Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger Hawkeye Walnut Compact with 16" barrel

243, 7mm08, or 308? please provide your rationale.

as an easy to carry "mountain rifle" for the forested slopes in Virginia. specifically whitetails. targets of opportunity feral hogs and coyotes. ixnay on the black bears.

i figure muzzle blast will be hideous with any of them... am leaning towards the 243.

I am on my second Ruger Compact in 308. Topped with a Weaver K6. Accurate, light and easy to handle. Won't break the bank either.

One of my old friends, a professional wildlife biologist, has used a Ruger 77 compact in .243 for culling and scientific collecting for years. I would be surprised if he isn't on his second or third barrel.

I'd hunt down a Ultralite 7/08 with a 20 inch barrel.....



oh, wait... I did.

If you reload, the 7-08. If you don't , the 243 or 308. 7-08 is not readily available around here as the other two.Plus the 308 and 7-08 are overkill for the coyote.

Also factoring in you have small bodied deer there like we do here ( for the most part). That said, a 243 is fine.

For me, I'd probably pick the 243 for ammo availability and recoil.

Edit: I would be happy with any one of the three.

Love my synthetic stocked Ruger Scout with its 16/1" barrel. Always wanted a Compact in 7mm-08 or .308 but won't bother now the Scout does what I was looking for and, with iron sights my eyes can actually use, more.

In a Compact for whitetails any of the three cartridges will work. I'd probably opt for the 7mm-08.

Wish we had our SS Lamo Compact .260 back. It were death on a cracker w 120 Accutips.

Noisy little buggers. A buddy had the .243, it belched a fireball you could see at noon, too. It shot okay, nothing special, but not bad.


I sure didn't like sitting next to him at a bench, though.

+1 on this. The 20" ultralight has an actual adult sized stock and does not breath fire like a dragon with each shot. Seriously, the length of pull on those compacts has to be 12.5" or so. They are well made no doubt. but not made for a person my size for sure.

I've got one in 223 and even it is LOUD. I just don't think I'd want one in a cartridge with any more powder than what I have. I also have one of the Ultralights in 223. Of the 2, I'd definitely go with another UL if looking at a larger cartridge. I'll probably grab another of the ULs if I ever come across one in 243 or 7-08 at a decent price.

Also, my Compact has been much more difficult to find a good load for than any of my other Rugers. I finally found a load with the 62gr TSX that it really likes, but most other loads were 2MOA or worse.

yeah, you guys are talking sense to me. i have monkey arms - 36 inch arm length. that length of pull will do me no favors. and love the fireball at noon observation. i am better off with a lightweight platform with a 20-22" barrel.

The cartridges are all fine, but the barrel's too short. H22's got it right. I used to have a tanger UL, and it was possibly the perfect woods gun.

I am 6'2".....never had a problem with the LOP. Short barrel no problem either. I am running a Weaver K6.....no problem with the shorter eye relief.

Nice Buck , rifle and Pic!

308 -easiest to find ammo
7-08 -most efficient
243 -does it from gophers to deer.

My arms are 35. I bought that little Compact 223 for my nephew to use but his dad wanted him to use something a little bigger. We ended up finding him a youth 260 and I worked up some light handloads. Not much more energy than the 223, but makes him feel better. That short LOP doesn't feel right to me, but it's usable, and it makes for a really handy truck gun. My UL feels like it was custom made for me. I love that little rifle, and there is very little weight difference between the two.

Funny. It kinda looks like you shot a deer that was wearing a leash. 😃

I was just focusing on the caliber. Good call though on looking for a longer barreled gun.

TexPat - " It kinda looks like you shot a deer that was wearing a leash.". I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for it...hopefully, not one that will make the 6PM news. Homesteader

..........Added 1" of additional LOP on my 300 WSM Ruger Frontier by simply buying a Limbsaver slip on recoil pad. 12.5" to 13.5".

I am 6'3" 227 lbs and my arm length is 35". Depending on how thin or thick my clothing is, I do not find the LOP to be too short at all when using the slip on pad which is all of the time.

It boils down to your tolerance level for added noise. You gain great all day carrying, handling and speed with the Ruger compacts, while increasing the noise levels as well.....Tradeoffs! Tradeoffs!

Ear protection is always a MUST....