Simple trigger improvement on a Ruger Hawkeye

[45-70guy]

My stock has a full length aluminum bedding block, I haven’t done anything other than reduce the amount of torque to 65in/lbs.

When you say you reduced the front screw torque, does that mean you tried it at 90-95in pounds prior?
I noticed on a few full aluminum bedded stocks they still required action bedding to match the action perfectly.
Of course all of this I do believe is extra and not necessary as our skills personally are the biggest factor to accuracy

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I understand the value of a light crisp trigger to improve my shooting precision, but I do not get the desire to put super light triggers into hunting rifles. I am an old bench rest competitor and love a 2 oz trigger as much as the next guy but I also know that safety in the field is more important than squeezing that last 1/4" of accuracy from my rifle that I will be hunting with.

IMO - a light trigger is just a way to cover up poor shooting fundamentals. If you hold the rifle and do not flinch and squeeze a trigger smooth and slow, it will break even at 5lbs without much impact on your accuracy. If you throw it up and yank the trigger or close your eyes or flinch when you touch off that big ass magnum, then a lighter trigger can help to cover up some of those bad habits. Even my benchrest match rifles have heavy (for a match rifle) but crisp triggers with one or two exceptions. For hunting rifles, I do not lighten them and only adjust if they are really creepy or really bad. I thought the trigger on my Ruger M77 Hawkeye was pretty good for a newer rifle. Heavy but crisp and I left it alone.

Most new rifles have fairly heavy triggers thanks to the liability lawyers. If it is really bad, then OK, re-work it but most are not really bad. Get used to it and keep it safe. AD's happen even with safe triggers. Lightened triggers can release in some cases due to impact or other causes. I know some designs are safer than others and will not get into the debate on which are or are not ideal. Just sharing my opinions on hunting rifles. You do you...

 

[45-70guy]

Some of my rugers had very soft/creepy triggers.
Both of my new rugers as of the last 2 years have very good triggers from the factory as far as creep and break is concerned.
I’m very used to a 3-3.5 pound in my other rifles so I try to keep them all the same

 

[DaleGribble82]

When you say you reduced the front screw torque, does that mean you tried it at 90-95in pounds prior?
I noticed on a few full aluminum bedded stocks they still required action bedding to match the action perfectly.
Of course all of this I do believe is extra and not necessary as our skills personally are the biggest factor to accuracy

Yes, I tried it at the factory spec and it shot horrible groups. Once I lowered it to 65in/lbs I shot two 5 round groups .73” and .77”. Before that the best was 1.27”.

I am in the same boat as you, while I believe it is extra to do the action bedding I would still like to for piece of mind. I don’t think it’s necessary though, as you can see my groups were more than acceptable for a factory rifle with factory ammunition.

 

[45-70guy]

Yes, I tried it at the factory spec and it shot horrible groups. Once I lowered it to 65in/lbs I shot two 5 round groups .73” and .77”. Before that the best was 1.27”.

I am in the same boat as you, while I believe it is extra to do the action bedding I would still like to for piece of mind. I don’t think it’s necessary though, as you can see my groups were more than acceptable for a factory rifle with factory ammunition.

If that worked I’d say stick with it. That 50-60 in pound range seems to be the average for many rifle companies.
Why Ruger had to be the odd ball I’m not sure , many guys don’t even like to bed the actions due to that angled front lug

 

[DaleGribble82]

If that worked I’d say stick with it. That 50-60 in pound range seems to be the average for many rifle companies.
Why Ruger had to be the odd ball I’m not sure , many guys don’t even like to bed the actions due to that angled front lug

You bring up another valid concern of mine, the angled front lug. This is one of the things that’s kept me on the fence about bedding it. I really like my M77 but it’s certainly not as straightforward as any of my Remington 700 footprint actions.

With how it’s performed since tweaking the inch pounds up front, I may just leave it be. I guess I’ll make a decision at some point on how to proceed.

 

[45-70guy]

You bring up another valid concern of mine, the angled front lug. This is one of the things that’s kept me on the fence about bedding it. I really like my M77 but it’s certainly not as straightforward as any of my Remington 700 footprint actions.

With how it’s performed since tweaking the inch pounds up front, I may just leave it be. I guess I’ll make a decision at some point on how to proceed.

Personally if your not comfortable doing it yet I would run it as is since your getting good accuracy.
I know the first time I bedded an action it wa a Remington 700. I was so scared of Messing up, once I did one which was easier than most, I then slowly ventured into the rugers.
The front pillar i personally believe is actually more important than bedding just the action, because the pillar allows you to torque against it and not the stock.

 

[rdog]

Thanks One last quick question. Can I use my basic torque wrench or do I need a special tool to get 95 pounds?

Inch pounds !!!! A good mod is to change the front screw to a hex or torx head, the old slot screw is hard to tighten up to that torque. i love those Ruger 77s.

 

[45-70guy]

Inch pounds !!!! A good mod is to change the front screw to a hex or torx head, the old slot screw is hard to tighten up to that torque.

Where have you found a torx screw head as I’ve only found Allen heads that match that screw?
I’d prefer a torx

 

[DaleGribble82]

Personally if your not comfortable doing it yet I would run it as is since your getting good accuracy.
I know the first time I bedded an action it wa a Remington 700. I was so scared of Messing up, once I did one which was easier than most, I then slowly ventured into the rugers.
The front pillar i personally believe is actually more important than bedding just the action, because the pillar allows you to torque against it and not the stock.

While we are on the topic of oddball stuff Ruger does riddle me this Batman. Why in the hell do they utilize a 1/2”-24 thread pitch on so many .30 caliber models the Guide Gun and Alaskan specifically that would typically use a 5/8”-24 pitch? I guess it’s just another Rugerism. That alone has kept me from purchasing some of their other factory offerings.

The majority of my bolt guns are custom built, I don’t have many production rifles. The ones I like always seem to have some sort of quirk that turns me off. Another example, the Winchester Model 70 Alaskan why did they choose a 25” barrel and not a 24”. The end user is not gaining much with the extra inch maybe 20-40FPS, completely unnecessary, random and rather annoying from my perspective. Maybe I’m just nitpicking, but I’d bet my bottom dollar nobody asked for either of those things.

 

[45-70guy]

While we are on the topic of oddball stuff Ruger does riddle me this Batman. Why in the hell do they utilize a 1/2”-24 thread pitch on so many .30 caliber models the Guide Gun and Alaskan specifically that would typically use a 5/8”-24 pitch? I guess it’s just another Rugerism. That alone has kept me from purchasing some of their other factory offerings.

The majority of my bolt guns are custom built, I don’t have many production rifles. The ones I like always seem to have some sort of quirk that turns me off. Another example, the Winchester Model 70 Alaskan why did they choose a 25” barrel and not a 24”. The end user is not gaining much with the extra inch maybe 20-40FPS, completely unnecessary, random and rather annoying from my perspective. Maybe I’m just nitpicking, but I’d bet my bottom dollar nobody asked for either of those things.

I’m not sure where these ideas come from.
I hear you on the Winchester model 70 Alaskan as I have one in 375 HH and let me tell you it’s lighter than my 35 whelen. Yee haw shes got some felt recoil

 

[rdog]

Where have you found a torx screw head as I’ve only found Allen heads that match that screw?
I’d prefer a torx

i have only found allen head also, all the torx head seem to be metric threads. i wounder if Ruger have torx head screws. in new rifles?

 

[Andrew NOLA]

Ruger uses different size and pitch threads on every caliber Hawkeye rifle so that you can’t screw a 375 muzzle brake onto a 416 or you can’t screw a 300 win magmuzzle break onto a 338 Win Mag

The muzzle brakes look the same and they’re even labeled but the thread pitch differences keep you from making an idiot error

Yes, it makes it a pain to use a multi caliber suppressor because you have to buy adapters for each rifle, but I think it’s a good practice

I’m also a recovering bench rest Shooter, but I like a 2 1/2 to 3 pound trigger on a hunting rifle with a clean break

I shot a one and a half to 2 ounce trigger in bench rest. I shot a pound and a half to 2 pound trigger in pistol competition.

If you’re somebody who is unsafe because you have a 3 pound trigger on your hunting rifle then I don’t need you handling a gun around me . It doesn’t matter what the weight is, you don’t put your finger in the trigger guard until you’re ready to kill something.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

When I swapped in the timneys it almost scares you how light they are from the factory.
Once I got used to it now it feels heavy when your actually concentrating

@45-70guy
I set nearly all my rifles at 2#
My 222rem 788 and my BRUNO 22 are set at 1.5#.
Bob

 

[DaleGribble82]

Ruger uses different size and pitch threads on every caliber Hawkeye rifle so that you can’t screw a 375 muzzle brake onto a 416 or you can’t screw a 300 win magmuzzle break onto a 338 Win Mag

The muzzle brakes look the same and they’re even labeled but the thread pitch differences keep you from making an idiot error

Yes, it makes it a pain to use a multi caliber suppressor because you have to buy adapters for each rifle, but I think it’s a good practice

I’m also a recovering bench rest Shooter, but I like a 2 1/2 to 3 pound trigger on a hunting rifle with a clean break

I shot a one and a half to 2 ounce trigger in bench rest. I shot a pound and a half to 2 pound trigger in pistol competition.

If you’re somebody who is unsafe because you have a 3 pound trigger on your hunting rifle then I don’t need you handling a gun around me . It doesn’t matter what the weight is, you don’t put your finger in the trigger guard until you’re ready to kill something.

While I have complete disdain for Ruger’s reasoning behind the thread pitch shenanigans and personally think it’s ridiculous. I will say you are probably the ONLY bench rest shooter I’ve ever seen not say something stupid about trigger weight on a hunting rifle.

 

[45-70guy]

i have only found allen head also, all the torx head seem to be metric threads. i wounder if Ruger have torx head screws. in new rifles?

Not that I’ve found, I picked up one of those Alaskan hush rifles last year and it’s a Allen head

 

[analog_peninsula]

It was an easy replacement since I had the torque tools. Aggravatingly enough, I seem to have misplaced my trigger pull gauge, so I can't report a before and after. Empirically though, the trigger feels very usable if not up to the rather high standard of my Mauser M03, etc.

 

[rdog]

Ruger uses different size and pitch threads on every caliber Hawkeye rifle so that you can’t screw a 375 muzzle brake onto a 416 or you can’t screw a 300 win magmuzzle break onto a 338 Win Mag

The muzzle brakes look the same and they’re even labeled but the thread pitch differences keep you from making an idiot error

Yes, it makes it a pain to use a multi caliber suppressor because you have to buy adapters for each rifle, but I think it’s a good practice

I’m also a recovering bench rest Shooter, but I like a 2 1/2 to 3 pound trigger on a hunting rifle with a clean break

I shot a one and a half to 2 ounce trigger in bench rest. I shot a pound and a half to 2 pound trigger in pistol competition.

If you’re somebody who is unsafe because you have a 3 pound trigger on your hunting rifle then I don’t need you handling a gun around me . It doesn’t matter what the weight is, you don’t put your finger in the trigger guard until you’re ready to kill something.

Finger in the trigger guard! When i was doing my basic training in the Australian Army mid 1960s if you put your finger in the trigger guard whilst carrying your rifle the drill instructor would hit it with his stick, you soon learnt not to do it ! i taught my kids not to put their finger in the guard until they were going to fire, but i did not use the stick method. i also taught them gun safety i trust them whilst hunting, some shooters at the local range frighten me.