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Bklyn_Irish
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Posted: 5/24/2012 8:20:44 AM

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Any thoughts on this rifle? I have an acquaintance looking to move one and am looking for some input. Accuracy? Trigger any good?
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DakotaFAL
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Posted: 5/28/2012 6:05:44 PM
[Last Edit: 5/28/2012 6:18:38 PM by DakotaFAL]
Originally Posted By Bklyn_Irish:
Any thoughts on this rifle? I have an acquaintance looking to move one and am looking for some input. Accuracy? Trigger any good?
I can't vouch for all of them, but my M77 Mk II VT has a superb trigger - especially compared to the "lawyer triggers" available on everything else at the time (1995 or so).

It has a mauser style controlled feed action (the round pops up out of the magazine and directly under the extractor) so it a) eliminates any potential to short stroke the action and leave a round in the chamber, b) will feed in any position, c) does not require the bolt to go into battery to strip rounds from the magazine to unload the weapon, and d) provides a very large area for the extractor reducing the potential to pull the rim off a stuck case.

It also has a three position safety that has a fire position, an intermediate safe position that safes the weapon by locking the sear but allows you to cycle the bolts, and a third position that locks the bolt closed and physically blocks forward movement of the striker.

Rugers in general tend to have long leades, which allows a bit more flexibility when loading long bullets over heavier charges.

I prefer a 26" medium heavy barrel profile in a .308 bolt gun and the M77 Mk II VT has exactly that.

I was not a fan of the laminated stock with it's large flattish fore end. It's great for bench rest work or target work but my intended use was in the field on long range varmints, coyotes, antelope, deer and elk. In that application, the laminated stock was overly heavy and the profile was overly bulky. It was however very accurate and very stable as it came from the factory and was more so after I pillar bedded it. After a year or so however, I removed the stock and replaced it with a grey composite stock, which I also pillar bedded. That resulted in a very nice shooting rifle with a very durable all weather stock with significantly less weight than the original.

With either stock it will deliver reliable 1/2 MOA accuracy with hand loaded 165 gr Sierra SBTs (using 43 grains of IMR 4064 in a mil match case) and does a bit better with hand loaded 168 gr BTHP match kings, although to be honest my goto round is the 165 gr BTSP as the match kings are not not intended for game nor are they very consistent on game animals.

I will qualify this by stating I also took a great deal of care in breaking in the barrel and have used the same cleaning techniques I've used on target rifles, so mine is still displaying decent accuracy almost 4,000 rounds later. However, Ruger uses a hammer forged stainless steel barrel on the M77 Mk II VTs and they tend to be much smoother than cut rifled or button rifled barrels, which IMHO improves accuracy and reduces copper fouling. So unless it's been abused I'd still expect very good accuracy.

The long leade Ruger uses however also has a potential downside as while it allows a bit more volume in the case with a long bullet and helps keep pressures down, with a shorter bullet the jump to the rifling can be a little excessive and can impact accuracy, especially if the bullets are not concentric in the case, but with decent quality ammunition the impact is slight. It just would not be my choice for a .308 shooting 110 grain bullets.