I shot a doe yesterday w/ my STAINLESS 700, layed it down on the bloody deer that was lying in a swampy muck and it was raining too. by the time I got done taking pictures, filling out the tag, field dressing and dragging the deer 300yds to my truck, my beautiful rifle was covered in blood, mud,& guts and i still havent cleaned it , mabye i will, maybe i wont, might just wait till the seasons over, Im kinda busy now. ill tell you one thing, i would never leave blood on a blued gun or hunt in the rain w/ a walnut stock. As far as the 770 goes, its certainly no 700 but im pretty sure a bullet that it fires will kill a deer.