I've recently gone down the path of wanting a simple and sturdy, general purpose utility rifle. I originally thought it would be a .308 with a 4x33 Leupold. As it turns out I was at a gunshow a couple weeks ago and I spotted a Ruger 77 tang safety Ultralight with open sights. This one is a .30-06 and I'm glad I jumped on it.
At 7.4 lbs including a Leupold 2.5-8x36 and an 18.5" barrel it is quite light and compact. Also, being a Ruger, the sights are sturdy, scope mounting is very stout and the bolt handle is an integral part of the bolt body, not soldered on (I have had a Remington bolt handle come off).
To increase the reliability, it is bedded and I took the stock off to seal all of the wood inside the stock with spar varnish. I've waxed the metal and keep it well oiled. The only change I would make in favour of reliability might be to use a fixed 4x scope but I already owned the Leupold 2.5-8x that I have mounted on it
I've had this rifle to the range four times so far and one matter of reliability that has impressed me is that the first three shots fired from a cold bore, fouled or freshly cleaned, always go where they should and group well under one inch.
