Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Guns N Gear Ruger rifles

I've got an early 80s tang 77 in 270 that will shoot pretty good, if you can take the time to 'come-along' the trigger to the point where it breaks.

lol , i stand corrected .

same with my little later m77 7mag its shoots great . i have a adjustable trigger on mine bought that way .
yours might have it ??

just a side not my ruger wouldnt group the black looking sliver tips winchester made at all. they wouldnt group on 10x11 target . i shot up 4 boxes trying figure out the problem .

I have shot a bunch of Ruger Americans, and they have all shot great. Don't know if it it better than the M77 or not, but if I had to bet a year's salary on the accuracy of a sub-moa rifle for under $1000, I would have a hard time choosing between the Ruger American and the Tikka T3

I think it’s the bedding system with the American. The barrels (on new) should be the same quality.

This is exactly what I meant. I’ve never owned an American because I prefer nice fit, finish, stocks, etc. I played around with enough of them to know that most of them shoot pretty dang good. I’ve had my fair share of 77s, some shot good, some shot awful.

I wonder why that is? The barrel just matches to the receiver better? Do both rifles have the same receivers? I wouldn't think they would. I just love the look of a wood stock on stainless. The splatter painted stocks with cerakote metal make me cringe.

barrel crown may be it or in part of it . i might be wrong but i think the Ruger American Rifles are the older M77 aint . my m77 is some what picky about ammo but thank goodness ill never run out of what i have . Hornady aint making the 154gr custom line of ammo no more .

The American is similar to the Savage 110 as it uses a shouldered barrel with preset headspace and a barrel nut to attach to receiver.

The M77 Hawkeye uses threaded barrels that screw into the action. Plus the M77 is CRF vs the American’s push feed action.

I want to say they shaped the receiver in some optimal way and reduced the ejection port size to as minimal opening as possible. Basically incorporating all the learnings over recent years of how to economically erase sourced of inaccuracies. Plus it has a decent trigger due to its two stage design.

It would be appreciated if they would make a “nice” version incorporating all their learnings into a product you could be proud of and pass down. I guess there’s just a small market for what it would cost

Why don't they do that with the 77? Makes no sense

The process of making the shouldered barrel / nut is a cheaper manufacturing process with a side affect of accuracy and a lot of folks claim that's why the Savage 110's shoot so well along with the button rifling, or so I've been told. They've been making the Ruger 77 forever and if it isn't broke the I guess they figured why fix it ? I've never had a M77 that wouldn't shoot though.

I like the older 77 rifles, always have but the triggers were never good and I HATE the internal magazines. Dropping shells everywhere…

Savage rifles shoot so well because of the floating bolt it's not how the barrel is attached to the receiver. IMO the barrel nut is the bonus. When you take the floating bolt and the barrel nut together you get the AR-15 of bolt action rifles. it's modular at that point.

You don't have to love a Savage but I don't know why anyone would hate on that design either. It's a good one for people like us. It has saved me untold time and expense to shoot a Savage I can change calibers like underwear and don't have to purchase what would have amounted to an untold number of custom rifles. Instead I swap the barrel on 2 actions and I can put those actions in a number of different stocks and chassis I have on hand.

Pretty fun to play with. Like I said.. hate the Wart all you want.. But I don't know what's not to love about the logistics above.

My opinion is that the American will outshoot the Hawkeye.

I would still get the Hawkeye. The American is just a cheap gun. Ruger overall has good machining and their barrels are pretty decent. That's also why they shoot well.

The issue with the Hawkeye is the way it's made and how it fits into the stock. They just aren't as accurate overall.

I hunt with a M77 all the time. I have probably killed more deer with a M77 than anything else. I've got one that I've hunted with for about 30 years and it's NOT the most accurate gun I own. I has a cheap scope. Think old Redfield or Jap Tasco. I've worked on it myself but never had a gunsmith do anything to it.

At some point you just have to stop worrying about the fluff and start killing. I don't really care how good mine shoots its been dropping deer out to 250-300 yards every time I've asked it to for well over a quarter Century.. I just use it and don't worry about the fact that I've got another 20 in the safe that will shoot well under MOA on their worst day.

I like it. It's done everything I've ever needed it to. I've taken it elk hunting and shot 2 elk with it. If one of my kids were asked which one was my favorite rifle they'd dig right through all that fancy and come up with a beat ass Ruger M77. Here you go.. this ole piece of junk right here. Worst looking gun in there for the reason I use it. It's been used as a boat paddle, dropped in mud holes, fell on it plenty of times....rode well over 100k under the back seat of a work truck. Been in an out of 100's of treestands and rode thousands of miles in a 4 wheeler rack. It's been hell on the critters for sure.

If it could talk the stories it would tell.... I hope all of y'all have at least 1 gun like that in your lifetime.

Bill Ruger's legacy IMO is that he made quailty guns priced for the Working Man and did a dam fine job of it.

....Says one of Roy Weatherby's minions. Who spends a lot of time behind a Savage.

Goatkiller what i done with the axis ii i bought from Walmart on sale . I got it and done a barrel swap to 35 whelen . I like it .

Although I'd really like an American, as I just like the thinking behind the design, I also bought an Axis II for my son from Academy due to cost. With that $25 trigger kit and a Vortex scope, rifle shoots better than I can...good enough for son for a while...

I once owned a Savage 110 Varmint "Wild Thing" edition in 22-250 with a Choate factory stock that would group anything you shot out of it into 0.5 inches and most into a quarter inch. It would put 5 shots into one hole with almost anything you ran through it and was the most accurate rifle I've ever owned. It's one of several rifles I regret selling, but it was in 22-250 which is not practical for much other than punching paper or shooting prairie dogs ( which aren't around here) and that's the main reason I let it go 25 years ago.

But on another note I can remember a hunting lease member racking in a round to check his rifle and the bolt handle broke off. Point is, Savage rifles were not of the highest quality.