I had posted earlier about purchasing subject rifle from member of this site and now that I have had a chance to shoot it, can say it is a very fine little rifle and stated negatives about the triggers, accuracy, overall quality do not apply to this particular rifle. Factory ammo gives less than 1moa @ 100yds, trigger breaks very crisp, light pull and set up with 1.75x4 Nikon the balance and handling of the rifle is just right for me. Should have bought one years ago!!

Nice to hear it works for you. The one I had was the most disappointing rifle I have ever owned.

I really wanted one of these untill I heard the bad reports from the guy's here on AR.
It's nice to know there are some good ones out there and thats in keeping with the other threads here talking about the M77 .22 hornet. It seems like about one of every 3 or 4 would shoot. I wish there was some way of knowing before buying it.

MFD I'm glad you found a good one.

That's about the average for all the rifles produced today with hammer forged barrels. The factories only paid $17.00 ea. for these barrels last I heard. I have a m-77 hornet that shoots around 1' with factory loads. Will report more whan I start reloading for it.

PS. I traded a friend for mine and knew it shot good before trading for it. This is the only hammer forged barrel I own, as in general I despise them and refuse to buy a new rifle with a hammer forged barrel.

When that rifle was first rumored to be coming out I was an accident waiting to happen. I looked high and low with every intention of buying the first one I saw.
As is common the advance press is out there way before the supply catches up, in this case I believe it was a fortuitous occasion!
At the end of that first summer of my turning over every rock I could looking for one with no success Layne Simpson did a feature article on one he tested in Shooting Times I believe.
Mr. Simpson talked at length about what an amazing guy bill Ruger was, what a neat looking rifle the new Hornet was and topped it off by extolling the wonderful nature of the diminutive little Hornet round itself.
After all that and with out any mention of how he felt about his experience with that particular rifle he posted his test results which as memory serves had his groups averaging between 3 and 4 1/2 inches. Not one mention of at the very least "This rifle must have been an anomaly cause it shot like poop!" Ruger must be a real big advertiser and donate lots of stuff to Mr. Simpson's personal collection.
After that there was a large internet influx of threads pertaining to how to get Ruger .22Hornets to shoot, I'm sure some of you remember that period.
I'm sure since that time Ruger has to have learned from their mistakes and I'm glad you have a good one. I know today I frequently read of fellas well pleased with their Ruger Hornets.
After reading that article two things came to pass, 1). I cancelled my subscription to Shooting Times and 2). I've never experienced a 77-.22Hornet.
I do think it a fantastic little round and out of 2 Anchutz and 3 CZ offerings I've yet to see one that couldn't be brought into the 1/2 to 3/4 inch 5 shot group range, frequent groups running quite a bit better.
I love the round myself and I've always thought that the 77-.22Hornet itself is one of the most attractive offerings out there.

I must be lucky too; mine will shoot a bit under 1moa out to 300yds, which is stretching a Hornet.

Rich
DRSS

I wasn't so lucky with my 77 Hornet. It shot factory ammo @ 2", handloads only a bit better.

Then, I added a Timney spring and sear kit, and got just over 1.25". Nice improvement!

Next, Lilgun powder and a small pistol primer reduced the groups to moa, even better with a Sierra 52gr HPBTM.

Now, I am thrilled with this little rifle!

The one I had was one of the very early ones, a genuine POS. A friend has an early one , his experiences and opinion mirror mine.

Mine was bad also. When ruger finally replaced it, I traded for a 700 while it was still in the box.

K-22 hornet. Do you mind if I ask where you acquired the Timney trigger kit for your Ruger hornet?

I have an early M77/22H and it's performance is outstanding -- after the previous owner added a replacement trigger and a Krieger barrel chambered for K-Hornet

I have a good shooter friend who decided to purchase the stainless barreled HB version not long ago. I warned him that performance history has been "hit and miss" with these guns, but his has done beautifully. Perhaps Ruger has corrected some of its earlier production problems.

I do like the little action and wish they would make it available in some other "mini" chamberings like 25-20, etc.

A friend of mine bought one about 1990. It was the absolute worse shooting rifle I have ever had in my hands! NOTHING got this rifle to group under two and a half inches. After a trigger job and bedding only one load got it under three inches and we tried many. Called ruger and they said two and one half was acceptable. I told them if all i wanted to hit was the ground it would be great.

I would say that all of us have from time to time been dissapointed in a particular rifle we ended up with, but guess it was my time to be lucky with this Ruger 77/Hornet for I have since fed it reloads and factory and with the 14 twist does nicely w/ the 55grain as well as 35 and 40. We are blessed (or cursed) with an abundance of wild turkeys and plan on thinning out the flocks this Fall. Very handy little rifle and you can carry 50 or more shells with you in your pockets!!

Damn, If that thing shoots good 50 rounds makes a lot of turkey salad. Yer are gonna feed the whole neighborhood.

Swampshooter,

The Timney spring & sear kit was about $28 and I got it from Midway. It's probably more than that now.
Fred

My friends Ruger M77 Hornet shoots great. It is an older one. Maybe he got lucky, too. I'd dearly love to have his rifle.

The Ruger 77/Hornet I have also shoots very well. However, I did a lot of tweaking to the rifle before firing the first shot. I put in a Timney Sear w/new spring, and Rifle Basix trigger, polished the bore, and free floated the barrel. After doing all of that, I shot 1/2 to 3/4", three shot groups at 100 yards.
Last fall when the snow started, I had the rifle out to the range and shot a 3 shot group at 50 yards that measured 1/4". I didn't feel like trudging thru the snow to the 100 yard target..
One thing that can't be denied about the 77/Hornet is the magazine. It has to be the best magazine on the market, maybe the best magazine ever designed...

Hello DMB,
What you did to your Hornet was pretty much what I had planned to do, but with initial firing of the rifle I don't think I will do anything to mine. Have not shot it that much, but will soon and will see if it holds up over a longer period of shooting. Good to know how you did yours and will keep it on file for future use. Yes, that magazine is a slick one and the bolt on mine is as smooth and slick as any bolt gun I have ever used. Trigger on mine may have had some mods, bought used but about as new as you can get for a used one, and the trigger on mine breaks right at 2.5lbs according to the NRA weights I use. Plan on using mine for Fall Turkey hunts coming up soon.
This Thanksgiving my turkey dinner will not have any chemical additives or steroids and may also consume some liquid Wild Turkey as the only additive. Take care,

martin

K-22 hornet, Thanks for the info about the trigger. I had my bbl. shortened to 21" with a target crown. Much handier and really shoots good now.

I would like to venture a guess here that MR' simpson did likly right about how poorly the ruger hornet shot.
But what likly happend was an editor cut that part out of the article.
Can't say for sure but i bet that is what happend...tj3006

I had one of the Ruger Hornets in the stainless/laminate heavy barrel. I got it from a friend and he had bedded it and I lightened the trigger. With the 40gr VMax seated to 1.91" IIRC, and fed as a single shot it was a sub MOA rifle..with a few groups under 3/4"..one I should have kept..but I let it go and got CZ527 in 221 FB..it's just as accurate and has a better trigger and I can use the magazine....and it's a bit faster with the 40 gr VMax.

I've got one too...

One of my favorite rifles...

I've heard mixed reviews as well but mine shoots great...

Replaced factory sear with Timney...

Shoots Hornady 35 gr V-max into 1" at 100...

I've killed all types of stuff with that neat little rifle...

There were some bad words about early production 77/Hornets, however more recent production rifles seem to be better. Don't know what the early complaints were, but my newer rifle is flat shooting well.

Can someone with one of these Ruger K77/22 Hornet rifles measure a magazine, and post what the maximum C.O.L. that will fit in it and feed properly?

I notice a lot of published load recipes show bullets loaded longer than the 1.723" standard C.O.L.

Glad it works for you
Both that I owned were terrible accuracy wise