Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why did the Ruger Hawkeye All-Weather rifle fail?

Why did the Ruger Hawkeye All-Weather rifle fail?

The Ruger Hawkeye All-Weather stainless/synthetic rifle is no longer on Ruger's website. It's apparently being closed out at firesale prices by a number of businesses - I've seen two places recently that have them for $499 - which isn't all that much more than the unarguably inferior Ruger American Rifle in stainless.

To me, it seemed to be the essential rugged-use rifle. An above-average synthetic stock, stainless steel metalwork and excellent build quality. A rifle that would last through Armageddon!

OK, you probably had to tweak it a bit to get MOA accuracy, but those tweaks were well within the ability of the vast majority of gun owners.

What happened?

Profit margin vs sales.
More profit with the American models.

I purchased my first Ruger in 1978 . Things have changed.

The M77 MKII is considerable more rifle then the American,but I'd rather have an American before a Tikka.

Flyer

Perhaps they felt sorry for Winchester?

I bought my first new rifle in 30 years last year, and it was a Ruger Hawkeye, and your assessment is exactly like mine. I bought this one as the last 30-06 I'd ever need to buy. I've got a closet full of them, and I wanted to go out with a good one.

Although I would not be the one to say Ruger can't walk and chew gum at the same time, it looks like they want to capture a niche where things like the #1 and the stainless Hawkeye don't exist and the American does. There are unprecedented numbers of guns being sold and you either concentrate on what sells the highest volumes or you sit on the sidelines. Ruger wants as much of that market share as possible.

Solder is not guns, but I did work for a solder factory for 8 years. Just before the owners put the place up for sale, we went through a phase of introspection. There were 10,000 SKUs in our inventory, some with an 80-year supply sitting in our warehouse. The owners had been willing to make anything the customer wanted for 25 years. There were less than 2000 items that ever really sold and of those, the company had 200 that
generated 80% of the sales. Some, before you had the accountant massage the numbers, cost $11/lb to make and we were selling for $7/lb. I know this, because I was the guy who created the report. My point is, someone runs a similar report at Ruger, and folks make decisions based on that report.

Ruger has had a policy for as long as I can remember. They have a 6% price increase every year. They have simply priced themselves out of production.

Rather than roll the price back...they produce a cheaper model.

The market is changing and more and more folks want cheap rifles. Going forward the American rifle and its competitors are going to have more and more of the market. I wouldn't be suprised to find that the market share of other "flagship" models like the 70, 700 all have decreased over the last 15 years as more of the bolt action dollars go to buy savages, marlins and Americans. Even the older economy rifles like the Tikka have a harder row to hoe.

That said Ruger still makes the Hawkeye and they still make them in stainless, just not the all weather. I would suspect that in time a new "all weather" will surface, but it won't be in as many chamberings nor as in a large a production run as the old all weathers. Maybe starting down a road like the #1 where its limited run kind of thing.

I wonder if in 20 more years our generation will morn for the Hawkeye and its counterparts like my dads generation mourned the pre-64

I wonder if part of it may be the numbers of injection-molded stocks that have to be made for the highly successful RAR's. The stainless versions of the Hawkeye now have laminated rather than "plastic" stocks. It may be that Ruger simply can't make/buy enough injection-molded stocks for the All-Weather Hawkeye--along with most hunters who want (or accept) injection-molded stocks are buying RAR's rather than Hawkeyes.

One thing's for sure: Most firearms companies don't offer what customers aren't buying. At least not for long.

I don't think it failed, they just see more profit elsewhere right now. When the demand returns for the All Weathers, they will make more. For now, there are a bunch still out there.

I have a Predator, and the stock is very little, if any, heavier than the molded stock on the AW, although the barrel contour is a bit beefier. The laminated stock is nicely machine-checkered and well finished, but the recoil pad is a bit stiff compared to the squishy one on the AW. The two-stage trigger is pretty nice too, with just an occasional bit of creep in the final stage, easily managed. I floated it and trimmed the mag box a bit, which rounded out the groups just a mite. All in all, a really solid rifle; not cheap, but well worth the price.

If anything specific, I'd say competition from Tikka. The T3 Lite stainless is lighter, easier handling, smoother bolt in the store, smoother/prettier finish on the metal and much nicer fit and finish on the stock. In an AR world, lots of buyers probably regard the DBMs as an advantage. Read up, you'll likely consider superb accuracy to be a safer bet with the Tikka. And at MSRP, the Finn is about $150 less.

Most buyers aren't going to regard being built a little heavier/more ruggedly, nor the controlled round feed as sufficient advantages to choose a Hawkeye over the T3, if both are at non-clearance street prices.

That said, I'm having a really hard time not picking up a blue walnut Hawkeye right now.

I know it's not a popular answer but, too many choices was probably another part of the downfall, only part, I agree that the American and it's ilk are another significant portion of the reason. Yes you have to listen to your end-users, yes you have to innovate. However, at some point there are so many choices that retailers throw up their hands and decide that SS/Syn Hawkeyes are going to be "Special Order Only". People with $$ in their hands want to walk out of the LGS with a gun the day they decide to buy one.

This. I imagine the RAR is cannibalizing some of the sales of the Hawkeye All-weather, along with bringing in buyers that wouldn't have forked over the money for the Hawkeye in the first place.

Perhaps it's a bit selfish of me, but I'm kind of glad. Simply because the sales on the all-weather model for $499 put it within my budget and I snagged one. I'd rather have the Hawkeye for $499 than a RAR for $350.

You forgot to mention that the Tikka has a far better trigger too.

The 9 RAR-Predators that I own are all at least as accurate than any of the Ruger 77s that I own or have owned in the past.

The market seems to favor the concept that no rifle is worse than its best attribute - assuming accuracy is that attribute.

In looking at 223 bolt guns this Christmas, the shop handed me a RAR - though I am already familiar enough with the 243 we bought for one son a couple of years ago. But I obliged the salesman and looked it over briefly. And that magazine is still just as cheap and junky as any gun part ever devised. It is certainly not deserving of sitting at the same table upon which Ruger has built its reputation: reliable and rugged. That design is truly the weakest link in the rifle, and my experience suggests that nothing is better than its weakest link rather than the opposite. I'll take the somewhat less likely accuracy of the M77 over an RAR any day. (My money went overseas in acquiring a 223 BTW. )

Well, as someone once wrote, only accurate rifles are interesting.

I don't use a firearm in the harsh conditions that you do, so while I agree that the RAR magazine is a compromise, it isn't deal killer for me. Besides, I'm, most, a 1-shot hunter, so the magazine is just a place to carry additional cartridges. My 2 RAR-Ps in 223 are both MOA or better shooters and the magazines seem to feed fine.

Since you're asking for opinions, I'll give you mine. The same reason they changed the finish on the blued version. Nobody liked the matte finish. Period. End of discussion. (from my POV at least)

I'm betting that in a year (or sooner), you'll see Ruger release a SS Hawkeye with the old Mark II style (or similar "shiny") SS finish.

Of course, that's WAG.

I think I'll stick with, "Only reliable rifles are reliable".

I will say this about the RAR, for a rifle allegedly conceived around a campfire, it has a number of strong points learned, I presume, from mistakes others have made or designs which have proven themselves. I have to admit that the RAR magazine reminds me of nothing as much as the plastic junk mags that have always been the obvious WTF on Remington's 581/541 22 rifles. How much better it would have been if Ruger had borrowed a concept more like Remington's M788 magazines.....like Tikka did?

As I told a Ruger neophyte at the range this fall who was holding the pieces of his new RAR's magazine in his hands, Send it back to Ruger; they'll take care of you." That is quite different than saying they'll make it right, which is too bad.

I don't like detachable magazines that protrude below the bottom of the stock on a sporting rifle, one of the reasons that I don't favor Remington 788s.

My RAR-Ps have all been reliable. They feed, fire, and eject without any problems. Unlike some, many?, folks, I haven't had any troubles with the magazines in 204, 223, 22-250, 243, 6.5 Creed, and 260.

Ruger has had a lot of success with the "plastic junk mags" in the millions of 10/22s that they've sold since 1964.

The cheapest stainless steel RAR I could find on Gunbroker was $429. The cheapest Hawkeye All-Weather is $499 on closeout. I've owned both, and I'd never trade a Hawkeye for a RAR + $70.

One problem, I'm sure, is that the MSRP of any Ruger 77 stainless steel model is currently over $1,000! When I was a kid, even a minimum wage job would allow me to save up the $165 cost of a Ruger 77 (probably why so many Americans are being sold today).

What's funny, as I reflect on changes over the past 40+ years, is that I started out with a Ruger 77 in .284 Win, which pushed a 150gr 7mm bullet at 2850fps. I'm over 60 now, and ending up my hunting years with a newly-purchased Ruger Hawkeye in 7mm-08, which pushes a 140gr 7mm bullet at 2830fps.

The best things never change!

What happened to the Re-Vamped and Re-Introduced Red Label ?

I can sort of understand dropping the Gold Label SxS , and also get the accountanomics behind dropping the RedLabel, but once the Engineering money has been spent to re-vamp a product, the only way to recoup that investment is via manufacturing sufficient inventory, marketing it more effectively with distribution models that are much more timely & responsive.

Yes, the consumer wants instant gratification, but if there are savings involved one can be patient, and wait for one to be delivered in a few days time.

I think the whole multi-level Wholesale - Retail Distribution scheme needs to be re-thought if these smaller niche products are going to compete.

More inventory available from the Wholesale distribution center level would help many retailers move more product, rather than having just one area Big-Box

I'm still looking for a smith that would/could re-work one of my 20 Ga Red Labels into a 16 Gauge Uplander.
I believe the action is large enough. Red Label Rant Off