Hawkeye bbl ?

bear · Aug 24, 2009

I bought a .308 wood/matt but when I pick it up you can hear all kinds of squeeking and feel movement side to side and up and down , it feels like the bbl is slipping in and out of a wood channel inside the stock.
I called ruger and they said it was free floated and everything was ok. But, man I just can"t get used to all that movement when I pick it up.
I loosened it up just enough to slip a business card under the tip of the stock . Tightened down it now feels like a solid rifle. Hope I didn"t mess up the accuracy, haven't shot it yet.

Antelope_Sniper · Aug 24, 2009

all kinds of squeeking and feel movement side to side and up and down

Sounds like it could use a bedding job.

DrMike · Aug 24, 2009

I like the Hawkeye, and when you get a good one, it is good. Ruger does let some leave the factory, however, that require a bit of TLC. My 35 Whelan needed the barrel free floated and the action bedded. I pillar bedded it because it was shooting so poorly when I first broke it in. It made the difference, and I'm happy with it now.

JD338 · Aug 24, 2009

bear

Welcome to the Nosler forum.
It almost sounds like the action wasn't properly seated into the stock until you loosened and retighted the screws.
Give us a range report.

JD338

Guy Miner · Aug 25, 2009

"all that movement when I pick it up"

There shouldn't be any movement - and if there is, the rifle action needs to be either simply tightened down into the stock, or properly bedded by someone who knows what they're doing.

Many factory built rifles can benefit from a simple bedding job, which will firmly plant that action in the stock for no movement at all.

Some barrels shoot great when free-floated, some seem to shoot better with a pressure point somewhere along the barrel channel. A problem with that business card inserted into the barrel channel is that the card can get wet, or degrade over time. It might work as a quick fix, but isn't likely to hold up.

If it was my rifle, I'd get it in to a a quality rifle smith for a bedding job.

bear · Aug 25, 2009

Putting the card under the forearm didn"t hurt a thing. I just got back from the range and was able to shoot the diamond' s on the five of diamonds with five different loads. 3 factory and two handloads at 100 yds. I hit every thing I shot at to 350 yds from coke cans to a galon milk jug. I'm not touching the darn thing !
My best reload was 48 grns of reloader 15/150 hornady at 2932 fps. I let some of the other guys shoot it to make sure it wasn"t a fluke and one guy with match ammon shot a button hole size group. Un believeable ! so I think it's a keeper.