Ruger M77/357 - What a FUN gun!

I understand the desire for a .38/.357 rifle - the cartridge really comes alive from a rifle barrel, and the recoil is mild. My 16" Rossi 92 has a steel buttplate but my wife has no problem shooting it. A bolt-action stainless carbine with synthetic stock would be sweet.

I agree $700+ may seem like a lot. But even the stainless Rossi's are going for $600 now.
 
COSteve said:
I completely understand the attraction of a 357mag rifle. I have 2 Rossi leverguns chambered in 357mag, a 20" Carbine and 24" Rifle and I love shooting both of them. I have a tang and globe sight setup on the rifle and regularly shoot it at steel plates at 300 yds with my 158grn handloads.



I've written Ruger and asked them to consider re-releasing their 96/44 levergun and Ruger 44 mag or 99/44 semi auto in 357mag; as a 96/357 and Ruger 357 mag or 99/357.



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In today's market I think that they would sell better than the 44 mag versions as knock around camp rifles.
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I have a Ruger 77/357 and it is a great rifle. Now one of those in a lever action would be much better. IMHO.
 
won't

I wouldn't hold my breath on Ruger re-introducing the 99/96 auto or levers, or the venerable tube feed carbine either. They can't sell enough of them to justify the production, or so say them. Now its poly stocked price point rifles.

But.....a pistol caliber carbine, especially one in a magnum revolver cartridge, is a useful gun. Powerful enough for about 75% or more of what most of us do with carbines, and the manual models can be loaded up and down the power scale to deliver the energy desired for the task. Cheaper to shoot the an all up full power rifle, and simpler to load for with carbide dies....no lube. Limited case trimming too, at least with my loads, though the .44 needs some attention now and again.

The continued popularity of the import lever carbines points to the utility and the practicality of such guns, but Ruger, nor anybody else, seems to notice.
 
I have gone from lightweight plinking .38 Spl. rounds at @850 fps to .357 Mag. rounds (158g) at @2400 fps.
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Are you sure about that last number because it's about 600 fps faster than published 357 rifle velocities with a 158gr bullet.
 
natman,

I posted a reply to a similar question earlier:
Rat shooter, thanks for bringing this to my attention. You are correct it was not 158 grain. I had to go back and look at my records to double check. The @ 2400 fps (actually 2340) load was with 125 grain Remington sjhp using published data of 22 grains compressed H-110. Yes, I was using a chronograph.
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Now, perhaps @ .5 more grains sneaked into the case or my chronograph is off a bit, I don't know. I am just reporting my findings.

Hodgdon's rifle load data for H110 list 22 grains as having a velocity of 2,276 with a 41,400 CUP. Their data was with a 18.5" barrel. The Ruger M77/357 has an 18.5" barrel. Its close, but I did get a slightly faster reading than published.

The point I was originally making was how versatile this rifle can be, not necessarily load data specifics, though I have no problem talking about them. Its one of my favorite topics. :)
 
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recently got oneof these. really like it. im not sure why..but its cools as hek

the sights to me arent very good..i will scope it. probly my eyes not the brass front sight.

the magazine wont feed reliably. any manuf. 125 or 158. jhp or jsp. ruger said they will send me a new one and i will work on getting the old one to work.

the slop in the bolt just seems wrong..works ok..but i guess i need to order a shim kit for it.

the trigger is pretty nice tho. and its really cool
 
dieselbeef,

Sorry to hear about your woes with this gun. I have two magazines, and both feed flawlessly no matter what I feed it (even .38 Specials). Your replacement one will probably be fine. Maybe you got one of those "made on Friday at 4:59pm" ones. :D

As for the bolt, while it is not the tightest bolt I have ever used, it far from the worst. I can not imagine it is bad enough to shim it.

Sights... yup, I agree. While the iron sights look good and function (if you have good eyes), I do not like the brass bead on the front. Hard to see. I painted mine yellow. That helped me a lot. I would like to scope mine, but decided against it since I knew I was only going to use it for shorter ranges and adding a scope would add weight and defeat the point of a nice light, short carbine. I also could not find a scope that did not make it kind of look ugly... in my opinion.
 
im still playin with it. im gonna take the mag and look into it real good. it seems like the rim of the rd is diggin into the back of the mag and jammin it so it wont rotate forward. ill see whats inside and maybe give the spring an extra 1/4 turn or something. it does it even when you have it in your hand and push the rd with your thumb. maybe the recoilhas tightened the long screw. threadlocker maybe. idk..it shot fine for the first 100 rds or so. ate it all

ill never be able use the sights no matter what.

bushnell makes a silver matte trophy....thatll be my choice. id like something smaller but i have 2 of them on other rifles already so im used to using them. and i like em just fine

the 2 piece bolt isnt sloppy? im not used to the 2 piece deal but my american is nothin like this one is
 
I see what you mean by the bolt being sloppy. Yes, being two pieces, there is a bit more wiggle where they join than a different style bolt. I guess I am just use to it. Mine is not really too bad. I still would not mess with a shim, but yours might be a bit different.
 
One thing I would like to mention here. Ruger's Website says that magazine capacity is 5 rounds. Well, it is really a 4 rounds magazine. I guess they say 5 because they see it as 4 plus 1.
 
j102 said:
One thing I would like to mention here. Ruger's Website says that magazine capacity is 5 rounds. Well, it is really a 4 rounds magazine. I guess they say 5 because they see it as 4 plus 1.
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Actually no, they do hold 5 rounds.
 
Rat shooter, thanks for bringing this to my attention. You are correct it was not 158 grain. I had to go back and look at my records to double check. The @ 2400 fps (actually 2340) load was with 125 grain Remington sjhp using published data of 22 grains compressed H-110. Yes, I was using a chronograph.

Yes, it always puts a smile on my face.
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QuickLoad confirms that load is 2350 ft/s out of a 20" barrel, but it is also 49k PSI. Be careful with that one at home kids...
 
The Big D said:
QuickLoad confirms that load is 2350 ft/s out of a 20" barrel, but it is also 49k PSI. Be careful with that one at home kids...
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Thanks for confirming that, Big D. I agree, it should not be a standard round to use because it is high pressure. I have only shot a few as test. I was using it as an example of the versatility of the gun, not necessarily a recommendation.
 
have any of ya took a mag apart. the springs on the other end of the rotor. not like a 10/22..what a pita . i tired to rotate it one more time for some more tension..forget that...it fllew apart 10 times til i got i back together. i polished everything inside so ill try it again alongside the one ruger sent me.
i aint happy with the feed problem. nothing worse than a gun that wont load...
 
old thread kick cuz if ya got one of these and its still jamming like mine then heres what I did.
cant do any pics so bear with me

the ejector arm that grabs the btm of the rd and pulls it back after its fired has too much spring pressure on it. the rd cannot advance forward into the chamber because the ejector arm is too tight. take it off with by removing the little roll pin in the bolt. DONT LOOSE THE LITTLE SPRING. polish it or sandblast it smooth cuz the machining edges are sharp and the hang up the rd when it tries to advance into the chamber from the mag. the rd doesn't wanna go under the ejector arm cuz the spring is too tight or the sharp edges hang it up. then the rd wont go up the feed ramp or gets slightly cocked sideways and the bolt wont go forward either way. I sanded all the edges on mine and then I cut the spring coils. I took off 1 1/2 coils. it still ejects the rd just fine and the mag can easily push the rd up underneath the ejector arm w/o cocking it sideways.
 
Are there problems with the 77/44? (For example: Is the rate of twist suitable only for certain bullet weights or certain powder loads, etc.?)
 
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