The diameter of the barrel and lever seems thicker to me on the 97. The front sight assembly on the 77 is pretty much integral to the muzzle. Thus, you cannot remove it to install a clean muzzle-break as on the 97. Besides the 97's stock having a higher comb, it also has a more vertical, and thicker, pistol grip. This makes for less reach to the trigger, and it is more comfortable for me than the 77. The latter is the same in that area of the stock as every other R-series HW import.