trigger job done and be done. I truly still can't figure out why Ruger stopped production of the MkII. But I'm glad that's the rifle I purchased.

mudtutl

I've bought two MKIIs in the last three years, a 30-06 and a 25-06. The 30-06 is stainless and I couldn't be happier with its performance, trigger and all. I have yet to take game with the quarter bore, and the trigger is a little heavy, but it's shooting OK at the range. I was in the same boat as bigpapa earlier this year when considering the Hawkeye vs. the MKII, and made the same choice. The 25-06 was on sale for$450, and the 30-06 was on sale for $530 the year before. SoI havetwo decent rifles for under a grand, and I could afford to top them both with Nikon Monarchs.

HEAD0001

It is still a Ruger. It is hard to play ht and miss when you are spending that much money. At least the Browning's are "more" consistent. I have also read that the Tikka's are also hit and miss(with functioning and asthetic problem's). Tom.