Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ever have a Ruger M77 fail on you on a hunt?

My guess is no... never. So... ... ... ...

I suppose this is Campfire Heresy... but I am thinking of spending the synthetic stock 6.5 Creed $$ on a walnut& blue M77 Hawkeye in 30-06 with a Leupie FXII 6x36 LRD in Ruger medium rings and Federal Premium ammo and go hunting...

No, never a failure.

You could buy the Hawkeye in 308 instead, do the same thing as the -06, and have the short bolt throw that you already enjoy.

Personally, I would be all in. But I guess my name would have given that away. I have a Hawkeye in 264 Win Mag and wouldn't have a problem taking it wherever, hunting whatever.

Dogger

This is NO knock against Rugers. This is my 46 'consecutive' hunting season. I've had too many brands & models of rifles to list. I've never had
any rifle of any brand fail me - in or out of season. Pick the rifle you like the looks and feel, Ruger or other.

Second, the 308 W is ALMOST an 06. Pick the cartridge you want ! !

I've NEVER been satisfied whenever I 'settled'. You may be different.

Good Luck

Jerry

That's a dam fine plan cept I'd go with a Hawkeye compact in 308.....same scope.

That's just me though.

I like to look at rifles made of blued CM and walnut, but when push comes to shove I prefer to hunt with a stainless/synthetic rifle.

I can't disagree with a 77 as I have 4 currently. One thing I do is to call Ruger and get a size 3 ring so I can mount the scope lower. I have yet to have them charge me or ask for the number 5 ring in return. None of them that I have now or have had in the past ever had a failure, and all have shot well under minute of deer.

No, never. I have two M77s and I love them both. I recently got one in .257 Roberts that is coming along nicely.

Never. I have stainless Hawkeyes in .30-06 and 7RM. My only complaint is that the 7 is proving tough to develop loads for. I got the ‘06 shooting well right away.

I hunted with Ruger bolt action rifles exclusively for several years and never had any problems, they aren't the most accurate rifles but id say they are as bombproof as any bolt rifle ever built......Good luck....Hb

Nope

Actually, yes.

I had a tang safety 35 Whelen that failed to eject on a hunt. Put the first shot into an elk (taking out the heart as it turned out) and since he was still on all fours and didn't know he would be dead in a few seconds, I wanted to bust a shoulder. The empty fell back on top of the next round resulting in a fail to feed. Dropped the rifle from my shoulder, saw the problem and tilted the rifle to roll the empty out. Still managed to make a second shot and bust the off side shoulder but it could have become a rodeo.

Turned out that the extractor didn't hold tight enough on the rim and slipped when the ejector's plunger tried to do it's thing. Ruger replaced the extractor and ejector components. They also screwed up the mag box while they were at it (rough filing marks on it after which it rattled around - now too short when it had fit properly before) and chastised me for the XS sight install (performed by a machinist that does aerospace work), and free floated McMillan stock. Never mind it shot much better than originally (the original walnut stock had split in the wrist and the bedding was poor), they now considered the rifle damaged but would fix it anyway.

I consider the extractor issue a fluke and they repaired it for free but was a bit surprised by the surliness of the fellow in the repair department. You would have thought I painted a mustache on the Mona Lisa or something by 'altering' the rifle with a McMillan stock and a perfectly installed ghost ring sight. Hopefully their gunsmith's attitude was a fluke too.

Ive been hunting with Ruger M77, MKII and Hawkeyes every year but one since 1982. Never had a Ruger fail in the field.

That said, my favorite rifle, a 1989 M77 in .257 Roberts, developed an extraction problem. I couldn't figure out what the problem was and sent it off to Ruger. It came back a couple weeks later all fixed and happy. No charge for the fix or return shipping.

I still have my first rifle a tanger in 3006. I hunted exclusively with it for over 20 years and never had an issue. If it wasnt for joining the fire and understanding that multiple rifles and ever cal are needed I would probably still only have that one rifle.

I had a 257 Roberts tang ultralight that would do that same thing with nickel brass. It worked with regular brass flawlessly. I surmised that with the extra thickness of the nickel brass rim that the extractor couldn't get a good bite on it. It could have also been a little weakness that contributed to the problem.

But I own 5 M77's and consider them one of the most reliable, dependable and robust guns ever made. OP, there's nothing wrong with your plan at all. Out of all my rifles my wood stocked 257 Roberts ultralight would be the last to go.

FWIW a 36mm will sit in low rings.

The only extractor issues I have seen from a claw extractor on a 77 was from a 270 a bud used to single feed. The extractor had to push up over the rim of the brass and it developed a burr, this was after tons of shooting from a bench.

Smith told him what he felt was the problem and removed the burr. After that those of us w 77s made sure to feed them from the mag well.

I had a M77 7 mag once that failed to fire on the first two deer I shot at on cold mornings. It would fire when I got back home later. The problem was the firing pin spring was dragging on the bolt. I got a new spring and the problem was solved.

Been using R77s for 40 years with no gun failures.
I have over a dozen covering multiple models.
First was a 77 in 270, second a 77RL in 308. They are my "go to" guns.
Also 77s in 284 Win, 44 mag and 22 mag.

I have had little reason to deal with Ruger, but when I did they were curtious and help full.
Most of this was for 10/22 parts with springs, sights, screws, etc coming free to me.
Nephew just had a Red Label reworked by their service department. Returned in in near new condition--free.
Replaced metal parts, fore end wood, etc Hard to beat this service.

Never had one fail, period.