Does anyone have any experience with the ruger m77 compact? they look like well built little rifles and i'm thinking about getting one in .223 for my winter "take-everywhere" varmint gun. The only thing i'm worried about is accuracy out of the short barrel. Also, ruger triggers are usually much heavier than i prefer.

How about the ruger m77 ultralight? it has the slightly longer 20" barrel and i know where there's a great looking ultralight in .243 for $425. any opinons are greatly appreciated.

I own two of the Compacts, one in the 243 cal. and the other is a 308 cal.

They both group well at 100 yards. They do however start opening up around 240 yards though. If you are looking for a long range rifle, do not look at the compacts. The 16 1/2 inch barrel just wont do it. I keep my shots to a min. of 200 yards, and it does just what I want it to do.

Hope it helps.
hunter338

Hi Higg:

I was in the same situation as you. I was looking at a .243 compact ($380) and .204 Ultralight ($480). I ended up going with the ultralight, as I was concerned about longer range accuracy. I think I made the best choice, but even the 20" seems kind of short.

Good luck
CE

I don't have a Ruger Compact, but a good friend of mine had one in 260Rem. He traded it on something or other. He just recently acquired another in 300WSM - one of the newer Frontier models. He found the 260Rem. to very accurate, and also now his
300WSM.
Personally, for a go anywhere varmint rifle I'd prefer the Ultra-Light in 243Win. I think the 243 makes a great varmint cartridge. I'd stay away from the 16" barrels as I would not want to take that much velocity loss, nor chance any loss of accuracy by having too short a barrel. I once had a Rem.788 in 243 with the 18-1/2" barrel. It was VERY accurate, though I would have preferred a little more tube. The Ruger Ultra-Light with the 20" barrel should make a real handy rig for a travelling varmint rig.

I have a Ruger M77 standard (22" barrel) .223 and my brother has the same gun both will shoot under 1" at 100 yards. I shot a number of crows this winter ranging from 140 yards to 185 yards. As for the trigger $75 from Cabelas will get you an awesome Timney trigger which is not hard to install or you can do a trigger job your self. I printed the directions off of the internet and did my 300 WSM and a number of friends rifles. As for Ruger accuracy in general in my experience with my rifles and my familiy and friends rifles they are very accurate. I personally would go with the ultra light before the compact. I like the .223 ammo is cheap and has no recoil. It would also have no problem killing varmints out to 300 yards and further if you are capable.

is the twist the same on these compacts? I think I saw one in a hunting mag. It showed a scope mount way out there on the barell, do you have to have a special scope with a real looong relief to accomodate this? Wouldnt that short of a barrel rob you of some velocity? I am still kinda new to the rifle scene, fill me in. Thanks, EJ

Actually it would cost you some velocity, but not as much as you might think. I have a Savage with a 22" barrel and a Arisaka with a 19" barrel, and using the same cartridges (.260s) they are less that 75 fps apart. Still I think the 16.5" barrel would be best suited to be a saddle carbine, that's just a little better than the .30-30. As for the scope, it is a specialty job for use on what is tremed a scout rifle. A thing dreamed up by a great pistollero. You could mount a normal scope on it if you wanted.