M77 ruger 338

[fast fred]

Hi everybody. I have a couple questions for ya. I have shot a 308 win my whole life and it has worked excellent for me with everything. Thinking of changing it up and am looking at buying a new ruger mark 11 338. Are they a decent gun??? I hunt alot of moose and elk in saskatchewan where i live. What kind of ranges are they accurate for using say a 250 grain. And one more question, in the $700 to $800 range what kind of scope would be ideal???
Thanks Colin

[338WM]

Great gun, great cartridge. I shoot 225grn partitions almost always with ideal results.

As to the scope, I have a Leupold VXIII 1.5x5 on mine and think it is ideal. Even on the only 300yrd shot I took a caribou with, it was plenty of magnification.

[Alaska_Lanche]

I have this exact gun as well. I'm sure there are over a dozen of us on this forum with this gun in fact, and for good reason. Reasonably accurate, tough, and a reasonable price. I did have a timney trigger installed and that helped a lot. So far all mine has taken is 3 moose in the 3 years I have owned it. But 2 of my other hunting buddies also have this same rifle (or the hawkeye as I guess you can't buy the M77 Mark II anymore new???) and seen a couple more moose drop with that setup. The .338 is a pretty decent round IMO. I like the added confidence it gives me against grizz. If it wasn't for wanting to shoot grizzlys in addition to moose though I'd stick with my .308 in moose camp, its just a smaller and lighter package that I enjoy shooting more. But of course not to rain on your parade you do NEED another gun and this one is a good one to have in your stable in my opinion. Enjoy!

[mdhunter]

Love Mine

I have a Bushnell Elite 1.5-6x on mine, love this rifle. You don't need to spend 700 - 800 on a scope, you can get a quality Leupold VX, Bushnell, or Nikon for under $500 if you look.

I use Swift A Frame in 225 grain. I try to keep my shots inside 300 yards, but this rifle/cartridge combo could shoot well at farther distances for someone so inclined.

[mdhunter]

Testimonial...

Here's the best testimonial I can give for this rifle...



2006 Wolf, about 125 yards



2006 Moose, about 225 - 250 yards

[Daveintheburbs]

I'm with AK lance, same exact rifle is one of two go to guns. I eventually settled on Leupold VariXIII 2,5-8, great scope!I usually stick with 225 grain barnes reloads. Great rifle once you tweak the trigger and from what I hear you don't even have to do that on the new ones. I would put an after market recoil pad on though.

[Alaska_Lanche]

I also run VX-II 3X9X40s on all my rifles. But realistically anything that is waterproof and will hold a zero will no doubt work for you. Realistically speaking I only look through my rifle scope for a total of 1-2 minutes total a year in the field so spending a lot of cash on a super scope I really can't justify. But to each his own. Good luck and you will enjoy the rifle for sure.

[abe henderson]

Hey guys, I just bought the hawkeye ss/syn 338 wm and its at the smiths being topped with a Leupold vx3 1.5-5. Seems like a great combination, but I haven't shot it yet.

When I took mine in to the smith he asked if I wanted a trigger job and I said I hadn't even tried the trigger yet, so of course he said, "oh its only forty five bucks and the trigger is probably pretty stiff." Then he dry fired it and kinda had a surprised look on his face and handed it too me. I dry fired it and said, "nope." It was light and crisp right outta the box.

One of the only things I don't like about this rifle is the way the safety is positioned. The straight back position is kinda hard for me to flick forward smoothly and quickly. I much prefer the kimber safety (for twice the price). I'm planning on taking it all apart and polishing it with jb paste and see if that helps. THat and lots of practice and working it in. Anyways, you can't beat it for under $600. Plus that scope I got on sale from midway for $330, plus a limbsaver and your looking at under a grand for the whole thing, plus tax.

Then you've got to buy ammo! $66 for a box of federal 225 gr Barnes, ouch!

Abe

[340Wby]

IMHO you can NEVER go wrong with a 338 Win Mag, it's a classic that hits with authority!


PS-210gr TSX's work atreat at 2900+fps.

[marshall]

One of the only things I don't like about this rifle is the way the safety is positioned. The straight back position is kinda hard for me to flick forward smoothly and quickly. I much prefer the kimber safety (for twice the price). I'm planning on taking it all apart and polishing it with jb paste and see if that helps. THat and lots of practice and working it in.

Abe

Abe,

I have two Hawkeyes. The more you use the safety the smoother it gets. All I did to mine was put a dap of grease under the sliding piece that holds the safety in place.

It sounds like your familiar with it. If not, when you slide out the sear pin and the piece holding the safety down watch out for the detent spring.

I run my safety in the first position, it's much easier to operate from there and just as safe.

[abe henderson]

Marshall, I was thinking the same thing about the safety. Pinehavenrocket sent me this link in another post http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/vi...e-258796/view/

Its a great video and they have one on there on how to reassemble in case you get stuck.

Abe

[marshall]

Abe,

That's a good video. It's as easy as he makes it look. Put some high quality grease under the retainer that slides up and exposes the safety. Your safety will be slicker than owl scat.

If all your concerned with is the safety just rotate it all the way and push the sear pin about 1/8 of an inch from the right to the left then slide up the retainer, no need to remove the sear or the trigger. The sear pin holds the retainer when it's fully seated.

On reassembly be sure the trigger guard is not tightened to far forward or the floor plate wont swing down when you release the latch.

[beartooth]

mdhunter, great photos and good shots on the wolf and Moose. Says a lot the variety of game that cartridge is capable of. Nice!!!!

[mdhunter]

mdhunter, great photos and good shots on the wolf and Moose. Says a lot the variety of game that cartridge is capable of. Nice!!!!

Thanks BT! Shot the wolf about 5:30 in the afternoon; me and my buddy were just sitting there letting the echoes of the shot die away, and I happened to look down in the trees and see a big canoe paddle sticking up! Told him "there's a Bull down there", and about 30 mintues later, the moose was down too.