model 77/44...

[Joe S.]

who has em? what kind of accuracy you gettin? is it worth getting?

 

[RPHarder]

I have one of the early ones,walnut/blued. I love mine. It's not a target rifle by any means but makes a nice short, light hunting rifle. I have not played with it enough to find its best accuracy, but it's good enough for deer hunting. I can hold 5" groups at 100 yards. Here in Micigan were most shots are under 100 yards it will do the job. Hope to play with it some more to find the optimum round for the gun. I have other 44 mag rifles and they all shoot about the same. If the price is right, buy it, shoot it. That is the only way to find out.

 

[Heliman]

If you don't hand load, the best accuracy you can expect is about 2 1/2" at 100 yds.

This is my experience. The best accuracy I get with mine is with Winchester white box 240gr JHP's.

They are not a target rifle, but a solid short range shooter effective on deer out to 100 yds or so.

Incidentily, mine is the stainless model, not recent production.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

GunBlast review with a video:

http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-77-44.htm

The 44 magnum out of a rifle is a formidable Deer and Hog cartridge. 8) 8)

...Jimbo

 

[Glupy]

And allows a trip to the woods with only one cartridge for both your rifle and revolver.

Dave

 

[PJR]

I'm getting 1-1/2 to 2" groups at 100 yards with Hornady LeverEvolution with a 1x-4x Leupold VX2. The trigger is very heavy from the factory and improves significantly with a Volquartsen sear.

The rifle isn't a long range number. But it is light, easy to carry and offers a lot more ooomph in a package that is the same size as a rimfire. I like mine.

 

[RJ556]

I love mine. I get 2" to 2.5" groups at 100 with mine wearing a Burris FastFire sight. As has been said, these are superbly light, great handling carbines.

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[Joe S.]

nice rifles guys!

i am NOT a target shooter really and 5" group at 100 is sufficient for me. and 2" is GREAT! i really like em! i had posted an ad on another forum wanting to trade a rifle and a shotgun i had for one and a guy emailed me and said he didnt want the rifle but could use a shotgun, so he offered me an old deerstalker carbine so i ended up with it instead, but i havent dismissed wanting one of these. stainless with the gray laminate or hardwood either one makes a pretty gun!

hope to get one eventually. thanks!

 

[Cedar Creek]

I bought my walnut/blue 77/44 in March of 1998. It currently has a Nikon ProStaff 4X scope on it, which I think is really a rimfire scope. It is really clear and the recoil hasn't caused any problems yet; it is just the perfect size to match this rifle. Matter of fact - I originally had this scope on my 77//22.

My rifle is accurat enough - not sure exactly what the group size is 100 yards, but it likes Hornady 265 grain bullets over 23 grains of H110. Very effective on Oklahoma whitetails - longest shot has been about 125 yards.

Cedar Creek

 

[Joe S.]

Thanks for the reply. Really likin the ruger firearms I've acquired lately and I love the 44 mag so I think its only fitting that I get one... Now to convince the wife.

Shouldn't be hard. I have a bisley, the carbine and a lever gun in 44 so a bolt action will make the set. I see the logic. Surely she will too.

But wait, if I get that then I'll need a single shot and a redhawk alaskan too...

This could get expensive. Haha

 

[mattsbox99]

I like them as well, I have a 99/44, the upgrade to the old Deerstalker. I get 1.5-2" groups with mine. I really don't shoot it enough though...

 

[buck460XVR]

I also have an All-Weather stainless version. I have a Nikon 2-7 Pro-staff scope on mine and it works very well. It is designed to be used on shotguns and handgun caliber carbines, is parallax adjusted for 75 yards(right in the 77/44 sweet spot) and fits on the gun well. I too get about 1 1/2'' groups @ 100 yards using H110/W296 and either Nosler or Hornady 240 grainers. My gun prefers 23.3 grains and uses the exact same load as my 629s. It does not shoot reduced loads worth a damn, but there really is no need as recoil is not that bad even with legitimate hunting loads. It not only is a great brush gun for deer, but is a hoot to shoot bowlin' pins, clay pigeons and other reactive targets at the range.

 

[Dave H]

Guys, I don't own one myself, but my local pusher/friend has sold a metric ***t ton of them. I've only seen the stainless/synthetic models go out the door, but still... A good friend of mine has one and his shoots much, much better than what you guys are reporting. There's a target at the shop that he shot off the bench the day he bought the rifle. It has 4 shots cloverleafed and all touching and the 5th less than .75" outside the main group. This was with factory ammo (Don't remember what kind.) and some kind of generic Bushnell/Konus/??? scope. His rifle may be the exception to the rule, but it sure shoots. Of all the 77/44 rifles that have left the shop, I know of none that have come back or been reported inaccurate. YMMV :lol:

 

[RJ556]

Unless I missed it, the range was not given for that clover leaf group. Even at 50 yds., that's an awesomely good group. If that is a 100 yd. group, I would like to see that done with a 77/44 or at the least, I'd like to know what ammo he was shooting. I think the size groups we have been seeing reported here are representative of the realistic accuracy of 77/44 rifles.

 

[jkc]

Mine appears to be capable of 2 MOA, although I've been wringing out an iron sight combination of NECG aperture rear, and Tech Sight front, and there's a large question of aiming error vs. inherent accuracy. I'd vote in favor of better accuracy than my aiming ability...

Edited to add the following important point --- I'm getting acceptable accuracy only after having Timney Triggers "fix" the original awful factory trigger pull (way over the SIX POUND) range of my gauge, by installing their sear/spring kit.

 

[Dave H]

Unless I missed it, the range was not given for that clover leaf group.

The range was 100 yards off a bench. The target is still there at the shop. I'll take a picture of it and find out what ammo he was using and post it as soon as I can...maybe this weekend. I still think you guys are under-estimating the accuracy of these rifles. I can't argue what your rifle is doing in your hands, but I have personally used another friend's rifle (bought from the same dealer) to blow up hedge apples consistently, and easily, at around 75 yards.I have no idea what ammo we were using that day...probably Winchester white box but there were a lot of .44s there on that particular day. There are a lot of guys using these rifles around here for deer season. Generally speaking, and I know there are a lot of exceptions, most guys are either using a levergun (Marlin 1894) or one of these 77/44's. Just my $.02

 

[MKII]

I have one of the newer stainless synthetic 77/44's with a 4x Leupold installed. It shoots well enough for what I use it for and will exhibit sub 2" groups @ 100 yards if you want it to. If any issue is to be had with the synthetic stock is that it "flexes" more than I'd like it to. The other limiting factor, if you want to call it that is the rotary magazine which prevents certain cast bullets to be used. I've killed about a half dozen whitetail with mine so far, as well as a few feral hogs and two coyotes. It worked just fine!

 

[RJ556]

Dave, at 100 yards, that is superb accuracy for a pistol caliber carbine. And, if he can repeat it with that gun, it is extraordinary. I shot mine a lot with a 2x7 Nikon, lots of hand loads and a couple of factory loads, and 1.5 to 2" was about the best I could do. Don't get me wrong, I am very satisfied with that accuracy. If my gun will shoot smaller groups than that, my shooting skills must be the limiting factor.