Ruger M77 Compact Magnum - .308Win

jeffcarr88

jeffcarr88

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Hey CGN,

Does anyone have any hands on with this rifle? I am after a bolt gun in .308 that also HAS irons (the scout rifle is too heavy for my liking). I enjoy other products from Ruger so I figured I'd look more into this one.

The worry I have tho is I have heard lots about Ruger's M77 Haweye rifles not being very accurate at all, especially the older ones...but I have also read that the newest series is improved this quite a bit at least.

Does anyone have one that can vouch for its accuracy? How do I know if the rifle I buy is the "newest" generation or not?

Thanks,

- J
 
J,

the old history about accuracy and Ruger was a long long history and it s no more the case since Ruger is making their own barrels i wont worry that much.

most of the nowadays rifles are more accurate than any or most operator are able to.

all the best.
 
Okay cool, thanks for the heads up.

I am fine with a 1 MOA gun personally with store bought ammo for a bush gun. Good enough for deer hunting for 300-400 yards.
 
My brother in law has an older m77, when we sighted it in he used a sled and two holes were touching and the third was about 3/4" high and right at 100yrds.

Plenty good enough for a hunting rig.

ET
 
jeffcarr88 said:
I am fine with a 1 MOA gun personally with store bought ammo for a bush gun. Good enough for deer hunting for 300-400 yards.
Click to expand...

LOL.....yeah, I guess you would be.... Will you be using the factory irons that you require to shoot these 1" groups as well?

I hope you prepared to spend a TON on factory ammo...it could take a bunch of boxes to find a load that shoots that well.
 
I recently had a Ruger Hawkeye in SS that had a 20" bbl and was chambered in 270win. I bought it new at a killer clearance sale. I was not happy with it's accuracy and sold it. Best I could do was 2.5". That's not good enough to keep. Plus the barrel was too short.

The first hunting rifle I bought of my own was a used M77 tang safety in 7mag. Also wasn't happy with the accuracy of that one. I tried and tried to make it shoot. I really wanted to like that gun. But after I bought a used Rem700 mountain rifle in .280 that could shoot MOA or better with almost anything I fed it, then I just got rid of the Ruger.

I know there's people on this site that will swear by Ruger, but I'm not one of them. I swear AT Ruger. I suppose I just got unlucky... twice. But the Rem 700 Mtn rifles, that seem to have a bad reputation for accuracy, I've got 3 that are great shooters, and I just picked up another. I'll see what it does tomorrow at the range. So I guess I've fluked out with the Mtn rifles, and had terrible luck with the Rugers.

Oh well. I guess I'll keep buying what works for me, even if it bucks the trend.
 
Wrong Way said:
LOL.....yeah, I guess you would be.... Will you be using the factory irons that you require to shoot these 1" groups as well?

I hope you prepared to spend a TON on factory ammo...it could take a bunch of boxes to find a load that shoots that well.
Click to expand...


No, scoped.

I plan to buy 8 or so different brands/boxes of ammo and try it out. It doesn't have to be EXACTLY have to be 1MOA...but I do not/will not accept 3MOA for it.
 
Huntin' Gun said:
I recently had a Ruger Hawkeye in SS that had a 20" bbl and was chambered in 270win. I bought it new at a killer clearance sale. I was not happy with it's accuracy and sold it. Best I could do was 2.5". That's not good enough to keep. Plus the barrel was too short.

The first hunting rifle I bought of my own was a used M77 tang safety in 7mag. Also wasn't happy with the accuracy of that one. I tried and tried to make it shoot. I really wanted to like that gun. But after I bought a used Rem700 mountain rifle in .280 that could shoot MOA or better with almost anything I fed it, then I just got rid of the Ruger.

I know there's people on this site that will swear by Ruger, but I'm not one of them. I swear AT Ruger. I suppose I just got unlucky... twice. But the Rem 700 Mtn rifles, that seem to have a bad reputation for accuracy, I've got 3 that are great shooters, and I just picked up another. I'll see what it does tomorrow at the range. So I guess I've fluked out with the Mtn rifles, and had terrible luck with the Rugers.

Oh well. I guess I'll keep buying what works for me, even if it bucks the trend.
Click to expand...

Well I hope I have better luck!!!
 
Jeff look around or post the EE for the Ruger M77RL from the 1980's. Great little ultralight carbine with iron sights and only an 18.5" barrel. They only came .270Win and .30-06Sprfd though, unlike the M77Ultralight of same era with 20" tube and no sights. I'd buy one in a flash if I ever saw one again. Good luck!
 
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Thanks for the tip...but iron sights and .308 are 95% of what I am looking for!!! Sadly any bolt gun WITH irons is getting harder and harder to find, new. Even the .22s!!!

I personally hate the trend of no irons, what if your scope breaks, run out of batteries, gets knocked out of zero? I also have seen how poorly people are with them (irons) in IPSC matches when a shoot requires no optics!!! Basketball sized target a 75 yards might as well have been at 1000 for some of these guys, embarrassing!!!
 
How about a M70 lightweight carbine in .308Win with 20" barrel , rifle sights and 6.25 lbs? I had the lightweight in '06 with 22" no sights at 6.5lbs.
 
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I have one of the Compact Magnum Ruger Hawkeye rifles, but in 300 RCM. This was my most recent purchase of Ruger bolt rifles, and I am keeping ALL of them. I have done very little shooting with the 300 RCM, but have shot my 308 Scout, two 375 Ruger (Alaskan and African) and 300 Win Mag more, and find them better than what I can shoot.

When I moved to Canada a few years ago I purchased several rifles at Epps on the same day. This included a 300 Sendero RUM, 300 Win Mag Ruger, 9,3x62 Tikka T3 and my first 375 Ruger (the African). Of these the Remington Sendero gave the worst groupings with all three types of Remington ammo, even though it had the best scope and was the most expensive by far. Even the 375 Ruger and light 9,3x62 Tikka shot better than the Sendero!!! I now do not own any Remington rifles, replaced the stainless Tikka T3 with the stainless 375 Alaskan and also own Ruger bolt action rifles in a few other calibres (22LR to 458 Lott).

As mentioned above, the 18.5" Ruger International (RSI full stock) is also an option, but much more expensive than the Compact Manum, and hard to find.

The only thing I would like different on the Ruger bolt rifles is to have a detachable magazine. This I got in my 308 Scout, and I love it.

I would not buy a 20" barelled 270, but the 300 RCM is great, as is my 18.5" 30-06 RSI. Get the 308 Compact Mag if you do not need a detach mag.
 
Why not buy a good set of aftermarket sights and have them installed? For about $150 you have opened the market up to many more possible choices.
 
I currently have a Ruger M77 Hawkeye in .300 RCM. I have the 20" barrel with iron sights. Great rifle. Iron sights were the deal clincher with me. I like the idea of being able to use my rifle if the scope breaks. During bowseason I can take off the scope and throw it on my back in case grandfather griz shows up.
 
FYI - with my 358Win/Frontier (16" barrel) last week I fired 3shot MOA 100yd targets with three different loads - using 225 Sierras, 250 Speers and 250 Hornady RNs. They went exactly where I wanted too. It was wearing a 4x Leupold for that - very pleased. A fourth load using the 225 parttition had the first two kissing and the third opened the group out to about 2" - still pretty good on my world.

My answer to irons was to D&T and install a front sight and use a NECG peep that fits on the Ruger receiver grooves.
ruger77_frontier_peep_sm.jpg
 
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