Ruger 77/44 worth buying???

C

cjb

New member
I was thinking of buying a stainless 77/44 Ruger for close up, thick cover white tail work. I like everything about them except that a friend told me that they are terrible in the accuracy dept. Of course I'm only going to be shooting 100 yds. max. But I want a decent rifle. If anyone owns one of these rifles I would love to hear your likes dis-likes!
CJB
" I'M THE NRA! "
 
Unfortunately when Ruger developed their new 44 Magnum lever-gun and bolt-gun, they neglected to set the gun up so that it can handle longer than standard ammunition. If you like to shoot Keith SWCs or other bullets with long noses, such as our HAMMERHEADs or various truncated cones, you won't be able to fire them out of the Ruger 44 Magnum rifles. This is strange beyond belief. Ruger builds a 44 Magnum bolt-action rifle that will not handle the long, high performance ammo that their revolvers handle so well. Why would anyone build a bolt-action rifle with less potential than the revolvers produced by the same company?
When we asked them about this, all they could say was that it never occurred to them!!!
www.garrettcartridges.com
 
cjb,

I said I'd get back to you, so here I am.

I just got back from a very enjoyable range session with my new All Weather 77/44, and I have a good report.

I first topped the rifle off with a $40 Simmons 4x32 silver-finished scope. I then decided to zero the scope and rifle at 50 yards, as I don't expect to be doing anything further than that with this rifle. When I got to shooting, it only took 6 shots to zero (and that's without using a bore-sight... not bad).

My best overall group was four shots (the capacity of the magazine) into 1.5 inches. Here's the kicker, though: Three of the shots created one ragged hole 3/4 of an inch across from edge to edge. A flyer increased the size of the group by 1.25 inches giving the total group its measurement of 1.5 inches center-to-center.

Groups widened up a little bit as the barrel heated up but that's to be expected. In addition, I've been up for approximately 22 hours now, so I probably wasn't performing to my fullest potential.

The ammo I used was PMC 180 Gr. JHP.

I don't think we have anything to worry about as far as accuracy goes.

I think that I may have found a new favorite rifle - It handles well, is well-balanced, and has a nice, short, smooth action. I had no problems whatsoever. Feeding was absolutely smooth and reliable, as was extraction. Also, the recoil pad really tamed the .44 Mag recoil (compared to my Winchester 94), so I don't think that it would be uncomfortable to shoot for extended periods.

I'm not a big bolt-action fan, but I think I'm in love with this rifle! The first time I picked up a friend's standard 77/44, I knew that I had to have one.

Good luck!

------------------
Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page

[This message has been edited by Bulldog (edited February 19, 2000).]
 
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