I am thinking of buying a new rifle for the Daughter. She is just now old enough to hunt. With Model 70's out of the picture i am thinking of a new Ruger M77, standard rifle. Does anyone have anyfeed back on these rifles of current production?

Do they shoot? Fit and finish? Barrel quality? Action OK? Can you adjust the triggers?

I like the three position safety and the controlled round feed. The actions are good and beefy.

thanks for any and all input!!

Normally i do custom rifles but in this case maybe just a $500 out of the box shooter for her. I'm going with a 270 or a 280 Remington caliber for her. Perfect for anything here in Montana.

What can I say Jeff, I have a Ruger 77 stainless in 30-06 and just love this rifle for an out of the boxer. Even with factory ammo it shoots about MOA which I'm not going to complain about. The triggers are "lawyerized" at about 5 lbs and are not adjustable. I don't complain too much about it as it has no creep and releases very consistently but it is a heavy pull.

Hope this helps...

Ken...

If money were no object....Kimber 84M.

Not only is it a dang nice rifle, it is better for small statured people becuase of the reduced sized action. Most people with cheek to eye dimensions have to pull their head off of the stock to look through the scope. With the smaller diameter action, the scope is lower and easier to see through.

Aaron

I bought my son a lam. MKII in 06 for his first rifle (he's 6-2/210#). The trigger is crap, but can easily be replaced or tuned by a gunsmith. It's a 1moa rifle w/ some factory & most handloads. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

Triggers are easily fixed, fit and finish are so-so. That said the barrels are good, actions good. I even like the stock fit on a Ruger better than any factory rifle I have. That said I have an old Ruger 77 Mk II 7x57 that is my everyday hunting rifle. Shoots .6-.7 for three shots, is light enough to carry, and heavy enough to shoot well. I have a safe full of nicer rifles, but this is my everyday rifle ( and it looks like it) when I can get it away from my son.

Hello the campfire:
Congratulations on having a hunting buddy. Except that it means that he is growing up and I am growing older, I can not wait for my grand son to be ready to go hunting with his Beba.

In my old fart opinion, before you settle on a rifle for your daughter, let her try several at the range to see what works best for her. If it were me, I would look for a GOOD used rifle in .270, .280, 7-06, maybe 3006 with the managed recoil loads. Depeending on her size, it would be easy to get too much rifle for her to shoot comfortably. I suggest used because you don't worry as much about cutting it down to fit, and restocking when she grows. I would look for one with a good trigger, or one that can be made good for a reasonable price. I would teach her to shoot iron sights first and then graduate to a scope.
Teach her that safty comes before accuracy.

AND think about getting someone else to teach her to shoot, at least the basics. Think about teaching your wife to drive or anything else. For most of us, it just does not work. You want her to be happy and confident, not just pick up your bad habits (we all have them). She will listen and pay attention to someone other than her father, and that person will be a lot less likely to get frustrated (and yell).

Good luck.

Judge Sharpe

My daughter newest rifle is a MkII stainless laminate stock left hand in 30-06. I free floated the barrel and glass bedded it before even shooting. It well put 3 hornaday 180s in under a inch..

I think they are one of best buys on the market. still needs a new trigger. As with most factory rifles they benifit from a little work.