Budget Boomer — Ruger’s .300 WM Hawkeye Long Range Target
Ruger has produced an interesting Big Magnum that combines a nice stock with a quality 5R barrel with muzzle brake. The new-for-2018 Ruger Hawkeye Long Range Target (LRT) rifle offers outstanding bang for the buck in a large magnum chambering. MSRP for the LRT is $1279.00 while best “street price” is now under $1000.00. Honestly you could easily pay twice that much and not get a .300 Win Mag that shoots significantly better.
The Hawkeye LRT has some nice features, including:
– Barrel (26″) with 5R Rifling and Hybrid Muzzle Brake
– Target Stock with two-way Adjustable Comb and Adjustable LOP
– Flush-mounted Lower M-LOK® Rail for bipod or bag-rider
– Angled +20 MOA Picatinny Scope Rail
– AI-compatible Detachable Box Magazine
– 2-Stage Target Trigger adjusts to 2.4 pounds
– Mauser-style 3-position Safety
Video of New Hawkeye Long Range Target in .300 Winchester Magnum
3/4-MOA Three-Shot Accuracy with Factory Ammo
Ammoland.com gunwriter L.P. Brezny recently field-tested the Ruger Hawkeye LRT with a variety of factory .300 Win Mag ammunition. Most of his three-shot groups were in the 3/4-MOA range: Norma ECO Strke 150gr, 0.652″; Federal Premium BT Edge 200gr, 0.834″; Winchester Power Core 150gr, 0.726″. Handloads with 155gr Sierra TMKs did even better: 0.496″ for three shots.
Tester Brezny was impressed with this rifle, saying: “I predict that like the [Ruger Precision Rifle], the Ruger Hawkeye Long-Range Target rifle that has been enhanced as an advanced tactical design at less than one-third the cost of most better-grade long range rifles, is going to see a whole lot of sales as a professional as well as civilian use in the year or two ahead.”
Solid Value and Good Features
With a tempting $1000 “street price”, we think this Ruger offers a lot of performance for the price. Accuracy is very good for a factory rifle. We like the two-stage trigger. It’s nice to have a +20 MOA scope rail. The toe of the stock works well with a rear sand-bag and the front M-LOK rail can be used to attach a 3″-wide bag-rider. This makes the gun very suitable for bench target use.
Too Heavy for Hunters?
The .300 Win Mag chambering is excellent for big game, but we doubt the LRT will actually harvest many big beasts. The reason? At 11 pounds before optics, (figure 13 lbs. with scope, rings, and sling) we doubt many Hawkeye LRT owners will carry this gun in the field.
However, for guys looking to punch paper and ring steel at 1000-1700 yards, this is an interesting option. We expect the main market for this rifle will be shooters who want to experiment with long-range (1000 yards and beyond) target shooting, without breaking the bank.
The Hawkeye Long Range Target rifle features a Mauser-style 3-position safety, plus a large, Mauser-type bolt release on the left side of the action:
