Please School me on Ruger M77s!

Potshot21

Potshot21

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So I've long been trying to decide what kind of rifle to get in .338 Win Mag. I thought I had it all figured out when I came across the Tikka stainless. But after lots of thinking, I've decided wood is what I want my hunting rifle to be dressed in. It was at that point I noticed the Ruger M77 series of rifles.

I found a real nice one, but there isn't much for description on it. So I'd like to know a little about the variations of these rifles before deciding on them.

Which is better, tang safety or bolt safety?

Are they detach mag?

What about triggers? Is the LC6 any good or adjustable?

What kind of accuracy can one expect from these rifle? Factory ammo? Reloads?


I'm hoping for a accurate, dependable rifle that will "wear" nicely and hopefully stay in the family for a long time to come.

Thanks for your help!

Bill
 
They are hinged floorplate, no detachable mag available to my knowledge. The LC6 is supposed to be decent, their older triggers were reportedly on the heavy side. They look very well made and rugged. I borrowed an older one from my uncle for a while, didn't shoot it much though. Beautiful rifle.
 
My go to hunting rifle is an M77mkII stainless in 338win. Love it, before this rifle I used an M77 tang safety in 338win and also loved it. Overall I prefer my mkII because I like the three position bolt safety better than the tang safety and I like the stainless for it's weather/mistreatment resistance.
 
I own a m77 mk II (bolt safety) and love it. The action is so smooth and positive, better than any other commercial action under $1500 IMO. The trigger on the mkII is not great, the new ones are better I hear, but the actions don't seem to be as smooth on the new ones. I love the rifle, it's my no nonsense, go to rifle.
 
If you are interested in another nice option, take a look at the Win Supergrade in .338. All steel, no rattly pot metal floor plate and 26" barrel to get the most from a 338. Much better wood and not a lot more money.
 
I like the Ruger bolt guns, particularly the Alaskan line, and my son's LH Hawkeye in .270 is a very nice rifle with a good straight grain wood stock, having nice but not outstanding wood. Frankly I think the Ruger's forward angled front action screw is (slightly) superior to conventional vertical action screws. Ruger's bolt guns tend to be on the light side, and if you go for a wood stock, I would have it expertly bedded to prevent splitting the stock, once the cartridge capacity and/or bullet weight exceeds that of the .30/06, this applies to all factory wood stocked rifles IMHO. Due to the enthusiastic recoil associated with a light weight .338, I would be inclined to ensure the rifle fits you correctly, and that a high quality recoil pad is installed, although the factory pad on the Alaskan's Hogue stock is fine.

You will also want to ensure the scope is mounted in such a way that you won't get tagged by it, again IMHO, the factory rings place the scope too far rearward. My pal who owns an Alaskan in .375 has his scope mounted in factory rings, and I told him if he has to shoot in a hurry, he'll get tagged. He says he won't but once confided when he wasn't paying attention the scope did touch, but didn't hurt him. Some people just have to learn the hard wary. I don't believe the scope's ocular lens should extend behind the cocking piece of the bolt.

The .338 is an excellent cartridge choice, and there is a wide range of bullets suitable for any North American game up to the size of bison. If you are new to the powerful rifle scene, you might want to incrementally work your loads up the power scale, as a light weight .338 can be a handful for the uninitiated. Ruger's bolt gun is a good choice, among many equally good rifles, that are available at competitive prices. Doug mentioned the M-70 Supergrade, you can add the CZ 550 Express to that, as well as the Kimber 8400 Magnum which is available with your choice to quality wood stocks.
 
The Ruger 77 and the Win. Super grade have a Mauser style claw extractor some thing to consider in a hunting rifle.
 
Nice gun with one of the best safety designs ever. As far as I know it is floorplate only. This is a problem where I live (Newfoundland). It is much better to have a detachable Mag here when hunting since you can easily load /unload the rifle while hunting. We are not allowed to have a loaded gun in a truck here in NL ( not a bad idea really !) My hunting buddy has one and he finds this a major limitation. Everytime we move to a new hunting area he has to unload the rifle by cycling it and then picks up the cartridges from the ground. I am not sure if you can retrofit this gun to have a magazine. Does anybody know?
 
have used a few variations but more recently own a Hawkeye mkII with the LC6 trigger... not a varmint trigger but it was better than other rugers ive used.
I think the ruger is a great rifle for work.. aka getting out there an hunting hard witg.
Rugged an ready.
few mods may be needed like a float of the barrel. minor imo.


I love the 3 posi safety.
 
I have a stainless Hawkeye mk ll in 338, it shoots 1 1/2" groups at 100yds with factory ammo,the trigger is OK not great, it has a hinged floor plate and it doesn't rattle (harder to open than a Remington or a Winchester floor plate), I replaced the synthetic stock with a Boyds laminate stock and a limbsaver pad never been tagged with the scope, I like the rifle but the action does not compare in smoothness to my Winchester 70 but it appears more rugged, I like the 3 position safety but I think the tang is a better location, when the finish gets stained a light rub with fine steel wool and it looks new again, like any hinged floor plate it is not the best choice for road hunting, overall I am very happy with the rifle and I do not regret buying it.
 
gottagetmemoosebye said:
Nice gun with one of the best safety designs ever. As far as I know it is floorplate only. This is a problem where I live (Newfoundland). It is much better to have a detachable Mag here when hunting since you can easily load /unload the rifle while hunting. We are not allowed to have a loaded gun in a truck here in NL ( not a bad idea really !) My hunting buddy has one and he finds this a major limitation. Everytime we move to a new hunting area he has to unload the rifle by cycling it and then picks up the cartridges from the ground. I am not sure if you can retrofit this gun to have a magazine. Does anybody know?
Click to expand...

I'm just curious as to why he doesn't use the floor plate to unload?
 
gottagetmemoosebye said:
Nice gun with one of the best safety designs ever. As far as I know it is floorplate only. This is a problem where I live (Newfoundland). It is much better to have a detachable Mag here when hunting since you can easily load /unload the rifle while hunting. We are not allowed to have a loaded gun in a truck here in NL ( not a bad idea really !) My hunting buddy has one and he finds this a major limitation. Everytime we move to a new hunting area he has to unload the rifle by cycling it and then picks up the cartridges from the ground. I am not sure if you can retrofit this gun to have a magazine. Does anybody know?
Click to expand...

If he is cycling the cartridges through the action onto the ground to unload, he is doing it wrong, regardless of what sort of magazine he has. The button on the floorplate easily dumps cartridges into the hand. If you must cycle the action, either drop them into your hand or open up the door to the truck and eject them onto the seat.

I far prefer hinged floorplates over any other type of system.
 
I'm going to voice a minority opinion here and say I wasn't pleased with my MKII at all. The quality seems to have slipped drastically between the tang safety models and the MKII. I had a wood stocked model and there were huge gaps ( like 1/8") in the inletting, the trigger was terrible, but the worst was the horribly rough bolt throw; it felt like there was sand or grit in the action, and when I tried to run it fast from the shoulder it would bind up every time. I spent hours trying to smooth out that action, would think I was making progress, then make the mistake of comparing it to my mausers. I finally gave it up as a lost cause.

I've had two of the old tang safety models, and both were as slick as can be, and the inletting was nice and tight, as it should be. They have a reputation of the occasional bad barrel, but I haven't encountered one yet. Plus the safety is exactly where it should be, on the tang.

IMO, the MKII is the post '64 of the rugers, and I'll never touch another one.
 
I had an original 77 with tang safety. In my opinion the rifle was just a poor substitute for a Model 98 Mauser.
I considered there were several faults in it, one of which I contacted Ruger about and their reply was, "Take it to a gunsmith!"
No more 77s for me.
 
gottagetmemoosebye said:
We are not allowed to have a loaded gun in a truck here in NL ( not a bad idea really !) My hunting buddy has one and he finds this a major limitation. Everytime we move to a new hunting area he has to unload the rifle by cycling it and then picks up the cartridges from the ground. I am not sure if you can retrofit this gun to have a magazine. Does anybody know?
Click to expand...

Translation: It takes too long to unload the gun in a vehicle when the wardens show themselves, much faster with a magazine. Right? :)
 
I was never really a fan of the tang safety Rugers although they do seem to have a bit of a cult following. The present Ruger rifles seem to be the best that Ruger has produced.
 
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