Ruger bolt action rifles - why are they not more popular?

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Bill Ruger is dead.

Utterly irrelevant, since the COMPANY has made it abundantly clear, numerous times since his death, that they intend to, and ARE, carrying on his anti-gun, anti-self-defense philosophy in all their decisions.

 

[24kshooter]

Problems: IMO Bill Ruger (both of them) , products too expensive and accuracy.

 

[rbernie]

Utterly irrelevant, since the COMPANY has made it abundantly clear, numerous times since his death, that they intend to, and ARE, carrying on his anti-gun, anti-self-defense philosophy in all their decisions.

How? By continuing to produce double-stack 9mm and 40S&W service-grade pistols, complete with high capacity magazines?

By recently introducing a new design 9mm striker fired pistol complete with hi-cap double-stack magazines?

By recently introducing a mouse gun/pocket pistol/BUG for self-defense purposes?

Hmm. Yes, I see your point.

 

[22-rimfire]

I ran into one of their 30-06's used and was really tempted to buy it as the stock was absolutely beautiful. There was no pressing need, so I decided to sleep on it. Did some reading and came to the decision that it was still "expensive" and I'd rather have a Remington Model 700 BDL any day of the week instead even if it cost more.

 

[corncob]

The tang is where the safety is supposed to be on any long gun.

Amen.

I killed my first deer with a borrowed M77 in 308. I never liked it. Felt cheap, bad trigger. Bad bedding. POI wandered all over after 2 shots. And it isn't really CRF. It just looks like a mauser action.

Ruger makes pretty good handguns, though.

And FWIW I seem to be noticing a trend on this thread: Most people who like their M77 have a heavy barrel. Hmmmm.

 

[aspade]

How? By continuing to produce double-stack 9mm and 40S&W service-grade pistols, complete with high capacity magazines?

By making 20 round Mini-14 magazines for government agencies while refusing to sell them to the general public.

By their corporate slogan, "Arms makers for responsible citizens" - as if those other companies that give me a real magazine instead of a 5 round eunuch are arming the irresponsible.

There are enough statists working at incremental disarmament already without our own eagerly helping them out.

 

[corncob]

I'm with you fellers

Ruger's slogan turns my stomach as well. I almost felt guilty when I bought my long-barreled Single Six.

 

[rbernie]

By making 20 round Mini-14 magazines for government agencies while refusing to sell them to the general public.

Oh, fer crying out loud.

First off, they do make and sell them to us'n serfs. I do not know why they do not do so more readily, but their resellers certianly do sell them to the public and Ruger does not sanction the resellers for doing so. If you want a Ruger 20rd Mini14 magazine, you can certainly buy as many as you can afford.

More importantly, everyone is so dang willing to make a big hairy deal about the same old tired song-n-dance over Mini14 mags and then goes thru this complete fit of cognative dissonance over the Ruger pistol line. It's like "See! See! Ruger is still populated by anti-gun statists. Oh. er, what's that about hi-cap pistols? Neverthemind - lalalalalalalalalalaaaa......."

Sticking your fingers in your ears and humming loudly is no way to conduct a conversation.

I killed my first deer with a borrowed M77 in 308. I never liked it. Felt cheap, bad trigger. Bad bedding. POI wandered all over after 2 shots. And it isn't really CRF. It just looks like a mauser action.

True of the Mark I/tang safety models. Not true of the Mark II models - they are true CRF.

And FWIW I seem to be noticing a trend on this thread: Most people who like their M77 have a heavy barrel. Hmmmm.
Today 05:02 PM

My three all have sporter-weight barrels.

 

[corncob]

It was a MkII. As the round is stripped from the mag, it passes through about 1/4-in where it isn't "controlled." IOW it is possible to jam the rifle if one doesn't cycle the bolt smartly, which makes it no better than a push-feed Savage. (which does have the safety in the right place, BTW)

Try it with yours, cycle the bolt slowly with a loaded mag. You may be surprised. Or I may be insane, or just have gotten "the one bad gun," to spoof a previous poster.

 

[Uncle Chan]

I bought two, .223 and .308. I sold two, .223 and .308 within a couple years. Won't own another. Poor workmanship. Sloppy bolt. Both needed trips back to the factory or gunsmith for problems.

To me, they were just junk.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

More importantly, everyone is so dang willing to make a big hairy deal about the same old tired song-n-dance over Mini14 mags and then goes thru this complete fit of cognative dissonance over the Ruger pistol line. It's like "See! See! Ruger is still populated by anti-gun statists. Oh. er, what's that about hi-cap pistols? Neverthemind - lalalalalalalalalalaaaa......."

There isn't the least bit of cognitive dissonance whatsoever. It's real simple...when Ruger lived, the company encouraged a gun ban. After he died, the company had an *opportunity* to revoke/rescind/remand/undo/make amends for/apologize, etc., for this. Have they done ANY of this? Have they apologized in any way shape or form, saying "we're sorry about ol' dead Bill's transgressions, and we intend to change direction."? The answer is no. When they do, I'll consider buying their products. Their pistols have zero to do with them never making amends for being the active player in pushing a gun ban through Congress.

 

[eliphalet]

Oh for Pete's sake, do the Japanese need to apologies for Pearl Harbor to sell/make Brownings or Howa's ?

Get over it.

When i did have a Mini 14 I had no trouble finding, buying and using 20 and 30 round mags that worked just dandy. Just cause itdidn't say Ruger on the side didn't seem to affect em one bit, the gun didn't seem to mind either.

BTW I don't own any guns made in Asia but I have, would again and I do drive a Toyota.
Geeezzzzz

Had Ruger revolvers about 40 years now I still like em, in fact got a new one a couple of weeks ago.

Oh, I finally bought a Ruger Bolt recently, a Compact model. It only has a 16 1/2" barrel and will shoot MOA or better, good enough in my book. A few clips to the trigger spring and she's fine for "in the field" use too.

I guess I just don't get it.

Some one didn't do or say what they were suppose to when it came to large cap clips nd their damned forever, but you can cause a whole war, kill millions, be extremely cruel, but it is OK now?

Last I checked guy's are still buying BMW's.

All these arguments seem ridiculous to me.

 

[rbernie]

It's real simple...when Ruger lived, the company encouraged a gun ban. After he died, the company had an *opportunity* to revoke/rescind/remand/undo/make amends for/apologize, etc., for this. Have they done ANY of this? Have they apologized in any way shape or form, saying "we're sorry about ol' dead Bill's transgressions, and we intend to change direction."? The answer is no.

Their actions in the marketplace speak. You may choose to ignore that, but it *is* cognative dissonance to do so. You are insisting that their apology for Uncle Bill's self-serving and horrendous comments be in a form that YOU choose.

Life doesn't work that way.

If you choose to expect that, you are certainly free to do so. But those of us who're just looking for good values in firearms will continue to occasionally buy a Ruger.

Some one didn't do or say what they were suppose to when it came to large cap clips nd their damned forever, but you can cause a whole war, kill millions, be extremely cruel, but it is OK now?

No Howas! No Sigs! No Weatherbys! No HKs! No STGs!

Bad, bad!

 

[trueg50]

For teaching new shooters there isn't any better rifle.

The main issue though is price.

Since they have the rotary magazine for their rimfires, there is a huge opening on the bottom, plus the top is quite open. Since the BSA wants single shot 22's only we just manually insert them one at a time.

Gotta love them, they have some dings from being in kids hands, but ~3,000 rounds per year x 15 years and they are very accurate. At 50 yards we shoot quarters with iron sights.

 

[Art Eatman]

My 77 Mk II in .223 has been half-MOA from the gitgo, so accuracy shouldn't be any problem. My old '70s vintage heavy-barrel Swift was 3/8 MOA. Had an early 77 in .243 that was the first sub-MOA factory-ammo rifle I'd ever seen. My Minis were all as reliable as sunrise, and from a one-shot kill standpoint were as accurate as anything on the market. Dunno anybody who makes better stuff than the Blackhawks and Redhawks. As good, sure, but not particularly better...

 

[s2brutus]

Utterly irrelevant, since the COMPANY has made it abundantly clear, numerous times since his death, that they intend to, and ARE, carrying on his anti-gun, anti-self-defense philosophy in all their decisions.

Yeah......

That's why the new Mini-14's come standard with two 20 round magazines.

 

[s2brutus]

It was a MkII. As the round is stripped from the mag, it passes through about 1/4-in where it isn't "controlled." IOW it is possible to jam the rifle if one doesn't cycle the bolt smartly, which makes it no better than a push-feed Savage. (which does have the safety in the right place, BTW)

Try it with yours, cycle the bolt slowly with a loaded mag. You may be surprised. Or I may be insane, or just have gotten "the one bad gun," to spoof a previous poster.

A quarter of an inch? Are you serious?

Good God man, the bolt has to have SOME forward travel before the round slips in under the extractor claw. Not even original Mausers have the claw over the rim of the round from all the way in their rearward position. It's physically impossible.

 

[s2brutus]

I've owned an M77MkII lefthanded in 7mm Rem. magnum for quite a few years now. It's plenty accurate with the right factory ammo and will shoot more accurately than any shooter I've ever seen is capable of with good handloads.

Yeah, I've shot Savages that were slightly more accurate and certainly cost somewhat less.....

and they also felt like clunky pieces of sh*t in my hands, which Rugers don't.

MY Ruger M77 has killed 9 deer over the last several years with 10 shots, the one extra shot being my fault because I jerked.

Oh, and mine cost $400 brand new in 2000.

And, it has beautiful wood.

And, it doesn't have cheapo looking rivets through the stock like many High Roaders' much-vaunted Remingtons.

You keep yours, I'll keep mine.

 

[rangerruck]

Because they suuuuuuuuuck, and I have one!!!! Look , the problem is , they are a Forrest Gump enigma. They can look great, they can also be made crappy, and finished all wrong. Accuracy? usually ruger and accuracy are mutually exclusive. Heavy? Most assuredly. Ungainly? yes.
Expensive, for all the possible pitfalls? Allways.

 

[eliphalet]

they are a Forrest Gump enigma.

Life is like a box of chocolates like Forest say's, so don't buy one if you don't like em, but I have had a box full over the years and all have been a good firearm.

Somewhere in that movie I think there was a quote like "Stupid is as stupid does" too, which is where this thread has gone to.

 

[ImARugerFan]

Sounds like all complaints are toward the MKII, I've never shot one, only the regular M77 which had a tang safety and adjustable trigger. I guess if you have a MKII you might have to spend $100 and put a timmey in there.

 

[Markbo]

I've been all wrapped up loading for sixguns lately, but this thread has made me want to pull mine MKII out and load up ammo and go shooting!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Their actions in the marketplace speak.

Maybe to you, but no, not to me they don't. The fact that they're taking advantage of existing laws to make money has zero to do with them urging congress to pass laws, *in order to make more money by handicapping their competition (Glock, CZ, HK, etc.), since Ruger's pistol's capacities sucked eggs and they were killing killed in the marketplace*. So in that sense, yes their actions in the marketplace DO speak quite loudly- they wanted the 10 round ban to help sales of their crappy-capacity pistols - and so they urged Congress to do this.

You may choose to ignore that, but it *is* cognative dissonance to do so. You are insisting that their apology for Uncle Bill's self-serving and horrendous comments be in a form that YOU choose.

Life doesn't work that way.

Yes, it does. If you screw over your customers, you APOLOGIZE and make amends. They have done nothing.

But those of us who're just looking for good values in firearms will continue to occasionally buy a Ruger

Absolutely, we should all *carefully* analyze the VALUE of the firearms. So let's do that: What you GET: A good firearm, at a low price. If that were the total extent of the bargain, ending there, then a Ruger would be a good value. But unfortunately, you also GET something else in exchange that you don't want, besides a good gun - you get a company which will take the profit that they just made off of YOU, and using those resources, engage in anti-gun activities such as encouraging Congress to pass gun bans. It's patently obvious to me from their attitude that they haven't changed a bit, and they can and will (mark my words) wholeheartedly jump right on top of the next ban that comes down the pike that will be financially expedient for them to endorse (like the last one). Fool me once, shame on Ruger; Fool us gun owners twice, shame on you who support them. The 2nd fooling WILL be coming along sooner or later. You can try to justify all you want, but the fact remains that by feeding that monster, you are contributing to an anti-gun, anti-self-defense, anti-freedom mentality which is a scourge and a cancer among the SAAMI companies and the industry in general.

 

[Horsemany]

I've owned an M77MkII lefthanded in 7mm Rem. magnum for quite a few years now. It's plenty accurate with the right factory ammo and will shoot more accurately than any shooter I've ever seen is capable of with good handloads.

Yeah, I've shot Savages that were slightly more accurate and certainly cost somewhat less.....

and they also felt like clunky pieces of sh*t in my hands, which Rugers don't.

MY Ruger M77 has killed 9 deer over the last several years with 10 shots, the one extra shot being my fault because I jerked.

Oh, and mine cost $400 brand new in 2000.

And, it has beautiful wood.

And, it doesn't have cheapo looking rivets through the stock like many High Roaders' much-vaunted Remingtons.

You keep yours, I'll keep mine

.

I couldn't have said it better myself. Somehow on this forum everyone ignores the shortcomings of Savage and Tikka. I cannot believe Ruger is attacked while the others get a pass. Ruger is one of a few remaining American gun companies. If you don't like em that's fine, but let other people form their own opinion. There are many reasons to not buy a lot of the imported guns too. I own most of the major bolt actions on the market and IMO the Ruger 77 Mk II's hold their own.

 

[Slamfire]

I purchased from a gun club bud a 308 M77 MkII Tactical Ruger . The two stage trigger had creep. I fixed that, but it was a bear to get back together. One spring launched itself so far away, I never found it. Had to improvise a replacement.

It shot about 1.5 MOA, which was good enough for me. Had to get a 20 MOA mount, and took it and shot a couple of thousand yard matches. Did OK at the start, but the rifle just beat up its factory bedding and accuracy was unacceptable. So I bedded the thing.

What a difference that made. It will shoot ten shot groups under a MOA now.

While I like CRF, it is only a preference. I like being able to open the bolt and roll the round into my hand. Makes it easy to check to see the chamber is loaded without ejecting the cartridge.

I cannot think of a military automatic which is CRF. They are all push feed.

When I look at the overall design of the M77 rifle, it is a safe and well designed action. Ruger provided gas protection against pierced primers and against a busted case head. I like the buffered bolt stop. Mine has a three position safety. A bit stiff but it positively holds the firing pin back. I hate sear blocking safeties, there have been plenty of accidental discharges with sear blocking safeties, Remington’s is perhaps the most widely known.

There is more features than that, but the action is a good design.

And it shoots good.