If you’re going where you’ll need a big boy rifle chambered in a big boy caliber for large four-legged critters, Ruger’s bringing back their Hawkeye Alaskan bolt gun chambered in three hard-hitting calibers. The Hawkeye Alaskan ships with scope rings and Ruger’s muzzle brake system and MSRPs for $1279. Here’s their press release . . .
Ruger Reintroduces the Hawkeye Alaskan Rifle
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) is proud to reintroduce the Hawkeye® Alaskan rifle chambered in three calibers: .375 Ruger, .338 Winchester Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum. Based on the popular Ruger® Guide Gun platform, this stainless steel rifle, paired with a Hogue® OverMolded® stock, provides the avid shooter or hunter with the ultimate rugged and hard-hitting rifle.
Courtesy Ruger
The rifle’s black Hogue OverMolded synthetic stock is a unique feature to the Alaskan configuration of Hawkeye rifles. Hogue’s patented OverMolding process provides the ultimate comfortable, non-slip, cobblestone texture that is soft, yet durable. The state-of-the-art elastomer material used on Hogue stocks will not harden with age and is virtually impervious to all oils and solvents used with firearms, providing years of dependable service. The stock also comes equipped with standard sling swivel studs and a highly effective recoil pad.
The Hawkeye Alaskan weighs eight pounds and has an overall length of 42 inches, a matte stainless finish and a windage-adjustable shallow V-notch rear sight and large white bead front sight. The rifle also features the Ruger Muzzle Brake System that includes a removable, radial-port muzzle brake to significantly reduce felt recoil.
Courtesy Ruger
The Hawkeye Alaskan rifle features the smooth and crisp LC6™ trigger, three-position safety and integral scope mounts for included scope rings. The hinged solid-steel floorplate bears the distinctive Ruger logo and provides easy unloading while eliminating accidental dumping of cartridges. Like all Hawkeye rifles, these Alaskan models also feature a non-rotating, Mauser-type controlled round feed extractor.
For more information on the Hawkeye Alaskan or to learn more about the extensive line of award-winning Ruger firearms, visit Ruger.com or Facebook.com/Ruger. To find accessories for the Hawkeye and other Ruger firearms, visit ShopRuger.com or your local independent retailer of Ruger firearms.
About Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of rugged, reliable firearms for the commercial sporting market. As a full-line manufacturer of American-made firearms, Ruger offers consumers over 600 variations of more than 40 product lines. For more than 60 years, Ruger has been a model of corporate and community responsibility. Our motto, “Arms Makers for Responsible Citizens®,” echoes our commitment to these principles as we work hard to deliver quality and innovative firearms.
Geoff, our old m16’s had a hinged bottom portion to the trigger guard. It folded down for a ‘bottomless trigger’ that allowed easier access with gloves or mittens.
Actually there are mittens that are adapted for triggers. There is a slot that you can slip your finger out. When shooting you never put your finger on the trigger until ready to take the shot and certainly you don’t want any fabric or material between your finger and the trigger for obvious reasons.
I paid $499.00 for mine new in the laminated stock without muzzle brake…375 Ruger….left hand version…just got lucky. Doubt I will see that price again….
Get rid of the muzzle brake. Anyone who lights off a rifle in any one of these three cartridges without adequate hearing protection can suffer permanent hearing damage from only one round. These high-pressure cartridges have savage, ear-killing sound pressure levels.
As far as “which one?” for Alaskan hunting? Pick the .338 and be done with it. .338 WM ammo is pretty easy to find in Alaska, or was when we were there in the mid-90’s.
I’ve never actually fired a .45-70 round off with or without ear protection, but I’d think that a slow moving heavy slug would not only be best for penetration but also for keeping dB down, since more of the energy is absorbed by the bullet rather than dumped into the air. In theory.
People say a .44 magnum handgun is enough gun for bear, but I’m thinking when you’re face to face with 1200 pound brown bear you might be rethinking that decision.
In a 20″ bolt gun that won’t completely blow your eardrums out I was thinking maybe .338 Federal or .35 Whelen.
The 45-70 in a bolt action is great. I saw a Siamese Mauser years ago that had been converted into an African Safari style rifle with express sights and Q.D. scope rings in 45-70 back in the mid 1970’s it was a great rifle. And Interarms was importing a series of M-98 based 45-70 sporting rifles for a long time, but you never see one on the second hand racks in shops. Wonder why?? It think with Buffalo Bore OR Garrett heavy cast bulets it would make an excellent bear country gun. It seems one of those Interarms models had an 18″barrel.
I highly recommend the .45-70 for close range. I’ve taken multiple deer with them without ear plugs. Not great for your hearing, but much less loud than a .300 Win Mag (OR A .300 WITH A MUZZLE BRAKE!!!!). I use electronic ear pro now.
If it is offered in big magnum caliber with a lot of powder capacity, then why only a 20″ barrel instead of a 26″?
Maybe Ruger meant an easy to carry rifle of carbine length but it does not take advantage of all the powder capacity nor all potential velocity for long range.
Obviously it is a trade off, there always is. It may not be as great a loss a velocity as you might think though. My standard load for my 250gr bullets, according to QL will yield a MV of about 2516fps from 20″ of barrel. From a 26″ barrel the velocity is about 2664fps. That’s about a 5.6% velocity increase for barrel length increase of 23%. The energy increase is about 11% Whether or not it is worth it is completely subjective. A heavier 26″ barrel is a lot more unwieldy than a lighter 20″ barrel to me, but whether or not it is something I’d choose depends heavily on context.
Loose the muzzle brake. Add 2″ of rifled barrel. Ghost ring sights instead of express. Forward Picatinny rail. Third sling swivel stud in front of magazine. Forget overmolded stock. Too “sticky.” Add .375 H&H because it’s common.
Merlin, you’re right. Didn’t occur to me, but it should have. I have a .375 H&H. In that case, got to go with Gunsmith. .338 Win Mag. If I can’t buy it in Mom and Pop’s Backwoods Mall I ain’t interested.
.375 H&H and you’re into a “magnum length” action.
I’ve got nothing against the .375 H&H but for the higher cost for the action & bottom metal. I think there are several cartridges which you can now use that are just as good in a standard-length (ie, .30-06 length) action.
It is, but once again. Can I buy it anywhere I go? If not, I am not interested. Too many common calibers do the exact same thing all the newest ones do. New calibers are just to sell new rifles. Nothing is harder to kill today than it was a hundred years ago. Biggest advance is in the projectile, not the cartridge. Unfortunately, the delivery systems seem to be regressing.
I like Ruugers , but man they fcked that muzzle brake all the fckd up. And plastic stick, Nope not at $1200. If they could come up with a Magnaport type brake , maybe yeah. But that thing looks like a polychoke on a shotgunm
Possum, no ordinary sporting rifle needs a muzzle brake. I only have one. Stainless 700, 7mm Mag, semi-custom. Trigger job, action bedded, etc. Sports a Mag-Na-Port muzzle brake. Damn thing is loud as hell. But, I only paid $400 for it with a Leupold VX-III scope and it drives tacks. Seems the previous owner was, ahem, recoil sensitive. Keep toying with the idea of ditching the brake a adding a thread protector. But, if it ain’t broke…
Well lets analyze this a little bit. Short barrel with the .338 magnum calibers is typical because you need to be able to swing it in the brush and it will kill anything in Alaska. You use the brake for sighting it in, then remove it for hunting season. You don’t need the large trigger guard because hunting season is in warmer temps for moose season, not January, Caribou is later if subsistence hunting. If you were to take another stainless Ruger in a magnum caliber, add iron sights, muzzle brake, Hogue stock, trigger work feed job and have the work done by Stan Jackson of Anchorage, you are in it about $1500. I know because I built the same rifle and used it for hunting in Alaska for years. I actually built 2 rifles with similar requirements. These rifles are are one of the standards used in Alaska. There are stupid fuckers that will take a Remington 700 out for bear and whine when it fails. Most of the Alaskan Gunsmiths that I have worked with wont even touch a remington if being used for dangerous game. There a lot of talkers and people who are cheap, but there is a typical rifle for Alaska and this is it. It is a proven design that has evolved over the 30 years that stainless rifles have been used in Alaska.
Possum, neither do I. A Remington 870 turkey gun with magnum loads has more foot pounds of free recoil than most, if not all, African rifles. Especially the 3 1/2″ loads in a Mossberg aluminum receiver. Jesus! That hurt!
Tim, I agree. My favorite rifles are model 70s. Control round feed. 700s are for light thin skinned non-dangerous game.
I completely agree with the majority of the comments here. Ruger should stick to pistols. This model is absolutely ridiculous. In addition, what is Ruger’s fascination with super short barrels on almost every rifle they make? This seems to be a trend lately?
I can shoulder Marlin’s 1895 frontier lever in 45-70 Govt with the 30 inch octagonal barrel and it feels great! Well balanced too. I prefer 24, 26, 28 inch barrels builders, let’s wake up here. I read one time that the muzzle-brake is too steady the bullet for accuracy and a little velocity is lost, then the next expert says oh it’s for taming that harsh recoil, lol. What recoil and where are the true experts at?
Also duely noted is the comment on bolt action 35 Whelen rifles and why do I need to pay big bucks for a custom one or barrel swap? Many are going with re-bores, because it’s the only affordable in a decent bolt. Who’s designed a 45-70 Govt bolt?
These newer all weather 45-70 lever guide guns are the smartest build to strap on your haste or mule.
Finally getting a larger loop for us glove wearing folks now too. The Henry tear drop type loop loop is great!
Push feed Mauser action, detachable mag or not.
I love single shot break action rifles, but even a well placed shot won’t always stop an big angry bear on adrenaline. I want a follow up shot or two without having to pull a large snub nosed cannon from my drawers. That’s for fishing back up or under my tent pillow in dangerous country or a guide rifle too.
That two inch barrel “Alaskan” 480 Ruger revolver is good for what? YouTube videos of watermelons?
If a bear is already on top of me?
Add at least 2.5 more inches of control to it and I’ll purchase and carry one and have my big Bowie knife in the other hand. I’ve lived in Alaska and partaken of it’s beautify and danger. It is truly a grand and transforming place on person. However, the recent abuse of the word “Alaskan” tossed on strange weapons is shameful marketing, imo.
I’ve loved my Ruger revolvers, especially the Black Hawks, but have no interest whatsoever in short barreled cannon rifles they offer unless I’m watching a civil war reinactment. Don’t care for the smaller caliber shorties either. My son takes the Marlin 60 22LR squirrel hunting or for feral cats over the 10/22 everytime. That says a lot to me..
The barrel ring won’t make a difference for what these rifles are designed for. I had a No.1 for a while with it and it shot just as well as any bolt gun I’ve had and that had a lighter 22″ barrel. You’re not going to be shooting a brown bear at 500 yards and even if you did an extra half inch in your groupings wouldn’t matter. This does give you a place for both a sling and a bi-pod, and if you don’t like it you don’t have to attach anything to it.
To the folks complaining about the muzzle brake. The rifle comes with a thread protector and what is essentially a extended thread protector that’s the same length as the brake without holes in the side of it.
Shouldn’t an “Alaskan” rifle have a bigger trigger guard?
You know, you would think.
Heavy gloves are required for a good part of the year.
Has anyone worked on a trigger system for use with mittens?
Other than Eugene Stoner?
Oddly enough, the Tavor’s are the only others I can think of.
“Other than Eugene Stoner?”
Ah, yes, that survival rifle…
Geoff, our old m16’s had a hinged bottom portion to the trigger guard. It folded down for a ‘bottomless trigger’ that allowed easier access with gloves or mittens.
Actually there are mittens that are adapted for triggers. There is a slot that you can slip your finger out. When shooting you never put your finger on the trigger until ready to take the shot and certainly you don’t want any fabric or material between your finger and the trigger for obvious reasons.
Someone will pay $1,200 for that. Not me.
I paid $499.00 for mine new in the laminated stock without muzzle brake…375 Ruger….left hand version…just got lucky. Doubt I will see that price again….
Get rid of the muzzle brake. Anyone who lights off a rifle in any one of these three cartridges without adequate hearing protection can suffer permanent hearing damage from only one round. These high-pressure cartridges have savage, ear-killing sound pressure levels.
As far as “which one?” for Alaskan hunting? Pick the .338 and be done with it. .338 WM ammo is pretty easy to find in Alaska, or was when we were there in the mid-90’s.
Would those old WW2 era cone shaped flash hiders help at all? They seem like they’d direct most of the blast forward and away from the shooter.
They might. I’ve never done any experimentation with them on a sporting rifle.
What’s a good cartridge for close encounters with large bears that won’t damage your hearing? Is .45-70 enough gun?
yes.
45-70 (with the right ammo) is an excellent bear rifle.
I’ve never actually fired a .45-70 round off with or without ear protection, but I’d think that a slow moving heavy slug would not only be best for penetration but also for keeping dB down, since more of the energy is absorbed by the bullet rather than dumped into the air. In theory.
People say a .44 magnum handgun is enough gun for bear, but I’m thinking when you’re face to face with 1200 pound brown bear you might be rethinking that decision.
In a 20″ bolt gun that won’t completely blow your eardrums out I was thinking maybe .338 Federal or .35 Whelen.
Anything with ear-pro…
The 45-70 in a bolt action is great. I saw a Siamese Mauser years ago that had been converted into an African Safari style rifle with express sights and Q.D. scope rings in 45-70 back in the mid 1970’s it was a great rifle. And Interarms was importing a series of M-98 based 45-70 sporting rifles for a long time, but you never see one on the second hand racks in shops. Wonder why?? It think with Buffalo Bore OR Garrett heavy cast bulets it would make an excellent bear country gun. It seems one of those Interarms models had an 18″barrel.
I highly recommend the .45-70 for close range. I’ve taken multiple deer with them without ear plugs. Not great for your hearing, but much less loud than a .300 Win Mag (OR A .300 WITH A MUZZLE BRAKE!!!!). I use electronic ear pro now.
A bare muzzle is hearing safe in those calibers.
No gun is hearing safe in any caliber without a suppressor. Lol
Even then, rifle calibers are still not hearing safe.
Essentially the same as the Guide gun with a Hogue Overmolded stock…
https://ruger.com/products/guideGun/models.html
I prefer my Ruger GSR, albeit I wish it had the Hogue Overmolded stock instead of the Pepper laminate…
https://ruger.com/products/scoutRifle/specSheets/6822.html
As someone from Alaska, I’m curious what Ruger decides makes these “Alaskan”.
The rifles smell faintly of weed and moose jerky.
and of course the stainless steel, and rubber.
With overtones of crisp air and dank bog…
And a waft of moose scat…
Too real.
Oof.
the calibers of course.
Marketing…That’s Rugers forte…
Along with building rugged big-bore revolvers
If there’s one thing that Bill Ruger had a talent for is coming up with firearms that nobody realized they really, really wanted until they saw it.
Synthetic stock, stainless action/bolt/barrel/bottom metal, along with the choice of cartridges.
Same thing that makes a rifle chambered in .416 Rigby an “African” rifle: Marketing.
If it is offered in big magnum caliber with a lot of powder capacity, then why only a 20″ barrel instead of a 26″?
Maybe Ruger meant an easy to carry rifle of carbine length but it does not take advantage of all the powder capacity nor all potential velocity for long range.
Great minds think alike!
A very good point.
My .338 has a 26″ barrel. Makes it annoying to carry in heavy timber, but it does get most all the performance I can get out of a .338.
How heavy is the contour?
If I’m not mistaken the .375 Ruger was developed to be fired out of shorter barrels. That doesn’t explain the other two calibers though.
Obviously it is a trade off, there always is. It may not be as great a loss a velocity as you might think though. My standard load for my 250gr bullets, according to QL will yield a MV of about 2516fps from 20″ of barrel. From a 26″ barrel the velocity is about 2664fps. That’s about a 5.6% velocity increase for barrel length increase of 23%. The energy increase is about 11% Whether or not it is worth it is completely subjective. A heavier 26″ barrel is a lot more unwieldy than a lighter 20″ barrel to me, but whether or not it is something I’d choose depends heavily on context.
My numbers were for a .338WM. The gains would be less for the .375 Ruger and more for the .300WM.
20″ barrel in these cal seems like a waste. That and the muzzle blast must be painful!
On my last trip to Africa, a friend had the one in .375 Ruger. That was a nice shooting rifle.
Loose the muzzle brake. Add 2″ of rifled barrel. Ghost ring sights instead of express. Forward Picatinny rail. Third sling swivel stud in front of magazine. Forget overmolded stock. Too “sticky.” Add .375 H&H because it’s common.
375 H&H would require a larger receiver.
Merlin, you’re right. Didn’t occur to me, but it should have. I have a .375 H&H. In that case, got to go with Gunsmith. .338 Win Mag. If I can’t buy it in Mom and Pop’s Backwoods Mall I ain’t interested.
.375 H&H and you’re into a “magnum length” action.
I’ve got nothing against the .375 H&H but for the higher cost for the action & bottom metal. I think there are several cartridges which you can now use that are just as good in a standard-length (ie, .30-06 length) action.
Wasn’t that sort of the whole point of the .375 Ruger?
It is, but once again. Can I buy it anywhere I go? If not, I am not interested. Too many common calibers do the exact same thing all the newest ones do. New calibers are just to sell new rifles. Nothing is harder to kill today than it was a hundred years ago. Biggest advance is in the projectile, not the cartridge. Unfortunately, the delivery systems seem to be regressing.
I like Ruugers , but man they fcked that muzzle brake all the fckd up. And plastic stick, Nope not at $1200. If they could come up with a Magnaport type brake , maybe yeah. But that thing looks like a polychoke on a shotgunm
Reread article, Houge stocks good, + on that, actually a pretty good deal all the way around. I just don’t like the appearance of the MB
Possum, no ordinary sporting rifle needs a muzzle brake. I only have one. Stainless 700, 7mm Mag, semi-custom. Trigger job, action bedded, etc. Sports a Mag-Na-Port muzzle brake. Damn thing is loud as hell. But, I only paid $400 for it with a Leupold VX-III scope and it drives tacks. Seems the previous owner was, ahem, recoil sensitive. Keep toying with the idea of ditching the brake a adding a thread protector. But, if it ain’t broke…
You might be able to improve it with a Cutts compensator, I still like my polychoke joke, lol , good for quail but not much else
Well lets analyze this a little bit. Short barrel with the .338 magnum calibers is typical because you need to be able to swing it in the brush and it will kill anything in Alaska. You use the brake for sighting it in, then remove it for hunting season. You don’t need the large trigger guard because hunting season is in warmer temps for moose season, not January, Caribou is later if subsistence hunting. If you were to take another stainless Ruger in a magnum caliber, add iron sights, muzzle brake, Hogue stock, trigger work feed job and have the work done by Stan Jackson of Anchorage, you are in it about $1500. I know because I built the same rifle and used it for hunting in Alaska for years. I actually built 2 rifles with similar requirements. These rifles are are one of the standards used in Alaska. There are stupid fuckers that will take a Remington 700 out for bear and whine when it fails. Most of the Alaskan Gunsmiths that I have worked with wont even touch a remington if being used for dangerous game. There a lot of talkers and people who are cheap, but there is a typical rifle for Alaska and this is it. It is a proven design that has evolved over the 30 years that stainless rifles have been used in Alaska.
Well by golly you can’t argue with experience, I still don’t like the muzzle brake;>}
Possum, neither do I. A Remington 870 turkey gun with magnum loads has more foot pounds of free recoil than most, if not all, African rifles. Especially the 3 1/2″ loads in a Mossberg aluminum receiver. Jesus! That hurt!
Tim, I agree. My favorite rifles are model 70s. Control round feed. 700s are for light thin skinned non-dangerous game.
I completely agree with the majority of the comments here. Ruger should stick to pistols. This model is absolutely ridiculous. In addition, what is Ruger’s fascination with super short barrels on almost every rifle they make? This seems to be a trend lately?
I can shoulder Marlin’s 1895 frontier lever in 45-70 Govt with the 30 inch octagonal barrel and it feels great! Well balanced too. I prefer 24, 26, 28 inch barrels builders, let’s wake up here. I read one time that the muzzle-brake is too steady the bullet for accuracy and a little velocity is lost, then the next expert says oh it’s for taming that harsh recoil, lol. What recoil and where are the true experts at?
Also duely noted is the comment on bolt action 35 Whelen rifles and why do I need to pay big bucks for a custom one or barrel swap? Many are going with re-bores, because it’s the only affordable in a decent bolt. Who’s designed a 45-70 Govt bolt?
These newer all weather 45-70 lever guide guns are the smartest build to strap on your haste or mule.
Finally getting a larger loop for us glove wearing folks now too. The Henry tear drop type loop loop is great!
Push feed Mauser action, detachable mag or not.
I love single shot break action rifles, but even a well placed shot won’t always stop an big angry bear on adrenaline. I want a follow up shot or two without having to pull a large snub nosed cannon from my drawers. That’s for fishing back up or under my tent pillow in dangerous country or a guide rifle too.
That two inch barrel “Alaskan” 480 Ruger revolver is good for what? YouTube videos of watermelons?
If a bear is already on top of me?
Add at least 2.5 more inches of control to it and I’ll purchase and carry one and have my big Bowie knife in the other hand. I’ve lived in Alaska and partaken of it’s beautify and danger. It is truly a grand and transforming place on person. However, the recent abuse of the word “Alaskan” tossed on strange weapons is shameful marketing, imo.
I’ve loved my Ruger revolvers, especially the Black Hawks, but have no interest whatsoever in short barreled cannon rifles they offer unless I’m watching a civil war reinactment. Don’t care for the smaller caliber shorties either. My son takes the Marlin 60 22LR squirrel hunting or for feral cats over the 10/22 everytime. That says a lot to me..
Get rid of that ring on the barrel, clamp anything to that and you’re screwing with the harmonics, totally STUPID design!
The barrel ring won’t make a difference for what these rifles are designed for. I had a No.1 for a while with it and it shot just as well as any bolt gun I’ve had and that had a lighter 22″ barrel. You’re not going to be shooting a brown bear at 500 yards and even if you did an extra half inch in your groupings wouldn’t matter. This does give you a place for both a sling and a bi-pod, and if you don’t like it you don’t have to attach anything to it.
Something the PR didn’t have in it.
To the folks complaining about the muzzle brake. The rifle comes with a thread protector and what is essentially a extended thread protector that’s the same length as the brake without holes in the side of it.