RUGER M77 owners... your thoughts please

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45ACPKING

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I have been pondering a rifle buy.... either 30-06 or 7mm rm.
I've seen several ruger m77 rifles in the exchange but have little or no experience with these rifles.
any thoughts or comments would be appreciated... I hunt hard, mostly for deer, moose , elk, ... in all the weather b.c. has to offer...
wanting some info on the action i guess, reliability, bullet gr choices... or preferences.
thanx in advance
 
I've never owned a M77, but a few of my buddies have. They are durable and reliable, and I personally like the looks of them. On the downside, their triggers are not that great and they aren't easily improved unless you change them. On average, M77s don't seem to be quite as accurate as other rifles on the market, although they are generally plenty accurate for hunting. There would be nothing wrong with choosing one for big game hunting.
 
I bought a stainless M77 MkII in .338Mag after seeing a few buddies having good luck with their Rugers. Rugged, reliable, accurate no-nonsense rifles and as a M70 fan, I appreciate the MkII's 3 position safety. Although some folks seem to complain about the triggers, I must have gotten lucky as the trigger on my .338 is crisp and clean which no doubt contributes to the sub-MOA 100 yard three shot groups it turns in with factory ammo.
 
Ruger Model 77 Rifles

Have had a few of them. First was an older tang-safety 77 model in .300 Win Mag. Blued with a wood stock. A very accurate rifle. Second was a NIB Model 77 MkII 6.5x55mm bought outta Lever Arms circa 1994. Very accurate right outta the box. Wish I'd kept both of 'em...

Right now I have a tang-safety 77 in 7x57mm, blued in wood stock. And a limited edition stainless/synthetic 77 MkII in 7.62x39mm. Both are 'keepers'... ;)

Wouldn't hesitate to pickup another Ruger 77 if the deal is right. Actually considering ordering a 77 MkII in .260 Rem.... :cool:
 
Another yeh here, I have a couple of tang 77s, one in 280 & one in .250, love em both. Tang 77s have an adjustable trigger which while not of target quality are crisp & clean. They are smooth, reliable & pretty! Mine both shoot under 1" if I do my part with reloads. Maybe not quite as accurate as a new Tikka but certainly not far off. I have heard early 77s had either good or bad barrels, I too must have been lucky with both of mine :)
I have no experience with newer ones except my neighbours .300wm which shoots 1 1/2" but kicks like a mule!
 
I've bought several new M77s in the last few years (in 350RM and 358Win) and owned others used in the past (30-06 and 300WinMag. I always likes them as rugged hunters. If they functioned well to begin with (feeding/firing etc.) they seem to continue to do so.

Lately Ruger quality control has been slipping. My 350RM wouldn't feed reliably. I know of several others that got new guns that needed fixing before they could be used. Mine under waranty went back to Ruger service Canada. They tried to fix it (I assume) but couldn't. My local smith who is very excellent fixed it - works good now.

Bottom line is confirm all aspects of functioning before purchase - especially feeding with a varity of ammo you expect to use.

I like em when they are working as advertised!
 
I have owned several of the early tang safety models. They are the ones to look for in my opinion. I had two of the MKII's and didn't like the 3 position safety on them. The triggers were horrible and Timney after market at 160.00 was the only cure. My nephew had a MKII in .338 and it went back for several tune ups before it was right. I would give my left --- for a .250 Savage tang safetied like Senior mentioned owning.

cheers Darryl
 
madtrapper143 said:
I have owned several of the early tang safety models. They are the ones to look for in my opinion. I had two of the MKII's and didn't like the 3 position safety on them. The triggers were horrible and Timney after market at 160.00 was the only cure. My nephew had a MKII in .338 and it went back for several tune ups before it was right. I would give my left --- for a .250 Savage tang safetied like Senior mentioned owning.

cheers Darryl
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Well what size is your "left --- " :p

Just kidding, not for sale :D
 
I currently have 3 stainless MKII's. I love the rugged reliability and decent accuracy of them. The triggers are the weakest point, but I managed to polish the triggers which helps a great deal - besides, you never notice the trigger in a hunting situation.;)
 
I have, currently, 3 of them. A 243, a 280 and a 338, al lin the stainless synthetic variety. They are all plenty accurate and have spoken for a few critters.

Badger.jpg

with the 243
DSC00344.jpg

with the 280, at 320 yds
2007BlackBear.jpg

With the 338
 
I just bought a Mark II 77 all weather in 223. They are available at a slight discount as the Hawkeye model with adjustable trigger is now out. I like the fit of the stock, quality blows away that of my savage with composite stock, very impressed with the rings and integral base, and the accuracy of the gun is excellent. The trigger was the only downside. I've made a great improvement in the trigger by lightening the spring by one coil, polishing the trigger, and narrowing the sear notch. I was hesitant about buying the gun as I'd heard a lot of ruger bashing in terms of accuracy, but my uncle has one in 223 and had it for as long as I can remember and he takes varmints at great distances with it.
 
I just bought a Mark II 77 all weather in 223. They are available at a slight discount as the Hawkeye model with adjustable trigger is now out.
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................The Hawkeye does not have an adjustable trigger. I just got rid of a Hawkeye. Same crap trigger with a new name and a bunch of needless marketing hype.
 
I'v owned afew Rugers...All have been dependable and rugged. All have shot very well and all have had triggers that were less than perfect.

Currently I own a 7mmRM Stainless and a 375 Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan. I installed a TImney trigger in the 7RM, and asked Guntech to smooth out the 375 trigger. They are both light and crisp now, and if I had another Ruger I'd probably not bother buying a Timney for it.

One of the things I've always liked about Ruger is thier "square base" ring set up, which seems nice and sturdy, and can be removed almost as quickly as QD rings, without losing zero.

I've posted many times the groups I have shot wiht Rugers, suffice to say, they are far more accurate than any hunter needs.:D

Rugers make great hunting rifles out of the box, and with a wee bit of tuning up can be really nice hunting rifles.:)
 
senior said:
Another yeh here, I have a couple of tang 77s, one in 280 & one in .250, love em both. Tang 77s have an adjustable trigger which while not of target quality are crisp & clean. They are smooth, reliable & pretty! Mine both shoot under 1" if I do my part with reloads. Maybe not quite as accurate as a new Tikka but certainly not far off. I have heard early 77s had either good or bad barrels, I too must have been lucky with both of mine :)
I have no experience with newer ones except my neighbours .300wm which shoots 1 1/2" but kicks like a mule!
Click to expand...

I've "heard" that Ruger used to buy barrels, some were good, some were not. As I understand it, Ruger set up their own hammer forging plant around 8 or 9 years ago and now manufactures all their barrels in house. The quality of their barrels seems to be much more consistant now.

I once had a Ruger 77 Mk I varmint model in 6 mm rem. I could not get it to shoot well. On the theory that life is too short to be frustrated with a rifle that won't shoot, I sold it to someone who wanted to rebarrel it for a custom rifle. I bought a Mk II Varmint Target in .308 about 7 years ago and with no mods at all it will shoot 3 shot groups at 100 m that I can completely cover with a dime.

I have no concerns about Mk IIs, in my opinion, Mk Is are "iffy", some good some not. I do like the design of the action and the integral ring mount system on all.
 
I wish i never got rid of my all weather in .30-06 last year after the success i had with it last fall. This last Hawkeye was a nightmare. I have always loved the ruggedness of the Rugers and i will buy another one. I am thinking an all weather in 7mm rem mag.
 
762shooter said:
I've "heard" that Ruger used to buy barrels, some were good, some were not. As I understand it, Ruger set up their own hammer forging plant around 8 or 9 years ago and now manufactures all their barrels in house. The quality of their barrels seems to be much more consistant now.
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Ruger used to outsource thier barrels, and they were inconsistent, but I think I heard they changed over quite some time ago, longer than 8 or 9 years.:)
 
I have a 77MKII left hand 270win that I will keep till the day I die, the trigger was pretty crappy but the more I used it the better it got. My 77 shoots 130gr silvertip winchesters in a inch group at 100yds. I was told that Ruger has made it's own barrels since 89 the year the MKII came out
 
thanx for the input guys ;)
looks like i can't go too far wrong buying one, but keep the comments coming... i'm still shopping around hehe :D
 
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