I too like the 77/44. I had one, but it patterned instead of grouped. I bought it used. I haven't seen one for a price I'm willing to pay since. They are a great MN woods rifle.
Did you have one of the old ones or the new ones? The ones now have a 1-in-20 twist for the heavy bullets. I don't know if that would have mattered, but it may have if you were shooting 240+ grain bullets.
And, what, specifically, do you mean by "patterned?" Three inches at 100, or 5+??? I am not expecting one to outshoot (or even compete with) my .270 or .308, but I would like it to be reasonably accurate with hand-loads.
