Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Alaska/Canda working rifle

Yup, but asside from the rough unmachined surfaces such as the bolt raceways I don't have any issues with Ruger investment casting their parts. Anyone who's drilled and tapped the trigger housing for an overtravel screw has an appreciation for how strong the alloy is. I'm not going to say no one has blown up an M77, because it's impossible to build something stupid proof, but they are very strong actions.

M77's are like a typical Ruger firearm, extremely strong, reasonably accurate, very reliable, reasonably priced, a little rough in a few spots and maybe a tad heavier than the competition. They may not garner an emotional response and following, but it's a pretty safe bet they can be used hard for your lifetime and passed onto the next generation.

Savage hog hunter in 338

Twenty five years ago, just getting back into hunting, I bought a Century Arms sporter for $230. It was a WWII Mauser action they screwed a new 30-06 barrel onto, some Weaver bases and a black plastic stock. I bought a Weaver 2x - 10x for it at the same time. It was my primary hunting rifle until I started acquiring some "nicer" guns, then it became my foul weather piece, then backup and loaner. It shot great and I killed a lot of deer with it. I sold it this year to a young guy who was looking for something more powerful than his 223. My primary backup gun these days is a hardwood stocked Marlin 30-30.

I'd have a really hard time not picking a 30-06 in whatever configuration you prefer.

For a factory rifle, just get a Ruger MKII or Hawkeye stainless in 30-06, leave it in the factory plastic stock which is quite stiff and light in its own right, and has some very prominent checkering molded-in for grip.

Leupold's 4x with a heavy duplex would do what you need to do anywhere. Factory open sights would be great but are about impossible to find anymore, so you'd probably have to have them added if desired.

I'm thinking for me it would be a pre 64 70 Fw bored out or rebarreled to 338.....338-06 a squair would be perfict...topped with 1.5 x5 leupold in QR rings....McMillan stock....would weigh about 61/2 -7 lbs....I actually have collected all the parts but haven't had the heart to bore out a perfectly good 06 FW barrel....I will run across one with a pitted bor someday. ...

My working farm rifle is a ruger boat paddle 223. It rides in the pickup or combine or whatever....I find the safety gets dusty and gritty over time....I have carried a mod 70 some without issue....Remington 700 s I love but triggers design is prone to freezing if wet and temps drop...sako never fails....
I recall a friend in Alaska showing pictures of his float trip he does every few years....they float the river in a raft and kill moose and bears..carabu."...he had his 80 year old father with him...to save weight they took only one rifle....so he found a picture with the rifle in it....it was an old Springfield 06 in a Fajin stock with a well warn weaver on it with all the bluing gone....it was laying on a huge pile of meat and horns....he said it's the only rifle his dad ever had....can you imagine how much meat it has put in the freezer..

I have one of those in .338WM (M77 MKII stainless steel) and a Leopold Var-X III 2.5-8x. Started using in 1994 and never let me down when moose hunting. The storage thing about this rifle is that it shoots quite well from a cold and clean barrel. I have never had the need to take a third shot on moose, but it always shoots straight and +2 at 100 yards. I never adjust the scope nor anything on it, but clean it to remove dust or mud every couple of nights at the campsite. The rifle shot that way from day one, so I never take a fouling shot.

There is a really nice mos 70 classic with a McMillan stock in the classifieds ....this thing would be my choice for Canada. It's a 338wm

I've been looking at this for a few days, but I don't plan to buy it so I will pass it along.

Looks like a dang good deal on a hard to find rifle to me:

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/703307776

Ray, you got to love a rifle like that. I know a lot of guys around here who use stainless Ruger m77 mkII 338wm for their elk rifles. I've had more than a few myself and love them. Excellent "utilitarian" rifles for DAMN sure.... Come to think of it, I know where a like new one is sitting in a rifle rack at a small LGS. IF it's still there in a couple weeks when I am elk scouting in that area, I may just end up taking it home with me....

I believe the claw extractors are now MIM, and recall some stating failures.

Never heard either of those things.

The extractor may well be machined from the same type of investment (lost-wax?) casting as the rest of the action, but I've never heard of one failing, ever.

I want to like the M-77, but the action screws and the scope ring screws on the ones that I've owned keep shooting loose.

Any ideas on how to stop that?


Okie John

Are the MK II stocks less painful than the Tangers were?

Would think a thread locker like loctite should do the trick. Use purple 222 loctite for screws up to 1/4". Be careful to not let any excess drip where it shouldn't go. Doesn't take much.

Loctite 222 Threadlocker Purple

I tried that. No luck. A 30-06 and a 338 both shot loose every 30-40 rounds even after I torqued the screws in repeatedly.


Okie John

When screws loosen, it is usually because the receiver is moving in the bedding when the rifle is fired. Pillar bedding fixes it. GD

I really like the Ruger Mk II's over the Hawkeyes. I also prefer the Zytel stocks over the black tuperwares. It's easy to add a Limbsaver on the Zytel stocks and man it doesn't make a difference the caliber they are very easy to handle. I prefer 30-06 and 338WM either will make a handy working rifle for anything I can think of. The MK II Stainless has very tight pores and while you can get some freckling, they fight off rust pretty well. Those Ruger sights are nice and handy as well. Course if you need a working rifle you need a back up. MIne are Winchesters mod 70's. My 338 is a push feed but my 30-06 is a classic stainless. Actually both are stainless. So long as you have 2 rifles in the same caliber that shoots the same bullet you should be good.

308 Hawkeye All Weather, VX-2 2-7X33 in a Ruger Zytel. Trigger worked to 3lbs with some other aftermarkets. Thought I would like the Zytel, but the full Zytel paint job by my grand kids gets the nod.

That's my trio of rough service rifles. M70 EW in .270 Winchester, M70 Classic FWT with McMillan Hunters Edge blind magazine in .30-06, and M70 Classic with McMillan Hunters Edge in .338-06. The .270 got a face lift with a McMillan FWT Edge stock and Leupold VX3 3.5-10X40 and weighs 7lbs 13oz all up with 6 rounds of 130 grain ammo and mountain sling. The .30-06 and .338-06 both have Leupold 2.5-8X36 optics and weigh 7lbs 2oz and 8lbs 8oz respectively all up.