Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Anyone have experience with a Ruger 77 MKII RL rifles?

I just picked up a Ruger 77 MKII 270 in a zytel stock and its the ultralight with the 20" barrel. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these and how they generally shoot?

both mine, 204 and 7/08 are shooters....

I tried 2 of these in .223 Rem, another one in 30-06 and also one in .270 Win......I really liked the way the rifles felt and handled but none were really good MOA shooters.......Good luck....Hb

I guess I will find out when my scope arrives...have my fingers crossed as I really like the feel of the rifle.

I have an UL in .30-06 that I like a lot. Mine has never been a 1" gun but I have gotten it to shoot 1 1/2" groups on several occasions. It is darn hard to beat as an overall hunting rifle. With a little experimentation, you will very likely find a load that it likes very well. I'll never sell mine.

I have a MK 2 in 257 and had one in 243. Both are about 1.5 inch guns. I have a Hawkeye UL 30-06 it's about a 1.5 inch gun. Bottom line is that if you are hunting inside 300 yards accuracy won't likely be an issue. Some people don't like the way they balance. I love the way they feel on my hand. They seem to like pressure on the foreend. Is yours stainless? If so there weren't many of them made in stainless synthetic. Good find.

Feels nice to me but I haven't mounted a scope on it yet.

Yes it's a stainless rifle...I figured it was a good find for $500 here in Canada

I guess I got lucky. My UL is a first production year 223Rem. It shoots like this with a 50gr TTSX and TAC.



And like this with the 63gr Sierra and Varget.



However, it is about a 2 MOA shooter with my old standby, the 55gr Hornady SP.

Same here! I've had my Ultra Light M77 MK II .30-06 with the zytel stock since I was a kid. I love mine and it's dropped every deer I've shot at. It's a fantastic rifle that is extremely durable and lightweight. I live in the harsh environment of Southeastern Alaska and the stainless/synthetic materials on this rifle are bulletproof. It uses a rock solid Mauser action, which is, in my mind, the very best bolt action design ever created. Good luck finding a modern bolt rifle these days in a decent price range that can match the quality of a Ruger M77 Mk II. I am not a big fan of the new Ruger rifles myself and I do not believe they are the same level of quality as the older M77s. Many people don't like the M77 MK II trigger, but they can be modified.

I've had a number of MKIIs over the years. The only UL I've ever had was a 308.

It gave me 1-1.25" groups with factory ammo- Rem Core-lokt, Hornady American whitetail, Federal Fusion.

It was the 2nd worst shooting Ruger I ever had.

Tatelaw, that is fantastic accuracy. My 1.5 inch groups came from guns that are bone stock and with minimal load development. I could probably tweak out some better loads, but my rifles are southern woods hunting rifles and 1.5 is more than adequate.

If you are interested, I have a friend that got a 77 Mk2 LH at an estate sale with a burris 3X-9X scope Walnut stock, 270 Win.
He wants to sell it.
it looks unfired

If anyone is interested let me know in a PM and I'll put you in touch with him.

After years of sneering at Rugers over rumors of poor accuracy, I ended up with a limited edition M77 Mk II 35 Whelen in a Zytel stock. It shot 1 MOA with a 4x Leupold and 250-grain Hornadys at an honest 2,550 fps. I currently own a stainless M77 Mk II in 30-06 that shoots 1 MOA with Federal's cheapest 30-06/180 load.

I'm done sneering, and I'll buy more M77's if I find them at the right price.


Okie John

I've done the same to this one that I do to all my M77s. I free floated the barrel, devcon bedded the action, replaced the trigger spring with one of Ernie's, and made sure the magazine box wasn't binding. I was worried when it wouldn't shoot the Hornady bullet that usually shoots well in everything else, but the two pictured were the next two bullets I tried. I haven't been able to repeat that 63gr Sierra group that I posted, but the norm is 1/2-3/4 inch. I'm very pleased with that from an UL rifle.

So you just replace the springs and no other trigger work? You find it helps out and gives you a decent trigger?

I've always thought most of my Ruger triggers were pretty good, just a little heavy. The new spring brings it down about 1-1.5lbs. My trigger on that rifle breaks at 3lbs by my gauge. And yes, that's all I do to the trigger. I've looked around online and watched YouTube videos about trigger jobs on the Rugers, but I've never been brave enough to jump in and try it. I have a boat paddle 7Mag that had the worst trigger I've ever seen. Had to have been 8-10 lbs. I had a local smith work it for me and it's wonderful now. And he doesn't charge a fortune.

I got mine in 1995. It became my favorite rifle! It's chambered in 257 Roberts Ackley Improved. Unfortunately it has a 1 in 103/4 twist and won't shoot bullets over 100 grains very accurately. I've found the 100 grain bullets perform very well on deer.

I have one in 243 Winchester. I replaced the trigger with a Timney. It's probably the most accurate rifle I own and has accounted for many deer, antelope and coyotes. At 100 yards, it's sub moa with my reloads. Great rifles!

I have one in 257 Roberts. I've been toying with the idea of cutting 1 1/2" off the end and slapping it in a Ruger Mannlicher stock. I'm sure it won't happen.