I’m looking for a top-loading .223 bolt action rifle with WOODEN stock. The Ruger’s Hawkeye looks really nice:



But are these a good rifle? My uses would be recreational target shooting, plinking, and maybe some day down the line, varminting.

Thoughts?

-Jay

I have several Ruger top loading (pre-Hawkeye designation) M77 MKII rifles and wouldn't trade them for any other. I wouldn't hesitate to own more.

I had a Ruger Hawkeye Compact in .243. Let me emphasize the word had. I loved it and it was as accurate as all get out! Even with factory ammo, that little thing was dead-on accurate. It was a compact, so it was a perfect saddle gun for me.

When my grandson, who was living in Arizona at the time, became old enough to put in for the coues deer hunt, I loaned him the little Hawkeye because his dad's Ruger Model 77 in .30-06 practically dwarfed the little guy.

Anyway, long story short, he bagged this little coues buck in its bed with one shot at 190 yards. When he called me to give me the particulars, he paused, then said, "Grandpa, you're not getting that gun back."


A couple of years later, after they moved to Utah, he used that same little gun and nailed this mule deer buck in its bed at a little over 200 yards.


So, to answer your question...is the Hawkeye a good rifle? You bet your bobsled it is! Oh, on a side note...I liked that little gun so much I was determined to find another. Didn't find a Hawkeye, but found a Ruger M77 Mk II Compact in 7mm-08. Now, both my grandson and I have great shooting rifles.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

Great story.....I can't think of a better way to pass-on a hunting gun. Thanks for sharing the pics and the story.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

If you go with the compact, be sure to get a checkered stock. Mine is laminated and smooth with no checkering in 223. The problem is when extreme weather varmint hunting I like to wear wool gloves over the top of thin elk skin gloves. With the wool it is really tough to keep a firm grip on the stock. Other than this, it is very accurate and has taken down plenty of yotes and always just 1 shot and flop.

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"Tastes just like chicken"

While you did not describe the types of varmint hunting available within a reasonable drive, a heavier barrel better meets your list of uses. Heavier barrels are a lot more likely to hold the same group size and/or point of impact as they heat up. For most people "recreational target shooting" usually means firing off a bench at a gun range. That focuses on group size so heavier barrels tend to work better. In my experience prairie dog hunting requires a rifle with low enough recoil that firing prone I can observe my hits and the dust puff from misses. Again, a heavier barrel works better. Light weight carbines like Mule Packer's are great for what he showed them being used for, big game hunting, but that is not on your list.

Staying on a budget, with older bolt actions my rule of thumb was for tiny groups buy Remington or Savage but for a certain safety for big game hunting buy Winchester or Ruger or a sporterized military surplus action. That would nudge you toward Remington or, on a lower budget, Savage. To get the smaller groups from more modern rifles you might want to look for one with pillar bedding.

However, my neighbors are not that far away so I handle the varmints that get into the food I grow with a shotgun and .22 LR. Other members might need a light centerfire for varminting.

I had my grubby little hands on a bolt action CZ in .223 that had iron sights and a Mannlicher styled stock. Personally, I had no need for a .223 bolt gun, but that little gun was gorgeous!

(I still regret not buying it)

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

I've never heard the expression "top oading" before in regard to a bolt action rifle. Please explain.
As far as Ruger bolt actions, I LOVE my 30-06 77 MkII. If ya gots money to spend you ought ot get a .308 stainless international. If they ever come out with a .223 stainless international, I'm all over it. The Hawkeye is an improved MkII -I believe with a better trigger and stock. I don;t see what they could do to improve the action of the Mk II though-it is pretty much perfect

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Forum consigliere

My prairie dog shooting buddy bought one in .223 last year before our trip. Standard weight barrel. It was a fine shooter. Accurate even when the barrel heated up. I was very impressed. Nice looking rifle too. I’m typically not a Ruger guy but would buy one if in the market for a new rifle.

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SWCA #2922

Sorry, new to this style of rifle. What I mean is I am wanting a .223 bolt action with wood stock where you don’t have to take the magazine out to load the rifle. I like the style where you just shove them in through the top one by one.

Just have always wanted a .223 caliber bolt since my uncles .222 was so much fun. I’d prefer a .223 since ammo availability is much better and cost much lower over the triple deuce.

I guess really, this would be a range fun gun but I want it fairly handy for offhand shooting for plinking and shooting steel gongs in the desert. Not looking for a dedicated benchrest heavyweight by no means. Might seem ridiculously stupid to plink with a .223 bolt gun, but I have so many memories of doing just that with that .222.

People have no issues with people shooting an AR-15 like that. Well I’m drawn to a bolt gun because they are so pretty and simple. I had my fun with AR style rifles in Afghanistan and have 0 desire to own one personally.

I have nothing against Ruger in general, or the Hawkeye in particular. They make fine guns. Just curious if you are dead set on this particular gun, or have you taken a look at others. Weatherby offers a Vanguard Sporter bolt gun in .223 that, IMO, is a lot nicer looking than the Ruger and would cost you $100 + less than the cost of the Ruger (street price).
https://www.weatherby.com/products/r...r-sporter.html

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SWCA 3297 SWHF 583

No not dead set on the Ruger. Wow that’s a sharp looking rifle there. I’ll need to read up on them.

You want a blind magazine.

Curiously, these are actually less popular/available than detachable box mags, because manufacturers figured out that it's cheaper to do a DBM and bottom metal than a cheap box mag (AICS-pattern or the odd AR-mag bolt-gun is not cheap).

I will suggest that if your goal is target/bench shooting, there is nothing stopping you from inserting a magazine and single-feeding cartridges. That's how I do it most of the time. The only downside is having to remove the magazine for range rule purposes. Insisting on an internal magazine is actually very limiting.

Personally, I would select a CZ 527, especially if I could have it with CZ's excellent set trigger.

That said, your primary goal is, frankly, aesthetics. Get the Ruger. Don't listen to me drone on about CZs or Tikkas or whatnot. Slap the best scope you can buy on it--a Vortex Viper PST Gen II in something like 1-6 would be fun. If I had to, I'd wait and save up to get glass of that quality. The only problem is that a high-dollar 1-6 optic, while very good at what it is, is only going to be good on this one gun you have. You could probably resell it, but the big market for LPVOs is AR guys, and by that time AR fashion will change six times. Meanwhile, for another $120, you could have had a big butt-whuppin 5-25x50mm.

So like, maybe just get a nice LPVO, but don't go crazy?

Later on, you can get discrete rifles for individual things if you want, whether it's a lightweight synthetic-stocked walking varminter, or a heavy-barreled aluminum-chassis'd 6.5mmCM long-distance hole punch.

PS--I like Savages and Remingtons, but not for what you want. You can get internal-magazine Remmies really easy, in the 700 ADL line, but holy hell cheap factory stocks are absolute garbage. My Savage 12 came in a really nice HS Precision, but my Remmy 700 wore this awful plastic camo thing until it fell into an MDT chassis.

Tikka T3x Superlite Rifle | Sportsman's Warehouse

Just in case you decide you actually want the Tikka.

What a great story. You did good grandpa. Thanks for sharing.

I have a Hawkeye in 223, the standard model sporter weight with a wood stock. I shoot it often, it's a great rifle. Points in it's favor:

It's a Mauser style action. Works well and nice to look at.

In 223 Rem, it's not generally fussy about stock bedding. These Rugers are not free floated barrels. I floated mine and it made nearly no difference in the already good accuracy (1/2 to 3/4 MOA).

Fit and finish are first rate on mine.

Hammer forged barrel is very smooth inside, easy to clean and tend to build less copper deposits than some other barrels.

Hawkeyes come with Ruger proprietary 1" rings that don't need separate bases.

The negatives:

Only one that I've noticed. The forward action screw is angled rearward, drawing the action rearward and down as it's tightened. This is fine but you need a hex key long enough reach it and it needs 90-95 in/lbs of torque.

Weatherby Vanguard was mentioned. I'd suggest looking at one. These rifles use a Howa 1500 barreled action. This is Japanese made and is a Remington 700 clone of exceptional quality.

One thing to note is both the Hawkeye and the Vanguard are satin blued and not polished blued. If that's real important, you'll have to crank up the budget.

If you reload, 223 bolt guns work great with reduced loads for plinking. Both of these rifles use a 1:9 twist so cheap 55 grain jacketed bullets loaded with pistol powders at 1300-2000 FPS are amazingly accurate and have negligible blast and recoil. Plus, the barrel heats more slowly.

The Weatherby Vanguard or Tikka T3 would both be my choices over the Ruger. Although the Tikka uses a detachable magazine.

I would look real hard at a CZ. The Guys at the gun club shoot mostly CZ's in the Factory Sporter class.

I've got a Ruger 77 International/mannlicher in .243.... had it since the early 80s ......... a great rifle IMO..... don't know if they make one in .223.

So; let me recommend CZ 527s in 223/5.56 .....3 or 5 round detachable magazines.... in a number of stock styles.....

I have three; 2 Americans ( one 3 round mag and one 5) and a 5rd FS/Full Stock/mannlicher. These are built on CZ's "medium" Mauser action ( Small; rimfire, Medium; 2.223/5.65 and 7.63x39?, and Large .243 and up)

IMO CZs are the best bang for the buck going..... I've accumulated over a half dozen since 2011; Model 452s FSs in .22lr & .22 mag, a 453 Varmint w/ SST in .17hmr and the 527s in .223/5.65. Paid as little as $350 for a used, but as new, American from a shooting buddy who wanted to "upgrade" to a Varmint....... to just under $700 for a new FS.

FYI CZ says their 527 can shoot either .223 or 5.56. and all 527 have single set triggers.

One last thought: I'm in Pa with a lot of woods and smaller fields..... my CZ FS ( and one American ) wears a 1-4x20 Leupold..... for Varmints (Groundhogs and Coyotes) and walking in Penn's Woods.

Good Luck

I will throw out, you might consider the Remington model seven, mine is the old style w/ 18 1/2” barrel. The newer 20” also might be fine.

Mine has shot close to moa to the same point of impact since 1985.

Lots of nice wood stocked bolt actions out there. You could write a book on picking the "best". In fact, folks have.

The Ruger 77 MK-ll Hawkeye? A fine all around rifle. I have owned a few modell 77's, and the best action, in my opinion, is the MK-ll, which has real controlled round feeding. Pictured below is me hunting with a favorite - a Model 77 MK-ll Hawkeye compact in 7mm/08.

Larry

Attached Images

me.jpg (208.3 KB, 18 views)

Thanks, again I do NOT want a rifle where one has to take the magazine out to load it.

I keep waiting for someone to suggest a 1980s Interarms MK X mini-Mauser carbine. They had what the Ruger lacks, an action reduced in size to match the cartridge Jay wants. In essence they were a small 98 Mauser action made in 7.62x39 and .223. While the 7.62x39's ball seat and throat we cut to military specifications the .223s were throated similar to other commercial .223 rifles. In hind sight I wish I'd bought a .223 but I had an old Sako Model 46 .222 Rem that had a small action and my budget was tight. Hopefull a member who owns one can post a picture, preferably showing a cartridge being loaded. I think Jay would enjoy one.

Don't discount the magazine fed rifles, they have their advantages. I'm a CZ/Brno fan and the 527 to me is the best bang for your buck. Here's a pic of my 223/5.56.

Picture of a 527 carbine or youth model????

CZs often come with nice to "great" wood

It's the carbine, also have one in 7.62x39 and a Full Stock model in 22 Hornet.

Some gorgeous rifles posted here - but here's my only bolt .223 - a Remington M788 .223 from 1969. That means it's a 1:12" twist but it will STACK 55 gr. bullets.
Don't discount a good used 788.

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8pt buck taken with Rem 788 223.jpg (44.6 KB, 9 views)

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

I have a Ruger Hawkeye in .270. It is an excellent and very accurate rifle. I will never sell it.

The .223 Rem. 788 is a great rifle! They were $99 at Ernst Hardware and on average they grouped better than Rem. 700s and other manufacturer's competitors to the 700. The problem with 788s was the same machinery was used to produce .22 LRs that were too expensive to compete in the sporter .22 LR market. Low .22 LR sales forced Remington to put the production machines out to pasture.

I'm sorry for distracting the thread away from "top loading" bolt actions again. I couldn't stop myself. Remington discontinuing the 788 in the late 1980s left economy versions of the Savage 110 as the best buy in .223 bolt actions. Most if not all Savage 110s are loaded the way Jay prefers.