I have wanted one for years, but ive heard they were not accurate. I have 222,223 257. So its not something i just cant live without. A friend has a cz in the hornet and loves it.But i think its the ugliest rifle ive ever seen so im only interested in the ruger.Anyone out there have one? and can give me an opinion of yours. thanks

The older ones were crap; I've heard the newer ones have improved. My 77-22 .22LR is a great rifle. Had it for years and while it is no tatget .22, it can group cheap .22's at 50 yards into a quarter.

I had two Ruger 77/22 Hornets. Both were very poor accuracy wise, even after a lot money spent on re crowning, glass bedding, trigger jobs, etc.
I have not owned a CZ but hear some good things about them.
Since the Rugers I have and still own an Anschutz and and old Kimber in 22H. Both shoot exceptionally well.
You could not give me one of the Ruger 22H again.

I purchased a new 77/22 Hornet over the summer and am extremely pleased with it. Here is a 100 yard 5 shot grouping with factory Hornady 35 grain Vmax:



Don't get too caught up in past reviews of this rifle. Mine is the blued walnut model. The only modification I did was add the Volquartsen Target Sear and Sear Spring kit, which is inexpensive and easy to install yourself. There is a good you tube video on the installation. The original trigger pull was definately heavier and not as crisp prior to the Volquartsen kit, but it was still acceptable.

I had one of the early ones and it was crap.

Of the two, I'd opt for a cz527. Mine shoots just about anything I feed it into little groups.

My take on the rotary mag Ruger 77's is that they either shoot or they don't. There doesn't seem to be an in between. And it seems, unfortunately, that those that refuse to shoot outnumber those that do.

As others have alluded to, the early ones had problems. The majority of reviews of the later ones are generally good.

I own one of the early ones which the original owner rebarreled with a Krieger barrel, retriggered, and rechambered to the K-version. It shoots "lights out", but that doesn't mean much since hardly anything on it but the wood and the action is original.

I have a friend who bought one of the later HB versions and it performs quite nicely.

I like the 77-22H pattern of the wood, and the action is exceedingly strong and well-done for a mini action, in my opinion. My advice would be to go ahead and buy one. If it doesn't perform you won't lose much in selling it or trading it away. If it does perform, you've got a much better looking rifle than the CZ, one on which you can mount a scope reasonably low, and one which has a safety which works in the RIGHT DIRECTION, unlike the CZ. I will specify, however, that for all of its shortcomings, the CZ is typically very accurate.

Wish the CZ's would reverse their safety. With all the other .22's I'd opt for a Ruger .204. Hear lots of good about it.

I've had my M77 in Hornet for over 15 years now. It shoots very, very well. The only mod was a Timney spring & sear kit. Mine is the 20" barrel sporter.

When I first bought it, it was a solid 2" shooter. The Timney helped quite a bit. Then, Lilgun powder came on the market and the groups shrunk again, moreso when I started using small pistol primers. Add a Lee Collet Die, and it is now a very good shooter.

My buddy bought the same model a few years after I did, and with the same mod and loads, it is also an excellent shooter.

I'd say, go for it.

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
Wish the CZ's would reverse their safety. With all the other .22's I'd opt for a Ruger .204. Hear lots of good about it.

I've had 2 Remingtons and a #1 in 204. I now have a 527 Varmint that outshines them all. Very accurate right out of the box. Yeah, the mag and safety leave a bit to be desired, but I got used to them. RVB precision will convert the magazine to a flush 3 shot version, a buddy had his done and it looks quite nice.

My 77-22 Hornet shoots 5 shot groups of approximately an inch (usually just a tiny bit less) at 100 yards with handloads. I use a 45 grain Hornady Hornet bullet, Lil Gun powder, small pistol primers, and a light crimp. Mine does not like any factory load that I have tried.

I recently purchased a .22 Hornet rifle. Considered all including the Ruger M77. I chose the Savage M25 Walking Varminter. Very pleased with it, shoots sub MOA with the right handload. The trigger is adjustable and breaks crisp, no need for a trigger upgrade.

I have had 3 77/22 Hornets and they all shot great to start and then went south. With the third one I spent some time trying to find out why it went south. Here is what I found

Start ~3” group Vertical Stringing
Step 1 Recrown = No Change
Step 2 Glass Bed Receiver (Free float) = Vertical Stringing solved but still ~2”
Step 3 Upward Barrel Pressure = Point of Impact shift but no change in group size
Step 4 Disassemble 2 piece bolt and Lap Surfaces = Possibly Small Change
Step 5 Expand case neck to 6mm, Resize so cartridge headspaces with a little crush on the shoulder not the rim. = 3/4'” group at 100 yrds

I have done the headspacing trick on 2 77/22 and it has tightened groups significantly on both rifles. My theory is that the 2 piece bolt wears in and affects headspace and these rifles do not like excessive headspace.

I have a Ruger K77/22-VHZ that I purchased new a couple of years ago. I have since added a Rifle Basix trigger.
My biggest complaint is the barred to stock fit is very tight and causes a POI shift when ever I remove the barreled action from the stock and re-install it back into the stock, I must sight in again. I'm sure this could be corrected by free floating the barrel. As this rifle is the stainless steel version I don't remove the stock to often. Over all I am please with the rifle, It shoots tighter than my ability.
If you reload your cartridges be sure to never full length resize them, just neck size the top third that grips the bullet. I put a washer over the cartridge case to keep the neck sizing die from shrinking of whole neck. Once you've expanded a cartridge cast to fit your rifles chamber (which may take a few firings) you don't want to resize anything but the top two thirds of the neck.

I have a Ruger 77 Hornet that shoots very well when fed what it likes. Not so good with what it doesn't like. I've had mine 5 or 6 years and it was pre-owned when I got it, but shot very little. More so than with any other caliber I would say to try different loads if yours doesn't shoot to suit you. I'm shooting 35 gr, V-Max, with 13 gr. of Lil' Gun. Less than 1" at 100 yds. at 3000 fps. and hammers prairie rats out to 200 yds.

Thanks for all the replies. Our gun show is thanksgiving so i'll see if i can find one there

I have one of the newer versions of Ruger's 77/Hornet rifles. I sent my rifle to Williams Gunsight Co. and had the install open sights firesights with the rear being a peep (Ghost) sight. My rifle groups very well.

Update. I didnt find anything at the gun show.But 4sixteen said savage. So I did some checking.there it was. I admit its not as good looking as a stainless ruger.But savage has never let me down for accuracy. I have owned many. I went all out and bought my first brand new leupold 4-12. I even lapped the rings..Hopefully this is just another savage that shoots good.