Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Tell Me About Your Ruger 77/22

Rangelonger: Guess I wasn't clear about our squirrels in eastern Oregon. Ours are Beldings ground squirrels found in great numbers in irrigated alfalfa fields. Our squirrel season runs from late Feb up into June if one can find a mowed field. An adult standing vertically is about 1.25 inches wide and maybe up to 8 or 9 inches tall. A sitting adult is about 2 inches tall and about 6 inches wide. The progeny that show up in May are about the size of a chunky house mouse, and with a little luck one can line up 2 or 3 with a single shot once in a while.

A good squirrel day is akin to a super fine prairie dog shoot, except that shooting a small bore will not run the squirrels in. Given that, one can easily go through a brick in a day loading single hot. If one is patient in an infested field, he may go through 100 rds without moving. The shooting can be as challenging as one wants to make it, but I see no sense in wasting ammo, and get close enough to shoot 90% or better. Cross winds can be a killer, but after a bit, one can get pretty good at doping that too. Some hay growers will even furnish ammo if they find out one is effective. I use a shorty lawn chair and a bipod about 24 inches tall. I pretty much stick to one rancher's fields, and he picks up a case of ammo a year for me.

We even have some commercial guides in the county, and folks roll in from as far away as Alaska, California, Colorado, and Montana, and may stay for a full week of shooting. Some folks will even fly in, land on a county road, and deplane for 5 or 6 hours of shooting.

Beldings ground squirrel: On my screen this photo is about twice the size of an actual squirrel.

I'm on my 5th but probably the 2 .22 hornets don't count.

The first was a "boat paddle" .22 mag. Shoulda kept it. It shot the CCI maxi-mag +V around a half inch at 50 yards. Still, I got into jackrabbits so I traded it for a 9422 in .22 mag. It wore a Simmons ".22 mag" 4X. The second was a laminated/stainless .22 long rifle. About 1.25" at 100 yards was the best it'd do. I put a Burris 4-12X AO compact on it. That scope was a lot of why I got rid of the gun. It was compact but it wasn't light by any means and the focus/eye relief were hinky at best. Both of those two guns were upgraded with Volquartsen sears and springs.

The current 77/22 is a .22 long rifle "boat paddle" which I picked up about a month ago. I stuck a Jard 1 pound trigger in it but got a few ADs so I swapped in their 1.5 pound spring. End o problems. Better trigger pull than the Volquartsen setups by a good bit IMHO. For glass it's got a Leupold 3-9X EFR.

Right off the bat it did it's best shooting with CCI Stingers, nice round, even 10 shot group a hair under an inch at 50 yards. Other ammo approached that but with a flier or two and odd group shapes. I'm up to about 300 rounds through it and it seems to be smoothing out, groups are getting better, both smaller and more even.

I like the gun but it was probably a bad choice. The 77/22s are expensive. For about the same money I could build a 10/22 that'd shoot circles around it. The point of the 77/22 was I'm thinking about doing the paperwork to silence it. In that case, having an action that doesn't make so much noise cycling should be better. If I don't, then I'll probably get rid of the 77/22 and go back to a 10/22. Time will tell.

Tom

I have a first year 77/22 (1984 or 85) and it shoots Remington's Viper very well. When I discovered the Vipers I bought a case (5,000) and shoot them with confidence. Did work on the trigger for a more consistent let-off. A old Weaver 4X has been the scope mounted since day one. In fact I shot it Saturday and had 3 groups of 1" at 35 yards. I only had 1 other .22 that was more accurate and it was a Clark 10/22!

I have bought two of the 77/22 rifles. I bought both used.

When my sons turned 12, they got a .22 for their birthday. I have taught them to squirrel hunt with a rifle.

The first one was blue and walnut. The second is stainless and boat paddle. The really funny thing was with the boatpaddle. The boy was aiming at his first squirrel, and he turned to ask how it went off. I had test fired the gun and it really shot nicely. The trigger pull was too hard.

If it had been my gun, I would have had the trigger honed. I erred on the conservative side and ordered a volquartsen sear and spring. I had absolutely no idea how to install the thing. I saw a pin, pushed it out and installed the new sear and spring. I am not sure the trigger weight, but it is lighter and more importantly, safe!

Both of the guns I got shoot nice. I do not remember the groups. I wanted to give the boys a nice gun they could have for a life time. They are surely nicer than the one I use to hunt. I have a JW-15, imported by Interarms. It is a Chinese copy of a Brno. It is a very nice hunting gun and it was inexpensive. I paid less than $75 for it and it is one of the last guns that would leave.

I've had both the CZ and the 77-22. Still got the 77-22. The CZ was more accurate but not enough to make that much difference to me in a non-target rifle. IMO the Ruger was a better all around rifle and for a squirrel rifle will shoot better than I can hold it.

Over the years I have had 4 Ruger K77/22VBZ's and a Ruger K-77/22RP. Out of all of those I have had one LEMON. I tried everything short of changing out the barrel and could not get it to shoot to my expectations. Turned out the receiver wasn't milled straight.

With the other Ruger K77/22VBZ's I had I could generally shoot 248 - 249 on the USBR Target at 50 yards. 250's at 25 yards were quite common.

I currently have the Ruger K77/22RP, but it is getting transformed. I have ordered the following parts for it:

20" Stainless-Steel Clark Custom Guns Bull Barrel in .22 LR Match

Volquartsen Laminated Wood Stock

Ruger Trigger Guard, Magazine Well and Screw to fit it to the Laminated Wood Volquartsen Stock

High Stainless-Steel Ruger Scope Rings

Weaver 4x16x42mm AO Rifle Scope with Fine Crosshair / Dot Reticle

In addition I have honed and polished the Trigger and Sear so it breaks super crisp. I have replaced the trigger spring so the pull weight is 1 1/4 pounds.

My main uses for this Rifle are twofold. First of all I am an avid Gopher Shooter. In fact I about go into a tizzy if in the spring I see the first gopher of the year and do not have a .22 LR with me. The other use will be for Indoor Shooting at our local club. We hold an Indoor Bench Rest League each winter (from December through February) at our local club. We shoot on the USBR Target but are restricted to 18 yards at our range.

I have won our Indoor Bench Rest League a couple times with a stock Ruger K77/22VBZ and hopefully the one I am putting together will shoot just as good. It shoots quite well now as is, but the stock is not comfortable. I think the added weight of the Bull Barrel may help me be a little more steady also.

As you probably have figured out I have long been a fan of the Ruger 77/22. In fact about 3 years prior to it's introduction I sent Ruger numerous letters urging them to bring out a rimfire version of their M77 (which I too have had a fondness for for many years).

Larry

My bone stock walnut 77/22 (early model) will shoot 1/2" groups at 50 yards with ammo that it likes (not target ammo, more like CCI Mini-mags or PowerPoints). It will shoot under an inch with bulk cheap Federals from wally world.

Plenty good enough for varmints.

As to the 1/2" squares at 25 yards target above, I've never had any cheap 22 that wouldn't do that. It all seems odd to me. I usually shoot my practice at 50 yards to find what ammo a particular gun likes, and if it doesn't put 5 shots in a 1/2" group I move on to something else immediately. That would cover bolt Mossbergs, Marlins, the Ruger, and some Remingtons, as well as my 10/22.

I've got a stainless 77/22 that shot really well straight out of the box, 1/4'' - 3/8'' when all goes well. I spruced it up with a factory walnut stock(nice grain) stainless trigger assembly and a a S/S Green Mountain 20''fluted - itlooks great and still shoots much the same, so I'm very happy with it.

My experience with my 77/22 VBZ (heavy barrel stainless with laminated stock) is much like DD's above and it will even get down to the .25" range with SK Std Plus and SK Rifle Match. The big ole rifle with my Weaver T-36 on board comes in at 8 lbs 10.4 ozs and that makes it 2.4 ozs two heavy for USBR Sporter Class in our local bench rest match. But, I go ahead and shoot it in Custom Class (even though it has not been customized) and it does quite well most months:

December Rimfire Benchrest results from Sheffield, AL

Unlimited

234-2X Tony Gilmore, Rem 40X, BSA 36X44 Contender, Eley EPS
209-0X Anedra Gilmore, Same rig as Tony

Custom Class

233-2X Danny Creasy, Ruger 77/22 VBZ, Weaver T-36, SK Rifle Match
231-3X Bart Harkins, Anschutz MPR, Weaver T-36, Lapua Center X
215-4X Peary Willard, Savage Mk II, Barska, Aguila SE

Sporter Class

223-1X Bart Harkins, CZ 452 American, Leupold, SK Match
197-0X David King, CZ 452 UltraLux, Tasco 6-24, SK Std Plus

Magnum Class

196-2X Paul Enlow, Marlin 25MN, Bushnell 4-12, CCI MaxiMag HP

Cheap Ammo

226-2X Tony Gilmore, Remington 40X, BSA Contender, Eley Sport
219-1X Peary Willard, Savage Mk II, Barska, Federal 714

Semi-Auto

189-0X Keith McBrayer, Ruger 10/22 HB, Barska, Federal Gold Metal Target

Here is a pic of my Ruger:



Here is a pic of some groups:



Here is a pic of a USBR target (most challenging)- I couldn't find one of the Ruger's but this CZ one still let's you know what the target looks like:

I have both a 77/22M (magnum) and a CZ - and like them both, for what they are.

The CZ's magazine issue can be fixed - this is a CZ527 Hornet:



and the 77/22's trigger can be reworked to a better pull:



(not for a first-time project)

.

Nice shooting. I'm digging the lifted van as well.

Is that just rubber mats you're using for a bench cover?

That van belongs to a friend and club member named Jack. We have three Jacks that regularly shoot in our matches and it gets kind of confusing sometimes.

As to the benchrest surface material, that stuff is gasket material that was trimed off and discarded in the construction of a nuclear power plant. One of our guys is a pipefitter that was working on the place and he asked for permission to take some of the left overs and it has worked really well as bench rest covers. We glued it down.

Had a first year 77/22, basic blue and wood, which was an excellent shooter. Did not hesitate to trade it off for a 77/22 VBBZ when they became available in '97. Also an excellent shooter with a great track record by now. Likewise did not hesitate to buy a 77/17 when they came out a few years ago. VERY pleased with that one as well, but must admit I had to work a little magic with the bedding to make that one come around. Its the only one of the three I ever had to dink with.....
Ingwe

Update,

I picked up a CZ452 American yesterday for $365 . Very nice and I'm pretty impressed with it so far.

Thanks to all who chimed in.

MtnHtr

A good alternative. One can seldom go wrong with a CZ 452 American.


50 yard groups from an ammo testing session a year or two ago.

I bought a 77/.22Mag to use on our digger squirrel colonies and some sage rat strafing. It worked very well, but my shooting cronies showed up with .17 HMR's and I got bit!

I love walnut and blue and decided that the way to go was after market, bull-fluted (just cuz) and installed a GM 20".

I haven't had a chance to really stretch it's legs, but so far it is amazingly more accurate than the factory .22Mag and an instant blast to shoot!

The scope is a NIKON 4.5x14 Side Focus.