Ruger Hawkeye 257 Roberts accuracy issue?

Brian Gray

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I am interested in purchasing a new Ruger Hawkeye in 257 Roberts. I have read a couple of reviews on the internet that said the accuracy wasn't great, around 2 moa. Does anyone own one of these new Hawkeyes in 257? and if so how does it shoot?
 
I have a hunting buddy of mine that has inherited one from his late father. It's a beautiful rifle, that shoots factory loads,(Remington Core-Lok), and it's definitely a shooter. I have a Hawkeye as well in 300WM and it's also a shooter.
 
I love the looks and feel of Ruger M77 rifles. I own only one and it is a shooter. I know that they seem to be hit or miss on accuracy. I know several people that love them or hate them because of this. That being said the .257 Bob is a great round especially if you hand load.
 
I have a .257 Roberts, it’s a m77 ...think it’s was called there mountain rifle, 20in barrel. I likes 115 grain Partitions retty well, I don’t remember the load I worked up off hand. It also likes Hornady SST 117 grain. I have an 1.75x6 vxiii on it ....nice little gun. Haven’t used it in years as dont rifle hunt any more. I actually been thinking of selling it.
 
If accuracy is derived from consistency then any Ruger Hawkeye in .257 Roberts should be good. The only watch-point for the Hawkeyes in .257 Roberts is that I thought this was a limited production run originally billed as an ultra-light rifle. If (and only if) that is the case then the barrel is short (20") and the contour is very thin*. It is truly a hunting rifle i.e. 1-2 shots and done. It is not/was not designed to drop lead into a small hole all day long because of barrel contour. In my opinion this is fine - target rifles and hunting rifles have truly different purposes.

In general, with Ruger, the most common knock I hear is something along the lines of "Ruger farms out barrel production and so accuracy is hit or miss". For the Hawkeye rifles this is a non issue as production is done in-house - and if you're worried about their standards, then read reviews about their lower end American rifle or higher end Precision rifle. I think the company has proven that it can make rifles which shoot well.

The next most common theme I hear on gun blogs about Rugers is that they "only shoot 2 moa but can do that after being dropped/runover/left in mud". It is a weird complaint. Again, if I am buying a hunting rifle then I want something that isn't finicky in the field.

Certainly there are lemons produced by any of the major gun companies - Ruger included - but in general my belief is that the biggest factor in rifle accuracy is the shooter. Spend time at the range, spend time with knowledgeable friends who can critique your technique at the range, and spend time taking care of your firearms and you'll begin to figure out if its the system (rifle) or the process (human).

*belief is based on fact that my brother had a Ruger 77 Hawkeye in .257 Roberts re-barreled/chambered for me in 7x57. He wanted Krieger to match the specs of the original barrel and they said they couldn't as the barrel was thinner than they felt comfortable to produce. I never fired the rifle when it was off the factory line.
 
I have 2 Ruger 77 MKIIs. One in 257 Roberts. The other in 280 Rem.
Both shoot extremely well.
I handload everything from 75gr Sierra HP Varmint to 120gr Sierra SPBT GameKings in the 257. Groups all well for me.

I once observed a shooter, shoot his Ruger 77 MKII, in 257 Roberts, at 1,000 yards. Shot 10 rounds that scored 10X (meaning 10 rounds within 5" at 1,000 yards) using 75gr Sierra HP Varmint.

Glad i only shoot matches for fun, not score!!
 
The internet says a lot of things. Remingtons don't shoot either. Get a Ruger and shoot it. mtmuley
 
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