Ruger 7X57 mm

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
About 7 or 8 years ago, I bought a stainless steel Ruger Hawkeye in 7X57mm.
I usually shoot the g/c'd Lee Soup can at 132 grs., lubed with Ben's Red and rolled in BLL, then sized to .286" with 10.5 grs. of Alliant Unique.

I ordered a Boyd's synthetic stock for the rifle, I glass bedded the action, tuned the trigger a bit and free floated the barrel.
These groups were fired at 50 yards and the groups don't enlarge much when you take it on out to 100 yards.
If you enjoy shooting cast bullets, you'd just about have to like this rifle !

Ben

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Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks Buddy,

This one is a nail driver !
I bought this one hoping that my grandson would like it.
If so, it is his ! !

Ben
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Very nice rifle Ben. If its not big enough to eat you a 7x57 is enough gun.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
Ben was it pretty close to a drop in fit?
I have a matte finish Hawkeye in 358 win that has the plastic stock that would look nice in a black/grey stock like this.
I also think the stock would help the rifle settle in a little bit better.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Ben was it pretty close to a drop in fit?
I have a matte finish Hawkeye in 358 win that has the plastic stock that would look nice in a black/grey stock like this.
I also think the stock would help the rifle settle in a little bit better.

Those were my thoughts also.
Yes, it was a very close fit.
Probably less than 10 minutes work to get it to drop in.

Ben
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
okay that sounds like something I can handle.
a quick dry fit [maybe some filing here and there] then bed the rifle to the stock is about the extent of my wood working capabilities.

when you show a stock I have to ask.
this could have been a box of match sticks and some testers paint they sent in a box and you'd make it look like it belonged there.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
fiver,

You know how to make an old man feel good.
If you decide to go in this direction and you'd like to see some photos of the bedding that I did on mine, let me know.

Ben
 

Ian

Notorious member
Ten minutes sanding the sporter-profile barrel channel out to fit the target barrel and this Boyd's stock was a drop-in. For most practical purposes, I could have left it at that because the action fit so well and the inletting job was so precise. They must use a full-on quick-change CNC mill with a written program instead of a duplicator.

Removing a little material around the receiver, floating the tang, inletting for the thick recoil lug, drilling for pillars, and doing the two-step, stress-free pillar and skim bed job took two evenings after work. Easy peasy.


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Ian

Notorious member
Thanks, Ben, it's done as good as I possibly could, following some really good instructions on pillar bedding. The target the rifle is laying on has notes on it that say "2308-2347 ES for 10 shots", two five-shot groups at 100 with the 31-185G bullet IIRC. About 1.5 MOA. I really didn't fool much with trying to get tiny groups at typical cast bullet speeds, this is a hot rod built to prove a point and discover new limits.

Here's one I had posted over on boolits just about the time I quit fighting the flat earth society, by then I had done a lot more work with dies and brass and was bumping 2650 fps @100 with the 30-sil bullet. Any more than that and the water-quenched 50/50 alloy just gave up. I'm not going to post the picture of the five Berger 150s into .084", no one would believe it ;). Those Boyd's laminated stocks are most excellent IMO.

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35 shooter

Well-Known Member
Nice shooting Ian. I believe what you report with or without the pics.
Lol, sometimes i post pics and sometimes i just report what happened at the range.

Ben, your grandson is a lucky little fella to have you for his grandad for sure.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I think that's the stock style I need for the XCB rifle. [the one Ian shows]
the thing is scary accurate with Jacketed bullets [it was real good before the barrel swap] but a stock would make it a lot more comfortable from the bench.
I'd be real tempted to take and swap the Huber trigger out of my 25-06 if I could find a good stock shape like that for a mauser action.
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Ian,

Very impressive groups !
The high velocity side of things is something that I've seldom explored.
Many cannot shoot groups like that with jacketed.
You're doing it with cast bullets.

Ben
 

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Ben, your grandson is a lucky little fella to have you for his grandad for sure.

Buddy,

Many thanks Buddy ! !

I bought Trevor ( 9 yrs. old ) this T/C break open .22 rifle / scope combo about 2 - 3 yrs. ago.

http://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/my-grandsons-rifle-part-ii.1428/

He is already beginning to want to go to the range with me and take his rifle.

For now, It stays locked in my gun safe and will for obvious reasons for some time to come. For right now, my grandson can look at the rifle, handle it and shoot if ( IF I'M WITH HIM ). Other than that , it stays locked in the gun safe.

He has a lot of firearms safety instruction ahead of him.

Ben
 
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Ian

Notorious member
Ben, I'm sure you could get that rifle shooting one-hole groups in an afternoon.

I gotta ask, did you do your normal "Ben Special" oil finish on that laminated stock, or something different? I love the fully-filled, satin sheen it has, very nice.
 

35 Whelen

Active Member
Ben was it pretty close to a drop in fit?
I have a matte finish Hawkeye in 358 win that has the plastic stock that would look nice in a black/grey stock like this.
I also think the stock would help the rifle settle in a little bit better.

Fiver.....and just in case you come across one, here is another stock option. I ended up picking up a very nice Ruger Compact grey laminate stock for my Hawkeye .358. It's a bit slimmer stock, shorter in the fore end by a good 3 inches and fits me like a glove compared to the tupperware one it came with. Sold the tupperware one and got the laminate for what I sold the plastic one for. Just dropped it in...never bedded and it shoots like a house on fire with no alterations.
 

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fiver

Well-Known Member
I actually like the stock that come on the Ruger American I got the wife.
I have looked at the Hogue over molded stocks, I seen the rifles that CDDN was selling with them and they remind me of the stock on my Bergara rifle.
the 358 shoots well from field positions but needs a little less flex in the stock, and I need a little less length to the trigger.
what I really need is a Dan Wesson grip angle and reach to the trigger, the drop at the heel of a win model 12, a 14-3/8 LOP, about 1/2 of cast off, 3* of negative pitch, and a raised parallel comb all on a rifle.

I will settle for a 14" LOP, a grip length short enough to reach the trigger, and a comb high enough to see through a medium high set of rings with my head on the stock.
 

KHornet

Well-Known Member
Ben, my 77 Ruger is my favorite go to gun. Got it in a trade in Alaska, many years back.
It has taken 11 head of African plains game, 2 cow elk when I loaned it to a friend, and
3-4 deer, including my 190 yd plus this year. Consider it to be one of the truly great ctgs
of all times.

Mine is as accurate as I am with cast or jacketed. Loves the soup can. It is
a carry all day rifle if you need to. I traded for it after I carried a 700 Rem in 7Rem Mag on
a sheep hunt in the Brooks range that weighed about 10.5 lbs, and my hunting partner had
a 7x57 Ruger 77 that by comparison felt like a feather. Very nice job on that stock Ben, it
is a beauty.

Paul