I had 2 stainless 77/44's, one early manufacture, one about 5 years later. I could never get either to shoot better Consistently than 3 inches with factory or handloads. God knows, I tried. I hear people repeatedly say, "4" @ 100 yards is all I need. On an off hand shot, even if you are good enough to hold 8" @ 100 yards, if your shooter error is on the outside edge of that 8"and your 4" 77/44's "pattern" bullet is off several inches, then guess what dude, You very possibly will have a wounded animal running off. Personally, I choose not to play Russian Roulette when hunting and use a more accurate rifle. Now if you limit your shots to approximately 60 yards, I think the 77/44 would be perfect. RJ
