AFAIK, this setup was a lightweight 20" barrel dropped into the same walnut stock as the standard contour 22" and 24" tubes...

Ruger doesn't offer it anymore...

was it Ruger's attempt to diversify the M77 line regardless of demand, or was it an attempt to address a customer clamor for a lightweight M77?

Their M77 "compact" rifles are still in production, with dimunitive 16.5" barrels...

Curious as to why the lightweight 20" went the way of the dodo (?)

It'll he back.

Ruger has a way of stopping production of certain firearms/chamberings then reintroduce them again a year or two down the road.

I had the SS version. It had the thinnest barrel (at the muzzle) I've seen. It shot and felt surprisingly good. Kinda wish I still had it.............

We, the kids, bought one for our Dad. He was getting older and his Browning BAR was getting heavy. As I age, I can understand that. Anyway, he loved the rifle and caliber (270). He beat it all to heck, and hunted with random ammo. He’d mix 130 and 150 gr by different makers and go to the woods. Maybe we reloaders are too picky.

After he passed, I got the rifle and cleaned it up and cleaned the bore. I had some 140 gr Sierra 140 gr HPBT bullets, and I loaded them up, and the rifle shot amazingly well. I passed the rifle along to his favorite grandson, as I know Dad would have liked that.

Recently I was in the Left Handed Gun gun shop in Hico, Texas and they had an ultralight in 223. I almost bought it, but just flat didn’t need it, but next time I’m out there and if they still have it...well...

A terrific gun shop, by the way.

I don't have a standard model to compare it with anymore, but still have an RL in .250 Savage. I'm pretty sure they were different stocks if a thinner forearm contour counts as different. Other than that, it may have been the same stock.

I have an RL that was rebarreled with a 22-inch #1 contour Douglas in 7mm-08. It has a slimmer stock than the standard tang-safety 77 sporter, with a much shorter forend that has a black tip.

The other RLs I've owned (not many, but more than one that I can recall) had similar stocks, which ate noticeably slimmer through the grip area as well. Accuracy varied, probably due to the fact that back then Ruger wasn't making their excellent hammer-forged barrels, and instead was using outside manufacturers.

I have two original R77 RLs. Both have slightly down sized profile stocks as compared to full size R77 stock
with 20" barrels and black forend tips.

A few years back a friend and I collaborated on a 77 RL "build''.

He found a donor R77 in 30-06. We used that action.
Another friend furnished a take off 22" R77 barrel in 7x57. We used that, but had it fluted to lighten it up.
He bought a new R77 RL factory stock he found at some supply place.
He bought a Timney trigger.
We put it together and bedded it.

The first three shots using rounds I loaded for my R#1 7x57 went into 3/4".
It continues to shoot 1/2" to 3/4" groups with a variety of loads.

What JB said.

Had a tanger UL .308 I bought from my brother back in the 80s. Not a tack-driver, but an almost perfect rifle for Eastern whitetails. Of course I sold it, like so many other fine rifles, chasing some foolish notion. A 22inch barrel would have been an improvement I think, as it was just a bit muzzle-light.

I bought a tang safety model in 30/06 off an old guy for cheap. He said he’d bought it back when to be his sheep rifle but that he’d never gotten it to shoot anything worth a damn.

I cleaned and scrubbed what seemed like pounds of copper out of it. Once clean it showed horrible tool marks in the bore so I lapped it a little bit and then JB bore pasted it again to finish up.

Took it to the range with several different loads and bullet weights. All of which it promptly shot into anywhere from 3 to 6 inch 3 shot groups. After the range session the bore once again looked like a copper mine.

Shifting gears I bought a #4 SS .358 blank on sale for $40 when the Montana Rifleman barrel company was stopping retail sales. I fitted and chambered it for the Ruger in .35 Whelen. Opened the barrel channel on the little slim stock and bedded the whole thing with marinetex. It shoots great now and I killed many heads of Alaskan game with it.

Not apples to apples, but the M77 Hawekeye UL is not that much lighter than the M77 Hawkeye.

Here is a M77 Hawkeye UL LA 257 Roberts matched up to a M77 Hawkeye 308 SA.

I owned a pair of Ruger 257 Roberts Ultra-lights. I picked these up late in the Mark II run as the Hawkeye was coming out. Fit and finish was excellent, accuracy was also good, running and inch or less for 3-5 shot groups. The reason I parted with them is that while they shot well from the bench, I was horrid with them from field positions. That short/light barrel coupled with a semi-heavy action and walnut stock was just a bad combination for balance. Very butt heavy.

Agreed, nice rifles but too butt heavy. I still have one but I'm planning on having a larger contour barrel put on it.

The 22" Douglas #1 7mm-08 barrel on my RL I mentioned earlier in the thread balances (and shoots) great, and the rifle is still considerably lighter than a tang-safety standard sporter.

This is just what I had hoped for, and I’m filing it away.

I’ve long had a similar plan to convert a 77RL to 7x57 with a 22” barrel. My idea of a perfect budget mountain rifle.

I have had two tang safety M77 RLs since the early 80's, one is 257 Rob and the other is 308. Both hold about an even inch at 100 yds, but more importantly, they each put the first cold shot exactly to POA. Being a still hunter, I don't use a sling. I find them a real pleasure to carry and handling is sweet with the balance point just barely behind the angled action screw.

quote=10gaugemag]
It'll he back. Ruger has a way of stopping production of certain firearms/chamberings then reintroduce them again a year or two down the road.[/quote]

Hope 10gaugemag is right. I would love to see Ruger bring the M77 RL back, along with the M77 RSI. I'd be first in line to buy o[ne of each in 7-08.

Looking at one in 30-06, in a thin 20" barrel, I imagine it to be a loud and vulgar beast...

I had one. It was loud, pronounced muzzle flash and recoiled pretty sharply.

I did my 275 Rigby a Douglas #1 at 23".

How did the Douglas# 1 fit in the UL stock? happen to remember how long the cylinder is?

It matched up pretty good, only had to remove a little in the barrel channel. Karnis did the stock on this one, with some added changes, this one goes on almost every hunt.

My 257 tanger UL balances well and is not "butt heavy" at all. Now that it shoots acceptably with 120 grain bullets I will put off rebarreling it to 7x57. I already have a lighter 7-08 (second favorite deer rifle) and a heavier 7x57 on a Mauser action. Hopefully this afternoon the 120 gr. Speer BTSP will be tested on a fat doe.

interesting... i had an M77 Mk II in 7x57 that i gave to my son. i still have lots of brass and dies. if i were to acquire the M77 ultralight 30-06 and rebarrel to 7x57, what barrel specs would you recommend? i would be real tempted to set it up to run 150 grain BTs

Short of a custom Mauser with all the trimmings, this is about all I would want in a hunting rifle. Well done.

X2, very nice. A semi-lightweight done right. My next Fwt re-barrel will wear a 23” tube. Just about right IMO.

Karnis... man I wish I could find Carlos to slim down some stocks for me.

Nice RL!

g

I have an RL in 257 Roberts wish the barrel was 2" longer. It's the best Roberts I've ever had. It has the 3" mag box and a guy can seat the bullets out where they belong. Original owner didn't like the factory trigger and put in a Timney. 100 gr Hornady SP and H4350 at 3000fps shoots good groups. Probably work up a 100 gr NPT load when I run out of Hornady's but they are superb, one weekend 10 years back I had a pile of antelope doe tags and a landowner who needed them thinned, shot 5 in 2 days 100 gr Hornadys and 1 shot apiece 125 -300 yds. MB

I have a couple of the Ultralights in .250 Savage and .308. I bought another a year ago in .257 Roberts after keeping an eye out for about 10 years. There's not that many over here in Aus. It was in perfect condition on the outside but the barrel had patches of corrosion in it and shot bad. I ended up putting on a 23 inch Maddco barrel chambered for the .257 Roberts AI.

How much work was required on the barrel channel on the RL stock to get the 22" barrel to fit?? TIA.

I have the SS version in .223. One of my favorite rifles. It ends up weighing almost exacly what my Model 70 Featherweights do. Certainly not very lightweight though.

I have been looking for a .270 in one (I have never owned a .270) as a fun change.

I was sorry to see them deemphasize the SS Hawkeyes. I believe they did so due to a changing market. I also believe they misread the market.

A really LW one in '06 would be a great main rifle for heavy cover areas. Especially if it came with iron sights. I am fooling with an 18.7" barreled SS GSR at the moment to do that job.

How much work was required on the barrel channel on the RL stock to get the 22" barrel to fit?? TIA.
Not a lot, but that is fairly easy to do.
But for some reason it seems that installing Timneys in tangers is a bit of a pain and I always seem
to end up removing wood that was not necessary.

I have two of the RLs (.250 Sav and .308) and bought a third in 2018 in .257 Roberts online. It was pristine on the outside but the bore was eroded in patches along the entire length. My gunsmith had a .257 AI reamer so I ended up putting a 23 inch standard Ruger sporter barrel on. Due to the shorter stock, the 23 inch barrel looks like it's 26 inches. It is a tad muzzle heavy but in the field I don't notice it.

I've had the two RLs for about 20 years and have never been handicapped in the field by the light barrel. The .308 was my pig gun for a few years and I shot lots of pigs with it. I just aimed and shot and never noticed the light barrel. It never impacted my shooting at all. I really liked the slim fore end of the Ultalight stock.

Oops, I forgot I had already replied to this thread. I thought it was a new one. lol. It's the middle of the night and I'm half asleep at the computer.