Once in a while even a blind dog finds a bone . . .
Yesterday, I walked into the local gun shop, and found the Holy Grail -- a Ruger M77 Mk II left hand .30-'06 on the used rack, in fairly good shape, and at an acceptable price. The owner let me pull a Bore Snake through the barrel, and the rifling looked sharp, no pits or rust. Put a deposit on it right then and there. The stock isn't as nice as the new Hawkeye, but reshaping and refinishing stocks is one of my favorite things to do.
Been a southpaw shooter since the beginning, and had a LH dad and tolerant teachers. Shooting long guns and writing are the only things I do left-handed, having adapted to right-handed tools and guitars long ago. I had a Remmy M700 LH, but never could warm up to it, even though it was scary accurate. The Ruger has what appears to be a true Mauser action, but held up to a mirror. Been shooting NEF single-shots for a while now, but I'm back to bolt-actions and will keep this one for the rest of my years, if it turns out to shoot half-way decent. I always did love the looks of the M77 -- straight comb, matte finish on the wood, matte stainless bolt, old-fashioned extractor. Bill Ruger supposedly hired Lenard Brownell to design the stock. We owe a lot to Bill Ruger for retuning American gun styling to classic, conservative lines.
Well, I've gone on enough. Just had to crow a bit on my good luck. Sometimes I regret being a left-hander, but it does mark us as distinctive, does it not?