Rem 700/Model Seven vs. Ruger M77

Used? Remington.
New? Probably the Ruger because of the disaster of Remlin.

I'd suggest that a used 700 is to be preferred.

I'm a raving fan of Ruger. I'm up to 5 M77 Hawkeyes/ Mark II and I have a 77/44 Magnum, a 77/17 Hornet and a SR762. So that's 8 Ruger rifles. All of them are deadly accurate (sub-Moa with handloads, around Moa with factory) super reliable and built like a tank. I'm a fan of CRF and the Mauser design. Winchester and Ruger are my two favorite gun makers and I have nothing but great things to say about the present day quality that both bring to the table... Also, My concealed carry is a Ruger SR9c. So I literally trust my life with a Ruger firearm.

Some say their QC is lacking, out of the multiple Ruger firearms I've sent one back to the factory. That was because of an issue with the laminate stock and not the actual rifle.

Sold my model 700
and have two Rugers now. That's my vote

If you can find an older Rem. 700 with the 2 position safety, that locks the bolt, in your caliber of choice, snag it. Otherwise the new Rugers are best, despite the safety not locking the bolt. My favorites are the Predators.

Caliche Kid said:

If you can find an older Rem. 700 with the 2 position safety, that locks the bolt, in your caliber of choice, snag it. Otherwise the new Rugers are best, despite the safety not locking the bolt. My favorites are the Predators.

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I'm not sure what you mean by that. My Ruger Hawkeye has a 3-position safety. One position locks the bolt on safe, the second allows the bolt to be operated on safe, and the third is off-safe.

wombat13 said:

I'm not sure what you mean by that. My Ruger Hawkeye has a 3-position safety. One position locks the bolt on safe, the second allows the bolt to be operated on safe, and the third is off-safe.

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Some of the older tang safety M77s didn't lock the bolt when on safety. Not sure on the American safety as I tend to shy from those budget rifles.

I had a cheaper Winchester Model 70 in .300 Win Mag (with a blind magazine of which I am not a fan) that has the bolt lock position on the safety, I never had any use for it.

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One day you'll take your rifle off your shoulder and find the bolt open with no round in the chamber. Then you'll understand why it is an important feature.

You'll have to go back to a pre -1982 Remington to get one that locks down the bolt handle.

Regardless, Ruger is building the better rifle. At least those made since 1992. The 1968-1991 Rugers with the tang safety could be spotty with a few lemons. That was back in the days when Ruger didn't make their own barrels and purchased them from outside vendors. Some were great, near match quality. Others should have been rejects. Since the MK-II Rugers in 1992 they have been making their barrels in house and they tend to be very good rifles.

I would as for what purpose is the rifle intended?

Reason being, if its a hunter or general range toy, I would(and did) get a Ruger. If it's a distance rig, I got a Ruger and am currently regretting my choice. The aftermarket support for M77's is essentially non-existant compared to the 700's.

C

I guess I am in the minority but I prefer the 700 , I owm a 308 mil spec and a SS laminated stock in 300 win shortmag, had a 30 06 but sold it.
The mil spec is great and very accurate the stainless shortmag is a great hunting rifle.
If you get a mil spec you dont need to do anything to it as it shoots as well or better than a custom, and you can adjust the trigger yourself ( xMark pro) externally without remiving it from the stock.
BTW I use both of them for hunting.

Remington firearms in general have never really done anything for me, just dont really like them (except the 500 series .22's, love those). Now a good older tang safety M77, thats a nice, accurate, dependable rifle. They even had adjustable triggers from the factory. My old Ruger tang safety, heavy barrel .243 varminter was/is a sub moa shooter.

Carolina Kalash said:

Hunting more than anything else

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Ruger would get my vote.

C

the new Remingtons suck all around...meanwhile Ruger M77s are rock steady. better looking than the Remingtons too.

Own a dozen M-77 red pad tang safety Rugers,only one Rem 700 pss 308. Nuff said.

This is my first post here so I may have stepped into it. I love the looks and feel of the older Ruger tang safety rifles, I don't care for the 3 position bolt safety. Model 7 has a nice thought out action, but everything seems to be built super short pencil barrel geared toward youth. I prefer Rem 700 always have so take this with a grain of salt. A remington stainless mountain rifle in 260, 7mm-08 or 308 is very nice set up for hunting.

I'm currently hunting with a Sako AII 7mm-08 which is a very nice hunting rifle. I wouldn't count any of them out really and tend to look more towards the used market. I do like the control round feed so that is a plus for Ruger.

I currently have 8 700's,calibers range from 223 to 35 Whelen.I had a couple of 77's.Guess that sums it up for me.

I have had both and both are good shooters.
My biggest issue with the model 77 was once they got away from the tang safety the Mark II models did not have the same trigger adjustability.
The model 700's are easily adjustable.
As far as the bolt lock spoken of earlier there is a reason Remington did away with that feature along around 1982.
It is called safety.
I have owned two model 700's that were built in the mid 1970's as well as several 600 Remingtons built back in that time and hated having to put the firearm in fire mode to work the bolt to eject the shells from a blind magazine.

If I was buying today I would look for a clean example of the older tang safety Ruger or an older model 700 built when Dupont still owned Remington.
There are literally thousands of these rifles out there currently available.

I prefer the Remington 700 over the Ruger. I had a M77 All Weather in 30-06 with the boat paddle stock a few years back. It was a tough rifle but accuracy was only fair. Got a late 90's model Remington 700 in 7mm RM that has turned out to be a really accurate rifle. Recently purchased a Remington 700 SPS in 308(first one had a problem but the store swapped it out) that is more accurate than I expected.

I also have a Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weather that I replaced the Ruger with. It is more accurate and better balanced to me. The action on the Winchester seems to be quite a bit smoother as well. So, even though you did not mention it, you may want to give the new Model 70's a look...especially since you stated you were not worried about the price.

My stainless M7 is my favorite hunting rifle and 3/4 MOA accurate from that little soda straw barrel. It amazes me.

One thing I don't care for is the fact that the Remington's bolt can be lifted with the safety on. I neck size only and the round gives enough tension on the bolt that it has to be physically lifted, would be hard for it to lift accidentally. So, I've worked around the problem. Remington NEEDS to add a 3 position safety. Even my Savage has a 3 position safety. But, the little M7 is light to tote in high country spot and stalk situations where you might put 10 miles a day in on rugged turf. It's super handy in a box blind where the short 20" barrel shines. Mine's in .308, a great all around caliber. With a 2x10x40 Weaver KV, the thing can hunt about anywhere and do it well, from high country spot and stalk to box blinds to still hunting heavy cover.

I can't check Ruger even though I own 7 Ruger handguns and a 10/22. I've known too many folks having problems with accuracy in a Ruger. I've been told, if it don't shoot, don't waste your time trying to float the barrel and bed the action, just sell it. This was from a gun club member that would know, not internet "knowledge", but it IS dated information that might or might not apply to current production. But, I've yet to fire the ubiquitous 700 that wasn't quite accurate.

I have had lemons in all three, it's a crap shoot just like buying a truck or a tv.