I just bought a practically new Ruger M77 .22-250 hawkeye and a I noticed the bolt is very rough when cycling or closing it. Anything I can do to free it up a little bit? I don't think my T3 spoiled me that bad but its a bit of a pain.
Sticky bolt on Ruger M77 hawkeye
- Thread starter DVXDUDE
- Start date
Does it function properly? Maybe put on a glove and sit and watch a movie while opening and closing the bolt, to break it in. Clean it real well afterwards and lubricate and see how smooth it is then. Other option is to put some toothpaste or bore paste on the bolt, not the lugs though, and work it back and forth. I'd also remove the trigger assembly first to avoid wear and tear and make cleanup easier. I did that on my CZ452 and it really polished up the bolt and receiver, made cycling much smoother. I used simonize paste, which is basically jewellers rouge. Real pain to clean up afterward though.
Mount Sweetness
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Ontario
DVXDUDE...those things are nasty rough, if you are used to the feel of the Tikka you will not enjoy the Hawkeye, sorry.
Jordan Smith
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
This.
- Location
- Dah Soo,ON
The 3 rugers I've used/owned extensively all had rough actions out of the box. It's a Ruger thing...MKII's are like the nasty hooker of the rifle world. They're rough around the edges but they get the job done everytime 
Do this and maybe add some toothpaste, but don't lock the bolt down. Just back and forth on the raceways. You don't want to lap the head space.
Agreed, the Rugers I've owned aren't the smoothest cycling.
tylerjwitty
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Northern Ontario
after using old mausers anything feels smooth to me. my ol' ruger was not too bad no tikka tho. but what bothers me is why is it causing must friction when closing. notice any wear spots on the bolt or action? is should be smooth closing....
Mount Sweetness
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Ontario
Do the rounds ever jam up at a strange angle before entering the chamber if you try to cycle quickly?
Can you cycle the gun quickly while it is up on your shoulder without looking at it?...or is it jerky and rough
Can you cycle the gun quickly while it is up on your shoulder without looking at it?...or is it jerky and rough
no way I can cycle it while shouldered. You need to hold the bolt completely straight or it gets hung up. The bolt has lots of scratches on it from cycling it. Very rarely I can eject a shell and reload another one in one clean back and forth motion. Always gotta fiddle with it a bit to get it closed. I know I'm going to have problems one day when I'm unloading on a coyote going mach 1.
Mount Sweetness
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Ontario
I had a Hawkeye in .204ruger, owned it for 24hrs and returned it for store credit. Nice looking, very solid, but too damn rough. The bolt doesn't even look smooth, they look like cast...why can't they take 5 minutes to have these things polished properly..it is a moving part, precision is expected.
My old tang safety .22-250 is nothing like that, smooth in a Sako way and adjustable trigger. You'd love the older Rugers in either .22-250 or .220swift.
My old tang safety .22-250 is nothing like that, smooth in a Sako way and adjustable trigger. You'd love the older Rugers in either .22-250 or .220swift.
Mauser type actions and their derivatives (such as a Ruger 77) tend to have more play of the bolt in the open position by the nature of their design compared with other actions. This means that they often have a less smooth feel than, say, a Tikka.
when the barrel is pointed to the sky and I lift the bolt handle, the bolt wont even fall back to the open position. All my remington, savage and browning guns bolts fall back immediately. I think i'll keep the gun, cycled the bolt for about an hour last night, think its starting to loosen up.
