Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger American vs. Ruger Hawkeye (LH)

Guess I’ll be the one to put in a good word for the RAR. Hawkeyes are nice enough rifles but their real advantage for the purposes expressed by the OP is that they’re prettier. The RAR is a functional tool and a good one at that. I’ve had two so far – one RH and one LH - and out of the box both were accurate with good triggers. Their bolts are smooth operating. I’ve had four LH Hawkeyes and they all needed free floating, bedding and trigger work to get near what a RAR is out of the box. Two have smooth bolts, two are rough as a cob even after working the action many times. So besides the initial higher price, you need to put in more bucks to get a trigger as good as a RAR and have it shoot as good. I’m sure some folks will adamantly cite their exceptions, but based on my four and reports from a lot of others they need work.

If I wanted to go live in some desolate location and hunt under harsh conditions I’d take a Hawkeye hands down, they have a great reputation for working under miserable conditions. But lugging to a stand? Not exactly a high stress occupation for a rifle. Plus the RAR comes in LH stainless in multiple chamberings, stainless LH Hawkeyes are around but they are getting very scarce and expensive and they never were chambered for 7mm-08. All of my left hand Hawkeyes are stainless and I ain’t letting them go – especially now that I have so much invested in them.

Either one would work for the job specified by the OP so it comes back to what he really wants – a functional tool that gives great performance for value or a prettier rifle that needs a bit of work to come up to the same level as a shooter.

Rugar American does come in LH. Hawkeye all weather does not come in LH and may be out of production altogether. If so, there are still many RH all weather models on the shelves. Hawkeye std LH no longer in production but many new models remain unsold in gun stores.

I bought a 30-06 Hawkeye std LH a couple of years ago, love everything about it. Took some tinkering with the mag well but it's one of my most accurate if not the most accurate rifle in my collection.

Even if you accept the notion (which I don't) that all RARs are more accurate out of the box than all Hawkeyes, the RAR will forever look cheap, no matter how much lipstick you put on that pig. In the field, which is apparently where the OP is headed with the new rifle, the difference between a 1/2" rifle and a 1 or even 1 1/2" rifle generally means pretty much squat. The Hawkeye also comes with good rings. A set of comparable quality for the RAR will run $40 or so.

Good reasons for buying a RAR would be a limited budget; as a barn, truck, or loaner rifle; or to just shoot the crap out of and then sell off when you're done.

If you aren't going to use it or actually look at it that much, forget pretty. Get the American.

If you want to hang it on the wall and display the wood to guests, get the Hawkeye.

The vibe I'm getting is that you have a limited budget. You aren't going to use it much. You don't see any justification for spending the extra money and buying the Hawkeye.

I concur with your zen. Get the American.

My rifles sit in a soft case (Boyt) and are kept under my bed (won't buy a safe until I get a real house (non rental).

I have no problems spending the extra coin - but, if it's not "worth" it, then why spend it?

If I go with a stainless synethic, I'm considering the Tikka T3, Ruger American (can't find a lefty Hawkeye - or their boat paddle stock)Savage Weather Warrior.

I like the idea of stainless synthetic...just because you don't have to 'baby' it. But, I also love the aesthetics of a wooden stocked rifle with blue finish.

Mitch
Here is my "impressions" after working a gun counter for a few years and having friends that still do, and having owned a few Ruger Hawkeyes-
Bear in mind I am not stating these as facts, just what we have seen- If you were going to buy a rifle that had the highest probability of being a poor shooter, I'd buy a Hawkeye- Not all of them shoot poorly, but we saw an awful lot of them that did, and I mean really poorly- Lots of times they can be tinkered up and played with and made to shoot if you want to put the time and money into them. If I was hunting Alaska or Africa, I'd buy a Hawkeye because they are heel for stout and try to get it to shoot.
The Ruger American sounds like a rifle that you can just take out and shoot with little or no tinkering, and that sounds like what you are looking for.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Yes, I don't need an heirloom quality rifle. I want a rifle that goes 'bang' when I squeeze the trigger and is accurate 'enough'.

The question is do I get anything extra for my money with a Tikka t3 or Savage Weather Warrior over the aforementioned American?

If I ever book a elk hunt - I'll honestly probably get another semi custom (like my 257 Roberts). This rifle will fill a void in my collection of rifle calibers/cartridges...I honestly wish CZ offered more rifles in left hand - because I sure do love my CZ 17hmr and 22lr.

You should handle a Tikka T3 before you make your decision. It just might make your decision for you.

I've handled them and while they are a quality rifle, I never got the warm and fuzzies that some people speak of. (I've handled all of the rifles mentioned).

Does the Tikka t3 or the Savage Weather Warrior (accustock) provide any better synthetic stock vs the American? I know that they aren't on par with the HS Precision stocks (like my current semi custom).

Here are my "impressions" from talking to people who "work gun counters:" most don't have enough sense to pour piss out of a boot without the instructions written on the heel. If you're seeking advice from a showroom "shooter," you're getting the absolute maximum value for what you paid for that "advice:" nothing. The problem is amplified via these same gasbags using internet forums as their clearinghouses for all things worthless. I have variously heard idiots manning gun counters state that Vihtavouri powders were dangerous, Congress passed a law requiring Remington's J-Lock, it was against the law to give out copies of 4473s for various manufacturer's promotions (among other stupidity) and now this little bit of "wisdom" that seems to completely ignore Ruger's long history of manufacture of Model 77 iterations (47 years, by my last count) that has included Ruger moving barrel production in house in order to tighten up QC, the excellent reputation that they've enjoyed for accuracy, and the various documented tests published that state the same excellent results. (See Frank de Haas' "Bolt Action Rifles.")

I currently own seven Model 77s; two MKIIs and five Hawkeyes. The only one that had any issues was the one I bought from a self-appointed internet "gunsmith" that needed to be bedded after his "home mechanickin'" with a Dremel tool and sand paper yielded a wandering zero that compelled him to sell it because it "wouldn't shoot."

Anecdotal "information" isn't worth even a warm bucket of piss, especially on the internet. It's worth even less from a gun counter ape.

Geez Bricktop tell us how you really feel.

Doc

Oh, so I am a gun counter ape... Sorry, Bricktop, I don't stoop to your level of conversation. If you can ever put forth an intelligent argument, get back to me. Otherwise, if my posts inflame you that much, maybe you just out to put me on ignore and go out in your back yard and fiddle with your dibble.

Royce

Gotta hand it to Bricktop....he is some kinda smooth...

southtexas,
I concur. Hopefully, this tread will not spiral out of control. Would love to keep this thing civil. Plus I'd hate for my first thread to get locked up.

I have a RAR in 7mm-08 and it shoots very well. Have already taken several deer , hogs and an antelope. The gun is plenty accurate for hunting big game and since all of my guns reside in a safe, I don't really care about aesthetics.

Also have a RAR Ranch in .223 and a MKll in .223. I don't even shoot the MKll anymore because the RAR shoots so much better.
So, if I had to make a decision again, it would be a RAR, just to have a reliable, accurate and reasonably priced rifle.
BTW, the people that I hunt with measure each other on successful shots and humane kills, not pretty rifles.

I laugh when I read all of the stuff about an ugly rifle vs a classic. My guess is that those focused on "pretty" haven't spent a lot of time in tough conditions where pretty really doesn't matter.

Get the Hawkeye. You won't regret it later, even if you still wonder if you needed to spend that money.

At some point, you will regret the American, and most likely sell it. They are a great-shooting price-point rifle, but nothing more. You only get to live once--why do it with a rifle that guarantees you will take no pride in it?

Maybe... maybe not. I bought a 243 RAR a couple of years ago as a truck gun/loaner. It's so accurate and dependable, I find myself carrying it more and more. Not gonna sell my pre64's, but I sure appreciate the value engineering that Ruger put int this rifle. Guess different folks can take pride in different things

Actually while I said I don't like the RAR i do have a couple of savages( actually stevens 200's.) I actually kind of like them and both shoot real well and have a much more traditional feel to working the bolt than the RAR or the Tikka imho. However remember what you paid for all this advice. In reality the pick of the litter of the value priced guns imho is the Vanguard. Maybe a bit heavy but if you hunt like I do in the east we are generally hunting on 100-200 acre farms where we have permission to hunt. Its not like we hike in 5-10 miles so a 8 1/2 lb rifle is not a big deal.

bangeye,
I'd love a vanguard, but those turkeys at Weatherby won't produce one in lefty.

Have owned a number of 77's/Hawkeyes over the years, but am down to one, a custom-barreled tang-safety 77. Also own 5 American's, two rimfire and three centerfire, and in most ways prefer them to Hawkeyes because:

1) Unlike Hawkeyes, Americans don't generally need "tuning" to shoot well, since the barrel is already free-floated and the bedding system is better.

2) They have a tang safety, which I vastly prefer to the Hawkeye safety.

3) The 3-lug bolt not only promotes accuracy, by distrubuting stresses better than the traditional 2-lug bolt, but the low-rise bolt handle makes scope mounting easy.

4) While I like the 77/Hawkeye rings, I can use any mounting system I desire on the Americans.

5) If I want to fool around with a certain standard cartridge for articles, an American is much cheaper than most other rifles, and also shoots extremely well. They can also be sold for pretty much what I paid for them, all of which is why I consider them one of the greatest rifles for gun writers to ever come along.

On the other hand, I am something of a traditionalist, preferring controlled-feed and a hinged floorplate, and usually a walnut stock. But have plenty of walnut-stocked CRF rifles nicer than Hawkeyes. Have owned several Hawkeyes and never had any problem getting them to shoot OK to very well, and the trigger is easy to fix (though not as easy as an American's) but they just don't grab me like Mauser 98's or even Model 70 Winchesters. If I didn't already have an array of tough Mausers for hard use in dangerous-game country, I'd probably buy a Hawkeye. But I already have those Mausers.

But that's just me.