Ruger Compact Laminate 16.5" opinions

The scout in wood stock I have is 6.7 pounds, while my compact weighs in at 5.9 pounds (they advertise 6)......

It may not seem like a huge difference, but in handling the rifles the scout feels noticeably heavier...... As for noise, they are both noticeably louder than a full length barreled rifle, but I find this to be a non issue at the range and during hunting I have never noticed noise or recoil on anything I have shot because, well, I am too busy hunting......
 
Bartledan said:
I'm not sure I recall correctly, but 6 db is twice as loud, and your numbers have a 4.7 db spread.
Click to expand...

What I recall from my past experience,

3dB represents a ratio of two to one or a doubling of power.

An easy example is: 3db would be like firing 2 of the same short barrel rifles at the same time vs just a single longer barreled rifle.
 
Last edited:
Have had one in 7-08 for a few years now. Haven't carried anything else for hunting since I got it. Very accurate, nice trigger.
If noise bothers you that much get another hobby.
 
Superbrad said:
The scout in wood stock I have is 6.7 pounds, while my compact weighs in at 5.9 pounds (they advertise 6)......

It may not seem like a huge difference, but in handling the rifles the scout feels noticeably heavier...... As for noise, they are both noticeably louder than a full length barreled rifle, but I find this to be a non issue at the range and during hunting I have never noticed noise or recoil on anything I have shot because, well, I am too busy hunting......
Click to expand...

Ah... so it's lighter than advertised. Thanks for that info Superbrad. I like the scout but would prefer the compact.
 
hoytcanon said:
I'm basing my opinion on actually shooting the rifle in question in the same cartridge with the same load side by side against rifles of different barrel lengths out in the open at the range on a calm day. I used a Ruger M77 Compact (16.5"), Ruger M77 International (18.5"), Ruger M77 Standard (22") and Ruger M77 Heavy (26"), all in .308 Win... and the numbers may indicate a huge difference, but in actual perception, the only noticeable difference I could actually cognitively perceive were between the Compact and Heavy, a 9.5" difference in barrel length... and while I could tell that the sound was louder with the compact than with the heavy, it was certainly not so obnoxious that I would take it into consideration on a hunting rifle where 1-3 rounds might be fired in open air. With hearing protection on, at the range or say, sitting in a box blind, where hearing protection "should" be worn, it won't matter anyway.

Disclosure;

The fly in the ointment on any opinion I express on the subject of "sound" (or noise), is that as a moronic young man, I eschewed the wearing of hearing protection, and as a result have suffered a degree of hearing loss in my left ear after many thousands of centerfire rounds... so it is possible that my perceptions of sound are less sensitive than someone with full auditory faculty.
Click to expand...

So what I'm trying to figure out is .... are all these Ruger M77's "essentially" the same, just different barrel length and a shorter forend on the compact ? Same action ?

Recall reading the trigger is not so easy to swap out on the compact (although doesn't sound like you really need to) because it's somewhat "built in" to the action. If this is the case is this just with the compact model ?
 
hoytcanon said:
Volume is not an issue with the compact and 16.5" barrel. At the range, you will be wearing hearing protection regardless of barrel length... and when hunting out in the open, you won't be able to tell the difference between 16" and 22"...
Click to expand...

Have to disagree on that one. When coyote hunting with my 223, you could easily tell the difference - it was like shooting a braked full size rifle without muffs.
 
double gun said:
Have to disagree on that one. When coyote hunting with my 223, you could easily tell the difference - it was like shooting a braked full size rifle without muffs.
Click to expand...

Maybe once you hit a certain level of hearing damage you can't really tell the difference. All I know is that shorter barrelled rifles sound much louder to me. I recently compared 22" and 18.5" barrelled rifles in .243 with the same ammo. There was a very notable difference. To some it matters. To others, obviously not so much.
 
I had one in .308, I found it very nice to carry through bush but it was uncomfortable to shoot. I reloaded for the rifle with 4064 and re15 the max velocity I got with 168's was just under 2300fps. Sticky action and the trigger requires some work. Sold it for something nicer.
 
madashell said:
Maybe using faster powders like say 3031 is in order to use up as much energy inside the barrel ?
Click to expand...

It's the pressure escaping from the barrel that is the problem. In the .243 example I was using a small charge - 33.0gr - of Varget. Generally speaking the powders that give the highest velocity in long barrels will give the highest velocity in short barrels too. I guess a person could just experiment and find the best balance. Saputin seems to know quite a bit about noise levels, maybe he will chime in.
 
madashell said:
So what I'm trying to figure out is .... are all these Ruger M77's "essentially" the same, just different barrel length and a shorter forend on the compact ? Same action ?

Recall reading the trigger is not so easy to swap out on the compact (although doesn't sound like you really need to) because it's somewhat "built in" to the action. If this is the case is this just with the compact model ?
Click to expand...

Three of the rifles were M77 MKII'S; same action different configuration... one was a M77 Tang safety, slightly different action... the triggers on all current MKII'S and Hawkeye rifles including the Compact are easy to work on... the Hawkeye's have the current LC-6 trigger and the MKII'S have the heaviest "lawyerized" triggers, but after a little work they can be the nicest.
 
Last edited:
I have one of these rifles in .260 Rem, it was the rifle my son started hunting with at 12 years old. He moved on to using a .308 Win but I still take the Ruger M77 MKII Compact .260 to deer camp as my spare rifle. It is an accurate rifle and effective on whitetail deer, the trigger is decent, better than other Ruger triggers I have used. I do not remember it being extra loud, but I also have significant hearing loss and maybe just do not notice? WK
 
hoytcanon said:
Three of the rifles were M77 MKII'S; same action different configuration... one was a M77 Tang safety, slightly different action... the triggers on all current MKII'S and Hawkeye rifles including the Compact are easy to work on... the Hawkeye's have the current LC-6 trigger and the MKII'S have the heaviest "lawyerized" triggers, but after a little work they can be the nicest.
Click to expand...

Great summary. Thank you.
 
Anyone free float their compact forend ? How'd it work out, or didn't feel it was necessary. How about bedding ?
 
madashell said:
Anyone free float their compact forend ? How'd it work out, or didn't feel it was necessary. How about bedding ?
Click to expand...

I haven't seen any need, I shot some cheap winchester 147 FMJ's though the wife's to roughly sight it in and for the brass, since the ammo was the same price as brass AND sitting on the shelf of my LGS, anyhow, even that was just over MOA. The handloads I'm running are consistantly sub-moa. Everything I read about the M77 suggested they typically like a bit of pressure on the barrel, and the torque and torque sequence of the three action screws was the holy grail with them. I torqued them by one common method and didn't mess with a good thing when it worked well. YMMV
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom