Remington 770 vs Ruger American in .308

[SKILCZ]

They seem comparably priced currently around $300-350. For casual target shooting and hunting. What's the major difference between these two? Is one better or worse, and how so? I've read a lot of positive reviews on the Ruger American, but since it's relatively new I'm trying to see what thoughts are on whether to bite the bullet on one or go with something that's been around a little longer like the Remington.

 

[TurtlePhish]

Ruger, no contest. The 770 is horrible for anything outside of shooting it once or twice a year to hunt.

 

[allaroundhunter]

If you want comparable quality to a Ruger American from Remington, you are going to have to step it up at least to a 700 ADL... The 770 is generally not good for much short of shooting pumpkins at 100 yards.

 

[Kachok]

Ruger, no contest. The 770 is horrible for anything outside of shooting it once or twice a year to hunt.

You stole my exact words when I saw the name of this thread. NO CONTEST not that the American is the best rifle there ever was but the 770 is amongst the worst.
The Ruger has a better stock, better recoil pad, better trigger, oh and as an added bonus it is not made by the idiots that nearly killed Chrysler so it is probably not built entirely of recycled compressed rust.

 

[Bobson]

Agreed on the Ruger. Know a guy who owned a 770. He was the guy who shot it once or twice a year, and he still hated it.

Not to be that guy, but if you throw the Savage Axis in there, my vote wouldn't be for the Ruger anymore.

 

[Hunter125]

Or wait until the 783 comes out.

 

[Kachok]

I personally won't wait on any Remington, only thing I am waiting for is for them to fire their entire half @$$ QC staff and start building quality firearms again. I am an oldschool Remington fan my first rifle ever was a 700. It hurts me what they have turned into.
I worked for Chrysler when CCM bought us out, one of the very first things they did was to do away with the CSI (customer service index, everybody in the auto business uses it) rating, because they knew they were cutting corners and did not even want to hear about it, we see the same thing with Remington, they went from the most accurate out of the box rifle on the planet to dead last (WAY last) in a recent multi rifle comparison, three rifles of each brand were tested to ensure they got a true average, if I remember correctly the 700s averaged 2.33" at 100, in contrast Savage and Winchester were just over 1 inch.
So yeah I am alot more incline to give the Ruger a shot, just might do that in fact

 

[Ehtereon11B]

I advise anyone who is looking at Rem 770 to run, not walk, away. It is a budget rifle that you get overcharged for. I had one and could not get rid of it fast enough. Rugers are much better built for similar money.

 

[SKILCZ]

Wow, thanks for the honest and quick replies. I'll also check out the Savage as suggested.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

the 770 and its predecessor and felow failure of a rifle, the 710 have the roughest actions I have ever had my hands on. I wouldnt have one...for a few more bucks, the Ruger or even the lower price Stevens 200 (which I own and love as a tack driver) put these rifles in their place on the bottom.

 

[USAF_Vet]

+1 on the suggestion of the Savage Axis. I just picked one up in .30-06 last weekend. Haven't gotten to shoot it yet, but the fit, finish and feel is fantastic.

I'm a bit of a Savage fan, though, so that did have a hand in my decision.

Between the Rem 770 and the Ruger American, its Ruger, hands down.

 

[jmr40]

The Remington 770, Ruger American, Savage Axis and Mossberg rifles are all exactly the same. They all use the same shortcuts in manufacturing to produce a budget rifle at the lowest cost possible. For the casual hunter that wants to zero his rifle and make a box of ammo last for several hunting seasons any of them will last a lifetime and all have at least average to above average accuracy potential.

If you are a shooting enthusiast, none will make you happy. None are designed for long term hard use and repairs and replacment parts are going to quickly add up to more than the gun is worth. They should all be considered disposable guns. Use them until they wear out and throw them away. For most shooters that will still be their lifetime.

If you want a little better quality, and a rifle that will last several lifetimes of hard use move up to the Savage 10, 110 series, the Weatherby Vanguard, Howa, Remington 700 ADL, Winchester Super Shadow, Marlin XS-7, or look on the used gun racks.

The money you save on any of the disposable rifles will only pay for 3-4 boxes of quality ammo compared to costs of the better rifles. If you shoot much at all that is only 1-2 trips to the range.

 

[firesky101]

The Remington 770, Ruger American, Savage Axis and Mossberg rifles are all exactly the same. They all use the same shortcuts in manufacturing to produce a budget rifle at the lowest cost possible. For the casual hunter that wants to zero his rifle and make a box of ammo last for several hunting seasons any of them will last a lifetime and all have at least average to above average accuracy potential.

If you are a shooting enthusiast, none will make you happy. None are designed for long term hard use and repairs and replacment parts are going to quickly add up to more than the gun is worth. They should all be considered disposable guns. Use them until they wear out and throw them away. For most shooters that will still be their lifetime.

If you want a little better quality, and a rifle that will last several lifetimes of hard use move up to the Savage 10, 110 series, the Weatherby Vanguard, Howa, Remington 700 ADL, Winchester Super Shadow, Marlin XS-7, or look on the used gun racks.

The money you save on any of the disposable rifles will only pay for 3-4 boxes of quality ammo compared to costs of the better rifles. If you shoot much at all that is only 1-2 trips to the range.

I cannot comment on the mossberg, but the American and Axis lines put the 770 to shame. They are more comparable to the XS-7. Well built rifles that save money on looks. The 770 is the bottom of the barrel, and I don't really know what to compare it to.

 

[Kachok]

Cheap+Functional+Accurate=Savage
Want a pretty gun, buy a Winchester. Want a rifle with all the frills, buy a Sako. Want an action as smooth as Teflon coated black ice, buy a Tikka. But if you want a superbly accurate rifle that is absolutely reliable and want it on the cheap Savage is the way to go. Owned half a dozen of them, and they are all shooters and perfectly reliable.
Only four grips with Savage.
1. Quit putting short barrels on highly overbore cartridges, 22" for short action, 24" for long action, and 26" for magnums how hard is that? That one does not really apply to a 308 win seeing as a 22" is about ideal for it.
2. Internal magazine can have sharp edges, cut myself a couple times loading the 30-06.
3. The most rough cut rifling I have ever seen, first couple cleanings I am scrubbing chunks of lead out of the bore until it smooths out a bit.
4. Some of my Savages have been bullet picky, they all shoot really well but they might not shoot well with what you want them to, but they have all liked SGKs so we are cool

BTW the Ruger American is knock off of the Savage, they are very similar mechanically.

 

[USAF_Vet]

The Remington 770, Ruger American, Savage Axis and Mossberg rifles are all exactly the same. They all use the same shortcuts in manufacturing to produce a budget rifle at the lowest cost possible. For the casual hunter that wants to zero his rifle and make a box of ammo last for several hunting seasons any of them will last a lifetime and all have at least average to above average accuracy potential.

If you are a shooting enthusiast, none will make you happy. None are designed for long term hard use and repairs and replacment parts are going to quickly add up to more than the gun is worth. They should all be considered disposable guns. Use them until they wear out and throw them away. For most shooters that will still be their lifetime.

If you want a little better quality, and a rifle that will last several lifetimes of hard use move up to the Savage 10, 110 series, the Weatherby Vanguard, Howa, Remington 700 ADL, Winchester Super Shadow, Marlin XS-7, or look on the used gun racks.

The money you save on any of the disposable rifles will only pay for 3-4 boxes of quality ammo compared to costs of the better rifles. If you shoot much at all that is only 1-2 trips to the range.

Have you owned and shot each one to it's limit? Have you spent the time, money and effort to shoot them all to their breaking point, repaired them and done it again?

Or are you simply regurgitating internet 'facts' from gun snobs who think affordable/ budget/ entry level guns are beneath them?

 

[Kachok]

Not alot of difference between the Axis and 110 except a matte finnish and removable magazine, never had a seconds worth of trouble with the 110s so I don't think of the Axis as "disposable" but I think anyone who owns one will be kicking themselves for not spending the few extra bucks on the real 110 with Accutrigger. I got my last one for $386 NIB with a free .22 scope on it Really how much cheaper is the Axis $30? Don't have to think too hard about that one.

 

[toiville2feathers]

Kachok is dead on right. I own 4 remington 700's,2 have jewel triggers,2 have Neil Jones reworked triggers. 2 have new barrels and all have been bedded and barrels floated.
I won a model 7 in 223 youth model at a deer hunters banquet.
When I and the grandson went to the gun shop to pick it up I took my trigger pull gauge and bore scope along. I wasn't going to take the chance of taking it home and then have the owner say it was something that I did. The trigger was set at 6-3/4 lbs and the barrel looked like 3 mile of bad railroad tracks. It was one of the worst barrels I have ever seen. I have guns with octagon barrels, that shot black powder that look better than that. If I adjust the trigger the warranty is void.
Well we ended up taking a credit on the 700 and then with an extra 40 bucks taking home a Savage 10 Predator/Hunter in a 223 with an adjustable accu-trigger, camo accu stock,1-9 twist and the inside of the savage barrel was a marked improvement over the model 7.
Remington needs to wake up and understand they are sucking hind tit. The banquet was on a Friday evening, and this was the next day, saturday. My inspecton of the rifle gathered quite an audience, a couple of guys asked to look through the borecsope at the barrel and were quite surprised at what they saw. The shop owner talked to me later and really didn't appreciate what I did, because remington is his main line. I told him next time well do it in the back room, away from customers, but I want him to tell the salesman to report back to remington about their quality and what happened that day.

 

[Cryogaijin]

Geez, y'all are making me fell guilty getting a friend a 770 for his first hunting rifle. It was $280 NIB, for an aught six. Everything else local was more expensive by $100-150.

 

[natman]

Inexpensive rifles in order of quality:

Marlin X7 - I'd take a Marlin and hunt anything, anywhere with it.
Savage Axis - IMO a slight notch below the Marlin, but not much

Mossberg - not too bad, just not quite as nice as the other two. Might make an interesting Project Sow's Ear to see how much you could improve one.










Remington 770 - Wouldn't own one if it were free.

 

[David Clark]

I was a gunsmith for over 40 years and built custom rifles. I can flat tell you for the money the Ruger American is the way to go. You can rebarrel one like a savage if you want. You have a full bolt body, short lift bolt, great V block bedding, and good trigger.Also comes with a great designed clip. I don't know how they can sell it for $350.00 !!

I am going to get one in 243 and set the barrel back and make a 6MM BR out of it.
Dave

 

[WoodchuckAssassin]

Ruger - without a doubt in my mind.

Remington really screwed the pooch with the 770. Awful trigger, ugly stock...but I guess it would make one hell of a club to throw in the back of a truck.

I'm not sure if the Remmy shoots well (as it very well might be), but the Ruger just seems to have been built better, and I believe their cheeper than the 770 also.

 

[Kachok]

I am no gambeling man, but you put the Ruger American against the 770 I'll take that bet. Known too many people who tried to stroke any kind of accuracy out of the 770, seen people free float them, give them a full bedding job, match handloads, good optics that cost more then the rifle does, trigger jobs and pretty much anything else you can imagine and they still won't give satisfactory accuracy, though 2-3" is usable out to 200 yards or so, you will never catch me hunting with anything that sloppy. Of all my rifles the worst grouping load I hunt with is my Browning 7mm-08 with 1"-1.25" groups being the norm, still working on that one.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

If my choice is a Remington 770, or anything else, I'll go with anything else. I don't even have to hear what it is.

 

[Eric Hawkins]

The 770 is the worst firearm I have ever owned or shot, please don't waste your money on one! You are better off hunting deer hand to hand with a spoon over that awful thing.

 

[dos0711]

Ruger American. And Weatherby Vanguard series 2.