Ruger Hawkeye African

[38super]

I just received my Ruger African .223 wanted to give everyone a review. I ordered this from my LGS approximately one week prior to arrival. I picked it up on Friday of last week. I haven't got a chance to shoot it as I have worked all weekend.
Finish- Ruger calls the finish a satin blue it came rather bright and shiny similar to the older finish if not a little darker and not quite as bright. Finish is very uniform and there are no dark or splotchy places.
Wood- Is a nicely grained American walnut sans forend cap of its larger caliber brothers. It appears to be a oil finish it is not the thick shiny varnish we have been forced to grow accustomed to over the years on mass produced rifles. Fitment of all furniture is tight and well done no sharp edges around metal or undersized places. My rifle did not have the floated barrel it seems to have the wood fitted similar to a bedding one would see on a older rifle. Checkering is uniform and sharp without biting the hand.
Action- The action is very smooth and the bolt has a very clean throw and pull. The trigger is very crisp and seems rather light for out of the box and would probably gauge around 4.5. There is absolutely no creep in my model. Upon getting the rifle home I pulled the bolt and checked for machine marks on rails and inside the reciever it appears to be very clean and properly worked.

I must say that this is one of the finest rifles I have handled new it has very nice lines. Beautiful finish and excellent wood. Any questions I receive I will answer as promptly as I can. God bless and be safe

 

[Geno]

Congratulations! Those are indeed beautiful pieces of work. I have long wanted to have one of those, not only due to the appearance, but more important because it is a .223 Rem, with controlled-round feed. A couple of questions: 1) what optic do you plan to use, and 2) what applications do you have planned for it? Looking forward to photos.

Edit to add, welcome to THR!

Geno

 

[38super]

I currently have a Nikon pro staff in 3-9x40 with BDC I'm going to use it until I can upgrade to the monarch. I'm going to be using it as a varmint rifle. Here in my part of southern IN we have a rather large influx of coyotes. With the heavy barrel I believe it will be quite accurate. Hopefully I'll get to shoot it today. I'm not exactly sure how to post pictures. It will also be my vehicle rifle as it's quite a bit less conspicuous then one of my evil black rifles

 

[Geno]

Sounds awesome. Regarding photos, Photobucket is a good, free source. Let us know how it shoots. Are you handloading ammo for it? It sounds like a fun coyote rifle. Gotta love those iron sights too.

Geno

 

[38super]

I will be reloading for the rifle I am good friends with local gunsmith. He is going to measure the chamber and allow me to try any of his .223 bullets and powders which I couldn't hall the bullets if I took five of each and put in my jeep. I plan on loading for accuracy but, do not wish to load longer then magazine length. Something I'm going to try is loading very light for small game as a very trusted friend has a load for 22-250 that uses as I recall 10 grains of unique he uses it for gray squirrel at distant... I have seen the results very accurate and super quiet about like 22LR.

 

[Geno]

Interesting squirrel load. I may have to try that too. My favorite powder is Varget. It is extremely forgiving, nearly impossible to "blow-up" a .223 Rem or .308 Win with that powder.

My Vanguard Varmint Special .223 Rem with 1-12 twist, fires the 40 grain HPs unbelievably well. The Sierra 55 grain Blitz King (I think they are called) smack the AR500 steel so hard at 100 yards that I get pock marks on the surface. Must be that little polymer tip keeps its velocity up. The 35 grain Hornadys are lighting-like fast. Probably too light for coyote, but fun for other light things lie sparrows. They really are kind of dumb. When I miss one at 200 yards, it just sits there, perched and waiting for the correction and eminent connection. Ever see a sparrow cloud?! Hit one with a hot loaded .223 Rem, either 40 grain HP or 35 grain polymer tipped projectile, over 28 grains of Varget.

Geno

 

[38super]

The Ruger African uses 1-9 twist. I'm going to try the 52 grain nosler silvertip bullets. Should give excellent results this will be my first hand loading for rifles. I believe he uses a lead gas checked bullet in his squirrel load. He uses it on grays in the late fall even with snow and ice on ground he bags his limit. He likes it because he can set down and the woods get back to normal since there is know movement of man. I looked at CZ when I purchased the ruger however the features of the ruger won me over. I love the European styling of a safari rifle in a package I can use in my area. Was going to get the 375 Ruger however the cost of reloading was to great for the addition of the cartridge. I liked the thought of downloading for whitetail and still having a rifle capable of large and dangerous game. However at my age the cost of hunting large bear is to great to justify the rifle at this point.

 

[Geno]

Good decision. Your age? At my age, 53, bear hunting is still a reach, and requires sacrifice and saving. Doesn't help that my 19-year-old daughter, from time to time, gives me "doe-eyes" and asks for my wallet. Odd thing. She always asks to borrow the Mustang GT convertible just when I fill the tank. I think I'm getting the short end of the stick.

She just told me yesterday she would like to go and hunt a boar...so I guess it all evens out in the end....I got myself a beautiful firearms-loving, hunting-loveing lil gal. Daddy done good!

Geno

 

[38super]

Sounds to me like you not only have a daughter that is good at asking at just the right times but a daughter that has a good taste in cars. As well as a interest in the outdoors and for our generation that is a rarely seen trait. More and more I see the people in my and he age group just conforming to the "In" and giving up there values and family outings for video games and the latest cell phone. I am 22 years old myself. My father was a avid collector and shooter he was always outdoors. I luckily stayed close to him in my early youth and learned to love and appreciate the outdoors. I'm glad to see others my age that will do the same to preserve our great nation. Sounds to me like you have a real good chance to spend some time outdoors and in camp with your daughter. I've been hog hunting in west texas they were mighty thick. Great time and very reasonable do to the ridiculous influx of wild pigs. I believe when we went in 06 it was 60-100 dollars a day with a 3 hog limit and that included lodging.

 

[Geno]

I need to get back out and get some boar meat. I'm out.

Regarding Morgan (our daughter), she's a gem. She is attending the university full-time (premed veterinarian), and manages a store full-time. Believe it or not, about 3 weeks ago, she closed on her first house (a two-bedroom condo). She sat down one day and calculated, that given a 10-year mortgage, it would cost her only about $200.00 per month more to own, then, 8 years from now when she graduates, lease it as an investment. Dang! I can't even imagine having been that focused when I was 19!

Oh yeah, and she knows that and is proud that 100% of "my" firearms are hers, not just the one that currently are hers. The girl loves Glocks, and 1911s, don't even get her started talking about AR-15s, AR-10s and any firearms capable of "sniper-grade" precision shooting. If the firearm is black, she's in. She likes single-action revolvers, and will shoot bow and arrow for hours if she has time, and is a martial arts nut. Yeah, she's a very rare "kid".

That's awesome that you stay close to the family. We're lucky in that way. There's no replacement for family, not even the closest friend. My own dad never hunted, but he encouraged my brother and I to do so, and to hang out with the uncles and cousins who are avid hunters, fishermen, etc.

Let me know if you ever get up this way (Auburn Hills, MI). We can meet up, and go to the range. There are a lot of shooting ranges in this area, indoors and outdoors. Keep in touch!!!

Geno

 

[H&Hhunter]

I'll be interested to hear how the rifle performs at the range.

 

[Geno]

H&H:

Agreed. It will be interesting to see how a bolt-action in 1-9 twist groups with heavier projectiles. To boot, controlled round feed, an additional cool-factor. Dang those are nice rifles!

Geno

 

[38super]

As soon as I get to the range y'all will get the report of how it performs. I'm hoping rather well. May just take a while setting up a good load