Ruger M77 Rifle Question

The original Ruger M77 has been around for more than 50 years .I have owned several and I have tried to learn the history of them concerning some of the variations that are part of the M77 model .I know some of the earliest M77 where /are called Flat Bolts Also some where called Round Top They made a Varmint model which had the heavy barrel .And they made a model that was ultra light . My question is does anyone know what calibers where chambered in the Ultra light model I know 308 was one of them and I think they chambered them in 243 270 and 30 06 in the original M77 I do not know if any other calibers where produced .Once they changed the model number to the M77 Mark II they may have added additional lightweight caliber chamberings It was during that time that Ruger made some lefthand rifles .And they make some left hand models under the Hawkeye model And also might have made some in a iight weight chambering .My brother had one in a .308 It was a nice rifle to hunt with because it was short .And it came up quick and easy

The First 260rem I ever saw was a m77 compact a buddy of mine bought.

I'm not up on them enough to know the difference between a compact and ultralite tho.

I have a early model 77 with the top tang safety with a 19 inch barrel. It’s chambered in 358 Winchester. It was a limited run made for Jim’s Sport shop

Yes 270 light weight for sure, my brother in law has one. Ruger has done a lot of limited runs and kinda crazy stuff. I have a 264 win mag that they only made 35 of! The flat bolt, round tops and red pads are older variations made in many different calibers. I’ll do some digging on the light weight version “pencil barrel “ we call them. That being said my bother has a .257 Roberts that I believe is the light weight model.

If I remember correctly, the early M77 UL rifles were offered in 223, 243, 308, 257 Robert's. I'm not aware of any limited run calibers.

I don't know if they are the "lightweight" model. But I remember when they first came out with the synthetic stock models with the stock that almost looked skeletonized. Our local hound club raffled one off in 300 win mag. It was lightweight with a whippy pencil barrel on it and I shot it after a friend won it. Packed a pretty good whallop to it.

Arcticotter thought I saw one chambered in the 257 But I was not sure if that was a Hawkeye or the original M77 Kevin I knew they did a number of limited runs And I heard of Jim's Sport Shop. But a 358 ultralight must be pretty rare . Hippie A 260 would be another great gun to carry and in the lightweight /compact model a nice gun to use in a tree stand

I had one chambered in 25-06. I don't remember what model. Bought it around 1979 and sold it as soon thereafter as possible. I hated that gun. Crappy trigger and it beat the snot out of me for some reason.

Was that a lightweight /compact model I had a 25 06 in what they called a M77ST Round top .It had I think a 24 inch barrel with fixed iron sights .I put a 4x12 scope on it It was no fun carrying it The iron sights and the large scope where always getting caught in the underbrush ,And it was heavy .But it killed deer just fine

I really don't remember what it was. I just knew I didn't want to shoot it any more. Would have been OK for caribou but a bit on the light side side for moose

The M77 Ultra Light was just that, walnut stock, "A" weight 20" barrel, more narrow forestock, no sights, short action calibers other than the 257 Roberts. Basically a scaled down standard M77. These came well before the short stocked, short barreled versions.

My one brother had a Remington Model 760 in a carbine that was chambered for 30.06 . That kicked me so bad I could only shoot it about 3 times until I was flinching so bad . I was always a skinny kid throughout my teenage years .I finally stopped shooting it because it was causing me to develop bad shooting habits .I realized a long time ago that I really do not like recoil!!

Report was at least as much an issue as recoil in that particular rifle. Just did not fit me at all

I have a M77 UL in .270 and .243. They came out in the mid 80's. Tang safety, like a 20-22 inch pencil barrel, walnut stock with a black tip at the tip of the for arm. Accuracy is iffy. Good 2-300 yard gun. That .270 kicks like a mule. These are pre- MARK 77's. Now, some of the full size older M77 came with douglas barrels, then switched to wilson's, then I believe ruger started their own crappy barrels?.?. I have killed a lot of deer with that .270. After a few shoots when zeroing, you have to stop and let the barrel cool or it will start throwing rounds. The UL's are great to carry though.

I had an M77 Ultralight in .243. Lovely to carry, but I could never get it to shoot. Sold it recently with no love lost.

The light weight in .257 Roberts would basically become my favorite no matter what else I had at home. That little round can do a whole lot with hardly any recoil at all.

At one time I had an M77 in the .257 chambering also It was in a standard size model not the ultralight It was stamped Made in the Two Hundredth Year of American Liberty . Now Ruger is producing a .257 chambering in the Hawkeye ultralight model .The Hawkeye model is the current model to the original Model 77.I only used my 257 a few times to hunt with it I really like the ballistics that round has .

I’ve always wanted a UL in .243 , didn’t know they had an accuracy issue. Anyone know why ?

"Pencil" thin barrels are common on most UL rifles and the barrels heat up quickly. As they heat up, there are many flyers.....unless you wait about 5 minutes between shots to allow the barrel to cool down.

I’m thinking this would be more of a problem at the range getting sighted in than for hunting is what your saying.

My brother had an ultralight in 308 .That thing was a joy to hunt with Light in weight . It was quick to your shoulder. It was a nice handling gun if you where tree stand hunting . It would heat up quickly if you where shooting at the range Many people say there is history of accuracy problems .I owned several over the years and they all shoot accurate enough as I was able to shoot under hunting conditions My brother could shoot his .If the gun went off he usually had a deer. I admit I missed a few over a 40 plus year hunting career .but it was a shooter that had the inaccuracy problem not the gun

I've got one,and its one heck of a shooter.Took a lot of deer with it,my son shot his first with it.

I sold one years ago that I should have held onto. I hated it because it was built on a sportorized Jap Mauser but every rifle I have shot since made me miss it. It was a tack driver and I never blood tracked a single deer. I knocked em flat and was also great for coyotes in the wind. I did a lot of dumb things in my 20's but that mess up still stings a little.

I think you made a great choice for your boy to start out!

That was up in Kansas where the deer could get mighty big too.

I don't own a Ruger liteweight but have a couple Remington mountain rifles which are comparable style wise. They get hot quick if you're a bench shooter, but really hard to beat for hill climbing and taking a quick shot at a jumped Deer!

You are probably right. I read a thread that the magazine box on the UL's put pressure on the stock at a certain angle after tightening the bolts. This guy gave a tutorial on filing the metal magazine box so that it would slightly move not putting pressure on anything. I tried it and it seemed to help. But yes after 4-5 shots on a bench you start getting flyers.

Hippie I never owned a Remington mountain rifle .But I considered buying one numerous times . I am not sure what type of safety the Remington Mountain rifle had .The M77 had a tang safety that was right on top of the stock .I am a left hander .I had no problem shooting a right handed bolt action rifle .But I liked the safety where I could get to it quickly

Remingtons have a two position safety to the side and rear of the bolt, that is thumb operated.

I would guess they were made in left hand versions but don't know for sure. They're nice little guns imo.

257 is king

I have a M77 RL in a 270. I bought it about 1990. My father in law bought the same rifle in a 257. The RL were the mountain rifle. Light weight with a thin 20 inch barrel. It is a tack driver but it does heat up and start climbing on the third shot. It is my go to for hunting. Five different people have killed elk with it over the years.