Ruger's M77 Hawkeye Standard Rifle in 7mm Mag Part 2

Fall is here in New England. Soon the air above will be filled with tourists from other states and other lands, trying to take pictures of the changing foliage from low flying aircraft. Then they will land, buy up the world supply of maple syrup, return home and spread their knowledge of New England. Soon after, the woods will be filled with deer, bear and moose hunters with a smattering of wild turkey takers with only moderate shifts in seasons.

You’d think from the huge amount of undeveloped land in Maine hunters would spread out a bit. Unfortunately, in our area they seem to arrive as a dense army of orange, conducting tree to tree searches for the deer that have taken shelter in our back yard during deer season for the past ten years. I’m not sure if their uninhibited presence reflects my hunting skills or my wife’s declaration of a no fly zone.

The theme of Ruger’s M77 Hawkeye Standard Rifle in 7mm Mag Part 2 is handloads for hunting. The bullets selected are reasonable in cost, excellent is use and readily available. Bullet weights covered are from 120 grains to 175 grains. All are lead core. I omitted monolithic copper because they are long for weight and have low sectional density which adversely effects down range performance and penetration on impact. I also avoided crazy expensive screw machine products that seem better suited to video game aesthetics than objective performance.

The 7mm Remington Magnum is a good example to process for folks who think C.U.P. and PSI as pressure indices are close enough to be interchangeable. The maximum average pressure spec for the 7mm Rem Mag is 52,000 CUP. and 61,000 PSI and, no, despite what a certain guy pushes, there is no conversion formula from one to the other. While his averaging may smooth the differences of a 1,000 data points, averaging hides the spikes within that population that could easily scatter a firearm to the winds. Both copper crusher and piezo transducer test methodology are valid, however, the results do not correlate.

Warning: Bullet selections are specific, and loads are not valid with substitutions of different bullets of the same weight. Variations in bullet material and length will alter net case capacity,  pressure and velocity results. Primer selection is specific and primer types are not interchangeable. These data represents maximum loads in our firearms and test equipment and may easily be excessive in other applications. All loads should be reduced by 5%,  and developed following safe handloading practices as represented in established reloading manuals produced by component manufacturers. Presentation of these loads does not constitute a solicitation for their use, nor a recommendation. Frogs are almost always green and say “Rivet”.

Handloading notes: Background music influences outcome. James Taylor tends to keep loads more mellow and off max pressure. Listening to Jerry Lee Lewis usually produces handloads that need to be backed off a bit. Dire Straits seems to get things about right. Avoiding Norah Jones and Michael Bublé is essential.

The charge data for the Re25 is a little stiff, but did not show any signs of excessive pressure; sticky bolt, bright spots on face of case head, excessive case expansion ahead of the case belt, excessive velocity of consequence. That said, I have lots of Re25 left over from my magnum only days so maybe the lot has gone mild. Caution should be exercise when working up loads.

A lot of personality, but not a mean disposition…

The Ruger M77 Hawkeye Standard is a stout firearm and more than sufficient for any north American game. Power, long reach, lots of retained velocity and momentum for penetration. Recoil is not mild, very similar to a 300 Win Mag and the 7mm Mag has significant bark… probably the result of high muzzle pressure. There is enough factory ammo to suit any situation, but it is a lot of fun to handload.

The Ruger M77 Hawkeye Standard rifle is a gem. For younger shooters, it is a step toward owning a firearm worth keeping, one that will create pride of ownership. As a hunting rifle, it will last a life time and get only better with age. Excellent firearm.