Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Shot the Ruger 77/22

Mine's pretty much identical to yours - mid 1980s vintage 77/22 RS (RS= rings & sights), except I have a Bushnell Banner 4X Rimfire on it. Great rifle.

I have two of the same, really like both of them.

I first bought a 77/22 in 22 long rifle wood stock, nice looking rifle, then had a chance at another, with wood stock, supposed to also be in 22, but I checked the serial number while bidding and it showed it was in 22 Hornet, the auction house had no clue, so kept bidding and got it cheap as everyone thought it was just a 22 lr, then I found another one and picked up a 77/22 with boat paddle stock in stainless chambered for 22 Winchester magnum.

I have put scops on them all and put Basix triggers in them, along with the bolt shims.

I've got two. One with iron sights and one without. Both from early years of production and both look new. Pawn shop finds.
I like how they look and feel.

My sons each have a 77/22. This was the birthday present for their twelfth birthday. A lifetime quality tool. Both used to squirrel hunt. The only adjustment was a Volquartsen sear and spring.

I have a very early one, wood stock with hard butt plate, blued bolt, and no sights I worked the trigger over, going from 6 pounds to 2 3/4.

It is a very nice little rifle as far as construction goes, like a real gun compared to the run of the mill Savage or Marlin bolt action that’s full of sheet metal stamped parts. But it doesn’t really shoot very well. I’ve tried probably 30 kinds of ammo from bottom of the barrel bulk stuff to Lapua match ammo costing $15 a box. The only thing that shoots very well is Federal American Eagle 36gr HPs in the little 40 round boxes. I haven’t seen any for sale in years but I do have a brick or two stashed away. It shoots well enough to head shoot squirrels out to 50 yards with that ammo, everything else I tried they better be inside 25-30 yards.

I’ve thought of putting a Lilja on it and I still might someday but I don’t shoot a ton of rimfire anymore so it’s kinda on the back burner.

I hadn't realized it was available in .22 Hornet. That's pretty cool.

PS Just for clarification, I'm the original owner of this rifle. Bought it way back when.

I was late wanting one, so I knew that I’d need to go pre-owned to find one. I wanted ss and when I looked online there was an RSI new in the box on Guns International that came to my house. An early AO 3-9x33 Leupold RF makes that little mannlicher my favorite.22.

I just looked into what these things are going for. Unbelievable. Had no idea.

I have SS boat-paddles in 22LR and 22Mag. I got the 22LR for Christmas sometime in the early 90's and it rode in my vehicle for about a decade. I've had the 22Mag for ~12-15yrs and it shoots reasonably well with anything 40gn and the 45gn Hornady personal protection ammo shoots well too. I suspect at some point I'll order Liljas for both of them.

And the more awesome-er 17 Whoregnat.....

They’re nice little rifles. I have a Ruger 77/22 chambered in 22 Hornet that I really like. I bought it a few years back and didn’t realize it at the time but Ruger was discontinuing them at that time.

Has the 77/22 been discontinued??

Ruger shows “currently unavailable” for all Ruger 77/22 models. So maybe they will bring them back at some point?

I haven’t seen any new ones for a few years, I’m assuming that they’ve been replaced with another product line.

Mine is in 22 Win Mag....its a tack driver ALL DAY LONG with CCI and Federal 40 grain SP and FMJ ammo... other stuff its finicky on..

It sees action on Oregon sage rats, and its plenty good enough, that it wears a 4 x 16 scope on top...which is pretty handy picking them off easily at 150 yds... it sees less action nowadays, due to being able to load equivalent loads for cheap in a 223... plus the price of the mag ammo went WAAAY up, in the Biden Shortage Again Fiasco...

for rimfire shooting tho, my 77/17 heavy barrel is a lot more accurate. It wears a 4 x 16 scope on it also...It has executed a fair number of sage rats in our yard and off the accompanying field behind us, that use to be a 9 hole golf course before the owner of it died a number of years ago.. I shoot 75 to 80 of those ground squirrels in the yard each spring/summer...diggin little bastards...destructive as schitt...

Been looking into it, and it appears it's been replaced by The American in .22 lr.

Mine is the the 77/17 (HMR), varmint version with the barrel shortened from 24 down to 20 inches. I did the trigger many years ago .. best of the 77/xx triggers I've ever shot "even if I do say so myself." It's got an older Leupold Vari X II 4-12x40 AO aboard. Groups run from 3/4 to 1-1/4 inch at 100 yards depending on ammo. Really likes the 17 grain plastic tipped stuff.

In the past I've owned 3 77/22 in .22 long rifle and 1 in .22 magnum and a 77/357. Love 'em. The action is LONG. Even using the forward ring position many short scopes won't work. I should have kept my last long rifle. I bought it really looking for a .22 magnum and never got happy with it ... nothing wrong with the rifle, I just compromised buying on in a chambering that wasn't quite what I wanted and .. it didn't go well. Many times since I've wished I'd kept it.

A race to the bottom. A Ruger American as a quality budget alternative is great. I hate to see it as the standard-bearer for an American firearms company.

The 17 and 22 Ruger Americans have replaced them....those will still take the 10/22 mags...also the extended ones.

The Ruger American one is just as accurate if not moreso... and being a synthetic stock, will take a lot more abuse, and not show it...

Borrowed one from a friend to play with, when going over to Klamath to shoot sage rats.

Had 500 rounds of 22 LR and 5 magazines of 25 capacity, and a speed loader...

the sage rats were out so thick at between 4:30 to 6 PM, I kept my shots to 50 to 75 yards...

burnt thru the 500 rounds in a little over an hour, with a good 90% plus hit ratio. with the Ruger American...

done that before with a 10/22, but double that number in 90 minutes, between 4:30 and 6 PM.. two boxes of Federal 550 packs...

use to do that often, back when a box of 550 bulk Federal 22s were $8.99 at Walmart...

Saw a really nice one on a table at a gun show in Silver City about 20 years ago - managed to trade/sell a Rem 740 in .35 Whelen Improved at that show to get that junior Ruger. It was in .22 Hornet - one of my favorite cartridges since 1962. Happy guy.

Then, not. No matter the loading or manipulation of components, I could NOT get that rifle to shoot a tight group. Bought/installed an aftermarket trigger that was supposed to be the "answer" - not. Somewhat depressing, because I just loved the look/feel/operation of that rifle.

Like rockinbar said, sent it off in trade - did get a fun Rem 700 in .17 Rem.. It shoots.