I've heard several times over the years of the progression of the M77 and it's various iterations but it leaves me still questioning. Some say the "round top" is the first because it did not have the integral bases and wasn't furnished with rings.
That always makes me wonder because I thought the "Flat bolt" was the first then the "round top".
Any experts out there?
Please be sure to include the Flat Bolt in your timeline.
Thanks

Should I post this in "gunsmithing"?

No need, you are correct..

Earlier to later: Dogleg bolt with integral bases, push feed,and tang safety -- same in round top -- "un-dogleg bolt -- CRF with bolt safety.

The earliest M77's had barrels that were outsourced from a couple of different suppliers. Some of them were trash, and some of them shot reasonably well. The barrels' weight and diameter varied, although Ruger did not differentiate this in their specs.

One of the better books for reference on 77's is " Ruger Model 77" by Ronnie Burke. Getting a little pricey and hard to find but it is still out there.

I had one of the early tang safety guns that wouldn't hit a 8 1/2 x11" sheet of paper 5 times in a row at 100yds.. My next one was in 7x57. It shot great! I had it A.I.'d and used for the next 45 years as my winter Caribou gun. Some of those barrels did shoot well. Others--Not so well. Kinda like the old mini-14s. Remember the Palma Rifles that they made? I think that one of them actually shot well enough to be used at Perry one time. That turned out to be a joke. For many years, Ruger had a reputation for making very mediocre accuracy guns. With us gray beards; we still do not think of them as being accurate.

I have a 358 Winchester Hawkeye that the barrel was cut from 22 inches to 20 inches and target crowned. It has aftermarket (not sure what) trigger parts that will shoot under an inch at 100 yards no matter what you feed it. The first time I sighted it in at 25 yards on the second shot I could not see where the second shot went so I shot the third shot and could not see where it went. Turns out they all went into a hole that was just a little bigger than .358.
Being shorted the barrel is very stiff.

The 77V series are my favourite. Nice blue, a heavier barrel, adjustable trigger.

The original 77 barrels were from Wilson; we used to say that out of ten, 6 would shoot ok, two would shoot exceptionally, and two were scrap. They had no quality-control on either end and were just buying the cheap, low end barrels. Most hunters didn't know the difference. Only AR members ever noticed.

the only .308 i ever owned that was not a dec ent shooter was a tang safety Ruger.
But i had a 300 win that shot great ! Also a tang.
The MK2s and hawkeys are better from my experience.
And while ugly as hell, the Ruger American .243 I bought on a whim, shoots great.
Might get one in the 6.5 creed, just cause they are so cheap !...

quote:

Most hunters didn't know the difference.

Most hunter can't shoot worth a dam.

The early Wilson barrels were not good, quality control was bad...Later on Ruger started producing their own barrels or so Im told. Todays barrels have all shot exceptionally well, but Ive only used the African models..They are exceptionally nice guns.

I have an old Ruger 77 probably a Wilson barrel and its a std. wt. 24" barrel and it shoots bench rest quality groups as long as you don't clean it!!! Ive won a pickup load of turkeys, hams and cash with that old gun.