On Thursday June 4, 2015 I took the Ruger M77 Hawkeye Predator for its first foray at the 600 yard range at Nashua, New Hampshire. It performed outstandingly well.

The Scope used was the Leupold Gold Ring VX-6 3-18x44mm with the B&C Reticle. At 600 yards I turned the scope up to 18x and adjusted the focal plane for 600 yards. The target was clear and crisp with the x ring visible. In the target image below the small blue circle represents an unknown shooter at an unknown distance. The larger circle represents shots taken with the Creedmoor.  Initial hits were far to the right so I walked the shots left with three windage adjustments. One minute (4 clicks) equals 6 inched at 600 yards. By the time I was scoring in the ten ring I ran out of bullets. Without a doubt, nearly all the shots would have been in the 10x ring if the rifle was already adjusted left. This rifle is impressive with these hunting bullets and can only get better with a heavy target bullet with some additional powder tests this rifle will shoot groups like those far below. The Creedmoor will do it with less recoil too. For someone that wants an all around rifle for hunting big game like deer, bear, and elk, varmints or f-class target, I give this Ruger a big thumbs up. It is not obvious at first glance but with the laminate stock and stainless barrel it would make a great rifle for a pack-in hunt in any weather. The stock won’t swell in wet weather and the barrel will not rust! Retail is around $800 and a bargain! 

The Ruger M77 Hawkeye Predator in the 6.5 Creedmoor is a winner expecially when topped with the Leupold VX-6 in 3-18x44mm.  The Scope will handle any weather on the planet and any caliber you wish to use and retails for $1100 on sale. See the article on the VX-6 in NH Rifleman.

600 yard target

Interestingly a woman target shooter shot a SIG Sauer Rifle in 308 Winchester with a LR Scope, she was shooting A-Max bullets from Hornady which are known for their high ballistic coefficient and for target shooting. This is what a good 600 yard group looks like when you have done your homework on the Rifle, Scope, Bullet, Powder and practice. I congratulated her on this terrific group seen below on this F Class target.

If you want to read this in context with the other articles, look back in the website history for the first article and read forward.  Good Shooting! © 2015