Tell me about 77 flat & hollow bolts

[ruger66]

They started with straight numbers and then the 70 prefix

 

[3DTESTIFY]

In the 71 prefix the stocks got wider in the forend and heavier. I think around the 75 prefix they went back to a narrower forend.

I never understood why Ruger took the early slender and svelte Brownell designed stock and added size & weight to them during that period of production. I've owned both styles and the early stocks are much more refined, balanced and graceful. Someone at Ruger must have figured the situation out by the early 1980's with the trimming back down of the previous stocks "clubby" feel and appearance.

 

[mcknight77]

3D, I don't know the answer to your statement, but I suspect Ruger made the change to speed production. In the early '70s Ruger was selling M77s as fast as they could make them. Reducing the steps in making the stocks saved time and a bit of money, thereby increasing the profit margin. A similar situation for the barrels: Douglas couldn't keep up with Ruger's demand for barrels and Wilson barrels were added and then Douglas was dropped. We all know that some of the Wilson barrels were sub-standard (bad QC?). Ruger solved the whole barrel problem by going to in-house made hammer-forged barrels. I agree that the flatbolt stocks were just about perfect.