Why no love for the Ruger Hawkeye?

[PNWGATOR]

The original Hawkeye African is a dang sharp looking rifle!

 

[CentralFLMike]

I love the M77 MKII and the renamed Hawkeye. Second rifle I bougt for myself, an all-weather (stainless) MKII in .280 with the Zytel stock in 1992. It is my current go-to rifle and I have added many more calibers since then. I have found them solid and dependalbe.

 

[HighUintas]

It's because it's not a Tikka!!

Just kidding I've actually wondered the same thing because I think they are fine looking rifles and from what I hear Ruger rifles are usually pretty accurate. I'd like to get the wood stock stainless Hawkeye

 

[Deplorable77]

I purchased one last year. M77 mk2 hawkeye varmint/target. Although haven't fired it yet, the thing is built like a tank. My initial opinion is that if you fingered one at a local gun store, you'd never buy it. The bolt is the roughest, nastiest,gritty no exaggeration f-ing horrible. Imagine pulling and pushing a piece of all thread through a sandbag full of gravel. This is the best legit comparison I can give. I disassembled the bolt and spent HOURS polishing it and the receiver. Huge improvement, hopefully putting a few hundred rounds down range will help even more.

 

[timekiller13]

I have a Ruger M77 boat paddle stock in 270 win. Its my go to rifle. It's ugly, not very heavy, but not light either, it shoots plenty good enough for me. I had a trigger job done on it and that made a world of difference.
My dad has an old Ruger in 270 win as well. Its laminate stock. Again, its not pretty and its heavy, but it works. My brother has a red pad Ruger in 25-06 that hes hunted everything from hogs to elk with.

I think the Ruger American line hurt the Hawkeye. Why spend $800 on Hawkeye when you can get an American for $350 and it shoots just as good. Yes, the Americans are ugly, but the Hawkeyes aren't exactly eye candy either.

 

[FLAK]

LOVE my .375 Alaskan. Just wish there was something suitable to
shoot with it down here. We have to hunt our public land hogs with
a 22 mag.

 

[Newtosavage]

This was a dream rifle for me when i was a kid. I have never owned one, but I am curious why they are not more popular? Controlled round feed, integral bases, solid calibers. Just curious.

Same here. Dream rifle for me until I owned a few. I had a stainless RSI full length stock in 7x57 (most beautiful rifle I've ever owned) and a stainless .280 Rem in a synthetic stock. Of the two, I often wish I had kept the .280. As pretty as that 7x57 was, I don't miss it. It was a pita to be honest. LOL

Whoever said "only accurate rifles are interesting" could have been reading my mind. I know plenty of guys have 77's that are tack-drivers, but neither of mine were. I did literally everything I could think of to get those two rifles to shoot under an inch consistently, but failed. The 7x57 was a 2" gun most days, and often worse. The .280 was a 1.5" gun only with certain loads.

Plus they were heavy rifles compared to what I use now. That was okay in the .280 off the bench, but I still didn't want to lug that thing around the mountains. Beautiful actions that were a joy to work, but just unnecessarily heavy IMO.

Again, I know they have their devoted fans - and I wanted to be one - but I've moved on.

 

[Newtosavage]

I think the Ruger American line hurt the Hawkeye. Why spend $800 on Hawkeye when you can get an American for $350 and it shoots better. Yes, the Americans are ugly, but the Hawkeyes aren't exactly eye candy either.

fixed it for ya.

Every American I've shot or have seen others shoot, were more accurate than any 77 I've shot or have seen shot. I think the 77's are good looking rifles, but the Americans are just ugly. Possibly the ugliest factory stock of all time. They make the Savage Axis stocks look good.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I've got a few of them, an all weather 30-06, a wood 270, they are good, these days they are my loaner rifles but I'd like to get a guide gun in 375 ruger.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Ruger QC is spotty at best. Hawkeyes are heavier than the competition. In most configurations, most people think they are ugly. Accuracy is a crap shoot. That matte stainless that they are using is prone to marring. They don't make one in a more traditionally styled stainless synthetic.

On the plus side, Ruger typically does a good job when the customer sends a defective gun back. The Hawkeye is a very robust action.

 

[TREE ‘EM]

Hawkeyes are not well supported by the aftermarket vendors which in turn makes them less appealing to some.

The action design is heavy and being flat bottomed with the angled front screw makes them more difficult to stock.

Where they shine is in functional reliability. The Hawkeye has been improved over the 77 MK II with a better trigger, smoother feeding/cycling and better QC on the barrels.

My Hawkeye Alaskan 375 Ruger and African 9.3x62 were both solid MOA shooters out of the box. My Hawkeye Predator 6.5 CM shoots 3/4 MOA with most everything I’ve fed it.

I’ve got a Hawkeye out having a 24” Kreiger 5R 8 twist .270 Win barrel installed that I hope to have here by mid October. Looking at MPI for a lightweight stock with a blind magazine. Hoping to come in around 5 1/2 pounds when it’s done.

 

[Newtosavage]

I’ve got a Hawkeye out having a 24” Kreiger 5R 8 twist .270 Win barrel installed that I hope to have here by mid October. Looking at MPI for a lightweight stock with a blind magazine. Hoping to come in around 5 1/2 pounds when it’s done.

That sounds like a nice rig

 

[260madman]

I have a Hawkeye in 223 that shoots under 3/4“ 5 shot groups. I have a MKII in 260 that is a consistent 1” gun and less than an inch with handloads that it likes. I’d have to dig out the reload notes as to group size. They both go bang and they both kill deer. They aren’t the lightest but they work. The Hawkeye does feel better in the hands than the MKII.

 

[shmtastic]

I just picked up a tang safety 270, it's a very plain old deer rifle. Usually gets about 2.5" at 200 yards, cant complain about it. Also have a 338 Federal in a Hawkeye, it's more consistent, my go to wet weather rifle.

That being said, there's not much after market support, they are heavy, older rifles have no trigger options, model specific rings are a pain at best, and they cost more than the base model Americans. Everything already covered. If ruger could fix their rotary mags in the American there would be no reason to go with anything else for a beater truck gun.

 

[6mm Remington]

When my father passed away one of the rifles I got from him was a Ruger 77 tang safety varmint rifle in 22-250. It's had a trigger job and shoots very well!

My son has a Ruger MKII in 6mm Remington that we had the trigger worked and it now breaks cleanly at 3 pounds. I sold the Walnut stock and put a Boyds brown nutmeg laminate on it which was pillar and glass bedded. It's a shooting machine. I also had the stock checkered. I load 90 gr. E-tips for my son. He's taken antelope, deer, and his first elk with that rifle.

I really like the looks of the Ruger Hawkeye too. I think they are the "most" attractive out of all the Ruger 77 models. The stock shape is nice too and has been trimmed down in dimensions. In my opinion Ruger builds one tough bolt action rifle in the Model 77. The scope mounting system is also fantastic and is simple and strong. Their accuracy has reportedly improved also as they make their barrels in house now. I love the controlled round feed.

 

[Varminterror]

Many of us hold nostalgic affinity for the M77’s, myself included, but the lack of aftermarket support, the sloppy action feel, and challenging accuracy compared to many other actions have been self limiting.

There are also a lot of rumors flying around by relatively poor quality shadetree gunsmiths regarding the cast receivers - I’ve heard it all, “you can’t remove the barrels without risking cracking the brittle receivers,” or “you can’t blueprint them because the cast receivers are surface hardened too hard.” Even further, the angled forward action screw has been used as an excuse by many smiths who claim they can’t be blocked and bedded. Of course, most of these are excuses to bypass uncommon work rather than building or buying fixtures which won’t be as productive as more common models, or taking extra time to do multi-step bedding jobs. If a guy can keep the lights on with Rem 700 work, why waste time and money on fixtures for a rifle which comes across the bench once every three or four years?

 

[6mm Remington]

Pre-cut with the correct angle and everything. Makes it a lot simpler.

PTG Glass Bedding Pillars Ruger 77, 77 Mark II

Columns have been precisely machined with the proper angles for a simple bedding job on the Ruger 77. Aluminum.Notes:Aluminum, front .600" long,...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[timekiller13]

Walked into my local gun store today. There, on the used rack, was a Ruger M77 Mark II stainless sythetic, in 300 WSM. They didn't make them in that cartridge for very long. I picked it up, looked it over, shouldered it and said "This is a do it all gun for North America right here." Gun just felt right in my hands and shouldered like a dream, balance was good, weight was just right. Not too heavy, but not too light. I handed over the cash. Now, got to figure out what scope I want on it and try out a couple different loads. Looks like I will be carrying this one for my elk hunt this fall!!!

 

[MarcherLord]

They are very popular up here (Southeast AK). Built like tanks and seem (opinion) to resist rust more than others. Heavy is my only complaint.

 

[EastMT]

They are very popular up here (Southeast AK). Built like tanks and seem (opinion) to resist rust more than others. Heavy is my only complaint.

Yes we did a DIY brown bear hunt down there several years back. The little skiff we had got in so rough waves blowing over the bow, soaking everything. Weatherby, Browning, Remington SS all rusted in spots even with nightly care. The ruger boat paddle was spotless. Not sure what they were using for steel then but pretty impressive in the regard