Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Anybody have any hands-on experience with the new Ruger 77/.357?

I managed to get my wife outdoors a couple weeks ago to do a little shooting. She was a little frustrated with her performance when shooting her little snubbie SP101. She switched to her red dot equipped Ruger MKII and started having a much better time, but the highlight for her was when I put my Ruger .223 Compact in her hands and told her to "bust those water bottles".

She raved about how handy the gun is, lack of recoil, what it did to the water bottles and what a confidence booster it was to shoot because it was so much easier to score hits with it than her pistols. In fact, now she's talking about making my little Ruger her own.

Well, to put a stop to that nonsense, we made a side trip last weekend to stop at an area sporting goods store to look at guns. She handled a 4" barreled SP101 in .357 that she really took a liking to. She also looked at a Ruger 77/.357 rifle that she really liked (as did I ). I'm thinking that for the kind of shooting she's most likely to do that the .357 rifle might be more useful to her than the .223 compact.

So my question is this-for anybody who has one of these guns or has shot one, what are your impressions? Recoil comparisons, accuracy potential, function, etc.

TIA,
Scott

i have had one for a couple of months. recoil is minimal, and it has fed smoothly with a couple different and JSP/JHP's, and some cast 158 truncated cone lead bullets, in both .38 & .357mag loads. bolt was a touch stiff & action felt gritty at first, i cycled it a couple hundred times, felt a bit better after that. feeds smoothly for the most part.

mine is still unscoped...i have a spare 1.5-5x that might go on top, but it handles pretty well with no glass. had been toying with the idea of a peep, kinda wondering what ruger would charge for the rear sight they use on the Gunsite Scout model, and seeing how well that would adapt.

as for accuracy,i tried a batch of rem 158JSP/Lil Gun loads i use in a .357 lever, and off the bench at 50 i could keep 3 shots into about 1.5". front sight on it is fairly fine, decent sights overall.

got mine thinking it would be a handy truck gun for carrying when i go check cameras & fill feeders, something i dont have to worry about scratching up.

Thank you.

Your assessment is about what I expected to hear about this little Ruger. I appreciate the input.

I had one in .44 magnum. It went back to Ruger to get a new barrel, because it simply would not shoot under 4" at 25 yards no matter what it is fed. The bullets always keyholed through the target, even at 10 yards (200 and 240 grain bullets). Ruger rebarreled it and said, "It was up to spec." I asked them what that meant and they would never tell me. I got it back and it shoots about 8" at 100 yards now, which still sucks in my book. My dad now owns it and likes it, but he just plinks at 25-50 yards, so it is fine for him.

I bought two Marlins in .357 and .44. Love them both and they are extremely accurate. Flinch

Just give her the .223 compact and get yourself a replacement.

There is something nice about a wife or child starting out with a .223 bolt gun and learning the basics and joys of conecting at extended ranges with minimal recoil. A .357 lever gun is simply not going to provide that same accuracy.

I can't think of any terminal benefit of a .357 over a .223, but can certainly see the superior accuracy and trajectory of the .223 trumping the .357.

Got one, love it.
For me it is the best functioning Ruger rifle I've ever owned.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

458-there's a lot of truth in what you suggest, but with 2, 223's in the house already we've gogot that base covered. Besides, I'm not sure I want loading for a third rifle in the same caliber doesn't give me much of a thrill.

I'd give her the 223 in a heartbeat--you'll never regret it. Getting her the 357 may or may not lead to regrets.

Well, we've already got 3 .357 handguns in the house and my wife will never go hunting, so I don't really worry about any regrets if I go with it, but I'm curious about your comment; why do you think I might regret going with the 357 instead of the 223?

She sounds like she doesn't like recoil and muzzle blast (which I don't either). She already likes the 223, but the 357 will recoil and blast more. The 223 is so easy for anybody to love, that I just don't think I would look further if she already showed an interest in it.

Too bad that little rifle couldn't have been offered in .357 Maximum. A far superior cartridge with great accuracy. I recall my first groups from a Ruger 10-1/2" Blackhawk revolver, ran 3/4" at 50 yards for 10 shots! First IHMSA match shot a 39x40 missing only a turkey at 150 meters when my thigh cramped. DRAT! I always wanted to see the .357 Maximum in a rifle, not to be though.

Handled one after Thanksgiving at the local gun shop. Picked it up after Christmas. Bought an NECG rear peep. Fun to shoot. Have not got serious about accuracy just yet. Handloading inexpensive cast bullets, figure it will be almost as cheap as high end .22 fodder for the grand kids. Weight is a little over 5 lbs loaded. Recoil is nada.

The is a bill in the Michigan House right now to use rifles in straight wall pistol cartridges, with an overall length of just over 2" in the shotgun only zone! Just a thought,.