Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger 77 MKII or Remington M700 BDL

Let me know what you guys think as far as accuracy, reliability, and triggers (or any other thoughts).
Thanks,

Mike

I am a Ruger fan - I would go Ruger based on ergos. Stock, bolt handle and safety design - they fit me better on the Ruger.

Ruger is as reliable as ANYTHING I have ever seen. They are both fairly simple machines and can and do fail - operator error being concern number1.

Ruger triggers tend to have detractors - but like any other they can either be worked on or replaced. Like MANY people do on a Rem.

Guess it comes down to ergos and those being subjective - its up to you.

The campfire crowd is far and away a M700 crowd which I can't fault. That being said, I still really like the Rugers. For me, it comes down to fit and the Rugers have always fit me well in plain vanilla fashion. One of the major bonuses of the Ruger action is it's strength and scope mounting system. I've done some really bad things to rifles and scopes (dropping them) and have yet to fix/replace a Ruger mount. The trigger is fairly simple and can be tuned to any sane weight desirable.

Much ballyhou about barrels has also been issued over the years but at current count I have 4 tang safety Rugers in the cabinet (7x57, 280, 7mm, 300). They all shoot ~ 1" groups at 100 yards - 7mm and 300 will do a bit better. Maybe I've been lucky.

Basic Ruger work consists of removing the hump under the barrel in the fore-end, bedding the action and first couples inches of barrel, trigger tune/replace, hook a Leupie of some fashion on the gun, then proceed directly to load development.

If you want to get fancy, trim the stock with a rasp, re-checker, install a Limbsaver (if needed), then proceed to load development.

Exactly the same thing could be said of the M700 but I've probably spent more time under Ruger triggers than any other action. I still like the Rugers bestest.

-- BW

You haven't, perchance, asked for anyones preferences of Zeiss vs Leupies on the Optics board...have you???....GRIN>>>

have used a ruger 77 Mk2 and have a couple of Remingtons(1 700 and a 7) only complaint on the Ruger is i dont like the safety, same reason i dont like the Winny 70, course i dont care for the Remmy safety either.....................hmmmmmmmmmmm handle both and buy which YOU like best <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I have always had Remington 700s and one ruger 77 mk2 in a .243 win and it shot just fine. I like the 700 CDL the best out of the two it looks better and sholders better of me. Randy..

The Ruger is fine but my bet is that the rem will be more accurate. if not, rems are easy to tune plus you can use the factory trigger.

I've found M700s to be more accurate then the Rugers I've owned. I've adjusted these 700 triggers myself and they are excellent. No reliability issues after 30+ years of owning them. I am however sending in a M77 I own for accuracy problems. Many here own Rugers that they claim are very accurate and I have no reason to doubt them. From personal experience I have not found this to be the case with the 77s I've owned.

2Seventy

Both are good rifles.
The Rugers trigger can be a pain but the one i owned was not too bad.
Fit and finish was really good.
The one thing i dont like at all about the MarkII's is the safety.
To me it's just ergonomically incorrect.
Not so on the Reminton.
Your thumb has no problems finding it and working it.

I prefer the Ruger 77 MKIIs to the Remmy 700s. They fit me well, I like the scope rings, floor plate release location, 3 pos. safety, fixed ejector, claw extractor, and mine is very accurate. I've shot 3 or 4 and all have been plenty accurate. They are less expensive than M700s as well, least in these parts.

I own 4 Rugers, which I love, and 1 Remington, which I also love. I'd go Ruger, but then I'm an unabashed Ruger fan.

I've got two 77's - the .22 was absolutely brilliant straight out of the box, but the .308 had "hunting acurracy" - roughly around 1.5 inches, some groups up to 2"
Not really good enough for what I want.

After a lot of work it appeared to be the barrel that was at fault. I've just had it rebarreled to 7-08 Ackley.

In spite of the trouble I still prefer the Rugers - for the fit, integral scope mounts, a bolt handle thats not brazed on....

I have never developed an affinity for Ruger M77's. Have owned several, but generally they just don't work out for some reason or other. Be it triggers, safety's or ergonomics, I am not sure I could nail it down to one specific thing. They just have not stuck around with me for more than a year or two before being traded on something else. On the other hand I own quite a few Remington model 700's, and have only ever owned one I was not comfortable with. I think it is a personal thing with likes and dislikes about a particular firearm, and what suits the shooter. If possible try them both out and get a feel for what you like.

With all that I have said above, I am currently contemplating the purchase of a used M77 Standard in 30-06. Maybe I buy it and it stays, could not say for sure, I just hate to see any rifle that is "homeless".

Good Luck, Rob

700 BDL's are sweet rifles. I own 3. Triggers are a bit heavy but I just need to find a good smith who can "fix" that if I want something with less pull and finer touch. I like the looks and feel and the cheek piece in the stock. But they 're not only pretty to look at they are touch cookies and take abuse well. I like the way they shoulder on me, too. And, most importantly, all my BDL's are highly accurate! And I put high powered scopes on them and shoot at itsy bitsy targets way way out there just because to me that is fun to do. I live in the country and have a shooting range in my "backyard" so I do use these guns. No complaints really. Except as mentioned the triggers are a bit heavy.

I don't own a ruger77 so i can't say anything about it.

Someone else posted that it's a personal thing. I agree with that too. Rugers are nice looking but the BDL looks more like a 'real' hunting rifle to me, not that it is all about looks because it is not. Not at all. Howveer when you combine all the nice things I said about the BDL above in tandem with the fact it looks liek a real hunting rifle, that means.... it is all good.

the ruger is flat out more gun, I like the finish on the wood the blueing etc, much better on rugers, I can't imgaine anyone not likeing the saftey on the mk11, Its much more positive and safe than a remmy any day, your blocking the fireing pin man!!!! remmys don't do that

I've had a couple of Remmies over the years but they just don't do anything for me. I've tended to like the Ruger M77 just hard to argue with the egonomics, the styling, Claw extractor, scope mount, and the safety. Let's face it a lot of rifles didn't shoot that well 30 years ago or it was hit and miss. However the market just won't allow that anymore. I'm inclined to think the factory rifles of today are as accurate as alot of the "customs" of yesteryear. I don't tend to sell off my Rugers or Winchesters.

Long Ball, based on the reply's given, you can probably determine that both rifles have a strong following. So It'd be best to hit the local gun shop and get some hands on time working the action and safety's and shouldering the rifles. If possible if you know someone that owns them try and shoot them. Than you can decide which you like better.

Good luck in your choice,

Rob

P.S. I passed on the Ruger- check out my Remington Frankenstein post. Bought that instead. Could not justify the Ruger when a homeless Remy popped up!! If the rain stops I'll go shoot it and give a report.

Get the Ruger, get the trigger smoothed up and take the $ you saved and spend extra on your scope

while looking for a .270 I looked hard at the rugers..almost bought one but All the examples I saw had fit and finish problems..the checkering looked off centered and the finish looked like it was a after thought....the remingtons bdl didnt look much better..I settled for a cdl the fit and finish was excellent..I did force them to bring out about ten cdl's so I could pick the one I wanted....I am still thinking about a ruger mII in .257bob or 7x57....

RLB........

I bought a Ruger 77All Weather in 280. It is one fine rifle!! It shoots awesome groups, it is nearly bullet proof and it fits me like a glove.
I also have a Remington. THe Ruger is more gun for the money. How many rifles have you ever bought that came with scope rings? When I bought mine, I had a Remington BDL S.S. in 280 and the Ruger laying side by side. The Remington finish appeared "dirty". They still do. THe Ruger finish is extrordinary & bright. I like it. I will buy Ruger All Weathers exclusively now. IF they EVER chamber the 7mm Wby, I'll be on that like pink on a pig.