Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire First rifle gift Ruger 77 or Rem 700 ?

I am going to get one for my son, then build some for the nephew/niece.

The more I think about it I’m starting to think a nice Ruger 77 Mark II might be a better rifle to start them out with.
If they were primarily deer rifles, so Pdog rifles I think that would flip the other way around, but it’s hard to beat the feel of a wood and steel Ruger.

Thoughts?

I really like the Hawkeyes and would consider a modern Ruger to be more of a keepsake than a modern Remington.

The Remington, if you want to prop up and help the firearms industry. 600 bucks for the model 700, blueprint and machine, install new barrel, change trigger, bedding job....you'd have the recipeint a nice rifle for under 2 grand, maybe as accurate as the Ruger.

77 all the way. one of the safest guns out there for a beginner. a big plus for me is that they can also have the same gun in a 22. i bought 77/22's and centerfires for my boys starting out. plus as deflave said, they are more of a keepsake than a 700 imo. nice guns, fit and finish. full disclaimer, i own somewhere around a dozen of them.

My gripe now is the Ruger Hawkeyes are only offered in wood/stainless. No more wood/blued. Guess that’s what gunbroker is for.

Is buy a Ruger

Model 70

Accuracy of any and all Rugers Sucks at best.

Get a CZ

My first centerfire was a 700 and no complaints, but, currently, off the shelf, I'd not choose one over the 77.

Do we get to have input on chambering?

Has not been my experience.

Ruger, CZ 550, Zastava, or Win 70

Winchester Model 70 Featherweight.



IMHO,there is no better looking rifle.

Fool-proof safety copied throughout the industry,even by custom gunsmiths.

A bolt that's able to be disassembled in the field.

Controlled round feed heralded by hunters around the world.

Set the standard for sporting arms for decades.

When is the last time you bought a Ruger?

oh boy....

I'd consider a Model 70, its called the "Rifleman's Rifle", but perhaps "O Rifle do Atirador" might be better now that its made in in Portugal. But it has to be in .30-06 (the most American caliber) or .270 ( the most Winchester caliber, maybe .243, .308, .300 Win Mag, .264 Win mag are OK too), best in wood/blue, but wood/stainless looks great too!
(absolutely do NOT get the XPR tho, its not a real winchester)

considering the luck I've had gettng hunting weight guns to shoot, the Tikka T3, now T3x, is probably what I would recommend to a first time hunting rifle buyer. affordable and accurate out of the box. Available in wood/blue too. Made in Finland.

Kimber is US made but harder to find and available in wood/blue.

Ruger options: in the M77, the wood/blue version with sights, I think they call it "African" really looks nice. The full stock with irons is nice too.

Here's a fun choice that will cost more, be very hard to find, probably not be accurate, really stand out as oddball in his hunting camp, US made, looks best in wood/blue or wood/stainless - but it is the most elegant thing a normal working person can afford to carry into the woods: a Ruger No1 single shot!

CZ is another option, now that they no longer make the full stock version they don't have the looks differentiator they used to. Made in Czech Rep.

then Rem.700, US made. I'd probably get stainless/composite if I were shopping for a Rem.... probably the 2nd best rifle for aftermarket parts and gunsmith skill if one wants to customize (AR-15 is orders of magnitude ahead in that regard, but outside the realm of what I think the goal is here).

if you like shiny glossy wood, the browning, is it A-bolt or X-bolt they call them now, made in Japan.

Then there are the more weird euro-trash rifles, check out europtic.com, Sauer, Mauser, Steyr., Franchi, Benelli... most of these are now Blue/composite, most will be discontinued soon if not already and have no aftermarket parts or repair support.

There's that other US company, based in Mass, with very competitive prices, every review cites good accuracy, but the bolt handle placement and barrel nut are sooooo UGLY I wouldn't even want to win one in a raffle!

Have fun shopping!

Poole

Got a stable full of Rugers and not one complaint about any of them. All are minute of angle or better with good handloads, and nearly so with factory fodder.
I like Remingtons fine, but the past few years, their quality control has been less than it should be.
7mm

At this point in time I would go with Ruger. They produced a beautiful anniversary rifle. I included a link to that. I think it would be a keep sake. If going Remington I would look at the CDL line or CDL SF

https://www.lipseys.com/itemdetail?itemno=RUHM77-50TH-G1

Not a fan of either myself.
But thats just me and personal preference.

The 700 in a approiate caliber would be a better option.
Lots more aftermarket stuff to tweak it available on the market.
JMO....

Sorta a gunga galunga thing .



Seen a couple of 35 whelen black walnut 700,s in the classifieds lately.
Interesting to me.
Almost tempting. Almost ......
Nice after market trigger in one.
Scope that works( which totally eliminates leupold lol!)

Be a excellent rig for hunting in north america
And factory ammo for it is readily available and not that badly priced on many websites.


The hawkeye is a good looking rifle also.
Never shot one myself.

Bergara?

My son-in-law got his master's degree last December. I got him a Win M70 featherweight in .30-06. It looks amazing and is pretty darn accurate from what we have seen so far. I did have to do a lot of shopping around to find one at a decent price. Found the best deal at Bud's.

700 or 77 choices, I go Ruger. I have both. Rugers are tangers.

My .338 WM with the best load I have found gets inch group at 200 - most other stuff goes 1.5 MOA, factory or hand load. The 17 inch barrel on the 30-06 gets 1.5 MOA. Both are bedded and freefloated, trigger pulls 3.5 and 3 respectively - factory triggers, worked down. After market triggers might even improve on that.

I have never had a problem getting hunting accuracy (1.5 MOA ) out of a Ruger,except for two, both "weatherized" on hunts. Replacement Ruger takeoff barrels for the customer's guns fixed one, put a Shaw on the other. Problems solved.

Bed the action if needed, drop trigger pull to 3 lbs or so, freefloat bbl. and you are there. And put a decent pad on it.

It took me better than 30 years to get that kind of accuracy out of my 700 in .243 - several bedding jobs never improved it, until I found it requires very specific forend pressure. Neither a free floated barrel nor full length bedding helped. But that 2-3 inch MOA did kill a pile of game over the years!

Much to be said for the 70 fwt as above posters said. I bought one last October- lightly used, XTR, 1981.7X57. I have yet to shoot it. The recoil lug bedding was so poorly done IMO, and the roughly machined bbl channel had so many tight spots on both sides, here and there, that I did something I've never before done- bedded a rifle without first shooting for base line. Full length bedded at that, from magazine well forward.

I'll clean it up today, put it back together and see how it shoots next week. .If it doesn't, I'll try free floating the barrel. I'll be surprised if I can't get MOA or less out of it, even with factory ammo.

You can't go wrong with a Ruger IMO - might have to tweak it a bit, but most all factory guns in that price range can use that.