Ruger 77/44? need opinion


coles

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Hey guys. I was reading a magazine tonight and saw a little write up about Ruger's 77/44. Its a bolt action with an 18 1/2 inch barrel i believe. 4 shot mag also. What are you opinions on this rifle? Im really really interested in one. It would be ideal for some of the whitetail huntin i do. There is a place right out where we bow hunt that only allows straight walled pistol rounds to be used for hunting as well as shotguns and muzzle loaders. Overall i think it would just be an awesome gun to have. Whether it be for a camp gun, hunting, or just shooting. What scope would work well for a rifle like this? Thanks for your help guys. I spend all day around firearms but have no idea where to even start with this one.

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I had this rifle a few years back. It was a beautiful rifle, but I couldn't ever get a decent group out of it. After floating the barrel and replacing the trigger, I still did not get good accuracy even for a 44. I also tried several different loads without any better results.It may have been a 1 out of a million rifle that was bad, but mine was. I have several Ruger rifles that I love, but this one got traded. Good luck!!!

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They are supposed to be making them again, but they aren't on the shelves yet. I generally like Rugers a lot. I have a Win. 94 in .44 Mag, and it is a good deer round at shorter ranges. I put a straight 4x Leupold on my Winchester, and love it. I would keep the scope compact and lower on the magnification scheme.

HB

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This is a new model. I've been in contact with Ruger since last year waiting for the 77/44. Ruger's website has had this model in their product line since all of 2008. But the email I got back from them when asking why the heck I can't find it said it's a 2009 model and would be a late release at that. Ruger's website has a "purchase" feature next to their guns on the site and it routes you to "galleryofguns.com" I think. In January or February I went there and it said it was out of stock. I chose to have them alert me by email when the gun was "in stock". Well, the weeks rolled into months, I ended up buying a Marlin 1894 Cowboy in .44 mag instead. And guess what, last month I got an email from galleryofguns saying the model was in stock.:hammer1:

I will PM you the email message with link. For the same price, you can get a Marlin lever action in .357, .44 or 45 long colt and it will hold twice as many cartridges and have a longer barrel. But....I still think the 77/44 is a sick gun and would love to have one!!!

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It's a nice rifle as long as you are aware of the limitations of the 44 Mag. cartridge. Shots beyond 100 yards are pretty much out of the question. I would mount the leupold 4X or possibily a 2 X 7.
If the laws in his area are the same as Indiana, you are only allowed to shoot deer with a rifle in "handgun" calibers only (.357 minimum and case length 1.125"-1.625"max). So just about all of those have similar ranges. But....what you have to remember is that 100 and 150 yards are a heck of allot better than any shotgun will get you. Which is what the early firearm season used to be until two years ago...with the exception of MZLers.
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there are no laws on limitations. This area that i want to hunt with used to be a pheasant preserve and you could not shoot firearms in the preserve. They abolished the preserve because there were too many deer getting hit on the highway and eating/ruining haystacks. But not long after they abolished it, one landowner threw a fit and got everyone riled up that people were going to be shooting houses and such so they limited it to straight walled pistol cartridges, old fashion muzzle loaders, and shotguns and even then its the landowners to make the last call whether they will let you or not. We bow hunt a piece of land in this area and last summer i got video of a whitetail buck that was at least 160" 6x6. The deer say out in a huge CRP field and it would be nice to get a crack at them with a rifle. I checked out the ruger website just a week or so ago and clicked on the order link for the 77/44 and it was out of stock. So i dont know what it goin on with it.

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the price is nice but the problem is getting them. I have asked our gun buyer to check on price and availability multiple times but he just wont believe me that they are making them again. Im startin to think that he thinks im just a dumb kid that doesnt know anything. Well i might have to just prove him wrong.

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The new Rugers are out there but getting sucked up pretty quickly. I've had mine now for a couple weeks. A buddy originally picked it up but couldn't get it to shoot with any factory load he tried so he wanted out, he sold it for a substantial loss...:D

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I've run a couple hundred rounds through it and have found it likes the lighter weight bullets the best. So far the 200gr XTP is the best going, running a skosh under 2" at 100yds. Accuracy falls off to around 4" with the 240gr projectiles. I've not bothered with any of the 300gr as I don't think the 20 twisted barrel will handle them.

Fit, finish and trigger are typical Ruger craptacular, but it should hunt within it's chamberings limitations.

hangunnr

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