My first bolt action rifle was a M77 7mm rem mag that I bought new in 1986 about a week after I turned 18. I loved that rifle but no matter what I did I couldn't make it shoot more than 4" groups at 100 yds. I was convinced it was the ammo which got me into handloading where I poured about $500 worth of components through it and still couldn't make it hit a barn from the inside. Despite this I killed a pile of deer with it, I loved the way it handled and to this day think the tang safety is where a safety should be on every gun, anything else is inferior.
It wasn't until I bought a savage 220 swift that I realized the 4" groups weren't me, the savage would routinely do 1/2" without effort. I had the ruger rebarreled and it was showing promise when my dad's house was broken into and it was stolen. By that time my tastes had turned to stainless M70's, but that Ruger was still the nicest handling bolt action I've had and I miss it. I didn't replace it with another M77 because I was burned with the horrid accuracy, and it was 30 years before I'd touch another Ruger because of the piss poor accuracy. When I finally decided to buy another Ruger it was an American rifle in .223 which shoots tiny groups without effort. If my M77 had shot half as well as that $300 American rifle I'd have a safe full of them right now. The dismal accuracy burned me so bad I wouldn't touch another Ruger for 30 years.
