Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger bashing.

The criticism of Ruger rifles, mainly the 77/22 and to a lesser degree the 77 markII appears, to me, to be way out of proportion to any design faults they may have;
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69594&page=3

With the rimfire, the criticism is in regard to the two piece bolt and the clamped barrel.
As far as the latter goes, I can't see any problems it would cause concerning strength or accuracy.
The two piece bolt may be a legitimate criticism, but I've had no trouble with mine.

With the centerfire, the main criticism seems to be the 3 stage safety(personal preference and nittpicking?) and the farward angled receiver screw arrangment.

The bedding arrangment has caused me a few problems, but taken overall, the level of criticism of both models seems to be out of proportion to their faults.
Any thoughts?

DBT I will start out saying I only own three guns. 1 RUGER MKII target model in 25-06 1 ruger 10/22 and 1 ruger 10/22 magnum. Also there is a great satisfaction in the bullet hitting point of aim! The closer the bullet hits the greater the satisfaction and on a scale of excitement from 1-10 the ruger will be in the 1-5 area My 10/22's have a high level but only because they both have had the ruger barrels removed and replaced with 300.00 barrels and the triggers replaced along with other parts! My MKII rates about a 4 on my excitement scale I have been looking at re-barreling it so it will be in the
5-10 area and it is the target model heavy barrel and floated! it groups 1 to 1 1/2 inches at 100. all the guns would be just fine in stock form for as hunting is concerned but I shoot a lot of paper and can see how they shoot. Am I bashing rugers no not really they are solid guns dependable just not the best bench guns in stock form! this is my opinion and I own no other. My local range has a fun shoot every sunday and only open to centerfires and ther is no way my MKII would compete now if allowed my 10/22 mag converted to .17hmr would! this one guy with a 22-250 savage with a accu-trigger shoots! WOW. I think it is combo of gun and the man behind the Gun. And the savage is a bargin priced gun.
Just my opinion. Any time something bad is said about somthing someone owns they get very offensive EVEN IF IT'S TRUE!

My biggest complaint about Rugers is that none of mine will shoot one hole groups at distances greater than...(fill in the blank)...

...actually, I've only had one that would not shoot far better than necessary for hunting and a new barrel cured that one. I think their Red Label shotguns need some help but the rest are ok fine by me, including revolvers.

DBT
I have 5 Rugers, an old M-77 (tang safety), a brand-new M-77 MKII, an old 10/22, an ancient Security 6, and a Mark II rimfire target pistol.

The 3-position safety on the M-77 MKII works fine, and can be moved silently with minimal effort.

The angled bedding screw has been part of their design since inception. If it was as bad as some would have us believe, Ruger would have abandoned it decades ago. My first stock on the old M-77 cracked at the recoil lug bedding area. Ruger replaced the stock. Several hundred rounds later, and I've had no further problems.

I sent that 10+ year-old rifle back again a few years ago, because accuracy had deteriorated a bit with favored handloads (don't mention handloads if you return your Ruger for service) and they re-bedded the forend and re-crowned the barrel, and accuracy is actually better than it has ever been!

All that service, and never any charges.

I have sold or traded a few guns in my life, but never any of my Rugers.

Ruger is my favorite. I think they just aren't as popular as Remington because a lot of people like push feed for some reason. Ruger gives it all to you, metal trigger guard, hinged floor plate, and scope rings. No one else does that. And I love Ruger's slim stock design vs. Remington's BDL monte carlo. Lots of people love Remingtons monte carlo design, so it is just a personal thing. Savage may shoot, but they look and feel cheap to me.

I think all "brand trashing" is pretty much the same issue as the "which calibre is best" argument - up and until you start talking very fine target shooting. I own a 1976 Rugar M77 in 7 Rem Mag and have killed around 60 deer with it. This particular rifle shoots groups mirroring my Weatherby SMOA 308 (1 inch 5 shot groups sitting). So, my complaints - the thing kicks like a mule and the trigger leaves something to be desired - both of which can be easily fixed if you wish to spend a few bucks. And, while it has never happened to me, the old tang safety models would occasionaly lock the rifle in the safe position if not kept clean.

In our family, there are three Remington Model 721's., six Winchester Model 70's, three Rugar M77's, three Remington 700 BDL's, and three Weatherby Vanguards (one is the SMOA model). and the Rugars have been as trouble free as any of them. In fact, I would have purchase another of them when I started looking for rifles for the kids had Weatherby not been offering the Vanguard in the stainless and synthetic modle for about $500 a couple of years ago. I guess, to finish my particular rant; while I prefer the Winchester and the Weatherby over the Rugar, I never feel bad about shooting a Rugar.

I can�t speak about the M77/22, as I have never shot one and results on target are of primary importance to me. But I have handled quite a few and would like to get one for the Mrs. I will say I wouldn�t be worried about the strength of the M77/22 rifle � it�s a .22 rimfire.

As to the centerfires, I own two each of the M77�s and M77 MKII�s, and all are wonderful rifles. I floated the barrel and touched up the trigger on all but the M77 MKII VT which came floated from the factory with a two-stage target trigger. I prefer the three-position safety. The angle on the forward bolt is supposed to provide some advantages, but I can�t say one way or another. And don�t care. All of my Rugers shoot very well and as I mentioned above, that is the ultimate test.

they seem to kick more than any other rifle i have shot,with the same calibers,and they seem to be not accurate shooters,like tikka,sako,kimber remington,browning,savage.just my opinion.

Didn't Ruger have problems with outsourced barrels?
I've heard that there's been an improvement in accuracy since they started making their own barrels.
With a decent barrel they should, in theory, shoot as well as any of the mentioned brands?

Own a ruger 77/22 that shoots great, especially for the price. No complaints after the trigger job ($35).
Everyone complians about the ruger trigger, but my gunsmith does a $35 trigger job and things are great. Did the same with my ruger 77 mk 1 in 3006 that I bought 23 yrs ago.
I fell in love with a rem 700 mtn LSS in 7-08, purely on looks, and wanting a lighter kicking rifle.
Honestly I can't see why people are so excited about rem 700's. Mine had to be sent back for warranty work because things were so stiff and it strung shots terrible. Thing is finicky when loading and shells get caught in the side sometimes too.
Functionally I love the ruger mauser style action at a lower price than a winchester 70. It dawned on me how few problems I've had with my ruger when I shot at a 8pt buck this fall with the remington, slightly short stroked it, and jammed a second round when the first brass did not eject. You can say - pull that bolt back farther!, and I will, but my ruger 3006 has NEVER failed to eject in 20 years and never finicky loading either.
Gun safe inventory score (bolt guns) - 3 ruger bolts, 1 remington. The remington may go down the road, but I keep it in case my Fiance wants to deer hunt.
Lets bash on push feed rifles....
h

It's not that I'm worried, just puzzled. The criticism of the Ruger clamping method seems to be unfounded, just for that reason.
The Sako quad has a slip in barrel design, and that doesn't appear to compromise accuracy in any way.

Even the old pinning method, while not ideal, doesn't seem to be much of an issue regarding accuracy and strength when chambered for the low pressure .22 rimfire. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Charlie Sisk seem to have no Problem building a custom rifle using a Ruger action!

I have owned three 77's. A 25-06, a 270 and a .300 Winchester. The only one that shot well was the .300. I had always wanted a No. 1, so I bought one in .257. Big Mistake. I called Ruger's customer service. They said " send it in", but I was told that their criterior was " if it shot within 1 3/4 groups it was good to go". I didn't bother....I dumped it. I don't go out of my way to bash Rugers, but if anyone asks what my experience has been. I'll tell them.....Essex

I have 5 of their products and am happy with all. Like most units, one has to do a little tweeking to optimize performance. Took me a long time to find this out, but a 0.007 shim between the front and rear portions of my M77/22 bolt turned that one into a nail driver. It had a slight headspace issue and was not consistently seating the cartrideges in the chamber. Brand of ammo also makes a difference in its performance. I was about to sell it off and tried the shim fix at the last minute. It will stay in the safe to end now.

I've found that Ruger seems to build a good utilitarian rifle. It ain't never gonna give you bench-rest accuracy but they're 'ok'.. The main complaint I get from customers is the lawyer-set trigger. One guy brought in a Ruger M77 that he thought needed some trigger work.

I'd say... When I attached the scale and started pulling, I thought the safety was on. It wasn't. I ran out of scale at over 12#.... After I reworked it down to a much more acceptable 3.5# the guy came back to try it out.

Within a week he'd brought in about 3 more rifles to have trigger work done.

Just accept that with some people the only way they know to praise one thing is to run down something else. Chevy fans will try to tell you how good their truck is by running down Fords (and vice versa), Democrats will try to tell you how good their ideas are by running down the ideas of Republicans (and vice versa), and CZ (or Tikka, Savage, Marlin, etc) fans will try to tell you how good their rifles are by running down Ruger (or Remington, Winchester, Browning, etc.)

No product is perfect, and I think we would all learn a lot more if people would confine themselves to explaining what they like about their choice without resorting to distortions and misprepresentations about the competition.

Redneck,

I shot the attached group about 10 years ago with my .243 RSI. Thanks...Bill.

I have several Ruger products, and always found them to be good values for the money. Face it, we're not talking custom guns here.

Actually my best shooting rifle is a Ruger #1-V in .223Rem that groups in the .1" category at 100 yards. Other than a Moyer's trigger, it's box stock.

I have had many rifles. In the midst of them I have owned 3 Rugers one of which I have now and have only had about 1 month or so. I had a bad string of luck in my past 3 rifles. All were inaccurate and I continued unloading them and getting another. That is till I ran through the 3rd one. Different manufacturers on all 3. I finally decided I would get another Ruger In my favorite caliber, 308win. My previous 2 Rugers were very accurate with no mods. (could cover 3 shots with a Quarter) I got this last one with high hopes and I am very pleased! It is the All weather stainless steele model and I have shot as much as 15 shots with different bullets, powder, combinations and a factory load. All 15 shots hit inside of a 3 inch cirle at 100 yards and making no scope adjustments at all. To me, that is consistent to say the least, and I love a rifle that will shoot everything good, maybe not perfect, but good. I do get about average 1 inch groups with my handloads, and have one particular load that I have got a couple 1/2" groups with and I am currently using it. To me, Rugers have been good. I will say the first 2 I owned could have used a trigger job. but this one I have now, I am pleased with the factory trigger. It is a little heavier, but it breaks like glass and it is smoothe after shooting it a bit. My Rem. 700 30-06 is the most accurate rifle I have ever owned. I have worked its trigger over, but I am very well satisfied and pleased with my Ruger experiences and feel you get alot with them. controlled round feeding (mauser style action) one peice bolt, metal trigger guard, floorplate and great scope mounting set up with supplied solid rings. I personally like the theory behind the angled front bedding screw and if it isn't serving you well you can tweek them and bed, float, etc. like any other. I think I will purchase more Rugers in the future, but my Rem 700 will stay with me and be passed on also.
Whitey

None of my five Rugers are for sale, they are all in interesting calibers, shoot well, and look great.

Ruger's 28 Gauge Red Label, and the Bearcat pistol are the best kids guns on the planet.

I have shot 3/8 inch groups with my 7X57 handloads of the 150 Grain Nosler Ballistic tip using IMR 4350. It is my favorite rifle and I let my daughter use it for deer and elk hunting.

I have guns from 11 different companies, but I don't own as many of any other one brand.

I feel Ruger, Inc.'s success speaks for itself.