Ruger Hawkeye in .257 Roberts, standard ultra light?

2old4moreguns said:

If you were to purhase a new Ruger Hawkeye in .257 Roberts, would it be the standard or ultra light? I noticed that Ruger has taken the ultra light our of there lineup on their web page. Wonder why? They quit making them?

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If you are going to buy a Ruger M-77 "Hawkeye", in .257 Roberts, then BUY THE STANDARD rifle. I had an ultralight in .308 & it was worthless!! The best it could do is 6" groups @ 100 yards with both factory & reloads. I think the barrel was just too light for the caliber and this "Whimpy" barrel vibrated all over the place when shot. I since sold my Ruger Ultralight "Hawkeye" to a Ruger Collector who was looking for one in .308. BUT I lost as lot of money around $250!!!! Your Standard Ruger "Should" be okay.

big dan said:

the roberts barrel would be a bit stiffer due to the extra .050" of wall thickness but that may or may not make any difference...

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I doubt if it would make a whole lot of difference. I also didn't care for the "Matte" bluing Ruger has on their Hawkeye rifles. I liked the regular bluing they had on their MKII's much better. The current "Matte" finish looks cheap!!

I checked on Ruger's website and they don't list the Ruger Model 77 "Hawkeye" Ultralight rifle anymore. They have a new type of '77 listed that uses a detachable magazine now. I guess they discontinued the Ultralight Model 77.

big dan said:

harry, yeah i know but i was just throwing that out there for thought. to me the difference is merely the name on the rifle otherwise they are both lightweight 20" barreled rifles...

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The Ruger ultralight has a "special" made light weight thin barrel. On the Remington Model 7's the barrel is heavier made with a larger barrel diameter. Both barrels on the the Ruger & Remington are 20" with the Remington barrel being heavier. Harry is correct.

big dan said:

i call bullcrap on that!! the muzzle on my model 7, if memory serves me right is only .560" or 570"... you simply can't go much thinner than that safely, i've seen .550" on aftermarket barrels but you are gonna have to put some numbers out there to convince me that there is any substantial difference between the ruger lightweight and the model 7!!

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I checked out a Remington Model 7's barrel & it is thicker than the Ruger's in the same .308 caliber. Before I sold my Ruger Ultralight I called Ruger and told them their barrel on this particular model 77 was simply too light for a caliber like a .308 & that it vibrated all over thhe place when fired. I've never owned a rifle with such a thin whimpy barrel as what was on their untralights. NO WONDER THEY DISCONTINUED IT!!

2old4moreguns said:

It seems the answer to my question has been satisfied. I'm getting the standard.

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GOOD CHOICE !!​