Impression on the Ruger Hawkeye Long Range Target

[geneackley]

On paper that gun seems to have it all:

5R rifling in a 26 long heavy target barrel with a threaded muzzle.

The wonderful Ruger version of Paul Mauser's controlled feed bolt action.

Detachable box magazines, AICS compatible.

a 20 MOA Picatinney rail.

Adjustable stock.

A 1300 dollar price tag..

What else could you want?

well, it was only offered in 6.5 PRC and 300 WIN MAG or 6.5 Creedmoor...

I have two 6.5 Creedmoors already (a Tikka and an AR10).

I dont like the fat and expensive 6.5 PRC round.

I dont like 30 calibers like the 300 Win Mag. Also expensive...

But had they sold a version in 7mm Rem Mag with its wonderful HIGH BC and more moderate recoil and cost per round than the 300 Win Mag... I would own one!!!!

I have often thought of buying one in 300 win mag and have it rebarrelled to 7mm Rem Mag... but then its no longer 1300 bucks!!!

But those of you who have one, please share.

YES, I know its heavy...

Thanks!!!

[Txhillbilly]

I've just never had any Ruger 77 or #1 that was very accurate. They all shot minute of deer or elk, and that was about it.

[efm77]

Ruger always seems to get a bad rap for accuracy because of their outsourcing of barrels from years ago. They remedied that long ago. The M77's I have shoot very well. It is odd though that the 7mm seems to get the cold shoulder when it comes to these long range precision rifles. You don't see many heavy barreled 7mm's these days except for maybe the Sendero.

[yobuck]

On paper that gun seems to have it all:

5R rifling in a 26 long heavy target barrel with a threaded muzzle.

The wonderful Ruger version of Paul Mauser's controlled feed bolt action.

Detachable box magazines, AICS compatible.

a 20 MOA Picatinney rail.

Adjustable stock.

A 1300 dollar price tag..

What else could you want?

well, it was only offered in 6.5 PRC and 300 WIN MAG or 6.5 Creedmoor...

I have two 6.5 Creedmoors already (a Tikka and an AR10).

I dont like the fat and expensive 6.5 PRC round.

I dont like 30 calibers like the 300 Win Mag. Also expensive...

But had they sold a version in 7mm Rem Mag with its wonderful HIGH BC and more moderate recoil and cost per round than the 300 Win Mag... I would own one!!!!

I have often thought of buying one in 300 win mag and have it rebarrelled to 7mm Rem Mag... but then its no longer 1300 bucks!!!

But those of you who have one, please share.

YES, I know its heavy...

Thanks!!!
Well i do know a couple guys who bought one in 6.5 for all the reasons you cited.
But i dont know why because both already had better guns.
I dont actually know if theve ever shot them, but i can find out.
As for the cartridge choice however, a 300 Win would be the better choice than a 7 Rem from the performance standpoint.
Loading cost difference would be minimal, and any recoil differences would be minimal as well, especially when using lighter bullets in the 30 cal.
If i were going to buy one of those there would be only one choice as for the cartridges offered, the 300 Win.

[geneackley]

Well i do know a couple guys who bought one in 6.5 for all the reasons you cited.
But i dont know why because both already had better guns.
I dont actually know if theve ever shot them, but i can find out.
As for the cartridge choice however, a 300 Win would be the better choice than a 7 Rem from the performance standpoint.
Loading cost difference would be minimal, and any recoil differences would be minimal as well, especially when using lighter bullets in the 30 cal.
If i were going to buy one of those there would be only one choice as for the cartridges offered, the 300 Win.


I will be the first to admit that I do not know, but I have heard that there are issues with the short necks of the 300 Win Magnum... Perhaps someone here can shed some light for me on the subject.

But I am also a "Ballistic Coefficient "SCHnob"" (much as Txhillbilly is a Scope Glass "Schnob"!!!! ha ha ha !!!) and I love those high BC bullets. Given a chance, I will chose them everyday over a more "brute force round" like the 300 Win Mag seems to be ( I honestly havent looked at it much ).

But indeed I have wondered why a rifle with so much going for it on paper, doesn't have more traction. Hence my inquiry here.

Well, If they really don't shoot that well, perhaps a custom quality 416 R, fluted, 7 mm Rem Mag barrel would be all it would need to make mine just right for me... Of course lacking the Pre-Fit option, it will have to be done by a real gunsmith, and that probably almost doubles the initial 1300 dollar cost of the rifle... so here we are!

Thanks fellas!

[efm77]

The short neck issue with the 300 win is more hypothetical than anything. Never seen any trouble with it in real world use, including the two that I have. High BC bullets can be had for both the 7mm and the 300 so pick your poison. Do a search for some reviews on this particular rifle. They seem to be pretty good. I think you're just not hearing much about it because the M77 has never been able to shake the old rumor that they're not accurate, along with the rage of the RPR that's currently going on.

[yobuck]

I will be the first to admit that I do not know, but I have heard that there are issues with the short necks of the 300 Win Magnum... Perhaps someone here can shed some light for me on the subject.

But I am also a "Ballistic Coefficient "SCHnob"" (much as Txhillbilly is a Scope Glass "Schnob"!!!! ha ha ha !!!) and I love those high BC bullets. Given a chance, I will chose them everyday over a more "brute force round" like the 300 Win Mag seems to be ( I honestly havent looked at it much ).

But indeed I have wondered why a rifle with so much going for it on paper, doesn't have more traction. Hence my inquiry here.

Well, If they really don't shoot that well, perhaps a custom quality 416 R, fluted, 7 mm Rem Mag barrel would be all it would need to make mine just right for me... Of course lacking the Pre-Fit option, it will have to be done by a real gunsmith, and that probably almost doubles the initial 1300 dollar cost of the rifle... so here we are!

Thanks fellas!
I think you will find that the gunsmith charge for threading and chambering a new barrel will average in the $300 range.
Certainly that can vary with different gunsmiths, but it would be a far cry from doubleing the gun cost.
Remember that a certain amount of what you hear about BC is also BS.
What they fail to tell you when they put those numbers on the box is what velocity factor was used to establish it.
The BC factor will vary between 2 guns of the same caliber using the same bullet based on the velocity of each gun.
Therefore the BC # wont be as high in a 7mm/08 as it will be in a 7 Rem mag.
Higher velocity always improves the BC of any bullet.
We use larger cases like the 300 WBY necked down to 7 mm for hunting.
We can easily get a gain of about 350 fps over the 7 Rem mag when using the same bullet in both guns.
The same can be said of the 7mm STW and the 7mm ultra mag.
When Burger introduced its high BC 180 gr bullet probably now a decade ago, everybody was raving over it for its extreme range potential.
I bought a box of them and worked up a decent load.
We then compared them with the Hornady 162 gr match bullet we use at 1200 yards from the front yard of our camp.
The 162 beat the 180 by about a foot when using the same amount of added elevation to the scope.
Like i said, BC can also equal BS.
I have killed one deer in my life using a 7mm with a 162 gr bullet traveling @ 3400 fps at 1200 yards and i wont be trying it again.
Fact is if i were to have my life to live over in todays world i wouldnt even own a 7mm for long range hunting.
Do a little research and see how many 7mms have been used and are being used for long range target shooting.
Mind you now, we have killed lots of long range deer in our camp using the 7 mm cartridges.
I personally have 2 of them, just saying that in todays world there are better choices.
Theres an old cliche that is rather crude but also true.
You cant fatten up a hog by shoving corn up his arse.
And thats what we do when we think we can improve performance by simply using higher BC bullets.

[geneackley]

I think you will find that the gunsmith charge for threading and chambering a new barrel will average in the $300 range.
Certainly that can vary with different gunsmiths, but it would be a far cry from doubleing the gun cost.
Remember that a certain amount of what you hear about BC is also BS.
What they fail to tell you when they put those numbers on the box is what velocity factor was used to establish it.
The BC factor will vary between 2 guns of the same caliber using the same bullet based on the velocity of each gun.
Therefore the BC # wont be as high in a 7mm/08 as it will be in a 7 Rem mag.
Higher velocity always improves the BC of any bullet.
We use larger cases like the 300 WBY necked down to 7 mm for hunting.
We can easily get a gain of about 350 fps over the 7 Rem mag when using the same bullet in both guns.
The same can be said of the 7mm STW and the 7mm ultra mag.
When Burger introduced its high BC 180 gr bullet probably now a decade ago, everybody was raving over it for its extreme range potential.
I bought a box of them and worked up a decent load.
We then compared them with the Hornady 162 gr match bullet we use at 1200 yards from the front yard of our camp.
The 162 beat the 180 by about a foot when using the same amount of added elevation to the scope.
Like i said, BC can also equal BS.
I have killed one deer in my life using a 7mm with a 162 gr bullet traveling @ 3400 fps at 1200 yards and i wont be trying it again.
Fact is if i were to have my life to live over in todays world i wouldnt even own a 7mm for long range hunting.
Do a little research and see how many 7mms have been used and are being used for long range target shooting.
Mind you now, we have killed lots of long range deer in our camp using the 7 mm cartridges.
I personally have 2 of them, just saying that in todays world there are better choices.
Theres an old cliche that is rather crude but also true.
You cant fatten up a hog by shoving corn up his arse.
And thats what we do when we think we can improve performance by simply using higher BC bullets.


Very illuminating explanation. THANK YOU!!!
By the way, I was an industrial mechanic before I retired on Dec 31st 2020; We used "crude cliches" every minute of the day!!!! ha ha ha !!
So bring them on without any concern in the future!!! ha ha ha !!!

Take care my friend.

Gene

[yobuck]

Very illuminating explanation. THANK YOU!!!
By the way, I was an industrial mechanic before I retired on Dec 31st 2020; We used "crude cliches" every minute of the day!!!! ha ha ha !!
So bring them on without any concern in the future!!! ha ha ha !!!

Take care my friend.

Gene
I would assume that the difference between an industrial mechanic and an auto mechanic is that they work on Caterpillars rather than Chevys?