[goon]

They use the old Mauser controlled feed, right?
How are they for accuracy and longevity?
I am looking to find a good .308 that will most likely last me the rest of my life and be trouble free. I need iron sights as a back-up and stainless is good. I have seen what a couple winter days in deer season can do to a blued finish and I would like something a little more resilient.

[WYO]

I had a stainless/synthetic Ruger M77 MkII for its weather resistant qualities as well, only I had it in .338, and it had the old style “boat paddle” stock. It was built like a tank, but I got rid of it because the magnum action and the 24 inch barrel made it heavy, unbalanced, and somewhat unwieldy in dense cover. It seemed plenty accurate for me. I also found that the length of pull was a bit long for me, especially when wearing cold weather clothes and a pack frame or day pack; this resulted in difficulty getting the correct eye relief when the scope was set to higher powers. That may not be an issue for you. I found that the Ruger stainless finish is somewhat shiny, shinier than my Remington Ti/stainless 700, and I wrapped the gun in camo tape for hunting.

My wife recently got the standard blue/wood version M77 MkII in .308, and she loves it. (We did put on a Decelerator and get the LOP shortened 1 inch.) We have been experimenting with Barnes 165 grain XLCs and 168 grain Triple Shocks, and Hornady 150 grain and 165 grain Interlocks. One day we took a large number of loads to the range, and she shot a bunch of 2 shot groups to get the feel for the rifle and decide what loads it favored. I don’t think she went over an inch all day at 100, and some of the Barnes loads were around 3/4 inch. For kicks, she shot 2 at 200 and was under 2 inches. I have chronographed loads out of her rifle and my Ti .308, and her gun shows higher velocities across the board, some substantially higher, and primers from her gun show less pressure signs than mine. (Mine’s more accurate, though.)

A lot of people trash Rugers. In addition to searching TFL and THR, you can do searches and get all the alleged dirt at:

Accurate Reloading http://www.nookhill.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi

24 Hour Campfire http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php

However, these 2 forums are frequented by people who wouldn’t dream of buying a gun and leaving it in stock condition. Ruger M77s apparently are harder to tinker with because of the way they are designed.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Edited to add that I believe all the current versions are controlled feed.

[Poodleshooter]

All Stainless Ruger M77's are M77MkII's to my knowledge. They have the 3 position Winchester Mdl 70 style safety next to the bolt, and a claw extractor. One caution-not all of them are "controlled feed" despite the claw extractor. My early 90's KM77MkII in .308 has a solid ring around the bolt face, and is not controlled feed. CF style M77MKII's started to appear a little later. They are identifiable by a cutout in the "ring" around the boltface-just above where the ammo feeds from the magazine.
Mine is a nice little rifle. It's no tack driver, but approaches 1.25-1.5"@100yds with good handloads and a poor shooter (me).