Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Rer M77 Hawkeye vs Winchester M70

I am going to get a new rifle in 7mm Remington Mag. I have narrowed it down to either the Ruger M77 Hawkeye and the Winchester M70. Both are made right here in the U S A. The Winchester seems to have an edge with a free floated barrel and an adjustable trigger. Any thoughts out there? Does anyone have the Ruger Hawkeye?

Welcome to the Campfire!

I have one of each and I love them both. I believe the Winchester is now assembled in Portugal, with the majority of the parts made here. Both are great rifles and should serve you well. My guess is you will end up with both at some point. You will find many fans of each on this site.

I have had both, and like them both.

I prefer the M70 safety when gloves are on. Just a little easier to manipulate than the Ruger.

I am not absolutely certain, but in 7RM I think the M70 will be 26" while the Ruger is 24". For me, that favors the Ruger.

Ruger Hawkeye if we are talking new rifles. Hands down the Ruger Hawkey get's my vote. 5 or 6 digit Classic stainless model 70 would be even better...

I have several Hawkeyes and can't say anything negative about any of them.
All GREAT shooters right out of the box. .280, .270, .300 RCM, .243

In standard calibers with the Featherweight, Winchester by a small margin. I don't care at all for the longer barrels Winchester uses on the 7mm and 300 mags. Don't like the Sporter or Supergrade stock either.

By a narrow margin, the Winchester,simply because it has a couple of features the Ruger doesn't,and because if I planned to keep the rifle i would ditch the factory stock,and the Winchester offers more after market options than the Ruger.

A hacksaw and crown job solves the 26" barrel issue.

But nothing wrong with the Ruger. Last Hawkeye I had in 7 Rem Mag was a good shooter right out of the box.

My only Winchesters are of the Pre-64 variety, but I'm going to try out one of the newer ones someday.

I own several Rugers, both M77 MarkII and Hawkeye. My only problem with the new Hawkeyes is the metal finish. I just really can't warm up to matte blue against nice walnut. It should be gloss. I can't stand the matte stainless and won't own one. I love the older polished stainless.

Matte blue has been out of production for a few years now. Back to the shiney blue, being marketed as "satin" finish.

I have one of each, neither in the caliber you mention, and two totally different rifles. First off- I do not reload. The Hawkeye is a 30-06, beautiful rifle, my only wood stocked rifle, with the angled action screw, unbedded stock, unfloated barrel. Took some minor tweaking, but it's turned out to be impressive at the bench, consistent shooter with several sub MOA results.

The M70 is a SCFN extreme sporter, a blued version of the extreme weather in 300 wsm. It has the fully bedded B&C medalist stock, floated 24" barrel, conventional action screw arrangement. It's a consistent shooter in the MOA area as well.

Both triggers measure a tad on the heavy side but both break crisp and I haven't messed with them. I'm very happy with both rifles. Now I'm not an accompolished marksman, but if I had to decide which one to buy expecting the least amount of tuning out of the box(to get optimal groups), I'd have to vote the winny. The extreme weather versions have some nice features.

Don't know it that helps but both are very nice rifles.

I have a M70 stainless classic and a Ruger MKII stainless. The Winchester's action is smoother and has an adjustable trigger. The Ruger has a Hawkeye laminated stock and has had a trigger job and overall I like the Ruger a bit more.

A couple of comments

The Ruger magnum contours are fairly heavy with a sizable cylinder, so I would handle it before committing.

As compared to the current m70, the Ruger has an open trigger vs the enclosed trigger on the m70. The m70's trigger is adjustable and the ruger's is not. However the ruger's trigger can be inproved by the swapping of a trigger spring. If that's not enough the Timney for the ruger is excellent.

The Ruger has a one piece bolt, my understanding is that the current m70 does not.

Aftermarket stock wise, there are a number of choices, but if you looking for a Lightweight (which I think would be off balance with either rifle) the only option for the ruger is the MPI, where there are multiple LW choices for the M70.

If it were me I would keep my eyes open for a NH made M70 stainless classic.

Thanks for all of the replies. I have decided to go with the Ruger Hawkeye in 7mm Rem Mag. American company owned by americans and made right here. This will be my fourth Ruger in my safe.

Splendid choice!
You will not be disappointed.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. no knees made some very good points, that should be taken into consideration. I do commend you for making your purchase based on Ruger being an American company with American workers. Not some offshore sweat shop rifle.. I hung on to 1 last FN BACO (2008 limited edition) that was an extremely nice rifle. I didn't have any qualms with the trigger and hunted in sub zero temperatures. Albeit, not for real long extended periods of time, so I never had a trigger freezing issue. However, I believe it can happen since it is a box type (enclosed) trigger. The open trigger is so much more simple and trouble free in the long run. More like a pre 64 model 70 trigger. The Ruger will feel more gritty when you run the bolt, but that can be polished up and made to feel like a classic NH Winchester model 70. I won't say it will feel like a pre 64 or new FN because I'd be lying. With all this said, I think you'll be extremely happy with your rifle. Just remember the Ruger may need a little more fine tuning to get it to shoot MOA groups. Nothing a little elbow grease and glass bedding won't cure..