Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger 77 mark II.???

I'm considering getting a bolt gun in .308win..I was thinking about a ruger but from what i've heard there not accurate and the triggers are bad....I want this rifle for texas sized game, nothing big like elk just deer and hogs primarly at ranges that are beyong my .30-30...

Any advice on rugers????

Robert...

They are ok down in Texas, but up here you need a Remington,

I've had one of the ultralight .308's for something like 12 years now. It puts 3 shots of milsurp into 1 1/2" at 100 yds, and favored handloads hover just over 1/2" for 3 shots.

The trigger does need some work, but cleans up real nice. For the $, it's a heck of a hunting rifle.

I like the Rugers, some will bash them but for an all purpose stainless hunting rifle in inclimate weather(Alaska) they are hard to beat or break for that matter. I am not fond of their newer synthetic stocks though, I bought a new one in 338WM with the laminate stock, sold the Laminate stock on ebay and bought a used older boat paddle stock and slapped it on there. It shoots under an 1" with the 2 types of ammo I have tried. Dont think you could go wrong with a Ruger.

Between my son and I we have 5 of them. .223, .22-250, .250-3000, and a pair of .257 Roberts. I've reworked the triggers on 4 and put a Timney in the other. Drawings for trigger work can be found on the net. Takes about half an hour. Mine worked down to 2.5-2.75 lbs easily. All will group well under an inch, and a couple of them are really accurate. Biggest trouble is telling them apart. Got setup on a coyote hunt last fall and found I'd brought the wrong ammo. Need to start wearing my glasses more often. My next will probably be a M77 too.

Out of the box with no modifications my MKII in 7x57 shoots consistent 1 to 1.1 groups with factory ammo. If I do my part, it will shoot tighter groups. I'm happy with it.

I have 4, my buddy has 1 and my brother has 1. They are all good shooters. By that I mean:
0.50� for 4 shots at 200 yards, M77 MKII VT .22-250
0.266� for 3 shots at 100 yards for M77 7mm Mag
0.65� for 3 shots at 100 yards for M77 .257 Roberts
1.00� for 3 shots at 100 yards for M77 MKII .300 Win Mag
0.4� for 3 shots at 100 yards for my muddy�s M77 MKII 7mm Mag
400 yard prairie dogs for my brother�s M77 heavy barrel .22-250

As to triggers, I believe they are getting better � or maybe its just luck of the draw that the last couple I checked had very good triggers. I touch all mine up any way and the Ruger triggers are very easy to work on. Takes about half an hour as someone pointed out.

The top I would give is to float the barrel. Mine don�t even go to the range until I have done this. With walnut stocks, overall group size might increase somewhat (with the groups I get, who cares?), but point of impact will be more consistent from session to session and as the barrel warms up.

And here I am with a .300 canoe paddle that I'm thinking of replacing with a laminate or Mcmillan or whatever... Shoots OK as is so I must have my head screwed on sideways ... Oh, well, sometimes you just want something different...

I would have to 10-4 on the remmy too. Forget the rugers.

my walmart has them for $477.00. i have used one in 270win since 73'. for the money, i believe they are a very good buy.

You heard wrong. IMO they shoot just fine if not outstanding in MANY cases. Triggers are a subjective thing. Some think anything less than benchrest quality is junk. I don't. Go dry fire the one you are thinking about getting and judge for yourself. I think most new Ruger triggers are crisp and not too heavy for big game hunting. If for some reason you can't stand the trigger, take the money you saved on rings (since the Ruger comes with them) and have a smith drop a Timney in for you. Good luck.

I love my All Weather in 260. My gunsmith installed a front site on it and fixed the trigger, think it came to all of fifty bucks.

Don't be scared of the Rugers for a minute, they are rugged as he77, and as accurate for the money as most anything else out there. Well, of course with the exception of a factory fresh Savage.

I bought two stainless M77 off the internet, a 30-06 and a .270, with leupold 4x glass and the infamous boat paddle stock for $399 each. Both had prior trigger tuning and are absolute tack drivers. One is now a 338-06 and still a tack driver and the 30-06 shoots 3inch groups at 300 yards. I have another .270 that shoots everything well. I will not describe the other 5 or 10 that I own. I have not been able to find a flaw in any of mine. The trigger on my .270 was heavy but no creep at all, very crisp. Timney cured the heaviness.

That is all that is in my safe! Mine all will do 3/4" even with hard trigger pull! I did bed them though. Best value going IMO.

The M77MkII I had was a wood model in .270 Win. It needed a trigger job ($60) and bedding job. ($90). It shot fine, the only problem was the lack of aftermarket parts. Well, to be fair, I'm a lefty. It's a good rifle with a good track record. I still prefer a 700.

I like mine a lot. After a couple of more trips to the range (shooting, cleaning, shooting, shooting) mine is a solid sub moa rifle with factory loads.
It's a .260. Here is a photo after it's first trip to the range using a $49.00 Simmons rimfire scope!! Of course, I have changed the optics to something more suitable.

J_Scott

Robert i recently bought a very clean used M-77 Compact in 243 and i have to admit i was somewhat prejudiced about the Mark II's because of all i had read and heard about accuracy and non adjustable triggers.
Well as it turned out the little compact had a fit and finish that was supurb and the trigger was not THAT bad.
Mine probably broke around 5 pounds.
But i never really measured it.
I could shoot a five shot 1 1/2 group out of that little rifle using cheap Winchester Power Points.
I recently sold it to a guy who is giving it to his son for Christmas and i already regret parting with it.
As far as the trigger goes i have to admit i really would hate to buy a modern rifle that costs $500.00 plus only to have to turn around and put even more into it for an after market trigger.
So i would handle as many as possible at the dealers place and find one that had the lightest trigger pull out of the box.
Would i own another Ruger.
Absolutely.
In fact if i buy one it will be their Mark II in 6mm(one of the ONLY manufacturers,if not the only one that still produce a rifle in this caliber that is not a heavy varmint style gun) or the lightweight Ultra Light in .243

I'm one of those that likes several different brands. My little collection is made up of Rem., Win., Marlin, Howa and Ruger. Of those, my wife knows which one to bury me with. I picked up a MkII in .308 with the idea of a walk-about rifle. It shot right at 1" 100 yd. groups out of the box. With a little fear of screwing things up, I cut the barrel back to 19" and re-croned it. Now it shoots groups that average 9/16" at 100 yds. For the last couple of years it has been my steady companion any time I walk in the woods.

I have two of the limited edition AllWeathers in 7.62x39. One is the early 90s vintage 22" standard weight barrel. This is a pic of the one I bought from a friend a few weeks ago...it had less than 50 rounds of Wolf ammo though it since new. This one has the 20" light weight barrel but it doesn't seem to effect the accuracy at all. This 3 shot group at 100 yards was shot with Lapua ammo... I'ld like to find one just like it in .308 with the open sights..





Just bought one of the AllWeather 77/44s and it is a great shooter also..

Bob

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