I frequent a gun store/range in my area. They tend to sell all the typical stuff that moves quickly - various garden variety handguns, shotguns and rifles. That usually works out to plastic pistols and 1911s, Remington and Mossberg shotguns and a slew of AR variants with maybe a lever gun or two thrown in. Last month I noticed something a little different hanging on their wall: a wood-stocked bolt action rifle. I don't own many of these, and the ones I do own are mostly milsurps.
The gun on the wall turned out to be a Ruger 77/44. I've always heard that these are a bit difficult to find, so I was surprised to see it. I handled it but gave it back - the price seemed just a bit high and they don't negotiate.
Fast forward a month and the gun was still sitting there, but all of a sudden the price has been changed. It's now listed at a clearance price that seemed a lot more reasonable to me. I ended up taking it home for $620 after tax. I priced them out online and couldn't find one under $800, so I knew it was a pretty good deal. This one came with scope rings which I thought added to the value. Maybe that's normal, but I can't recall the last rifle I bought that already had rings in the box.
I took it straight out onto the range for some fun. It didn't come with a scope, but it has sights (and everything else) just like a 10/22, so everything just clicked for me right away. I have to say, this is a fantastic little rifle! It shoulders and points well, the trigger is good and the recoil was minimal, even with full power .44 Magnum. Best of all, it's very accurate (but to be fair I was only at 30 yards).
I had trouble getting rounds to consistently feed smoothly all the way into the chamber. As I played with the gun, I found a quick throw seemed to help, but only a little. I figured I would try cycling some other ammo when I got home before I gave up on it. As it turns out, after cycling 100 or rounds through it at home I was able to smooth it out quite a bit.
My only real complaint with the rifle overall is the flush magazine combined with the utterly terrible magazine release. The release is flush with the magazine itself (much like a 10/22). After a lot of experimentation, I found the easiest way to get the magazine out in any reasonable amount of time is to push in the release and use a finger or two to reach through the action and push the magazine out from the top. I intend to see if my gunsmith can fabricate an extension for the mag release.
I was able to take it out to a friend's house late last week and shoot about 60 yards, this time with a cheap scope mounted. It dialed right in and produced some really nice groups. Sadly I failed to save the targets but there will be a next time for sure!
The gun on the wall turned out to be a Ruger 77/44. I've always heard that these are a bit difficult to find, so I was surprised to see it. I handled it but gave it back - the price seemed just a bit high and they don't negotiate.
Fast forward a month and the gun was still sitting there, but all of a sudden the price has been changed. It's now listed at a clearance price that seemed a lot more reasonable to me. I ended up taking it home for $620 after tax. I priced them out online and couldn't find one under $800, so I knew it was a pretty good deal. This one came with scope rings which I thought added to the value. Maybe that's normal, but I can't recall the last rifle I bought that already had rings in the box.
I took it straight out onto the range for some fun. It didn't come with a scope, but it has sights (and everything else) just like a 10/22, so everything just clicked for me right away. I have to say, this is a fantastic little rifle! It shoulders and points well, the trigger is good and the recoil was minimal, even with full power .44 Magnum. Best of all, it's very accurate (but to be fair I was only at 30 yards).
I had trouble getting rounds to consistently feed smoothly all the way into the chamber. As I played with the gun, I found a quick throw seemed to help, but only a little. I figured I would try cycling some other ammo when I got home before I gave up on it. As it turns out, after cycling 100 or rounds through it at home I was able to smooth it out quite a bit.
My only real complaint with the rifle overall is the flush magazine combined with the utterly terrible magazine release. The release is flush with the magazine itself (much like a 10/22). After a lot of experimentation, I found the easiest way to get the magazine out in any reasonable amount of time is to push in the release and use a finger or two to reach through the action and push the magazine out from the top. I intend to see if my gunsmith can fabricate an extension for the mag release.
I was able to take it out to a friend's house late last week and shoot about 60 yards, this time with a cheap scope mounted. It dialed right in and produced some really nice groups. Sadly I failed to save the targets but there will be a next time for sure!
