Ruger M77 Mark II opinions

honestly, those "boat paddle" zytel stocks are horrible. Very hard to bed and not very accurate. After re-barreling with a custom barrel (+ $600), you still have an $850 Ruger M77 rifle. A common complaint of the M77 Mk II's was the factory trigger that broke around 6-7 lbs. Most people just spent more $$$ and replaced it.


Seriously, this rifle is a very good buy and the seller also has brass and dies should you wish to reload. Proven handloads and targets in the linked pictures. The Weatherby Vanguard is a solid action built in Japan, and the predecessor to the Howa 1500. $750 + tax, tile, and license and you're done.

Lastly, before buying the Ruger M77, you can find an older Rem 700 magnum rifle for < $850 and build off that if you want a custom barrel/rifle. If you're a die-hard Ruger M77 guy, buy and build exactly what YOU want.

all great info, thank you. Never had a Ruger, but was intrigued. I inherited a custom shop Mark V deluxe 257 and love it, but I want something for actual weather and deer stand conditions. I have brass, dies, and a jug of RL25. Looking for a new project I guess. Wanted to see about a faster twist than 1:10 to handle longer 130 gr bullets.

LINK

Not worth that price for you project IMO

the Ruger can be slicked up and trigger can be
replaced for reasonably cost..

its not the a great platform for what you
aim to do.

if its a paddle 77, it needs to be minty for
850$ (300 WM ) I almost bought one years ago
I found rifle front end heavy and got a Rem 700 stainless (wish i keep it )

Have had a M77 Mark II 30-06 with a Zeiss scope since 1997/1998. Can’t remember what year I bought. Had fun smith float/bed and new trigger. Gun is awesome.

Wiki says ruger sourced the barrels on the previous tang safety m77 but took it in house with the mark II when they went to hammer forging, as far as I know they weren’t known to have duds but the two I have will definitely shift POI as they heat up if you drill a box of ammo through it. The sporters are featherweight contours and I doubt they did any kind of stress relieving, but if I were to make a group out of cold bore shots, I bet it would be inside an inch with the round it likes.

I’ve never put enough rounds through a spring ejector to make one fail, but I can see how a fixed is one less thing to break. It’s hard to describe but that Mauser action feels like you could beat it with a sledgehammer and it would still cycle.

I have a Ruger m77 that just sprays bullets, especially when the barrel is hot. And the trigger is no bueno. It was my only rifle for 20 years and I just thought I sucked at shooting. Bought a Tikka and now I’m a marksman ??.

The best thing about it is the looks. Ruger makes a beautiful rifle with stainless and wood

My FIL recently gave me a Mk II with the Mannlicher stock. Haven't got to shoot it yet but the trigger feels pretty decent. Don't find it to be too heavy at all.