Ruger Hawkeye 65 Creedmoor Long-range Target Rifle Review
The Ruger Model 77 Hawkeye Hunter was a skillful companion in the Last Borderland, and loaded for comport in the hot, new 6.5 PRC.
As dawn broke over Alaska's Kachemak Bay, swain author Cork Graham and I motored across the mirror-polish h2o on the first leg of our journey to a distant mountain-top blueberry patch. The early on September berries typically attracted black bears like a magnet. The annual congregation of bruins is what drew us to hunt the area.
Setting Up Camp With the Ruger Model 77 Hawkeye Hunter
Boat anchored safely against the massive Alaskan tides, nosotros donned our packs, slung our rifles and began the six-hour climb. Selecting Ruger'due south new M77 Eagle Hunter in 6.5 Red china, I wanted a rifle that would reach out and kill cleanly. The trim burglarize carried well as we put on the miles. The steep trail went from switchbacks in the fern-choked lower elevations through the spruce that gradually transitioned to alder thickets. Breaking out on elevation, we found the low-bush blueberries, merely they were devoid of fruit from the atypical late-summer drought. No berries, no bears.
Instead of making camp at the peak as planned, we backed down almost 400 anxiety in top to the outset spruce trees. At that place we made a simple military camp in what had been a black bear'southward bed. Since temperatures were not going to driblet below the 50s that night, all that was required was kicking a few twigs and bandbox cones out of the manner and rolling out a sleeping bag. I leaned the Ruger against a tree inside close attain and fell asleep. At daybreak, we nevertheless-hunted back down the trail to the beach. We spent the residue of the day cruising that office of Kachemak Bay trying to notice a beach-combing bruin.
New Cartridge, New Rifle
The 6.5 Precision Burglarize Cartridge (Prc) is raising some eyebrows in the shooting earth. Based on the 300 Ruger Compact Magnum case, this beltless magnum has been billed as the "big blood brother" to the 6.five Creedmoor. It's also designed to cram its fatty, stubby case into the confines of a medium-length bolt-action — the same action used for half dozen.5 Creedmoor and .308 Winchester rifles. The biggest deviation is the six.5 PRC'due south commodities face, which harnesses the 0.532-inch cartridge rim. For those familiar with the .300 Win. Mag., y'all'll recognize the PRC's identical rim dimensions.
While we're discussing the .300 Win. Magazine., let'south take a wait at its vi.5mm cousin, the .264 Win. Mag., to get an thought where the six.5 PRC fits, velocity wise, in the half-dozen.5 globe. Companies such as Remington, Winchester and HSM offering 140-grain bullets with published velocities effectually iii,030 fps from a 26-inch barrel.
Handloading tin can safely push the same weight bullets to the 3,050 fps mark from a 24-inch butt, according to Speer'southward latest loading manual. The 6.5 Creedmoor shooting the same 140-grain bullet and barrel length is capable of 2,779 fps at the top end, and in an apples-to-apples comparison, the .260 Remington tops out at 2,731 fps. At the depression stop of operation for the same bullet and barrel length, the half dozen.5 Grendel has a maximum velocity of two,338 fps, which granted, isn't the platonic bullet weight for the Grendel.
Understanding the Data
By my estimation and velocity data, this puts the half dozen.5 Prc much closer to the .264 Win. Mag. in performance than its fiddling blood brother, the half dozen.five Creedmoor. The six.5 People's republic of china is well-nigh identical in operation to the 6.5 Remington Magnum released to the market back in 1965. This cartridge almost died out attributable to existence chambered in Big Green's then-new Model 600 and 660 carbines. At the top of the velocity heap, the 26 Nosler drives 140-grain bullets about 30 fps shy of the 3,300 mark. Meanwhile, the half-dozen.5 Weatherby tops the listing at most iii,350 fps.
How does the 6.five PRC stack up against these previously mentioned .264-quotient cartridges? To find out, I borrowed a GA Precision from company owner George Gardner terminal summer. George is the mastermind behind the 6.5 PRC and collaborated with Hornady on the vi.5 Red china'due south evolution. He's too had quite a bit of success with the half-dozen.five SAUM over the past few years; that has a slight pulverization capacity border on the non-mutiny 6.five PRC.
Later my initial introduction to shooting the 6.5 Communist china GA Precision burglarize, which is a $4,700 custom rig, I anxiously awaited for other manufacturers to join the game. When Ruger released their Hawkeye Long Range Target (LRT) rifle in half dozen.5 Mainland china, I was quick to brand a phone call. This rifle didn't disappoint. I shot sub-0.25-MOA 5-shot groups at 10. Then a few weeks later was pounding steel targets at a mile at FTW Ranch.
When Ruger representatives shared with the few writers present that a trim, 22-inch barreled version was coming during the summer, I was excited to do more than burn a few rounds from the pre-production Hawkeye Hunter they had on manus. Ruger shipped one of the pre-product Eagle Hunters in 6.5 PRC back home to Tennessee. There I spent some fourth dimension getting information technology ready for a September bear hunt.
Ruger Model 77 Hawkeye Hunter Details
The Ruger Model 77 Eagle Hunter chambered in 6.5 Prc features a light-contour barrel. Ruger tamed information technology with a Ruger Radial-port muzzle brake that significantly reduces felt recoil in the lite vii.2-pound rifle.
The barrel is free-floated, cold hammer-forged stainless steel with i:8 twist 5R rifling at minimum diameter and groove dimensions, minimum headspace and centralized chamber. The Hawkeye's non-rotating, controlled-round feed and extractor that harkens back to the 98 Mauser gives positive instance extraction and feature a fixed bract-type ejector that positively ejects the empty cases every bit the bolt is moved fully to the rear.
To get maximum vertical adjustment from target optics, this rifle wears a twenty-MOA Picatinny runway secured with four No. viii-twoscore screws. This runway rides over the traditional Ruger integral telescopic mounts machined direct into the solid-steel receiver.
Fit & Stop
A two-tone, laminated woods stock features an adaptable length of pull that ranges from 12.75 to xiv.25 inches. A soft rubber buttpad helps mitigate recoil. Ruger painted the stock with a textured tan paint with blackness and brown "freckles."
To strengthen the stock, information technology has two through-bolts, which are usually plant on magnum rifles. Information technology is fed with AI-style magazines, and the bottom metal releases the magazine with a paddle-type release just in front end of the triggerguard.
This rifle as tested comes standard with an LC6 single-stage trigger; it breaks cleanly at a hunter-friendly 3.25 pounds of pull. The 3-position rubber is easily accessible. It also allows the shooter to lock the commodities or to load and unload the burglarize with the condom engaged.
Sling hinge studs ride fore and aft. It ships with one three-round AI-Manner magazine, but an eight-round magazine is available from shopruger.com. During the hunt I learned that the three-circular magazine, plus ane in the bedchamber, was the nigh comfortable to conduct for extended periods.
Getting Information technology Prepped
Touted as a long-range hunting burglarize, it deserved a good piece of glass to squeeze the maximum from its potential. I mounted a Leupold iv.5-14X optic atop a Bushnell twenty MOA rail and snugged into a set of Bushnell rings. This setup immune me to maximize the telescopic's vertical tiptop.
To become fix for hunting, I sighted in the scope with Hornady 143-grain ELD-10 factory loads. However, I wasn't satisfied with the results. Running the load across an Oehler 35P chronograph, it showed an average of 2,808 fps. This was significantly slower than the aforementioned load averaged in the 26-inch barreled Hawkeye Long Range Target model I tested concluding spring. In improver, this burglarize didn't like this load. The smallest five-shot group I was able to fire at 100 yards measured i.410 inches.
This showing led me to search for a handload that would be accurate likewise as yielding acceptable concluding free energy at the ranges I would be hunting. Virgin Hornady brass and Federal 210 primers were used in all load testing. I went up and downwards with bullet weights in my search. For starters, I tried 120-grain Hornady GMXs, 130- and 140-grain Berger VLD Hunting bullets, Hornady's 129-grain SST, both of the new 6.5mm Hornady A-Tips in 135- and 153-grain weights, and last but not to the lowest degree was Hornady's 143-grain ELD-10.
I tested all of these bullets with H1000 and produced fantabulous velocities and ho-hum accuracy. I was able to drive the 120-grain bullets faster than iii,200 fps, and even got the 153-grain bullets to fly at an average of ii,940 fps before showing excessive force per unit area signs.
Further Testing
I went through the process of testing H4350, H869, H8133 and Alliant Reloader 26, only zero provided both speed and accuracy. RL26 had the best showing, but it wasn't until I tried RL25 with the 143-grain ELD-Xs that everything started meeting. I had shot a ladder examination where I loaded, shot and chronographed with RL26 from 55.0 grains to 59.two grains in 0.two-grain increments with 143-grain pills seated to ii.955 OAL. This told me where the "nodes" or sweet spots were for potential loads. I found a node at about 3,000 fps that seemed to exist consistent, but accuracy stayed merely over ane inch at 100 yards for v shots.
Swapping over to Reloader 25 proved beneficial. I went through the same exercise and establish a load of 59.five grains shrank groups to 0.75-MOA for five-shot groups, and averaged two,965 fps. Zeroing one.2 inches high at 100 yards gave me a 200-yard zero, and I subsequently moved to my long range and verified the ballistic calculations of the Ruger Kestrel ballistic calculator out to 600 yards.
Everything was spot on at 100-thou intervals, so I was set to go hunting. Bullet energy stayed in a higher place 2,000 foot-pounds out to 350 yards, and retained i,555 ft-lbs of striking strength at 600 yards.
Tag Soup
We boated, hiked and drove countless miles over a week'south time. Even so, it merely resulted in sighting a lone cow moose and her calf. Bear sign was scant, owing to unusually warm daytime temperatures in the 70s, and surprisingly it only rained one of the vii days of hunting. Hot and dry out conditions kept bears in thick cover and out of sight throughout my September Alaskan hunt with the Ruger Hawkeye Hunter.
The Ruger Model 77 Hawkeye Hunter was a welcome companion during the hunt, though. It proved itself on the range, and I'm sure would have performed well if called into duty. It'll have to settle for Appalachian mount whitetails back home in Tennessee this fall. Since my Alaskan black bear tag is still valid until side by side June, it may nevertheless go its chance to handbag a Final Frontier bruin and at least postpone a repast of "tag soup." For even more info, please visit Ruger.com.
Ruger Model 77 Eagle Hunter Specs
- Caliber: 6.5 PRC
- Barrel: 22 inches
- Overall Length: 42.25 to 43.75 inches
- Overall Weight: 7.ii pounds
- Stock: Laminated wood
- Action: Bolt
- Sights: 20-MOA Picatinny runway
- Stop: Matte stainless
- Capacity: iii+ane or viii+1
- MSRP: $1,279
Source: https://www.ballisticmag.com/ruger-model-77-hawkeye-hunter-rifle-review/
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