Ruger M77: Remembering the Past

[@mikemchugh949]

That was my 1st and 2nd high powered rifles. My 1st was chambered in 270 and it was 1989, graduation year. About 4 years later I bought the same rifle chambered in 7mm magnum. My oldest son worked for me one summer and I told him I could buy him a new rifle at the end of the summer in place of weekly pay but he had to work hard and try to learn something. Come August my son earned him a brand new Ruger MKII 7mm mag with a 4x12 Leupold sitting on top. That was about 20 years ago when I dialed in that scope. I shot both his and mine that day and all 4 bullets went through the same hole on both guns. Neither have ever needed adjustment at all. Last month we shot it at 100 yards, 200 yards, 300 yards and 400 yards, dead center of each target. In my opinion, y’all don’t freak out, I said it is in my opinion, ruger makes the absolute best rifles on the planet. They’re absolutely beautiful even though simply made furniture, those guns are built to last multiple generations.

[@benk500]

I bought my used M77 in 270Win when I moved to Louisiana 40 years ago. Extremely accurate and the tang safety allows me to easily shoot left or right handed. It's still my go to deer rifle!

[@hirambrashier1449]

I have the same.

[@twp616]

I have a tang safety 30-06 I bought new in 1979. I also have four 77mkII 's in .257 Roberts, 25-06, 270 Win , 280 Rem. The model 77 Ruger is my favorite bolt gun of all times.

[@bryanmartin2271]

❤umbagaro means im a big bragger in the Philippines 🇵🇭

[@StovepipeRandy-gv1dj]

Any way I could buy that 257 off you?

[@waynehajek6346]

Great history on the Ruger M77! You answered the question that I've had for many years about the "plum" coloring on the M77. Great presentation. I'm now a new subscriber.

[@whelenshooter]

This guy knows what he is talking about! I have two additions I would add to his presentation. The first is that when the M77 first came out in the 1960s, it came out in short action only and, obviously, chambered in short action cartridges only. I still remember the advertisements in the gun magazines talking about how certain short action chamberings would do what the long action cartridges could do (.308 Win. in place of 30-06 and .284 Win. in place of the .270 Win. and some others I can't remember.) The standard length M77 actions chambered for 30-06 length cartridges didn't come out until about one or two years after the short action. I think that is when the M77 went from the dog-leg bolt handle to the straighter bolt handle, because I can't remember ever seeing a long action M77 with a dog-leg bolt handle. The second addition I would make is that when the M77 MK-II first came out it too was a push feed action. Although it had a manual-style ejector like the pre-64 Model 70 Winchester and all M77 MK-IIs, the bottom of the bolt face (when the bolt was lifted so it could run back and forth in the bolt raceway) had a lip that prevented the rim of the cartridge from sliding up under the Mauser Style extractor. (I know this for a fact because I had two of these early M77 MK-II rifles and a friend of mine still has one.) Because of the lip, the cartridge rode in front of the ejector which only snapped over the rim when the bolt handle was closed. There was a whole lot of buzz among the rifle loonies that these early M77 MK-IIs could be turned into control round feed rifles simply by grinding off the lip with a Dremel Tool. Within a very short time (I don't think it was even a full year) Ruger deleted this lip from the bolt face. People who have very early M77 MK-IIs that still have the lip on the bolt face will likely have very desirable collector variants!

[@donaldanderson4139]

Great presentation by an obviously knowledgeable man.

[@Mbeta300]

I'm pretty sure you're right for the most part, except I helped a neighbor buy a flat bolt 30-06 a couple years ago. I have been looking for another one for myself but have been unsuccessful as of yet. I kick myself in the butt every time I think about it.

[@brianhoxworth3881]

Nice bit of history of the ruger rifles.

[@CharlesRushing-ck2qm]

Love those Ruger 77s. Bought one in 30-06 from Service Merchandise in the early 1980s. It was my 1st deer rifle. Still have it, shoots more like 1/2 inch at 100 yards . Ruger Heavy Bbl. 77s had barrels from Douglas. My Hvy Bbl 77 in 6mm Rem was very accurate. Regret selling it. Great presentation. Thanks for bringing up pleasant memories.

[@whelenshooter]

I still have my heavy barrel M77 Varmint in 6mm Rem that I bought in 1981. It is STILL a tack-driver!

[@nmelkhunter1]

I met a guide in Wyoming who had two Ruger Mark II’s. One in 7MM Rem Mag and the other in 270 Win. He shot hand loaded 160 Partitions in the first and hand loaded 130 Partitions in the second. Both rifles shot 3/4” groups and he killed truck loads of game with them. I asked him why he chose the Ruger Mark II and he said because they are durable, shoot well and that’s all a man needs.

[@greybone777]

I remember in the 70s how much nicer the bluing was on the rugers than the other guns. People complaining about accuracy issues need to bed their rifles or adjust stock tension screws. I've seen great accuracy out of all of the ruger rifles I've been around.

[@andrewthacker1389]

even until the early 2000s their bluing was top notch, some 70s brownings had very good deep bluing too

[@johnappleseed9290]

This is the bolt action rifle that can be used for any situation!

[@PatrickMalone-fj2ul]

Really great report. Love my tang safety 257 Roberts.

[@jkat66]

My first bolt action rifle was a Ruger tang safety M77 in 25/06. My dad bought it new in 1980 and gave it to me for Christmas. It's receiver has turned Plum in color. It started my love affair with Ruger. I recently picked up a 1968 M77 flat bolt in .308 with a factory Douglas barrel. It shoots sub MOA all day. I still love and hunt with my 25/06.

[@calvinevans9547]

Got lucky got mine out of a pond shop years ago. 30-06 shoots a wide variety of ammo MOA ,over 50 big game animals harvested to date. Thanks for the video on my go to rifle.

[@Rk-mz4bb]

Love my 77tang safety 270.

[@mortsims]

i liked the tang safety.

[@33journeyman]

In regards to the Ruger 77 and investment castings Gunsmith Mark Novak of Anvil Gunsmithing on KZbin shows a Ruger M77 Hawkeye that went through a catastrophic event and the rifle protected the Shooter. Only a 3 minute video that's definitely worth watching. Thanks for your thoughtful review Andrew. 👍

[@leekishbaugh8584]

Luv this channel. Very informative. Thanks for being there. Wish I would have found earlier. Will be sharing.

[@scotthammond7983]

Thanks! This was a really great video. I have a 7mm Rem Mag I bought when I was 17. It was new and I think made around 1979 or so. I've dropped many wild boar and elk with this rifle. It's mounted with an old gloss Leupold VX-II in 3-9X40. Shoots great and looks like brand new.

[@doubled6595]

Not sure how I stumbled into this one, but this has a ton of great information that I flat out did not know about the M77 vs the M77 MKiii, barrel and change history, and so on. I also had no idea that these earlier rifles with the claw-looking extractor were NOT captive feed, that's great info that I misunderstood. Great info, thank you! Subscribed for sure.

[@ronjones3157]

Howdy, I have two m77s, one .243 Win s/n 71-001xx, and one 7mm Rem Mag s/n 71-66xxx. Both have been flawless for me, and the 7 mag has put the elk down in Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. And, both 1MOA or better! Thanks for your work on the videos…very informative! RJ…old timer from Central Oregon.

[@faronmacon1500]

Own one in 25-06., has trigger job , good bedding , shoots 3 shot clusters with all 3 rounds often touching.

[@marknice5480]

Great video, interesting information. Ruger is one of my favs. Thanks for presenting this for us.

[@stonewallalaska7566]

I have two Tang Safety M77's I've inherited over ther years. A .243 win my FIL gave me when they moved out of state, and a .338 Win Mag I got from my mother's current FIL after he had a stroke and had to be put in a home. Both are amazing rifles and I will keep them in the family for the coming generations. The .243 is my favorite to tinker with, and is definitely my favorite Bolt action rifle in my collection.

[@williammills7778]

Thanks for posting this video. I own two M77 tang safety, long actions. My first is in 7mm Rem Mag. The second is a franken- ruger in 280AI, the barrel is a Shilen Chrome-moly. I love both of them

[@pamtnman1515]

I hunt with a Ruger M77 RSI in 308. Fullstock, tang safety, very light and accurate. My favorite mountain gun. Killed three deer with it in PA this year. Outstanding firearm. My son uses the same gun in 243.

[@jonfranklin4583]

I bought my M77 in 338 Win Mag in 1979, it was finicky with what bullets it would shoot. I found that the 250 Speer Grand Slam was the most accurate delivering 1moa. I tried virtually every 338 cal bullet and spent a whole bunch of time working up different loads to no avail. I had the gun re-barreled to 30 Nosler and now have a rifle that shoots .4 moa, love the look of these classic rifles and will never part with it!

[@Anubis78250]

Mine's also the 338. It's about 20 years old now. The only factory ammo I could get consistent accuracy from was the Winchester Elite. Everything else was unpredictable, with the exception of Remington which was always bad. I got it to a consistent 1 MoA or less with hand loads. After a thousand rounds or so I re-barreled it, just because. So now it has a custom 26" heavy straight taper barrel. I've been trying to get a stock setup that works for me. No one makes anything but factory style stocks. So I've got a modified Boyds stock with a modified detachable box magazine. It's been a side project so it's still not finished, I just keep chasing chassis that will work with this action, dead end, after dead end. Several people make short actions, but none do long action.

[@mikerobinson6606]

Great video! In the past I have owned 3 different M77s with tang safeties and red rubber recoil pads. 243win, 7x57mm, 270win. All 3 were over 1 Minute of Alaska. I mean all over the place. I currently own 11 M77MKII. They all shoot very well.

[@Badgerstate]

Ruger used different barrel manufacturers for years. Some were excellent and some were really bad.

[@lmbear]

Glass bed that rifle, so you don't have to worry about the exact torque values on the action screws. It makes a good difference in accuracy. Also, the mag box should not be affected, when you tighten the action screws. If you find it's binding up, that's another reason to glass bed it. A bound up magazine will put unnecessary pressure or stress on the receiver. That affects accuracy. Sometimes these need to be slightly trimmed, so there is a slight amount of clearance of the mag box to the floor plate. Generally a good bedding job cures many ills though..

[@johnstewart7022]

Thanks, Andrew. I watched this because my lifetime rifle is an M-77 in .270 that bears the inscription "Made in the 200th year of American Liberty". It's provided me with now 46 years of memories and has collected whitetails and feral hogs in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Texas. After all, if cared for well, a man only needs one rifle, right?

[@jwhmerica504]

I had a m77 mkii in 7x57. It had that plum coloring on the receiver. I liked the gun a lot but needed some money and sold it. I always told myself I’d get another one at some point.

[@prestonmonaghan499]

I had a Number 1 and 5 77s. All had problems with their barrels and i never got less than 3 inch groups. In the late 80 and early 90s, i sold all of them. I wish i had kept the Bicentennial editions. I trades them off for Winchester Model 70s when they started putting out control round Model 70s. I also purchased CZ 550s. The first rifle i ever purchased was a Ruger 77 made in 1976, the uear o turned 18. I wish i had kept it.

[@skipit1texican782]

What no one has mentioned is the action.. the old Ruger 77's and Weatherby have the smoothest bolt slides of any rifle on the market.

[@DouglasPrice-p9q]

... I have a Ruger M77 MKII All-Weather stainless bolt action rifle in 300 Win Mag with the Zytel (boat paddle) stock ... contrary to a popular misconception the Zytel stock is NOT a flimsy stock though the small area recoil pad does tend to focus the recoil energy thus maximizing the felt recoil ... though not painful in the 300 Win Mag calibre the felt recoil is definitely a "waker-upper"

[@DouglasPrice-p9q]

... the Ruger M77 MKII All-Weather stainless bolt action is the best rifle going for cold northern climates ... not going to lock up with rust in inclement weather though you best install scope caps

[@tonyricketts5569]

I have a 77 MKII left handed in 270. I’ve been offered a lot of interesting trades and money offers for it. It stays with me because it shoots under an inch always. I have shot 3/4 inch groups with 130 grain hand loads. As close to a pre 64 model 70 as a lefty can get.

[@garyjacobs2789]

Have a 77 light weight in 257 robberts made in 1985. It's just about perfect especially considering the others made during that era. Never saw one that wouldn't shoot in an inch or less ! Plus the safety is a perfect place . The wood is top grade walnut none finer . The 77s were a legend at the time.

[@user-jv4ic8rh4d]

I have one my brother gave me. Its chambered in 7×57. The barrel is shot out now a 2 1/2-3" gun with optimized hand loads. I want to get it rebarreled but the stamping, its a 1976manufactor, stamed made in the 200th year of americas liberty. That and it really is polished and blued perfectly. For a production gun comparied to todays guns. Ive shot 1 buck and 1 doe with it up on the family homestead in northern Mich. That gun will be passed on to my son.

[@BRTowe]

I've got a Super Blackhawk with a "plum" colored loading gate. I think it gives it a little bit of a patina look.

[@gordyowens9570]

I have a Rugar model 77 mark 2 in 7mm rem mag the recever is purple.

[@adamcuneo7189]

My great-uncle gave me a tang-safety M77 in .243 a couple days before my 19th birthday in August of 2019, he wanted $500 for it, but that would've been like 60% off what the rifle actually cost, so I gave him $600 instead. It's a great gun and a sweet shooter, I took 2 deer with it so far, it's never let me down.

[@davewinter2688]

I have a 1974 Ruger M77R in 270 Winchester that I got in 1975. It has always shot under 1 moa with my hand loads using a common Hornady 150 grain spire point in front of a medium charge of H4831. Supposedly around 2850 fps. from a 22” barrel. I don’t have a chronograph. It’s only in recent years that I learned about barrel accuracy problems with the early 77’s. I thought you said the M77 was introduced in 1964 but most of the information I can find says it came out in 1968 and used Douglas barrels until the end of 1973 when the change was made to Wilson barrels. Other say just the opposite and some say the early barrels were from a mix of makers. I always thought Douglas made very good barrels. Also Wilson is now supposed to make very good barrels. Randy Selby “The Real Gunsmith” has a video of his solution to fix the accuracy problems connected with the angled screw for attaching the forearm to the action. So who made the barrel for my 1974 M77R? Who knows?! I just know mine is very accurate with my hand loads. Happy hunting boys and girls!😊

[@larryrichins7887]

I have two of the 77s one in 30 -06 and one in a 220 Swift.

[@shane7969]

do the new hawkeye versions still have the same issues with accuracy and torque values?

[@kevincallahan3059]

I have the M77 mark ll in 220 swift sporter size barrel....it came with a plastic stock.....I carved a premium chunk of walnut for it .....took about 200 h, it shoots a 1/4".....

[@hiltonmcconnell2563]

thanks for the very good video I have a Ruger 77 in 44 mag stainless steel plastic stock, the screws in the scope mounts were bad right from the factory, the dealer I got the gun from sent it out to a gun smith , and it came back with black screws that are way to long and just looks plain stupid, other than that I like it a lot, a great rifle to plink with. Accuracy not all that great but ok for plinking, or close range hunting, with in 75 yards

[@DeweyParrish-dn2zu]

Reno Nv U.S.A. Thanks!!!

[@nsob8897]

I personally just think that forged parts look nicer. I won't lie and say that I never thought cast parts were as strong as forged parts. I honestly thought that forged was stronger. If that's not true, then I stand corrected. I got into blacksmithing a while ago, and the big thing with anvils was that you don't buy a cast one because they tend to crack or completely split apart. I kinda figured that's the way it rolls with any cast parts when compared to forged. I still think forged looks more sleek and fancy...so I prefer it either way. I still have guns with cast parts, and they've been just fine so far. Aside from one of them letting its front sight work itself out of the dovetail and the damned thing tearing up the finish on the slide because the frame is sharp as a razor on the front edge of the dust guard...and it's not milled out enough to give total clearance. Anyway, I like my rugers. Don't have a 77, but I've fired one or two of them, and they are nice. I got a slightly expensive mark IV target pistol and a ranch model, ruger American and they're both good shooters. Never had any problems with either of them. Except the .22 is finicky with ammo. Shoots stingers and Thunderbolts perfectly...jams up on almost every other ammo after a mag or two. Haha ....no problems at all.. The rifle is pretty decent though. It's got whatever I need it to have in a short action.

[@robertagusti3712]

Have you seen any ruger crack and do you know that in some reloading manual say FOR RUGER ONLY.

[@nsob8897]

@robertagusti3712 never even heard of a ruger cracking. And I have seen a few kinds of ammo that recommend only shooting them out of rugers. Not in any manuals though.

[@robertagusti3712]

@@nsob8897 Lyman look dor it

[@NELLY-jg2rx]

Adam from mythbusters is doing gun videos now eh?

[@MrHiggsrocks]

Ruger hits the Mark all the way around on hunting rifles. From my perspective anyway.. I’ve hunted the Ridges and Brush all over Kentucky.. Model 77 mark2 in 308 anchors them and takes all willing to come😜

[@DMFH2A]

I have a ruger m77 chambered in .284 win. I was told that it has a Mauser action. I'm not sure how I can confirm or deny this. It was my father's rifle.

[@BTORange]

Similar in design to the Mauser 98 as it has two opposing locking lugs and a full length extractor. However, it does differ from the Mauser in several ways. Many current bolt actions can trace lineage back to the Mauser 98 but most have had design changes along the way.

[@DMFH2A]

@BTORange Thank you. I love the rifle. It has one of the most smooth actions of any rifle I own. I have taken over 20 white tail with it since I've been hunting and my boys have gotten a dozen with out as well. Ammunition is the only issue I have with it. I've had trouble finding brass to reload with. My go to bullet is the Nosler 140 grain.

[@Hammerback0]

Have a tang safety 22-250 Ruger like this. Heavy barrel

[@allenrosesr.8480]

I have one in 243 heavy

[@hirambrashier1449]

My tang safety .270 is very accurate with my hand loads

[@bobsmith-ru7xp]

I got a tang safety 30-06 with iron sights, a MKII .308 with the boat paddle stock, and a MKII 7mm Mag stainless with a laminate stock. All 3 wear Leupold scopes. A Ruger M77 with a Leupold is the finest choice for a deer rifle in my opinion.

[@lylew9]

Please get rid of that annoying background noise.

[@phillycheesetake]

"casting is every bit as strong" At a larger size. At the same dimensions a steel casting is not as strong as a steel forging. Casting enables complex geometries to be made inexpensively, that's why it was chosen.

[@donrice8026]

easyest way to be bad mouth is be successful thats with any business!!!

[@hiramhaji7813]

Absolutely