Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger M77 Hawkeye vs Win 70 Pre 64

Something to consider for those complaining of Ruger actions being rough, one can slick up a Ruger bolt with valve grinding compound on bearing surfaces; just keep it away from the locking lugs.

It's not the bolt that is rough. It's the inside of the receiver. That can be, and does get, dealt with first thing when I buy a Ruger. It takes a properly fitted tool, some sand paper, and elbow grease and time to work that out though. Have you even had a Ruger 77?

[quote=MontanaMan]There's no smoother feeling action than a pre-64 Win, not even the new Classic versions & surely not a Ruger, though, functionally, both of them work fine.

And as for aesthetics, I'll take either version of the Win's with a slicked up set of Conetrols instead of the ugly azzed Ruger rings.

About the only thing better on a Ruger is the feel of the stock when compared to an old pre-64 or a Classic Sporter, except for the Win FWT Classic (or push feed) which is very nice.

I have a prewar 30gov06, an Pre64 Alaskan in 338 and a standard 270 wcf and my Steyr MS rifles are all smoother. The Prewar is smoother than my Sedgley sporter which is a 03 Springfield action.

Left handed RCM? Pretty cool. I am down to 2 Ruger 77's, and they are both stainless 300 magnums. Both great rifles, but if I had to pick one, it would be the 300 RSAUM. It shoots great, and is sort of compact. Only made it for one year too. Function and accuracy on both 300's are great, but they sure did not come that way from the factory.

I've had em and I can't think of a better "properly fitted tool" than the bolt. You oughta try it

It's the goldilocks of smoothing tools.

Since 1994. It works.

They really are pieces of sht. Here an m-70 new off the shelf, reviewed by a very competent Alaskan rifleman:

https://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/threads/new-winchester-model-70-alaskan-30-06-review.2785525/

FWIW both are good rifles, the most meaningful difference in my opinion, and the opinion of a well respected guide/outfitter is the safety is located on the Winchester's bolt and nearly impossible to accidentally put on safe while operating the bolt under duress while the Ruger's safety is mounted on the action and CAN be bumped to the safe position while operating the bolt with vigor.

Might only matter if being charged by something that wants to hurt you.

They are both great and I still own a few of both but have landed on the Win 70 classics to replace both.

The Rugers are great, gas handling is a real improvement, but occasionally the actions are rough almost beyond redemption. A few Rugers I've owned have been smooth out of the box; most need some lapping. One Ruger I still have needed aggressive lapping AND high-tech coating on the bolt (NP3) and action surfaces (Black-T) just to keep the rifle from jamming at the rear of the bolt stroke in fast use. I would be slightly hesitant to buy a Ruger I hadn't handled, or that someone hadn't vouched for. You might be in for some long nights with lapping compound.

The Pre-64 safety (and M70 classic safety) are larger and much easier to use with gloves on. Especially the move from bolt-locked to fire. The Ruger safety is tiny and very close to the bolt shroud in the most rearward position.

In the end they are pretty similar. Where the Ruger really loses to the Winchester is if you want to go with a lightweight aftermarket stock. With the Winchesters you have 3 options for stocks in the 22 ounce range (Bansner, Brown, and MPI). With the Ruger it's just MPI, which is the most difficult of those three companies to deal with.

Because of the stocks available for the Winchesters, it's not that tough to build a 6lb M70 (pre-64 or classic). I have several. The lightest Ruger I have, in a fairly flexible MPI stock, is 6lb 5 ounces. Not a huge diff but the Brown and Bansner stocks are much stiffer. They are also easier to get.

Not that you asked, but as far as gas-handling, the later model Win classics do have somewhat of a gas blocking bolt shroud. Not sure when Winchester switched to that later model bolt shroud (which has two pins holding the safety in vs one pin) but maybe around 2002-2004? It can be retrofitted to the earlier New Haven classics, though.

Rugers are also a little trickier to bed.

I've had both. I liked the ergos of the Hawkeye more. Come to think of it I have no real reason why I got rid of that Hawkeye? I liked the look, feel, trigger, and accuracy. It was reasonably light also. Now I'm mad at myself 🤨