Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hawkeye upgrades?

I’ve got a Ruger Hawkeye Hunter 6.5 creedmoor, stainless steel with walnut stock coming in and of course like any real gun nut, I’m already thinking about what do I need to do to make this rifle better. This is funny to me because, heck I don’t even know how it’s going to shoot right off the bat… it may shoot great. I know I’ll be getting rid of the picitinny rail so whatever scope I choose will be mounted lower. From experience the factory trigger on the hawkeye is on the heavy side for me. Which replacement trigger or kit would you choose? I’ve also heard there’s a pressure pad built into the forend of the stock, remove or not? What would you do or what have you done?

Thanks,
Chance

Shoot it first, see what if anything it needs.

Bed it in the after-market stock of your choice.

Jard trigger upgrade kit.

Keep the original trigger parts, as if you ever have to send it to Ruger for service they will remove the after-market trigger parts and sell you new original parts.

Of course I’ll shoot it first.

Im buying it because I like the wood stock. Keeping it for sure. I’ll check out the jard trigger kit, and thanks for the advice on the trigger parts.

I've been told by people who worked for Pine Tree Casting that Ruger does that for liability purposes.

Bed the wood stock and float it


Click 2 coils off the trigger spring and polish and hone the surfaces. It's pretty easy to get a MKII/Hawkeye trigger down to 2.5-3lbs and crisp with the original parts.

I own several Hawkeyes.

I routinely replace the trigger spring and polish the mating surfaces in the trigger. It's very easy and takes about 30 minutes. When you're done you have a ~ 3lb trigger with a very simple (open) design that can be trusted in any conditions.

I personally believe Hawkeyes - especially the stainless ones - are a good value in today's rifle world (especially if one is a fan of 3-position safeties).

SR

Make sure mag box is not binding and is floating.

This

Yep, absolutely check for that.

Yep. So simple a cave man could do it.

Some good suggestions so far.

I would add that there are, or were, some good directions online for performing trigger work on the 77. If you screw it up or it is still not to your liking, then you can still buy an aftermarket trigger but you might save some money doing the trigger job yourself.

i like to glass bed and float the barrel right away , i always take my new to me rifles apart and see how it fits in stock and clean the barrel channel out and reseal it too.

Thanks for all of your recommendations! I’ll definitely deal with the trigger myself. I’m going to shoot it first and then free float and bed the action just to test to see how much it helps. In my opinion, it always does help.

Something I like to do with new (or old) rifles is to remove the firing pin and spring from the bolt, clean it and the empty bolt body with solvent, then lubricate with Dri-Slide, which won’t gum up the works. I also like to put a little moly grease on the lugs and other stuff that rubs against each other, just a touch does it.

Don’t mess with Dr-Slide in “sensitive locations” like on your wife’s tablecloth or white carpet!

IME you might be jumping the gun just a bit.............wait until you get the rifle.

I had a gun on order from Ruger for over a year.........they discontinued it at shot show and informed me, sure sorry about that !!!!!!!!

It’ll come, it’s coming from gunbroker, but I understand what you were saying.

The LC6 on the Hawkeye is different than the old MK2 trigger. It generally only needs a lighter spring. I've clipped them like Heath suggested, but a lighter spring is the easy button and only costs about 40 cents at Ace. I'd lightly polish the sear, so it's smoother though. No honing or filing, like you would on a MK2 trigger.

Here's what I'd do to the OP's rifle:

1. Glass bed. Leave the speed bump. Ruger designed the angled recoil lug and speed bump to work together.
2. Lighter trigger spring.
3. Check mag box for binding. If it is, fix it.
4. Polish the bolt and race ways. Make it run smooth like a model 70.
5. Work up a good load for it and hunt it.

These are things I would like to do but am a little afraid of dicking something up in the process.

The trigger spring is so simple my dog, if I had one, could do it. I’ve used Ruger springs in Mausers and vice-versa. Get your calipers out, measure the diameter, length, and wire diameter. Buy ones with the same dimensions for the first two, but lighter in the third, and you’ll have a lighter pull.

The mag box trim is also easy-peasy. Open the floorplate, and if the box isn’t free in it’s recess, take a bit off the bottom with a file, then touch up the bare metal with cold blue. It only needs to be just clear of the bottom metal and the sides. I’ve not had one binding on the sides, only the bottom. My Hawkeye Predator .308 started shooting rounder groups once I filed the box and floated the barrel.

I did the internet fix on a 77/22 trigger, but only the spring was changed on a couple of Hawkeyes. If you’re the nervous type, content yourself with the changing the spring.

Already bought this one! Thanks for all the great responses.

There's real beauty in these rifles, but they do need some attention. Some are worse than others, but all of them need a good glass bedding job. Polishing out the raceways helps tremendously on how the action feels when you run the bolt. I always refer to them as being rough as a corn cob when new. Again, some are worse than others. I used to love buying the M77 MKII rifles, but knew I'd be working on them for a day to get them how I like them. The Ruger Hawkeye is better in some regards, and I've had many that shot lights out. Great robust rifles, that sure do work. Good luck to the OP, I'm sure he will like the rifle he bought. The stainless/walnut models are a great looking combo.

Good point, bsa! My brain is still stuck on the older MKII. Thanks.