Even recognizing the age on this post, I'll play a bit, since this specific conversation has evolved, and I'm a Ruger M77 fan:

My first deer rifle of my own (not borrowed) as a teen was a 1993 manufacture Ruger M77 Mark II Standard in .30-06. My wife and I's most recent hunting rifle project involves two 2013 manufacturer Ruger M77 Hawkeye (Mark III?) All-Weather rifles and a Ruger M77 Hawkeye Guide Gun. I have had several other M77MkII's along the way, but these were my first Hawkeye's.

It's hard to compare finish between the stainless models like the matte grey M77MkII VT or the M77 Hawkeye All-Weather's against the blued M77MkII Standard and M77MkII Magnum's I've had, and it's hard to compare a rifle that has been slicked and well used for many years against a rifle that's fresh out of the box, but I'll make a few observations. I do not have a blued Hawkeye, and don't believe I will, as my color preference has never changed over the years - but I'm now able to afford exactly what I want, which is ALL STAINLESS.

1) The Ruger "plum" receiver color was a manufacturing defect - the bluing solution was too highly concentrated, leaving the receivers to develop a purple hue, some over time (like my 30-06), some immediately out of the factory (like my 25-06). This hasn't been happening in recent years of M77MkII and now Hawkeye manufacturing - when Ruger tries to blue rifles, they come out blued, not "purpled."

2) The trigger on all 3 of my new Hawkeyes, while still leaving a lot to be desired, are the best triggers of any Ruger M77 that I've purchased. All of mine sport Timney replacement triggers (except this Guide Gun, which is a temporary rifle), so that's kinda a moot point. Maybe the Hawkeye II (M77 Mark IV) will have a trigger that doesn't need replacing out of the box... One can only hope. The 2 Stage Varmint trigger is the best M77 factory trigger available, but it's still not a match quality trigger. The LC6 trigger in the Hawkeyes is every bit as good as the Remington X-Mark and XMP triggers - all of them need replaced/reworked.

3) The overall fit and finish on my new Hawkeyes is better than what I recall about the M77MkII Varminter. The laminate stock quality/appearance and shooter fit, for my wife and I at least, is much better with the Hawkeye Guide Gun than it was with the Mark II Varminter. The inletting is tighter on the Guide Gun than my VT.

4) My older M77MkII's have generally been 1-1.5MOA rifles, just like most other rifles on the market, with factory ammo. My particular 30-06 has never been anything impressive, but a few thousand rounds later, and more than too many sessions where the standard weight barrel got REALLY hot, she's opened up more than I'd like. All 3 of these Hawkeyes are 1-1.25MOA shooters with factory ammo.

Would I recommend the Ruger action for an aspiring benchrest shooter? Nope. But I wouldn't recommend a factory 700 action either. For an average "200yrds or less deer hunter," nobody will be able to tell the difference between the two.