Ruger M77 MkII International is an elegant bolt-action rifle that combines history and performance.
I have always loved the Mannlicher stock on a rifle. I had to, just like the 1963 Corvette Stingray, redheads, and chemistry. The problem with Mannlicher stock was…Mannlicher. I was dissatisfied with the split rear bridge design of the receiver. The butter-knife bolt handle made for a messy mess. The butter-knife bolt handle was a mess. Lipsey’s actually did. It was a special run in.275 Rigby that they marked as such. The Ruger M77 in MkII is still available. Jim Sullivan, the AR-15 designer, created the original M77 in the late 1960s. The MkII modifications made the M77 more like an 1898 Mauser. It had a controlled-feed action with a blade ejector, but retained the tough Ruger design details. In 2006, the MkII was upgraded to the Hawkeye. It was now perfect with the lighter, cleaner LC6 trigger. The International Rigby Hawkeye was a must-have in the early days of gun-acquisition. It was chambered to.275 so I told the Ruger rep, “Send me one now.” I also asked Hornady to mail me ammunition.
The 275 (I don’t know how to call it “The Rigby” because that’s what you would call one made in England in Rigby) is a full-length wood-stocked rifle with a stainless steel muzzle. The nose cap is also made of stainless steel. Iron sights are also included with the rifle, which is actually a carbine with a 18.5-inch barrel. This is a rare find these days. Every rifle gets a set of rings, scopes, and scopes before it leaves the gun shop. It was a must-have, and I broke one of the cardinal rules in gun writing. Oh, the 275 comes equipped with rings, the finest Ruger clamp-on rings. The receiver can accept them. As all Ruger bolt guns, the action is made with the Ruger angled front action screw. This was a significant advance in stock technology back when all stocks were made from wood. Instead of relying on precision wood inletting to lay the stock, the Ruger Action Screw, pointing down, and to the rear, pulls the action into and back against the stocks recoil shoulder. This is no longer necessary today with precision machining, glass bedding, and (anathema) synthetic stocks. It’s still good. And it works well with a wood stock. The Hawkeye Factor
The Hawkeye is your basic bolt action rifle. Ruger makes it even better. The magazine is an inner magazine that can hold four rounds and has a hinged floorplate. The magazine is an internal magazine with a hinged floorplate that holds four rounds. Even if you added a scope to the top and loaded it up, it would be difficult to get the weight over 8 pounds. This is a bonus. For those of you who aren’t up to date with your British makers marks and African hunting cartridges, the cartridge will be known by a familiar name: 7×57 Mauser. Yes, that Mauser. The safety tab is a rotating tab with three positions: locked; safe to use the action and fire. It’s a 7 mill. The 7-mill? Yep. Rigby was a custom gunmaker and wanted his customers to be happy with his products. He wanted his customers to buy his products. He was able to get the 7×57 under his own name so that he could sell his products. Ammo was expensive back then and you had to rely on the company that provided it. It’s possible to buy “7×57” ammunition from a store, but it might not be good enough. You could be certain that it would work if you bought “.275 Rigby” ammunition for your Rigby rifle, which is chambered in the.275 cartridge. It was possible for a hunter to buy ammunition in a Nairobi store 100 years ago. He could be sure that the ammunition was made by a company he recognizes. Not so much a century ago. It was a century ago. The rear sling pivot mounting spot is your standard stud that is ready for a QD-sling swivel. However, the front sling point doesn’t have a stud. The standard sling swivel hardware consists of a steel loop with its pivot points on either side of the forearm. You will need to adjust the setup if you want a strap. The front sling point is located forward of the checkering on your forearm. This checkering matches the one on the wrist and pistol grip. The forearm is extremely slim. If you have large hands, your fingers will wrap around the barrel. It’s not a problem, but it does feel odd at first. The.275 Rigby had 1-inch rings. While you can get 30mm rings, the rifle’s compact lines meant that I chose to use a 1.5-5x Leupold instead. Bang Testing
I set up a scope on my Ruger and took it to the range. Hornady.275 Rigby ammo was loaded with their 140-grain Interlock hard-point and it only does 2,459 feet per second out of the 18.5 inch barrel of my Ruger. In a world of laser-flat-trajectory magnums and super-BC bullets, a 140-grain soft-point may not seem like much. Although I agree with that, the International is not a 1,000-yard rifle. The drop at 300 yards is less than 4 inches if I zero it at 100 yards 2 inches high. This means that I can go almost 300 yards without having to take into account trajectory. If I range-find a game animals at 300, I only need to hold a few inches high to be ready. Yes. For 7×57, the Hornady Interlock was better than the Hornady Ammo (a difficult thing to do). Hornady Superformance is a simple solution. It has a 139-grain SST with a higher velocity, and a better BC. If I needed a slightly flatter trajectory, that would be my preference. Now the International is ready to go, tested and zeroed. My Mannlicher urge has been satisfied. The 1963 Stingray? They weren’t made to fit someone 6’4″ tall. Redheads? Those were the scars I got from that episode. And chemistry? And chemistry?
Caliber:.275 Rigby (also 7×57 Mauser).
Capacity: 4+1 rounds
Barrel Length: 18.5”
Overall Length 38.75”
Weight: 7 Pounds, 1 Ounce
Trigger: 4 Pounds, 4 Ounces
Finish: Stainless Steel
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