As a preface to this post- please bear in mind I have owned Ruger m77s for over 30 years now. I feel they are a great factory made bolt gun.


As far as their use in custom builds- they are out there. Proably in about the same numbers as Sakos . They are not used more in custom rifles due partly the basic build quality of the Rugers. It's not just the investment casting but the tolerances. Over all, they are rather sloppy built actions to be building a high end custom rifle on.

Two high end guns out there- Shiloh Sharps rifles and Freedom Arms revolvers are both made almost totally of investment castings- yet they are built like fine watches compared to a Ruger m77 of any vintage.


The other part is due to the other actions available. There are better "accuracy" actions like Remington m700s and clones.
There are more "classic" actions like pre 64 m70s and m98 Mausers for building high end classic stocked guns.

One other aspect of customizing Ruger m77s is for the use most folks buy them for- basic working class rifle- they do not NEED to be customized. They shoot very well with a bit of bedding/tuning and already have well designed stocks on them..

That is my take.

Last edited by jim62; 08/07/11.
To all gunmaker critics-
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.."- Teddy Roosevelt