Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles WORST modern bolt gun hunting rifles?

That has been my experience as well.

All said and done though, I think a pretty good case has been made for the M700 as the worst built, the primary issue being the trigger issue.
I've owned 3, still have one. They all worked and shot fine, accuracy was OK . The 300RUM was a tackdriver, quite exceptional for my experience with 700's back in the 90's.
I've since had as good accuracy as that 300RUM, with Tikkas, Weatherbys, and Brownings, carte blanche.

What EXACTLY do you think is wrong with the Walker trigger? You have not said anything specific and of substance and I am wondering whose line of reasoning you are swallowing.

This is just a me thing, but I have never owned a M77 Ruger that shot worth a sheit. I may try at some point in the future, but it has surely never happened yet.

Just sayin'. donsm70

My experience with Rugers is I've never had a M77, MKII or Hawkeye that did not shoot well. I don't spend a lot of time shooting for groups at 100 but when I have the results have been good to excellent. By "good" I mean 1" to 1-1/4" groups at 100. Most shoot better than that. By "excellent" I mean holes touching at 100. With one exception, all I've ever done to them is tune the trigger, float the barrel and work up handloads. The one exception is a Hawkeye I bedded because it was giving me fits. The problem turned out to be the scope. I've posted target pics before so I won't bother doing so again.

That has been my experience as well.

All said and done though, I think a pretty good case has been made for the M700 as the worst built, the primary issue being the trigger issue.
I've owned 3, still have one. They all worked and shot fine, accuracy was OK . The 300RUM was a tackdriver, quite exceptional for my experience with 700's back in the 90's.
I've since had as good accuracy as that 300RUM, with Tikkas, Weatherbys, and Brownings, carte blanche.

Not sure what to make of your post, but it shows as a reply to me.

This is just a me thing, but I have never owned a M77 Ruger that shot worth a sheit. I may try at some point in the future, but it has surely never happened yet.

Just sayin'. donsm70

All the Rugers I've had were 77 tangers, red pad. I've had hunting accuracy to exceptional. There is ONE thing I found to be critical to get best accuracy. The 'angled' front screw HAD to be adjusted just 'right' for each individual rifle.

IME what adjustment worked for 1 rifle did NOT necessarily work for another. Wth a little Xperimintin I could get at least 1" groups.
My cals/cartridges were 300 WM (hard kicker), 243s, 270s, 308 W (1).

I didn't especially like that 'finicky' aspect but other than that the 77s were working firearms for me.

Jerry

Remington's own manufacturing records, for one.

I agree that an FOR discharge should not happen and that in many cases it probably has been the result of mal-adjusted or dirty triggers. The question is who adjusted the trigger and when. Remington's own records showed many M700s and a much higher percentage of M600's (same trigger) failed testing as they went down the manufacturing line. Are you suggesting none of those made it into the wild?

They certainly aren’t the type I would generally seek advice from, but they are not necessarily the last, either.

Not sure what to make of your post, but it shows as a reply to me.

If you are suggesting I don’t carry my own rifle, you are mistaken. Been carrying my own all my life. Well, except for one antelope hunt in Wyoming where I took two of my nephews. Loaned each a rifle, didn’t take one for myself. After the second got his antelope down, I “borrowed” my own rifle and carried it until I got my own antelope - so even then I carried it while I was actually hunting.

Also, if you are suggesting I pay the big bucks to hunt, you are again mistaken. We hunt Wyoming antelope on both public and private land. When on private land we give the landowners $50 per antelope down plus the landowner coupons, which I think are worth $16 each. None of the several ranches we hunt want have asked for money – the $50 is just a goodwill offering on our part. Earlier this week I sent a thank you letter to one of the ranchers with a photo of Daughter #3 and her first big game animal, a doe antelope taken last year on his ranch. We hope to be back on his ranch again in October, along with a couple of other ranches.

Since I got started hunting Colorado big game in 1982, missing only one year since, I have paid to hunt private land in Colorado exactly three times. The first time was in 2009 or 2010 when my hip was so bad I could hardly walk around the truck. I paid $500 for the opportunity (and was happy to have it) but ended up passing on the shots offered. Another was a year or two later when my hip was still bothering me and I paid $300. The last was for the opportunity to hunt a rancher’s hay field. He didn’t want any money but I took a decent-sized buck and left a goodwill check for $100 in his screen door when I left. All of my other hunts have been on publicly accessible land. (This includes Colorado’s Ranching For Wildlife ranches, which are equally available to all Colorado residents and for which licenses cost the same as regular public land licenses - about $49 these days).

... A couple of folks here posted some pretty factual issues with the 700s, but their emotions get in the way of reasoning and those are the ones I avoid soliciting advise from, like for example, hunting with a cold chamber. ...

A couple of folks here posted some pretty factual issues with the 700s, but their emotions get in the way of reasoning and .....