Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger American/Ruger 77

In general I've found Ruger Americans outshoot Hawkeyes, but a lot depends on how each are tweaked--if at all.

One of the problems here is defining accuracy. Most hunters still think "MOA" (which is generally regarded as inch, though it's not) for three shots at 100 yards is great. And it does indeed work for most big game hunting.

But these days MOA isn't exceptional. One of the most accurate factory rifles I've tested in the past few years was a used Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor. (Go ahead and groan.) I made sure the barrel was free-floated (it was) and modified the trigger so it would adjust to a 2-pound pull.

Then I handloaded some rounds with once-fired Hornady brass with 140-grain Berger VLD's, seated just shy of the lands, and (41.5 grains of H4350. Eileen went with me to the range, to shoot some of her own rifles. The first shot at 25 yards with the Creedmoor was close enough to shoot at 100, so I did. The shot landed a little left, but I was more interested in accuracy than zeroing. Eileen was watching through the spotting scope, and reported the second shot was missing.

This was weird, so I shot another. She then reported that the hole got a little bigger, so I fired two mores rounds, which "enlarged" the group to .33 inch, for five shots.

So it depends on what you call "accurate."

Any Ruger 77 I've had would more than shoot minute of whitetail or blacktail out beyond what was reasonable for the average schmuck.. . ( me ) should be shooting...

I did buy a Ruger American in 223, Predator Model to see what all the big deal was...

it turned out to be accurate, but the magazine was a weak point, and Ruger replaced it half a dozen times..
it jammed constantly, due to not feed right...had a gunsmith friend look at it a couple of times... told me it was because the magazine sucked...

I finally gave it to a good campfire friend down in Louisiana, he's had good luck with it.. don't know if he got the magazine flaw worked out or not...but he likes it...put a nice Leupold scope on top...

I ended up picking up a Savage Axis 2, that was a Cabelas exclusive, but since I bought it at Bi Mart, guess Cabelas got rid of some of the ones that didn't sell... it has a Winter Camo stock on it... and I bought the one they had in 243...

it was $269.00... gave the cheap scope off of it to a friend's son for his 10/22...I just play with it at the range, with different load testings...but it is certainly a very accurate rifle also... but it also feeds real well and has a a better trigger than the Ruger American had... ( which in my disappointment, I started calling it a Ruger Mexican).. I wasn't expecting much of the Savage, so I was very pleasantly surprised...have since picked up a couple more...as presents for friends... each of them love theirs...

I replaced the American, with a Howa Mini Action from Whittakers for $369.00 and love that rifle, so I picked up another one also..

so for cheap rifles, I prefer the Savage Axis or the Howa.....

For the Model 77s, I've had a batch of them in different calibers...and have only traded one off.. and the only reason I did that was someone was begging to trade for it, as he won a Model 70 in 300 Win Mag, that he had never shot... ( and that proved to be fact), so I sent the 22.250 to Montana and he shipped the Model 70 to here in Oregon..

There's a place for cheap rifles, and also for nicer ones. My only American is one of the rimfires, and it's cheap in clever ways, a good value, but the trigger guard broke off in transit, because it's cheap. They sent a new stock quicky, but still....

I also prefer Howas for my cheapos. The bones are solid, well worth upgrading. Bolt take-down is as easy as it gets. I might buy an American CF for a truck gun, or if I wanted one I could use up, then sell off, or to try one of the many interesting cartridges they offer, and there are still some SS ones available.

I've owned three Hawkeyes, a 77 UL, and a .308 boat paddle. I like the Hawkeyes the best. Foolishly sold one to pursue a bad idea, and am giving one to my son. The AW .223 is sticking, unless Howa comes out with a SS Mini with a blind mag or floorplate, likely a total fantasy, though I bet they'd sell like hotcakes at iHop.

IMO, the entry level design with the best balance of aesthetics and functionality that has come along in the last 20 years was Marlin's X gun. The fact that Freedom Group chose to discontinue Marlin's X guns in favor of the Remington 783 has never made any sense to me.

Me either.

Some years back when both were new, I handled both at Clark Bros. in Warrenton. The mag in the RAR rattled like castanets when I picked it up. The Marlin looked and felt better.

CDNN still has a few .243s for $270 with a "scope". Might be a Bushnell Trophy, which ain't too bad, actually.