I've had rifles with polymer parts break. I've had rifles that were supposedly high quality have poor bluing and corrosion resistance or have bad extractors that broke. And I've had rifles come brand new with feeding problems and stock fitment problems. None of them were ever made by Ruger. You see TONS of M77s from the 70s still in solid shape and shooting great. 50 years from now, how many Savage and Predator and Tikka plastic rifles do you think will still be in action?
I get it. You don't like them and think they're overpriced. That's fine. But for what they actually cost (the only $1300 M77 I've ever seen is the special anniversary whatever model that's been sitting unsold, online, for 2 years), it's a solid, rugged, dependable rifle with all wood and metal parts. If you can't figure out why people keep them and like them, there's not much else we can do for you.
The Tikka beat out the 77 in Canadian military trials.
