Wow...I think they are beautiful. I love their scope mounting system and 1 piece bolt design. I don't like the fact that the extractor tongues are not undercut...one of the most important features of CRF...and I dont care for the saftey. That being said...i like em but dont own any. Best of the domestics IMHO.
In theory the built in scope vases and factory rings are a good idea. Given the actions are not very true, it's not. To say they are the best of the domestics is a huge stretch. They are cheaply cast, the bolts cycle very rough, some generations had absolutely chit barrels and the bottom metal, volt handle and the shape of the action looks like crap. I'd take a Winchester over one any day of the week or a Remington 700 for that matter.
I like the Ruger rifles. The fact that they have found a way to manufacture them cheaply does not mean that the quality isn’t there. Ruger puts excellent barrels on their rifles these days ( last 25 years ) and they tend to shoot very well. I think the barrels rate as well as any NA manufacturer.
Gross scope alignment problems are something I haven’t been a witness to but it is a possibility with any manufacturer. Bedding scope rings is something that the layman rifle owner can and should do with any ring design imo.
The actions smooth up in a reasonable amount of time and just plain work. The only thing I don’t care for is the 3rd action screw and triggers need a bit of work it seems.
As someone who used to trophy hunt, I found the m77/Hawkeye very appealing as they were reasonably accurate, reasonably weighted, pointed and balanced well but more importantly would go “bang” every effing time. Nothing worse than your rifle not going bang when you need it to. Imo that is more important than how they appear aesthetically. After all , hunting is not a fashion contest.
