Review of the Ruger M77 Mark II Compact Rifle with 260 Remington Cartridge

All of my daughters dance, and notice boys, but only some hunt. And that's fine. Candace took Hunters Ed at age 10, and killed her first deer with one shot at age 11. But it was with my 30-06, and although I was kind enough to load the gun with 125-grain rounds, the kick of the shot sent the scope into her forehead with enough force to draw blood. At the shot she stood up crying, until I told her she got the deer, and pointed to it rolling down the hill; then she laughed. But next year she would not shoot the 30-06. So I was in the market for a lighter (kicking) gun.

I settled on the Ruger M77 Mark II Compact, in the 260 Remington caliber. With scope, bi-pod, and sling, the gun weighs 7.4 lb. It carries 4 rounds. Common `factory' ammo bullet weight available for the caliber is 140 grain. The casing for the round is the modified 308 case. The cartridge has an elegant look but modest size. The combination is absolute death on Whitetail Deer.

Recoil

The `kick' of the gun is light. My daughters without hesitation will shoot the gun at both targets and big game. The year following her first deer Candace killed a 5-point Mule Deer with the gun, and a succession of both Whitetail and Mule Deer since. I only encourage her to pull the trigger when she is happy with the shot presented, and she routinely reaches out past 200 yards to kill deer with the rifle with the fixed 4 power Leupold scope. I have taken an immense liking for the gun. The recoil is such that it can be shot `all day long' without pain. I find that when the recoil is comfortable, I can shoot enough to get it sighted in `perfectly'. The combination of `perfect' sighting and low recoil allows me to use it in the field without conscious (or sub-conscious) anticipation of recoil at trigger pull.

Lightweight

I actually had dual motive in purchasing the gun. Not only did I want a gun my daughter(s) would be willing to shoot - I wanted a gun I could carry about in rugged terrain and not get worn out, just from carrying it. (I mean - what good is any gun - if you're too tired carrying it around to get to where the animals are.) Shortly after purchase I took the gun on a backpack Mountain Goat hunt - and it was perfect. The light weight gun, and ammo, were very welcome on the trip, almost the entirety of which was spent on hard granite, at timberline. The gun was also perfect for a backpack wilderness hunt the following year for Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, though the caliber perhaps a bit small for such a large creature (which I'll talk about a bit later).

Ballistics

Published muzzle velocity for the 140 gr. 260 Remington is 2750 fps and Ballistic Coefficient of 0.435. I adjust it (the muzzle velocity) down for the shorter barrel, and sight it in for zero at 170 yards. Then I have a trajectory that varies no more than 2 inches up or down out to 200 yards, and I memorize the drop at 250, 300, 400, and 500 yards. However, I generally do not take shots over 300 yards.

Lethality

I do not consider myself a marksman. But when I have this gun sighted in, and am using the bi-pod, I shoot at deer with one-hundred percent confidence out beyond 200 yards. I know where the bullet goes. Only on one occasion have I missed deer with this gun. I was shooting at some deer in winter wheat and nothing was happening ... like I was shooting blanks. I stopped. I went down the road, set up a target at 50 yards, and discovered something had bumped the scope so that (at 50 yards) I was shooting 5 inches low. (So at 100 I was lower still ... ) I went back to the spot where the deer were (a few days later), and took one with one shot. I prefer to take lung shots and miss large muscle groups, and generally the bullets pass through. I consider the 260 round a bit light for elk, and a tiny bit light for Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. But for deer, especially Whitetail, it is certain death.

Stainless

Our M77 is the `stainless' version / laminated stock. I find the stainless particular sweet for back-country hunting where one does not come home every night to the comfort of a warm bed and plethora of gun cleaning accessories. While much big game hunting in the West is done in the `dry' ... we do get dew, frost, some rain, and early snow. And, in fact, if your timing is bad, you can get stuck in days of it at a time. (But not often.) The nice thing about the stainless version is that you simply don't have to worry during the hunt ... unless, of course, you get some serious mud `gooped' on it ... or something down the barrel ... then obviously it needs some cleaning.

Conclusion

I so like this gun. While, technically, it is my daughter's gun, I will not remind her of such, especially when she is away at college and busy doing other things. In her absence I use it as my favorite. Light, it comes up quick if I am hunting the timber and need to get a shot off standing. Longer shots ... I set up with the bi-pod. Sweet. When my daughter comes home on `break', we will use it like it's hers, one tag at a time. Otherwise I like to consider it `mine'. Me and my 260.

We have taken Elk, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Bighorn Sheep, and Mountain Goat with this gun. Some of these creatures are pictured in a slideshow referenced below.

References

Me and My 260 (Slideshow), Jeff Filler, Associated Content.

Harris UltraLight BiPod Review, Jeff Filler, Associated Content.

Sturm, Ruger, and Company, Inc., Southport, Conn., USA, www.ruger-firearms.com.