Picked up a Ruger Hawkeye today.

dpopl8r said:
Under an inch is not really "great," more like average ! shooting into the .4's is good and into the .3's is great, and less than that, well..that's another forum....
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The danged thing's a HUNTING RIFLE!!:cool:
There is no target on an animal thhat will score you a higher point if you group tighter.
Shooting a rifle that will group in the .2's will not kill an animal any faster that a rifle that will gorup 5 into 2" at normal hunting ranges.

It's nice to have a rig that will group in the .2's, but I normally don't pack a sweeney target guage with me on my hunting trips.
Or a front and rear bag either.

Just becuase a rifle will group tight does not mean thhat it is a good rifle for all purposes.
nice HUNTING RIFLE, BTW!
Cat
 
For the record, a rifle that shoots into an inch is certainly adequate for hunting. But I am an advocate of tuning a rifle until it consistently shoots less than 1/2 MOA, right from my .223 to my 300 RUM. If it doesn't, I sell it. I guess it gives me alot of confidence in making those critical shots, but then again, I am only interested in that exceptional trophy when I hunt.

But please don't tell me I am alone on this thread in taking my shooting as seriously as my hunting :eek:. The discussion I was partaking in was if it was worth bedding, free floating and tuning the trigger (and handloading) on a stock rifle that shoots into an inch. If tuning the rifle would get you into 1/2 MOA or less, why would'nt you do it ?

Good luck with the Ruger and hunting season....sheep season is only 46 days away !
 
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I agree , but if a rifle is shooting only 1" I'm not going to put it aside and not hunt with it till I get everything "just so"

It doesn't matter to me if the animal is an " exceptioanl trophy" or not, I try to kill it with the first shot every time, be it with bow, muzzle loader or centerfire.

Don't get me wrong, a hunting rifle that will shoot into the .2's consistantly is great ( I've owned one or two that would) but I don't always shoot that well, and have never been able to shoot that well under field conditions - and I shoot a LOT.
I don't think there was anybody ever able to shoot that well under big game hunting conditions.
I've known some World class hunters and target shooters in my time and I've never ever heard one say they could shoot the same under hunting conditions as they could under match conditions.
I tend to put far more training into my conditioning and shooting training than I do my equipment, and I would never get rid of a hunting riflle that wouldn't shoot less than .750 for fear it would let me down for fear of inaccuracy.
That's just my opinion however.
cat
 
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I'd echo catinthehat...

For a hunting rifle, if it groups an inch or so, your time is better spent practicing shooting from field positions than attempting to get that group to tighten up...And I'll add something about bullets- Although I've seen X bullets, Accubonds and Partitions shoot match groups, when I go hunting, I'd take any of those bullets shooitng consistent 1.25" before I woudl take a fragile bullet that shoots .25" groups..

If it's a confidence booster, then have at 'er, of course. I find my confidence for hunting is built up more by shooting water jugs, gongs, pie plates etc at 50-500 yards with a 1" rifle and load than shooting groups, but everyone is different.

We keep hearing comments that 21st Century animals are much tougher than the past, so a huge magnum rifle and deep penetrators are necessary for whitetail deer....Maybe we shoudl start examingin the body size of animals, since they must have grown much smaller, too!:D:D
 
I have a Ruger M77 MKII in 30-06 that shoots 3 shots to .4" with a light bullet and 1.5" with a tougher bullet; I hunt with the tough bullet. I feel that a rifle that consistantly shoots to 1 1/2" to the same POA is better than a traget rifle that may or may not hit to the same POA every time.

Just my $0.02.
 
I don't know, for 625.00 shipped and less than 30 rounds its a steal. It was 800.00 last month when i bought it.:D :rockOn:

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you shoulda just kept the one you sold me, and bought some paint, and a wood stock :):):):)


Cheaper by far:)


Clarke's buddy has it now, maybe you cna get it back :)
 
:)I was interested in seeing what the fuss was about the new Hawkeye though. I quit my job last week and the house is for sale so i could use the dough:D This will be 5 houses in 7 years.:rockOn: Is that a record??:D
Spruce Grove here we come!!:rockOn:
 
Win94 said:
:)I was interested in seeing what the fuss was about the new Hawkeye though. I quit my job last week and the house is for sale so i could use the dough:D This will be 5 houses in 7 years.:rockOn: Is that a record??:D
Spruce Grove here we come!!:rockOn:
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Sounds like you livethere long enough just to get the seat warm :D
Holy #### buddy! Moovin on uup, moovin on up... to the east side:D:D:D:D
 
Win94 said:
:)I was interested in seeing what the fuss was about the new Hawkeye though. I quit my job last week and the house is for sale so i could use the dough:D This will be 5 houses in 7 years.:rockOn: Is that a record??:D
Spruce Grove here we come!!:rockOn:
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New job lined up in Spruce Grove? Or the same company and just a location change?
 
New job in Acheson just outside of Spruce Grove. Defintley cuts in to the hunting as no more 4 days off but i couldn't handle Coal Valley Resources anymore. Please PM me if you know of anyone wanting to work there.

We have a second showing on the house tonight by the same folks!!!:D
 
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Sounds like you livethere long enough just to get the seat warm
Holy s**t buddy! Moovin on uup, moovin on up... to the east side
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......................I will definitley miss being so close to the mountains and the great hunting but i can't see Coal Valley Resources putting my children through college the way things are going. I latched onto a great job and we put a deposit on a beautiful home in Spruce Grove. I'll also miss the hot tub though.:rolleyes: But that can be bought. Job satisfaction can't.
 
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