My first day with a Ruger 77/44

[Ozzieman]

I got a chance to try out a new gun that I have been wanting and all it cost me is working up a deer load for the gun.
A good friend last week told me that he bought a new gun and wanted help to work up a good hunting load for it. When he opened the gun case my heart went aflutter.

Ruget 77/44. any one that has every read any thing I have added to this great forum would know that I am a 44 nut, mostly 44 special. I jumped on the chance to fire the gun and keep it as long as I wanted so long as I came up with a good hunting load for the gun befor seasion opens.
Don’t worry, once I work up a good load HE will have to be over and put the components togther, I do not load for others. Lets face it we all can make mistakes, I don’t want my mistakes to hurt any one else, nor the lawyers at my door.
I diddint have the chance to shoot it this weekend so I just set down and gave the gun a once over and here are the bad/good points.
As you can tell he also put a very nice scope on the gun. It’s a Nikon Prostaff 3X9. I have never personaly owned Nikon Scopes but I was not surprised at its quality construction and the optics are very good. Having owned many Nikon camiras and lenses this did not surprise me.


The first thing I did was to open the bolt and make sure it was empty, this was my first major fault with the gun.
First the action of working the bolt is best described as taking two pieces of cinder block and rubbing them together. You could even hear the sound of grinding metal. Not a smooth bolt!

The fit and finish of the gun is very good, with the scope mounted the balance for me is about as perfect as I have ever felt on a short rifle. The balance point is directly in the middle of the magazine well.
The gun for me is a little long in the stock which if I buy one I will shorten it about ¾ of an inch. Now for my next complaint. The gun has a rubber but plate on the plastic stock. Its well made and will help people with recoil problems (?) but why Ruger made it from of a rubber that is so soft, its sticky is beyond me.
It makes a set of Pachmayr’s pistol grips feel like hard glass. People will have problems getting this gun on there shoulders fast. It’s going to hang on clothing and another thing I will replace.

The next thing I did was to dissemble the gun and clean, hoping this would help the bolt. Fat chance of that.

This gun was new in the box unfired. You can tell from some of the photos that the trigger guard still had the plastic tie wrap from the factory. The photo of the patch was just wiped off the bolt. This is not grease but powder residue.

The group of patches came out of the barrel. This gun is what I consider very dirty for an unfired factory gun. Since I don’t know where the gun was purchased from I hope this is not Ruger's idea of clean.
I cleaned and oiled the gun using DLP. This did not help the action of the bolt, if there is one thing that really takes away from the quality of this gun it’s the lack, total lack of smoothness of the action.
This is a MAJOR complaint. The bolt itself.
The photo in the following shows the bolt closed and open. First off I noticed that the bolt handle is short.

The next photo is with the bolt open and the scope set to low (4) power. There is less than ½ inch clearance between the knob on the bolt and the adjustable ring on the scope. It gets worse.


Next photo is with the scope set to the highest setting (9). There is less than ¼ inch clearance between the bolt and the scope adjustment. This is the optimum placement for the scope on this gun. As the first photo shows we could have mounted the rear scope mount forward but this would have only allowed forward movement of the scope which would have made clearance that much worse, possibly kept the bolt from opening enough to work the action.


My last complaint is about the magazine. It’s well made and inserts and extracts easily. It’s the button on the bottom of the gun that I dislike. Everything else on this gun is either black or stainless steel except for the “gray” button at the rear of the magazine well. It’s extremely smooth and sticks below the bottom of the gun by less than 1/8 inch. On a nice warm summer day with dry hands this will not cause a problem, but on cold rainy days with a pair of gloves on this is going to be difficult to find and work in a hurry.
If I buy one, I will machine a small piece of plastic, ¾’s to a full inch deep with serrations on the sides the full length of the magazine that will fit flush on the bottom of the magazine. This will be glued to the bottom of the magazine to help extraction.
The serrations on the side of the stock are very well made and placed in a good location. Why Ruger couldn’t give some kind of serrations or something to this “gray” button is any ones guess but I personally feel it’s a mistake.


Now I am sure many of you are thinking I don’t like Ruger. Far from it, I really like this little gun. One thing that surprised me is the trigger. I put a 44 special snap cap (please don’t start an argument if one is needed or not, I use them) and spent about an hour working the bolt and the trigger.
The first 20-50 the trigger had a little creep but it soon smoothed out very nicely. After an hour there is NO creep, none at all. The trigger moves less than a 1/16 of an inch then breaks smoothly.
I know that this is hard to believe for a Ruger, but this guns trigger compares well to my 1970’s Colt Gold cup for smoothness. A little heavier, my guess would be around 6 lb. I know that my Colt breaks at 4.2 lb but I don’t have a scale to measure this one.
My point is, this guns trigger is very nice.
I will return next week and let you all know about its first shooting.
I have rounds to load.

[Ozzieman]

More photos

[Ozzieman]

more photos

[bamaranger]

Hey Ozzie

The ocular bell/bolt clearance could be solved two ways: either higher rings, or a smaller scope. A 3-9 on a .44 carbine seems odd to me. A fixed 4x, compact would do. Buts its not my rifle, or yours either, so.......there you go. High rings always seem to spoil cheek weld and natural pointing for me.

If you've read my posts, I like .44 carbines, but the bolt action seems an odd match. Auto or lever for me. Your buddy will have the advantage of a good trigger sounds like, and......the faster 1-20" twist I like to rant about.

The sky's the limit w/ that faster twist rate, don't rule out the 265-300 class slugs.

I've got a stainless Ruger 77mKII , short action, and the bolt is notchy on it also. No amount of lube or cycling seems to help.

[micksis86]

Can't say i'm a fan. Not of the rifle i personally think it's an ugly thing but that's just me and i'm not really a fan of 44 magnum in a bolt action however I can see times when it would be useful especially with the slower twist.

But great review ozzieman.

[Ozzieman]

A 3-9 on a .44 carbine seems odd to me.

I totally agree with you. And when he said that his hunting range would never be more than 75 yards I thought the same thing.
He is planning on installing a taller scope mount, he wants a set of see through so he can use the sights on the gun for shorter ranges which should help the bolt clearance a lot.
don't rule out the 265-300 class slugs.
Actually I have 6 different bullets I am going to try from a jacketed 200 to an earth shaking 320 from the following manufacture.
http://www.pennbullets.com/44/44-caliber.html

Thanks for the comments

[Ozzieman]

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=421367

Well, my experiment with a Ruger 77/44 continues.
Just got back from the first shoot, some good and not so good points.
All were shot with new Winchester 44 mag cases with Federal large magnum primers (except for 44 SP). Each load was done with two 3 round strings.
To sight in the gun I started with lead and Titegroup powder for this favorite bullet of mine (Penn 240 GR Semi wad cutter) I built up two loads, one medium and one a little less than max. These are loads that I have used in the past and they worked well in the old lever action Marlin. All of these were from 50 yards because if you live anywhere near Indiana today you know how bad the winds are.
All groups were shot using a set of leather gun supports on a bench. I was shooting well this morning, I warmed up shooting a Winchester 75 with iron sights and was holding ½ inch vertical but the wind was pushing the 22 LR over 3 inches horizontally.
The gun was cleaned by running a patch with Hoppies #7 through it after each string then a dry patch.
1. 8.0 GR 1000FPS. (Note I don’t have a chronograph, these are book FPS and most were test shot in a lever action. This was a light easy shooting round with little recoil but the group was poor at 5 inches. This is what I used to sight in the Nikon scope.
2. 9.5 Gr of titegroup (1350fps) (10.0 is listed as max). Again this was an easy shooting load with little recoil and I shot multiple 5 shot strings sighting in the gun with the best being a 3 inch group.
I shot a total of 35 of the 9.5 and there was no leading at all in the barrel.

The remaining loads were with a Speer 240 GR jacketed hollow point, #4453

H110 Max for this bullet was listed as 24.8 GR.
1. 20.0 1450 FPS 2 inch group, primers were normal with no pressure signs
2. 22.0 1600 FPS 1.5 inch group again no pressure signs.
3. 23.0 1650 FPS 3 inch group, primers were flattened but not excessively.
H 4227 Max for this same bullet was 24.2
1. 20.0 1400 FPS 5 inch group no pressure signs
2. 21.0 1480 FPS 3 inch group no pressure
3. 23.0 1650 FPS 1.5 inch group, primers were flattened but not excessively.
I then wanted to see what this gun would do with a favorite load HERCO in a 44 special with this same 240 GR Hornady bullet. At this point I was thinking that this gun wanted hotter rounds for accuracy and expected this round to be less than poor. This load was chronographer several years ago out of a 6 inch 624 at 870 FPS. I shot 3, 5 round groups and it turned out to be the best of the day at 1.3 inches but did hit 5 inches low.
Before any one suggests hotter loads and longer range, remember from my first thread listed above. This is not my gun. I’m breaking it in for a friend and working up a deer hunting load for the gun.
The recoil from the hotter rounds was easy to control and the soft rubber but pad soaked it up to the point you could shoot this gun all day with no problem.
I will have to say that the lack of accuracy surprised me. The lever action Marlin that I own can shoot a group that would be touching at 50 yards using the Titegroup lead load. All of these groups were wide spaced with none touching and I discounted any flyers, there were very few.
Sunday or Monday the wind is supposed to be light so I will load some of the better grouping 4227 and work up to max and see what the gun does.
My main complaint with this combination is the lack of clearance between the bolt handle and the scope. I have a red spot on my thumb from hitting the scope.
My enthusiasm for this gun is still high but has been reduced due to accuracy.
The Nikon Scope is my choice on the next gun that I build. Nice scope.
I still find the magazine difficult to remove from the gun to the point of being annoying.
Trigger, is one of the best I have ever felt on a factory stock Ruger.
The bolt I am happy to say has finally started to smooth up slightly, it no longer sounds like two bricks rubbing together.

[doug66]

Ozzieman,

I'm off to shoot my 77/44. It's sighted in for speer 240 gr SP, CCI350, 23.5 gr.H110. I've had this rifle for years and have never fired any cast loads through it. I have some Lee TL240gr loaded over 8.0gr of Unique and some same slug over 11.5 gr Herco.

Thanks for the inspiration to try the lead.

[hammie]

Ozzieman:
You said that you're a .44 special enthusiast. So am I. I have a model 24 and a medium frame blackhawk, chambered for .44 special. I have no .44 magnum brass. This begs the question: Did you try .44 special ammunition in the rifle, and will it feed reliably from the magazine?

[doug66]

11.5gr of herco with Lee TL240SWC showed real promise.

[Ozzieman]

Hammie
I was using semi wad cutters from Penn bullets in a 44 special case. The first couple I shot signally, loading each round in the chamber. Once I looked at where the gun was shooting and the cases looked normal I filled the magazine. On the first one it hung up as the bullet hit the rap but did go in easily. The remainder went in with no issues.
After firing the first set I removed the bolt and inspected the chamber and found no ring or lead at the start of the rifling. Keep in mind that these are hard cast lead. I have pushed these over 1500 in a lever action and leading was minimal and easy to clean.
I wanted to try some of the 320 GR bullets I have on order but they haven’t showed up yet.

doug66
I too am a big fan of Herco for non magnum loads with lead and 44 Specials. I have had some of my best accuracy with my N fame Smiths using Herco.

Thanks for the input.

[hammie]

Mr. Ozzieman:
Okay. So what I am hearing is that probably if I used jacketed bullets (without a square shoulder), then I could expect them to feed fine from the magazine. I'm thinking about buying a 77/44. I have the target version chambered for the hornet, and it shoots great.

[Ozzieman]

I only had trouble with the magazine full on the first round and it really wasn’t a problem. I just felt it hang slightly. To be truthful I really thought that anything like a semi wad cutter would be a major problem, it wasn’t. The magazine was well thought out and well made with the upper end that guides the rounds made of metal. There is a small slot on both sides for the rim of the case and it seems to control the rounds well guiding them into the barrel.
There is one other bullet that I have on order that should be here next week and I am looking forward to shooting it. It’s the Hornady 225 Gr FTX or flexy tip.
I have a friend that shoots hogs with a contender and used them and said they were accurate and worked well for one shot kills.



http://www.hornady.com/store/44-Cal-.430-225-gr-FTX/

[Ozzieman]

Latest update.
Saturday I took the 77/44 out to shoot again and finally got some good results at 100 yards.
Photo 0004 shows the target. The 4 grouped at the lower left was about 2 ½. The one upper left was a flyer caused by something beyond my control.
This was the bullet shown in 0003 photo. This was the Hornady 225 gr FTX loaded with H110. These are rifle only loads from Hornady loads. The rated velocity for this load was 1800 FPS at the muzzle with 1671 LB energy. At 100 yards 1360 FPS at 1150 LB energy. Again I found with this bullet the gun likes hot loads. I stayed 1 GR under max load for this bullet for the final and best string.
I only loaded two charges with 5 each. The lighter load was a nice clover leaf pattern about 3 ½ inches.
On the right side of the photo of the bullets is the next bullet I’m going to try. It’s the 320 GR from Penn bullets. Since it has a high hardness rating I’m going to push this monster toward the top of the loads I have.
Again this gun likes hot loads.

[Legionnaire]

Tagged. I picked up a 77/44 a while ago (an older blued/wood specimen) and am looking forward to doing some load development on my own. Planning on using Missouri Bullet 240 grain "Elmer-K" SWCs.

I'm curious: has the bolt slicked up any during your load development work? I bought mine second hand (original owner said he had less than one box of factory ammo through it, and I believe him). I was surprised by how smooth the bolt was when I got it.

[Ozzieman]

What I did when he gave me the gun was to work the action and dry fire with a snap cap in the gun. I did this watching TV for an hour. I did oil it well first.
After that and firing it now about 50 rounds, it is smoothing up some. More like two stones instead of cinder blocks rubbing together. I have another 30 rounds loaded for it and if the weather stays nice I will be killing more paper this weekend.
At least now you can’t hear the bolt, just feel it. I’m still happy with the gun and I haven’t told the wife yet but I am going to bring one home for myself.

[Ozzieman]

http://www.pennbullets.com/44/44-caliber.html

.44 Caliber 240 Grain Semi-Wadcutter Bevel Base

I did try a couple of these this weekend and got good results. This is my favorite bullet in my 44 specials handguns.

[Ozzieman]

Well I finally had some great results on the Ruger 77/44.
But not with the Hornady FTX. I spent several more trips to the range with different powders and loads with that bullet and never did better than 3 inch groups at 100 yards. The owner today went to the range and had 3 boxes of factory Hornady and they were even worse than my reloads. I took out my 40+ year old Marylin lever action 44 mag and with iron sights I did better with the Hornady bullets than the Ruger. All shooting was on a gun rest with sand bags.
What I am happy to report that it’s not the gun.
On one of the last threads I talked about a 320 GR Lead bullet by Penn Bullets. It’s called the SSK and was sized to .431.
I worked up 4 different loads with H110 and the top book load did great. Averaged less than 2 inch groups at 100 yards. One group of 3 shots were touching. So far it’s the best grouping I have been able to get with this gun with a total of 6 different bullets tried.
The only problem is that crimping at the top crimp ring the round is too long to fit the Ruger rotary magazine and I am a little leery of seating the bullet any deeper.
The last thing I want to do is turn it into a single shot rifle.
I tell you guys, this gun is driving me nuts.
http://www.pennbullets.com/44/44-caliber.html

[Ozzieman]

One last bump, this morning I saw the deer my friend took with the Ruger 77/44 that I worked up a load for. 320 GR Penn.
He said that the deer (+200 LB buck) looked like he was hit with a freight train and never moved off the spot.
Didn’t have time to ask many questions and will be back over there tomorrow and see if the bullet remained in the animal.
NICE deer!!!