Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger M 77 over time

The M77 tanger is a bit of a cult fav these days. What prompted Ruger to close the lid on the original and bring out the Mark II? And with respect to triggers, which is considered to be cream of the crop? M77 original, Mark II, or LC6? Thanks in advance for your savvy.

Seems people wanted CRF, though early Mark II's didn't have it.

Early 77's had adjustable triggers, I don't recall the MKII trigger, but the LC6 is easy enough to smooth up.

CRF and 3 position safeties don't mean much to me, but it does to plenty of people that wear suspenders.

I like the ergos of the Hawkeye stock the best.

lol on the suspenders, thanks for the post. I do like the Hawkeye ergos. Am intrigued by the tang safety and perhaps what is a user friendly adjustable trigger?

It didn't adjust a lot.

My only complaint with the original M77 is you have to push the safety off to open the bolt. I agree with Steelhead about not much trigger adjustment on the original M77s.

The original trigger was fully adjustable for weight of pull, sear engagement, and over travel. Easy to eliminate the bolt lock if one wanted to do so. GD

Both of my 77 Tangers I can operate the bolt with the safety on!

The later tang safeties eliminated the issue with having to push the safety off to open the bolt. I like the tang safety 77's, but I have to admit that I love the 1 Hawkeye I own. It just feels, looks, and shoots like a rifle should (to me). And I am speaking of the wood stock model.

Now, if the CEO at Ruger will just listen to my email I sent him and start making limited runs of it in semi-obsolete calibers!

LOL...you beat me to it as I was typing! Just out of curiosity, do your 2 77's have a 3 digit prefix? I've wondered if that is when they started making those models? The only 1 I have that opens with safety on is an Ultra-Light with a 3 digit prefix.

YEP. Mine adjustED easily, no complaints.

I'm in a minority here, I don't like tang safeties on RIFLES.

Shotguns are a diff story. (to me)


Jerry

Don't have any experience with LC6 triggers. I like the 77 pre-1998 triggers There were screws to adjust weight of pull, creep and over travel. The weight of pull screw is in the trigger finger piece so you did not have to disassemble the rifle to adjust.

Post 1998 and early Mark IIs the trigger was nonadjustable and set by the factory. If you were a good tinker you could adjust, I sent a couple to the gunsmith.

Later Mark IIs came with a two stage trigger. It worked well for me with a little practice. Take up the first pull, hold and when sight picture was good, squeeze.

Ruger77,yes both of my 77's are three digit prefix.A 6mm REM. and a 35 Whelen.

Ruger changed the closed & locked bolt safety during the 79,000 serial number prefix range in the early 1980's IIRC.

Bill Ruger originally wanted a mag box holding 4 rounds but gave in to his engineers on the design holding 5 rounds. I think the MKII holds 4 rounds? I may be wrong by trying relying on my memory.

Yep, you're correct on capacity for standard cartridges.

I've had several 77s over the years never a mark 11 or Hawkeye. All of mine were great shooters and just great rifles. The only knock I might have is the chunky forends. I wish B Ruger could see my current .257 Roberts with its slimmed down stock. I'd tell him "That's what you should have done."

I recently discovered tang safety Ruger M77's and now own 3 of them. Where have these been all my life!

There are/were hundreds for sale because people claim they had bad barrels and poor accuracy.

Bill Ruger had Lenard Brownell design the original M77 stock profile, the early rifles had a nice, trim forend. Brownell left in the early seventies & by 1975, for some reason, the stock profile gained weight, especially in the forend.

By the early 1980's, they had trimmed them back down to an acceptable size. The current Hawkeyes wood stocks are the best of them all, IMHO!

IMO the best $400 rifle you can buy!

They are getting hard to find around where I live. But, I walked in the LGS a couple of weeks ago and found one that had a Shilen bbl (6MM REM) and custom trigger (unsure which brand yet). Work was done by a well known (around here) gunsmith and was being sold for a great price IMO. Didn't have the cash so put it on layaway. Hope to have it in my hands in 2-3 wks. Can't wait. Already have a Leupold M8 6x to put on it!

The 6mm is a deer killer.

Interesting, I never heard of a M77 tang safety that would open the action with the safety on.

I put a Timny on my Mrk II. and I love it. Even got it in stainless to match my rifle.

Autofive-I bought my wife a Rem 788 in the caliber a couple of years ago in the caliber when she said she wanted to deer hunt with me. So far, she hasn't hunted with me but she loves shooting it. Had to put a Timney trigger on it to be able to shoot it accurately, but look forward to her getting a deer with it. I'm sure at some point I'll have to try the new rifle on WT's.

Jericho-I had owned several of the earlier ones before I traded a guy a 700 BDL in a 270 for his Ultra Light in a 270 (he couldn't stand the recoil). I was surprised when I was able to open the bolt while on safe. I do like the feature myself.

I have all three model Rugers (M77, MkII and the Hawkeye). The Hawkeye stock is definitely a big improvement over the others. The slimmer fore end really fits my hand better, much like the Ultralight stock does.

Twist?

I have owned three M77 tang safety rifles for decades. None have the original stocks, barrels or triggers. All have McMillans with the two SAs have the long discontinued ultralight stocks. The LA has a hunter stock. Timney triggers. All had their magazines lengthened as well. They are my favorite actions. The safety is in a good location and the actions are very strong.

Rebarreling is easy as there is no notch for an extractor nor is there a recess for the bolt face.

That may be true, but 99% of the ones I've owned have been extremely accurate, after a little bedding work and trigger fine tuning... To the guy that just discovered the tangers, I'd suggest finding a round top. They are cool and a little more rare. The one I had was phenomenally accurate..

If there was an icon for sarcasm, I would have applied it to my post.

roundoak, I've seen some with "bad" barrels. It's true, some did have terrible barrels. There was one in particular that was so bad, that it appeared to have part of the rifling missing about half way in. It was a 300wm and was terribly abused by an indian fisherman around these parts. I don't know what he did to it, but it was pretty rusty and slightly pitted when he brought it in to the gunshop. I was there when he was selling it to the gunshop owner. Generally the gunshop owner is very generous when buying firearms, but this time he only offered $150.00 for the rifle. After the indian guy left, I said do you want to make $50.00? He said, what do you mean? I said, I'll give you $200.00 for that tanger.... He said, "hell yes".. I had it cerakoted, glass bed the rifle and adjusted the trigger. It was actually pretty sweet looking when I was done:






Like I said, even with a small part of one land (for what looked like about an inch) missing, it still shot very well:



To answer the OP's question on which trigger I prefer. I like the LC6 the best. It's basically a modified MKII trigger. The LC6 is the easiest to fine tune. Usually just a quick polish and you are down to 2.5-3 pounds. Sometimes not even requiring a lighter trigger spring. The MKII's can be fine tuned like that as well, but require a lighter spring and a lot more honing and polishing. The tang safety triggers were not bad, but had a lot more working parts in them. The beauty of the MKII and LC6 is their simplicity. Kind of like a good ol pre 64 model 70 trigger. Someone mentioned the 2 stage Ruger trigger, I also have those, but do not like them as much as a good single stage.

As i recall there were two versions of the original M77 trigger. The first version was as noted earlier in that it was fully adjustable. A few years later it was explained to me they limited some of the adjustments that could be made. Then the third trigger design was with the Mark II models and the fourth version (I am omitting the two stage target triggers) being the LC6 trigger which as been mentioned was a factory cleaned up tweak of the Mark II trigger basically. I myself speculate that they may very well have gone to the Mark II trigger because there seemed to me a bit if similarity between the original M77 trigger and the Remington Walker trigger in that it was a somewhat enclose unit with lots of parts and possibly subject to accidental discharge if not kept cleaned. I have no evidence of such just mindless speculation on my part. If anyone has any specific knowledge to the reason they could share I would appreciate it. Anyway I personally like Rutgers and don't care if they ever will win any target contest. At least all of the dead deer I've taken with Rugers over the years never complained.

Great post Jim. Looks to be pretty spot on to me..

Nice job and great story.

This 77VT 22-250 built in 1973 has the dog-leg bolt handle and 'scooped' bolt knob. The single stage trigger was adjusted from 5# pull to 3# pull with out disassembling the rifle by turning the screw on the trigger as shown below.

A friend has an older Tanger with locking bolt. It's easy to convert to non locking bolt.

You remove the safeby wire connector, the rotating safety pen then can be moved left, allowing the "C" clamp retainer to be removed.

With a Dremel cut off wheel, the part that engages the bolt slot is cut off. Reassemble in reverse order and you now have the safety operating independent of the bolt.

Easy fix, maybe 10 minutes included take down and reassembly.

DF

Actually, they did have slimmed forends on the early "FlatBolt" rifles. Thses were great stocks. I think Ruger later went with the wider forearm stock to inletted for sporter or heavy barrel rifles as needed. This ment manufacturing only one stock profile

Not sure, Mathman. How can I tell?

Roundoak...I have one of the old Flatbolts as well. Mine is in a 243. Well...actually it is my son's. Traded for it when he was a baby. But right before he started hunting, I bought him a Mk II in a 270. But the old Flatbolt is still around here.

How many of you guys replaced the trigger overtravel adjustment set screw encouraged by Ruger? If you called or wrote them they would send a new screw with allen wrench and instructions.

If there was a "T" inscribed under the bolt it meant the updated screw was installed at the factory.

I installed several for myself and friends.

That explains why my 77s had FULLY adjustable triggers.
1. 243, 2. 270s, 1 300 WM, 1. 338 WM. All but 1 of the 270s were bought new. The 338 didn't stay long.

My long time friend still has the 243.

I did adjust weight, travel / over travel w/o any problems. The 338 was the last Tanger I had and it was before 89 (?) don't know when it was manuf.

Jerry

edit to add : I also had a 257 R that I got from a friend and then traded back to him.
I don't remember adjusting or trying to adjust that one. He probably already had it good. Too long to remember.

I love the LC6 trigger on my 30-06 ultralight. It is just as it came out of the box and perfect for a hunting rifle.

I have the M77 Hawkeye in 257 Roberts. I like the slimmed down stock on this version. I always thought the original M77 was clunky. When I first bought the gun the action was a little "sticky" but over time it has become the slickest bolt throw of any gun I've owned. I'll try to post the pictures from the gunbroker listing when I bought it.

Can anyone tell me how to attach pictures to this post? I don't see a tab for this.

I started buying Ruger 77s in 1980 because they were the only new rifles that could be purchased in 250-3000, 257 Roberts, and 7x57. Since then I've probably bought, sold, and gifted nearly five dozen of them in all sorts of configurations. Still have a few, mostly 77 RSIs, with the most recent being a 77 Hawkeye in 6.5 Creedmoor that is waiting for a McM McM Hunter to arrive.

I like the tang safety 77s and have installed Timney triggers on those that I shoot occasionally. My only gripe with that installation is that the original alloy trigger guards were really brittle and would often crack/break when you opened up the rectangular hole for the Timney trigger to fit. I now use a stainless trigger guard when I do the Timney installation and save the original trigger and trigger guard to covert back to the original configuration, except for the stock work to fit the larger Timney unit, if desired at some future point in time.

My oldest Ruger 77 is a flat bolt in 6.5 Rem Mag from circa 1969. My oldest Ruger 77 that I bought new is a 77R in 257AI that I bought at Pat's Pawn & Gun in Ogden, KS, in 1982. It was the vehicle for my initial forey into the world of wildcat cartridges and one of the few AI rifles that I still have.

Ive owned all three version. The tangers were very accurate, the MKII's took some tinkering, hawkeye's seemed more consistent.

My favorite version would be the Hawkeye with a MKII floorplate. That hunk of steel ruger calls a floorplate on the hawkeye needs a serious diet.

At S/N 79-50000 a modification was made so the bolt could be opened while the safety was on.

I bought my first M77, a Liberty Model, in 1977. They were also making the rifle in .458 with a steel floor plate and trigger guard. I immediately ordered from Ruger the steel bottom metal because I don't like aluminum bottom metal. The steel bottom metal is now installed on a 7X57 M77 RS which is a keeper.

I read about those steel guards, but never saw one on a rifle. Wonder if a Hawkeye guard would fit?

MY first Ruger was a .270, with the tang safety. Ruger had a "recall" on the trigger, where they sent you a replacement screw that was soft, and if installed correctly, was difficult to get out, and eliminated the capability of reducing the sear engagement. I still have the screw, in case I buy another tang-safety Ruger, I can drill out the "upgrade"
and have some ability to maybe reduce the trigger creep. I think I would like another 270.

I'm sure Ruger changed the trigger primarily because they decided it was safer to not give the customer the option of adjusting a trigger. They were probably right. I always thought the original stock design was one of the nicest ever available on a factory rifle (along with the early Number One stock). The Hawkeye stock continues the slide downward of Ruger stock design. It is painful to look at. GD

I have no experience with the original M77 so I have no opinion there. But I'll have to disagree with you about the Hawkeye stock. I have both M77 Mk.II and Hawkeye and the Hawkeye stock is the better design. Nor do I find anything aesthetically unpleasing about the looks of it.

I presently own all 3 models of the wood stock 77's (tang, MKII, and Hawkeye) and I haven't had a problem shooting any of them. As far as the aesthetics of them, that is why I bought my 1st one back in 1980 which was also my 1st 25/06. Loved that rifle then and have never regretted getting any of the ones I have owned, although I have regretted selling a few of them.

Sorry, but I never understood the love for these rifles. There are some positive aspects, like the stock design, the forward guard screw angle, and the claw extractor. I never could past all the problems, but I relented and purchased an M77/22KMZWmGtRwhatever in .22WMR. It remains the least accurate of all the rifles I own.

The provided scope rings were too high for mounting anything but the Hubble telescope. If you wanted a normal scope mounted low, you went shopping for (mostly) unavailable medium or low rings.

The trigger pull was horrendous, typically pushing 7 lbs or more. Now you have to buy a new trigger.

So, you paid more for a Ruger M77 than a Model 70 or 700, THEN you had to spend another $150-$200 just to get the scope rings and trigger fixed.

The tang safety is noisy in the woods. The change to their 3 position safety is proof that folks didn't care for the tang safety. The resultant 3 position safety is clearly an after thought.

Finally, the idea that an Express model was chambered in anything BUT Express calibers always seemed strange. Then, when Ruger did offer an express chambering in a rifle, it was called the Magnum.

To each his own...

3584ELK...that's what makes the rifle market so great, is that it gives everyone an opportunity to pick and choose what they like! I never have liked the Monte Carlo stock. I've owned some, including the Rem 700 BDL and loved the day I traded it for a tang safety 77 UL in a 270. The only rifle I have ever HAD to change a trigger on was a Rem 788 in 6mm I bought for my wife. I couldn't shoot it, it was so bad so I put a Timney on it. But, I will concede all of my Rugers did not have a great trigger on it.

The one thing I will respectfully disagree with you on though, is the "noisy" tang safety. I have always been able to click the safety off or on where even a person in the stand with me didn't know I had slipped it off. Just a little practice with a finger behind and a finger in front should do it. I have killed a number of deer out of climbers with my 77's with the deer within 15-20 yds. of my stand and have never been busted. I was taught as a kid how to use that method on the safeties on the trigger guard and have used it on other types of safeties over the last 40+ yrs. I get amused when I watch a hunter on TV "click" the safety off and the deer look up at them. Maybe amused isn't the word...maybe amazed would be more like it that they have hunted for years and don't know how to keep it quiet.

I believe the MkII and Hawkeye are the most underrated of rifle actions today, and much prefer the MkII to all previous.

A real Mauser feeding capability (CRF), superb safety that holds the striker back As well as locking the bolt and trigger, and an open trigger design that is highly reliable and can very easily and safely be worked down to a crisp pull of about 3#. The integral scope mounts are terrific (no worries about hidden base screws coming loose), and if a person doesn't like the Ruger rings, Leupold and others make dandy replacements. I've also found the barrels of this generation of Rugers to be mostly very accurate.

I'm a little surprised this action hasn't captured more of the "McSwirley" custom market than it has. It's a sleeper.

I had a M77 ranger in 7mm rem mag that I bought when I was 18. I was in love with that rifle but truth be told it was about a 4 moa shooter and the trigger, while adjustable, went down to about 5 lbs at the minimum. I finally rebarreled after I got older and got it shooting pretty well. Sadly it was stolen in a break in at my Dads house. I love the tang safeties and think that's where they should be on all rifles.

If the supplied scope rings are not to your liking, Ruger will let you exchange them for the proper size for free provided the originals are still in their package. they use to just swap them out regardless if they were used or not but that policy apparently got taken advantage of. The factory trigger can be cleaned up to 3 lbs or a tad under with about 20 min of stone work.

The last 4 Hawkeyes I've got came with 1" rings. Called CS and asked if I could exchange for 30mm rings. They promptly sent me 30mm's and said keep the 1" rings. Can't beat that kind of service.

I have had 3-MkII's (30-06, 300WM,.223), 1-boat paddle (.338WM), and 1-Hawkey (.308). The .223, 300, and 338 were great shooters, but the 30-06 was awful with several loads and the 308 was the only poor shooting 308 I have ever had.

I like the design, just heavy but reliable if they shoot. The new Nat Gear camo stocks I do not like.

I happen to concur with this.

Mule Deer:
" I've owned a pile of 77's of all eras. While one barrel truly sucked (a 7x57 with a bore that had numerous loose spots, with the tight spots measuring .287), all the others shot anywhere from acceptably to very well. My acceptable rating is three shots in an inch for big game rifles, and five shots in an inch for varmint rifles, and very well is half that. Most of them required some work on the bedding and trigger, but then a lot of factory rifles do."

Boxer - Big Stick:
"I've Ruger familiarity and accept them for what they are. Light or bullet proof they are not, though curiously enough they are oft maligned by the masses for "accuracy" woe which I've yet to see, though of course I shoot a bit, which tend to tip numerous scales."


This 77 was taken in on a trade and sold right of way for reasons not related to accuracy or handling characteristics.