New Ruger Model 77 Hawkeye 22-250 range report

kshuntercb

kshuntercb

New member
Wanted to provide a quick range report on my Ruger Hawkeye 22-250. I really like this rifle. After milling over the Remingtons and Savages I found I like the Ruger for its light weight and good looking walnut stock. It will be my walk and stalk coyote rifle. The rifle was well finished and appears very durable. The action works well although not as smooth as my Remington CDL 700. For the day I was shooting 55gr Rem SP and some 50gr V-Max. After a few shots at 25 yards I was on the paper and moved out to 100 yards. Was able to shoot a decent group with a weak support so I think it is capable of better groups. I am going to try some of the 45gr Win White Box this weekend and see how it likes it along with some shooting off a better rest to see what kind of groups I can get. This is my first .22-250 and I am really enjoying it. The trigger is smooth although I am not too picky on triggers so I cant be too detailed in describing it. Thanks for reading my report.

PS, If you have this same rifle I would love to hear what kind of groups you get and what grain your Ruger likes.


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Nice looking gun.

If the trigger is anything like the former M77's, you can easily adjust it down and smooth it out.

Steve
 
I have the same rifle in a regular mkII, only thing I would change on those is I wish they hadn't of bead blasted the bolt, IMO it makes it not as smooth as the one I have. If you wanna slick it up, just cycle the bolt a few hundred times, or if you wanna do it quicker put some JB bore paste on the bearing surfaces, and work the bolt about 100 times, it will get real smooth after that, mauser type actions will generally never be as smooth as a remmy, but remmys are boring,

mine is my go to yote rifle, so far I haven't missed a yote its 9 for 9 this last year, but it wasn't always one of my most trusted rifles, when I first got mine it shot just OK, I messed with it sanded the foreend tip down a little, and then It would not group for crap, It then sat in the safe a couple years and would have been gone if it hadn't of been a gift from my dad, until one day I got it out, and put a death twist on the action screws, especially the front one, while leaving the middle just snug. took it to the range with a random load I made and proceeded to put 3 shots into a ragged hole, thought it might be a fluke, let the gun cool and stacked in 3 more in similar fashion, I was stowked, came back a few days later with the exact same recipe, similar result although this time all shots where touching instead of in a hole, after a few blown up yotes with the 50vmaxes I was using, I decided to try other bullets, finally just decided to use the same seating depth for 3 different bullets I was testing, last time out I tested 3 loads with 3 different bullets with 2 different powders, I think of the 4 groups I shot with these different combos I was still in the .8 range for average of the 4. currently I am shooting a 50grn berger match bullet at 3850fps and .4-.7 for 3 shots, depending on me and the mood of the gun. however the confidence I have in the gun is priceless
 
If you took a look in my safe, you'd think I owned stock in Ruger. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif So I'm kinda biased. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

After seeing the target, I can assure you that your rifle will do MUCH better than that. One thing that I have found after owning Rugers for many years, is that they really don't like factory ammo in most cases. Call it finicky, or whatever, but none of mine will shoot anywhere NEAR their capability unless thay are shooting handloads tailored for them. I currently have 2 VTs in .223 that are tackdrivers, but they like totally different loads. Go figure, huh? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif I never knew just how much difference it made until I started reloading.

If you are a reloader, you'll find that your Ruger will tighten up considerably (more than other makes) if you do some load research with it. Honestly, I have never gotten what I would call "satisfactory" accuracy out of any of my Ruger rifles with off-the-shelf ammunition.

Get yourself a reloader if you don't already have one, and your accuracy will improve drastically. Not to mention the fun you'll have reloading. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Hidalgo,

Thanks for your rely and yes I am a reloader. I have been reloading .30/06 and .30/30 for several years. I am looking forward to starting to load .22-250. Right now I am just trying various factory ammo and building up some brass. I am doing some load research on the side as well. Thanks again for the comments and have a good safe weekend you all.
 
got a m77mkII in 204 , floated , pillar bedded,timney trigger at 2 pounds and will one hole alot of times but average is about .650 if time taken between shots but started with groups larger than yours but the rear tang kept coming loose and the magazine center bolt was way too tight bending the action. She will shoot now with my reloads quite well but was dissappointed at first but sure learned alot from it. Hope this helps.
 
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You might want to check the barrel clearance in the forend. The light barreled Rugers I have dealt with always has a pressure pad a couple inches back from the forend tip, pushing up, left, right, or any combination of those. None shot well until the pad was sanded out and barrel free floated.

I also found that for best shooting, the front action screw should be tightened down tight, the back screw about 1/4 to 1/2 turn past the point you can start to feel it tightening down and the middle screw tightened just enough so you can close the floor plate properly. If you tighten the middle and back screw too much, the action will bend and the gun won't shoot up to it's capabilities.

I just ended up pillar bedding the back screw as the wood kept compressing over time. If you have the front screw tight and you can feel the action tang moving up and down in the wood as the rear screw is tightened and loosened, it needs pillar bedding because the action is flexing. That's a common problem with Rugers and Mausers.
 
Nice rifle /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
I have a newer Ruger M 77 but not a hawkeye in 220 swift
Stock no mods the gun will shoot some very small groups
I have a #1 in 25-06 again very small groups and stock as well
I must have found the tao of their triggers because they always seem to shoot unaltered
The hawkeye is supposed to have one of the finer factory triggers /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif very nice rifle and great choice in calibers /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
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