new model 70 or ruger 77/hawkeye

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troy fairweather

troy fairweather

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was just thinking what gun is better. i like mauser style actions for hunting tho there is no need for the crf but i like them give me a warm fuzzy felling when hunting with them. if u got one new would it be a 70 or 77 both are about the same price and got the same dodads on them the bluing on the 70 and wood maybe better then the 77 i love the maple stock they got. i dont mined the 70 being made in Portugal 70-620x393.jpg top.jpg as long they are good. i have owed lots of ruger 77 and all shot good and are good fitting for me i like the integral rings and its a good looking action. both hve nice hinged floor plates. in sick of most cheap detach mags they ether brake or u loose the and $50 for plastic is a joke. the ai mags are good and some others but for hunting id take a blind mag over a dbm right now. if i got a new gun id tr to find a 280 rem. i like 708 but for some reason the shorter crf gun dont feel or look right and i hate mag blocks. if u have any ideas id like to know or any other guns like the cz kimbers tho id like to keep under 1000. maybe i can start saving up for one. o and extra brownie point for the gun having sights. i missed out on those win 70 new westerner they had for like $550 last year.thanks .troy.
 
Base gun I'd probably go Hawkeye, I like them.
Fancy factory gun I'd go maple m70......for me that's the only difference.

Functional I don't see a huge difference in them. The m70 might be more accurate, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well the .300WM Hawkeye I had shot. For a mid level gun it wore a pretty nice stock, and had good fit, finish, and bluing as well.
 
LoonWulf said:
Base gun I'd probably go Hawkeye, I like them.
Fancy factory gun I'd go maple m70......for me that's the only difference.
Click to expand...
ya i believe your right on im lovin the maple on the 70 hope more gun makers do the same.. found a new 77 in 300 rcm with sight for 499 with i had the money
 
M70 hands down without a doubt. I looked at pretty much all the major brands, and some minor ones, when I was searching for my hunting rifle. I figured it would be my one and only so I wanted something that was well built and could handle anything I might do. I settled on the M70 Safari Express in 375 H&H.
 
I think they are pretty close, but the edge goes to Winchester IMHO. I've had several of each while I've found the Rugers accurate enough, the Winchesters have always been better. In standard calibers mag capacity is 5+1 with Winchester vs 4+1 in a Ruger. Not a huge deal, but I'll take it.

If I were looking for a rifle that was going to be hunted hard and in harsh environments I'd actually give the edge to Ruger in current production rifles because of the trigger design. Winchester replaced their traditional open trigger design with a closed design similar to the one used by Remington starting in 2008. Ruger still uses the older Winchester style trigger. It is simple, rugged, bullet proof and easily cleaned. The newer Winchester trigger however is easier to adjust and comes out of the box a smoother, lighter trigger which aids accuracy.

I'm not as much into aesthetics. Both of my current Winchesters are SS/Synthetic. One is a 1990's SS Classic 30-06 in a McMillan Edge stock, the other is a 2008 SS Extreme Weather 308 also in a McMillan Edge stock. If I were buying blue/walnut my tastes lean toward the Featherweight. Possibly the Sporter, but it is starting to get heavier than I want. The Supergrades sure are pretty to look at. Just not my taste.

The 300 RCM basically duplicates 30-06, but from a short action. Not a bad round, but it didn't catch on. If you buy one stock up on brass and plan to reload. Factory ammo is hard to find, and getting harder.
 
If you ever have to bed the action, the Ruger is an absolute pain. The angled forend screw and insignificant front recoil lug make the bedding job involved and difficult. A M70 is quite straight forward in this respects.

Few factory rifles don't have to be glass bedded to achieve best accuracy. I have not bedded the FN PBR pictured below it does well enough as is. In a different stock, it might need to be bedded.

I prefer the M70 to any action except a Mauser 98. The M70 is a smooth and slick action.

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Which I think is an objectively “better” rifle and which I would buy for myself are different answers.

The Win comes out of the box with a little better trigger and a little better LOOKING wood. I wouldn’t jump to say the metal is much better finished on the 70’s in the same price class. As was mentioned above, the 70 is available in a few “fancy factory models.”

However...

Personally, I’d buy the Ruger for myself over the Win - and I do buy and have bought Ruger M77 MkII’s and Hawkeyes over Win 70’s, many times over the last 20+ years. They aren’t objectively different enough for me to fall off of the fence on the Win side, so my subjective preference weighs more than the objective differences.

CDNN is good to go. I ordered a pair of All Weather Magnum M77 Hawkeyes from CDNN when Ruger discontinued the model a few years ago. Got them for a song, even after transfer fees. It’s very rare when one of my local guys can’t meet and beat a price, or at least get within $50 (which I’ll happily spend locally), but these were priced too low on sale at CDNN for anyone local to come close.

I’ll admit, however, I’m probably sick in the head - I have owned a LOT of M77 MkII’s over the years, and have sunk a lot of money into custom work. Just placed an order yesterday for a 31” 1:9” twist Bartlein Heavy Varmint barrel blank for one of my M77 Hawkeyes in 300wm to play with as an ELR rifle - just for kicks. At the end of the day, it’s still just a $400 Ruger M77 Hawkeye, with a $100 trigger, $1000 stock, $150 bottom metal, $300 barrel, $200 brake, and $300 sunk at the smith to rebarrel... I MIGHT be lucky to get $700 out of it in resale, if I ran across the right fool who would also want a Ruger ELR rig...
 
Varminterror said:
At the end of the day, it’s still just a $400 Ruger M77 Hawkeye, with a $100 trigger, $1000 stock, $150 bottom metal, $300 barrel, $200 brake, and $300 sunk at the smith to rebarrel... I MIGHT be lucky to get $700 out of it in resale,
Click to expand...

Sounds like my investment strategy: buy high and sell low! The only people who are going to make a profit are those at my estate sale, for they won't have any money in the firearms before sale. But I did get to play with the things.....:D
 
i like mauser style actions for hunting tho there is no need for the crf but i like them give me a warm fuzzy felling when hunting with them.
Click to expand...

That pretty much sums up how I feel about mauser actions too.. I'm not sure why, maybe it's just because I like the look of the claw extractor. Or, it could be just that it looks more precise when it grabs the case while feeding compared to the sloppiness of just pushing a loose round forward...

Anyway, I like them both but have a slight preference for the M70 Winchester...
 
Last edited:
Varminterror said:
Which I think is an objectively “better” rifle and which I would buy for myself are different answers.

The Win comes out of the box with a little better trigger and a little better LOOKING wood. I wouldn’t jump to say the metal is much better finished on the 70’s in the same price class. As was mentioned above, the 70 is available in a few “fancy factory models.”

However...

Personally, I’d buy the Ruger for myself over the Win - and I do buy and have bought Ruger M77 MkII’s and Hawkeyes over Win 70’s, many times over the last 20+ years. They aren’t objectively different enough for me to fall off of the fence on the Win side, so my subjective preference weighs more than the objective differences.

CDNN is good to go. I ordered a pair of All Weather Magnum M77 Hawkeyes from CDNN when Ruger discontinued the model a few years ago. Got them for a song, even after transfer fees. It’s very rare when one of my local guys can’t meet and beat a price, or at least get within $50 (which I’ll happily spend locally), but these were priced too low on sale at CDNN for anyone local to come close.

I’ll admit, however, I’m probably sick in the head - I have owned a LOT of M77 MkII’s over the years, and have sunk a lot of money into custom work. Just placed an order yesterday for a 31” 1:9” twist Bartlein Heavy Varmint barrel blank for one of my M77 Hawkeyes in 300wm to play with as an ELR rifle - just for kicks. At the end of the day, it’s still just a $400 Ruger M77 Hawkeye, with a $100 trigger, $1000 stock, $150 bottom metal, $300 barrel, $200 brake, and $300 sunk at the smith to rebarrel... I MIGHT be lucky to get $700 out of it in resale, if I ran across the right fool who would also want a Ruger ELR rig...
Click to expand...
i like them both but i thinks it my come down to feel i need to get my hands on them both
 
Bushpilot said:
That pretty much sums up how I feel about mauser actions too.. I'm not sure why, maybe it's just because I like the look of the claw extractor. Or, it could be just that it looks more precise when it grabs the case while feeding compared to the sloppiness of just pushing a round forward...

Anyway, I like them both but have a slight preference for the M70 Winchester...
Click to expand...
thanks for the reply sir. nothing like the feel of a mauser in the morning lol ;)
 
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