Yes, I know that's what and why he did it!

I prefer digital calipers, as opposed to bolt action ones.

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.

Ok Nomercy, I'll play too.

My son's gun is an older Ruger M77 MkII compact in .243, w/ a Leupy 2-7 on it. Sweet super lightweight little rig and he's deadly with it. Its a pretty little gun too, blued & walnut. Its the only Ruger we have. Trigger is a bit heavy, but other than that a nice gun.

Eh, the only Rugers I've ever owned that I like are Pistols. Never found a Ruger rifle that I had any particular fondness for. Horrible triggers, they rarely fit me since I am of the larger group of people with Ape arms, and they just don't "look" good to me. I'm far from a "gun snob" but I do likes my pretty rifles

I agree on the triggers, at least the ones I've shot have not been very good. My son's is ok, certainly could be better. My buddy has a late 80's 7mag M77 MKII that I couldn't even get to go off - it was so heavy. I don't know much about Rugers, seems like they would have (or maybe they already have) addressed that. My Rem's all have great triggers - my buddy adjust them for me very easily.

The only other thing I've seen...some of the models when you work the bolt it felt terrible. Maybe they were lower end models. ? My son's gun, and buddies gun both have nice smooth bolts.

All 3 of my Ruger's have nice triggers. All but the 220 Swift has a trigger you can fine on the net how to make them better. The swift has a 3 screw adjustment and you can't find diddle squat on the net about it. But if you ever find the right smith it can be adjusted as nice and crisp as a Remington 700/7 can be.
The bolts are smooth on all of them and I like the tang safety on the swift and 243.

Now know 4 people with the Ruger 77-17 every one has commented on the 5 pound pull trigger and one has been changed to a Jard trigger, one is in the process of being changed.

Al

Can the older M77 triggers be adjusted? Like say 15-25yrs old...

My son-in-law has a Ruger 77 in 308 Win. My best hunting buddy has one in 257 Roberts. Not sure of the vintage ... I suspect mid '90's. Both have had trigger adjustments to reduce the pull to about 3.5# or so. Both shoot great.

don't know about 77 triggers, but ruger #1's purchased in 1992 have adjustment screws, but they don't change nothing.
RR