I have found a ruger m77 in 338 win mag it is the old synthetic cutaway stock 24 inch barrel what i am wandering is this a fairly accurate rifle i know it is in the savage weather warrior. thanks for your help.

The ones I have shot were all very accurate..I kinda liked that setup for a SS and plastic gun, it was sorta sleek and trim...but not my cup of tea...

Those Ruger's were/are painful to shoot as the butt's are really thin, but boy are they built tough!
Cheers...
Con

With Rugers, accuracy is the luck of the draw.
Their problem is that they contract out to the lowest bidder for their barrels, so the accurate gun you bought last week may not be the same gun the next.

A good rule of thumb is never to buy a Ruger secondhand because usually it is a gun the original owner could not get to shoot under 10" so he dumped it.

-Spencer

quote:

Originally posted by ShopCartRacing:
With Rugers, accuracy is the luck of the draw.
Their problem is that they contract out to the lowest bidder for their barrels, so the accurate gun you bought last week may not be the same gun the next.
.......<snip>.......
-Spencer

I thought that situation had changed; that Ruger used to contract out their barrels (on the original M77 "Mk I" rifles) but that now they make their own barrels. Anyone know for sure?

-Bob F.

If the price is right go for it,you can allways resale a ruger,they are one of the best used rifle deals out there for the money,not much of a money gamble.The lite wait ruger in 338wm would not be a plinker anyway,so just wear a coat and pad protection while sighting it in and you can shoot all you can stand later on while hunting and practiceing offhand and you will not feel it taking hunting shots anyway.The 338 is a great round and you will really like it,Untracks game like a bolt of lightning!!!

I've got 2 of the Skeleton (I call'em) stocked Rugers. 1 is a 223 thats an honest 1/2" shooter with hand loads.I replaced the trigger with a Timney. The other is a 300 win mag. It will stay around a inch with hunting handloads. I reworked the trigger on it.Plugged the sling swivel holes and added a bbl band in the front and regular wood screw stud in the rear. That stock absorbs recoil very well. The hard rubber pad is not a problem IMO. They are tuff guns and very reliable..........

Buy it and put a Hogue Over Molded Pillar bedded stock, then it will be pleasant to shoot.

That old plastic stock will kill you.

I have one of those rifles I have a muzzle brake installed (best described as made)and walnut chip blasted to changeit from mirror bright to mat grey. Before the brake it was painful to shoot now it is loud. With my hand loads I get OK accuracy 1.5".

Most every year I think of getting rid of it Since I bought it I have moved from hunting heavy timber to mostly hunting bald ass priarie 7mm or 264 would be way better for me now.

After hunting season I wonder what I was thinking. In the field the rig has never let me down. Aim, shoot and tag the only real problem with it is finding a good deer bullet. One that expands on a rib shot but does not blow a big hole, eg 225 partitions are too hard for deer (great for elk) where as the 200 balistic tips kill like lighting but can make a real mess and may be too soft for elk.

If I had to guess the guy getting rid of it because it kicks to much even a 30-06 in that gun was uncomfortable.

I have a 338WM in an older 77 wood stock with tang safety. I free floated the barrel and glass bedded the action. Will clover leaf 210 NP and 225 HSP. I also have a M77 MKII in 7mm Mag with the cutout style stock you mention. Extremely accurate - and I had a packmyr recoil pad installed to slightly lengthen the pull and soften up the butt - works great. That cutout stock is tough and dense - not hollow like current synthetics. I cut off the fixed swivels - dilled the holes with black epoxy and installed studs for standard removeable swivels... FYI there is the same rifle you are looking for for sale at the Powderhorn in Bozeman, MT - asking $450.00

I have the exact gun you are talking about (338 Skeleton stocked) and pretty much what everyone has said is true. I does kick pretty good so I put a muzzle brake on and that helped alot. It is also one of the toughest most dependable rifles I own. This is my primary elk rifle for timber hunting and has been hauled, bounced, dragged, and drowned elk hunting for the last 12 years. I see people all the time with shiny new expensive rifles and they all laugh at my old ruger until I get a shot and then all the laughs stop because the old gun is VERY accurate and deadly. I average about 1" groups with this gun and that is with full power hunting loads. If you have a oppertunity to buy one of these old rugers my all means get it I don't think you will be disapointed unless you are really into fancy guns.

I have one in 30/06 and I to always think of canning it but it is still in the cabnit )for now) it may turn into a cz 550 30/06..............also a tough rifle but more accurate

Ruger started making their own barrels about 10 years ago. Now they are among the most consistanly accurate of any popular priced factory gun. The two I have bought in the last two years are easily under 3/4" at 100. My 30 year old .250-3000 tang safety model is probably the most accurate sporter I own, and that is with the old barrel.

I had that exact .338 Ruger M77/MkII and was very impressed with it. I sold it to buy my current .375 M77/MkII RSM (too similar/overlapping performance to have a .338 and a .375 IMHO) otherwise I would have kept that stainless/synthetic .338 Win.

I do have a 30-06 in that same stainless configuration and LOVE IT. Those All-Weather Rugers are the toughest and most rugged/durable rifles I've ever seen. To some shooters they're not "pretty" but they're so impervious to moisture and abuse that they have a beauty of their own.

I've never had a problem with Rugers producing good hunting accuracy (1.5" or so).

PS: One thing I did notice was the recoil on that stainless/synth .338 - it was a bit brisk and seemed worse than my .375 H&H off the bench (the .375 does weigh a good 2 pounds more though so that may account for it).

In summary... If you're looking for the ultimate utilitarian rifle that will stand up to the most extreme conditions, then you cannot beat the stainless/synthetic Ruger M77's.