.

Alf; I think it is. Ruger has pushed the M77s and #1s into the premium rifle category. And the Americans are taking market share from the M77 Because, They are less expensive and they tend to be really accurate. Not any more accurate than the 77 but still real accurate. Also the short bolt lift the RAP and RPR will appeal to the bench and prone shooting shooters.

They are real pretty. How much does the full stocks affect accuracy ?

ah, yeah -- you could go read their corporate papers -- in 2 of the last 3 years, they have had to stop taking new orders to meet demand

yes, they are shifting production focus to highest demand ...

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
Today I visited with my local dealer and we were discussing guns in his racks.

He told me they (dealers) are having difficulty getting Hawkeyes from Ruger, Guide guns in the big calibers are a rarity and that they are limiting production of the above because of low demand all in lieu of the cheaper American ?

He has not had a no 1 in his racks for ages now

My question: Is this true or are the importers simply spinning this ?

The #1 is out of production now. Lipsey's will make a special run every year in calibers they choose. The 77 has also been put on hold with the rimfire versions also discontinued. They seem to be focusing in the cheap box stuff. Bill must be turning in his grave!

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
Well it's a sad state of affairs

Yes it is. I dont think any company has been as innovative as Ruger in trying to offer a decent classical rifle for a reasonable price. If they cant even do it anymore, who can? Bloody bean counters just looking at sales margins. Then again, you cant really blame the bean counters if everybody and their dog wants to be a black ops tactician as opposed to just a hunter. It would seem that we are a dying breed..

Sorry,.....I have no background information to offer. I think Wstrnhuntr nailed it.

After reading this this morning, I'm very glad I did not wait to purchase their new 1A in .275 Rigby. It's easily a .75 moa rifle with all my hand loads. Not to mention the 1A is my all time favorite rifle.

Cheers.

Only got themselves to blame. Who would want a No 1 when you read here of the work needed to get one to shoot properly. You Americans seem to accept poorly made stuff and then spend time and grief trying to get them to shoot. Of course the Finnish made Tikkas and Japanese made Vanguards are flying off the shelves because they shoot as accurate out of the box as any anything on the market and don't need to go to a gunsmith to be worked on just to get to perform as a rifle. You are just waking up to what the rest of the world has known for ages.

A friend of mine prefers Rugers and recently received a Commemorative 10/22 but I forget what it was commemorating.

You guys must buy different Rugers than I do. I have owned four #1s, several 77s and several 77/22s.
The accuracy overall was poor. I don't own and won't own a Ruger long gun ever again.
I have had very good accuracy success with Sako, Remington, Browning and Anschutz.
I'm glad you guys like Rugers.

I always thought the Ruger 77 was a good rifle, but not a great rifle (accuracy wise). The Number 1 was cool but only a niche thing. If they go out of production those who are into them will giggle amongst themselves and happily hoard them.

Meanwhile, Ruger is a business with a payroll to make and investors to answer to. It isn't a hobby or gubmint project, so they have to go with what sells and what they make a profit on. Apparently the 77, #1, and low demand calibers aren't paying their way so they get dropped.

If that's the case then I'm going to pick up a guide rifle in 300WM I saw recently.

I have 2 416's and a 375 Ruger Alaskans along with as most know basically the same
Rifle, the guide gun in 338 WM and a 30-06.

All except the 416's are scoped.

All are absoloutly reliable and ALL that are scoped are sub MOA rifles.

The 375 can put three 300 grain Seirras into 1/2" at 100 yards.

I just sighted in the 30-06 with Walmart Remington 17.00 a box 150's and it will
clover leaf 3 shots at 100 yards.

I just picked up a Remington M700 5r in 300 mag and it is just SLIGHTLY more accurate.
I am not BSing about how accurate these rifles are.

If they were in more calibers, I'd buy them.

I would like to add if any are wondering about velocity loss with the 20" barrels.

So far the typical loads I use are hand loads. Only the 30-06 has fired factory loads
since I picked it up 2 days ago and I'm using it for whitetail next week.
No time for development.

All of my loads are within safe book limits. All chronographed.
None are at full limit.

416's 400 grain Hornady solids, 2385 FPS
(Both 416 sights were dead on as they were for 50 yards from the factory with the 400's.
Both shot from the bench 3 rounds each into an inch and a half at that distance)
375, 300 Seirras, 2580 FPS
338 WM, 250 Nosler Partition 2670 FPS
30-06, 150 grain Remington, box lists at 2910 FPS.
I'm getting 2820 FPS.

Here is a pic of the 30-06 using the Remington factory 150's at 200 yards.
Orange dot is 2".
Rifle is wearing a Nikon Monarch 2.5x10x44 scope.

I have a Mark II 270 and have been pleased with it. I even get a decent group with it every now and then.


I bought a 77/22 just over a year ago and it gets the job done as well.

My ruger scout rifle with the leupold scout scope was a great shooter as was my #1 in .450/400. I have owned a bunch of ruger guns, and all of them were accurate and reliable. I think a lot of the company as a whole. They have kept the .450/400 and the .416 rigby alive, or at least relevant. I know there are a lot of guns for these two calibers around, but Ruger made them attainable for guys like me to own and shoot these bits of hunting history. They work, even if it is a little Kia like. They are affordable.

Perfect? No way, but I think they could sell some high end guns if they listened to the chatter on here. And they are affordable.

Ive gone thru a number of Ruger Africans, they all shoot, and they are my cup of tea, in that I love the English design of the stock and the metal is very English with barrel band sights, swivels and island sights...

I recently purchased and older Ruger 77 in 250-3000 Fwt. and its a tack driver, but then about anyone can make an accurate 250-3000, I have never owned and inaccurate 250, and in fact have never even known anyone who has..I have an old 77 30-06 and its super accurate...

I have heard that at one time Ruger contracted barrels from Wilson as I recall, and some were bad, I don't find that surprising, but I never got hold of a bad one.

I like Rugers, pre 64 Win., Custom Mausers, and especialy the Brno mod. 21, 22..in bolt guns.

I was quite displeased to see CZ come out with a push feed rifle. I know push feed junk can be made real cheap, and that most people Don't know the difference. Then guys like nutin fancy are sloppy at running the bolt on a control feed Ruger and can't cycle the action , so they give it a verbal thumbs down . So then people go buy cheap rifles , plus there is less disposable income nowadays. So lots of companies are taking a page from the Savage Edge/Axis book and make an inexpensive, accurate rifle with an easily adjustable trigger. Can't really fault the companies.
But I'm not too happy to hear of Ruger ceasing production of the model 77

Left hand rugers

I have a 30/06 m77 customized by Wayne at AHR - it is a accurate rifle and handles well.

I have 2 375 alaskans and 1 375 african.

I have 300 win mag at my gunsmith to see if it shoots well.

I just bought at 300 blackout american.

I have been very happy with Rugers. The 375 are stupid cheap at $600-$700.

I dont think they are making any more left handed m77

I like the mauser action and the guns seem very solid.

My gunsmith says a front screw makes them tough to bed and get really accurate but they seem more accurate than i will ever shoot.

Ruger has to make AR and other mass market guns (wal mart big box guns).

I hate to say it but there are too many good hunting rifles out there already and all hunters have their core rifles. The new adds in hunters are no where near the demand for new good $800 and higher hunting rifles. It makes sense for ruger to leave the market and move on to american hunting rifles, ruger precision and assembled ar rifles.

Mike

Big Bear sports here in Great Falls has about 6 #1's on there shelf.

I've had great accuracy years ago in South Africa with a MKII VT in .25-06 but it was picky.

Its a shame about Ruger's sporting rifles - they produced some great stuff but seem to be trending towards polymer and tacticool. No1's seem to have doubled in price in Canada in about three years ($ exchange compounds that).

I love my No1 S in .300H&H and it will hold around 1MOA with minimal load development. Its a keeper for me

I also like my Scout but I took the rail off and treat it more like a DBM carbine.

I have a set of tang safety Rugers, 30-06, 338wm and 458wm. They shoot 1 to 1.5 inches depending on the bullet weight. Not benchrest accurate, but good enough for me. I had a #3 in .22 hornet, only good for 1.5 to 2 inches at 100 yards. Sold it.
As I like the tang safety and don't care they are push feed, they are my 'go to' guns.

Ruger 77's and now Hawkeye's have never had a major presence at any of the stores I have frequented. Their small presence has been slimmed further yet, but now Ruger has a major presence almost everywhere with the American. And, I think that is what you are seeing. Ruger is shifting to what they sell best. I know people who aren't real rifle loonies. They would have never bought a Hawkeye, but are buying second and third Americans. They are still innovating too. Take their Mark series pistols. Long known for Accuracy, dependability and durability, their sole complaint was difficulty of disassembly. Ruger just fixed that issue. Ruger is producing tactical rifles in high volume now in their AR and Scout rifles.

You have to understand that you aren't the typical gun consumer. Based on my observation, most of us here aren't. With that, pretty much whatever you want in an off the shelf gun, Ruger can deliver. And deliver competitively in terms of price and function. I take that back. They aren't making a standard stainless synthetic Hawkeye at the present. I hope that's a temporary thing.

I have owned a number of Ruger rifles; they are okay, but there is a reason their actions never saw the light of day on the competitive shooting circuit (of course, you only see custom actions now).

quote:

Originally posted by df06:
You guys must buy different Rugers than I do. I have owned four #1s, several 77s and several 77/22s.
The accuracy overall was poor. I don't own and won't own a Ruger long gun ever again.
I have had very good accuracy success with Sako, Remington, Browning and Anschutz.
I'm glad you guys like Rugers.

I only own a couple of Ruger centerfire rifles and they are the pickiest rifles. The both took a lot of load development and shoot only one load well. Oddly enough it seems to be the lightweight bullets that do better in my guns

My Ruger No. 1 in 270, really like the 110 grain TTSX bullet.

I like Rugers, especially because I am left handed and lefty Rugers are really cheap for what you get. I think a 375 Ruger, stainless, with laminated stock and iron sights is $600. The 300 and 338 RCM's can be bought for $500 and they have iron sights as well. No need to buy scope bases or rings as the rifles come with both. My preference is to always glass bed a rifle before shooting it so few of my bolt hunting rifles are shot before bedding. Maybe I will skip the bedding on the new 300 RCM I just purchased and see how she does stock.
Never once owned a Ruger with accuracy issues. Unlike a lot of you, my standards for a big game rifle is 1.5 MOA. Many of my rifles will do better but load development stops at 1.5. Sure frees up a lot more time for off hand practice.

My experience with the model 77 is that if the action screws aren't torqued right they won't shoot. The number 1s have been the same adjust and shoot

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny reb:
My experience with the model 77 is that if the action screws aren't torqued right they won't shoot. The number 1s have been the same adjust and shoot

There is also a reason no one has copied the angled front screw on the 77; if you don't have a perfectly bedded front lug it will bend the action.