Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How would you improve the Ruger Hawkeye

make it a push feed. would work just as good but piss off twice as many people when they see a non CRF being hunted.

boat paddle stock would be kinda nice to find too.......

Lighter rings! please!

Get rid of the silly angled stock screw.

They it will be easy for McMillan to make the EDGE stock to suit!!!

Gus

Bring back the 77RS carbine in .358 Winchester, at least
for a little while.

Fix the safety, (duplicate Win or Kimber)

Go to standard Rem tapped hole pattern for scope mounts.

Fully float all barrels.

Trim down receiver.

Please keep some with iron sights.

Would really like a model with a classy trim schnable forend and a straight comb (not extreme Bavarian style but like an old Husqvarna)

Who needs a stinking safety and shinny ass metal, if that's folks biggest wants buy a Volvo.

Getting rid of the angled front would be the right move.

I like the small safety lever. When I'm carrying the rifle in thick brush I don't worry about it catching on something and accidentally being moved off safe.

Be kinda nice if they offered an upgraded version like the Winchester Supergrade.

1. Bigger more useful wing type safety or go back to the tang safety.

2. I don't mind the angled recoil lug, however, so all the guys will stop crying change it to one that more resembles the win model 70 ....

3. More with factory irons for a back-up sight system...

4. Lighter rings..

5. Pisses me off that my 308 only holds 4 in the magazine. WTF... Better get that chit straightened out guys.....

6. New finish sounds like a winner, still waiting to see one up close...

7. Titanium action (ha ha)......Need to lighten these heavy sob's up somehow...

Three position tang safety. Might as well make it better while they're at it.

I've owned 4 MKII's. Sold them all and went back to tang safety models because of the safety.

Bruce

Give me one in every caliber.

HUGE improvement.

The angled recoil lug is a unique feature which may actually be of some benefit. It's not a bad design. It may bother some gunsmiths or hobbyists but I never found it to be a problem; in fact, I like it.
Replace the trigger mechanism with one that leaves a clean receiver bottom and is simple to work with. If I was designing an action, I would build it to utilize a Timney M98-type trigger.
They should bring back the tang safety adapted to work with this trigger.
The right hand (bottom) locking lug should be made enough taller that it definitely rides on the action rail which should also be a little wider with no pieces missing. On my 338RCM there is room under the extractor for the lug to be .025 taller. If it was, the bolt wouldn't try to rotate down into the magwell when the lug passes over the broken out section of the rail (probably a casting flaw).
The bolt handle should be a little thicker. At the thinnest point, the handle on this rifle is less than 1/8 inch thick. There is no concievable need for this and it looks wimpy.
The Ruger rings should be lightened and a lower set furnished with the rifle. If people want to install scopes with 50mm objectives, let them buy high rings. The integral scope bases are another decent design feature but in reality, a rail designed to accept a Talley-style ring would be nicer.
I don't think any of the changes made to the 77 rifles since 1972 have been "improvements". GD

I would like the long-action to be just a bit longer to give me a little more space for the 300 Win Mag. Seems okay for 264, 338 and 7mm Rem, but I like the 300 to have just a bit more room.

On second thought, maybe leave the long-action as it is and reserve it for standard calibers and the come out with a slightly longer action for magnums.

I'd like a Hawkeye Standard in 7x57 very much.

How to improve the Hawkeye?

Put a good recoil pad on it,
move the safety back to the tang,
make sure it's a 3-position,
smooth and tighten up the bolt operation, and
that's about it.
I wouldn't object at all to a little more reliably tighter groups out-of-the-box.

How to not mess up the Hawkeye?
DON'T go trying to lighten it up. The weight is a primary reason I like it, and I dislike having hollowed-out cavities in butt stocks.
DON'T switch to detachable box magazines. I far prefer the floor-plate follower system.

I find it odd that folks complain how heavy a ruger action is but the ruger and the rings are lighter than the Winchester without rings.

That said I do wish that Ruger would get rid of the angled screw and extend the lug enough that it was sufficent for cartridges up and including to the 416 ruger.

A little more care machining the lug races would be nice.

The safety should be enlarged slightly.

A set of lightweight rings would be nice. Even if they are sold as just an accessory.

I also wish that Ruger would colaberate with one of the fiberglass stock manufacturers to have a LW stock made for the MKII/Hawkeye particularly the SA. Maybe pattern it after the hawkeye wood stock.

1. Reduce overall weight. I prefer lightweight rifles.
2. Improve safety. Tang safety would be great.

Yes. That should also lead to better aftermarket stock choices

I see an awful lot of complaints about the safety. Outside of Phil Shoemaker's fix, is there an aftermarket safety lever?

Bookmarked in case someone posts of one. I'd buy something like that in 1.2 seconds flat.

Change the way the action is attached to the stock to a normal configuration.