ruger compact m77

[flathead]

Hello. Thinking of buying a compact M77 in 708 or 308. How much velocity is lost with that short barrel? Is the 708 down to a 30-30 or so? What is the muzzle blast like on the 308? I'm 5'6" and not particularly recoil sensitive. Will I have problems hanging onto the thing in 308? I'm leaning towards the 308 but don't want a cannon. The stainless looks awfully shiny. Has anyone had problems scaring deer with it? I like the weather proof idea but its a little too pretty. I'll probably put a Timney on it because of all I've heard about the triggers. I'm a Browning Micro fan and just thinking of going one step smaller. Thank you for the help and God Bless!

[CEJ1895]

flathead - You'll lose about 30 - 50 fps for every inch of barrel length so a 22" barrel will roughly be 120 - 200 fps faster than an 18" barreled rifle. Not enough to worry about in most situations. It will have more muzzle blast than a standard barrel but recoil is only a factor with the rifles weight. A heavier rifle recoils less. The triggers aren't terrible but you can replace it or have a good smith work on it for you. The shine factor has been debated a lot and I don't know if it really makes that much difference one way or another. You can always cover it with camo tape if your worried about it. Good luck with your purchase! CEJ...

[scoutkid]

Flat,

I have the Ruger Compact. It has been retrofitted with the XO aperture rear sight and their post front sight. I stayed away from a telescope, because as you can see by my username, I am a devotee of the scout cocept. Mine with sling but unloaded weighs 7 lbs, and is a joy. Adding a telescope would add another 1 lb to the weight of the rifle taking it over scout weight by 1 lb.

Mine has also been retrofitted with a Timney trigger which breaks at 2 lbs 8 oz (angelic). My load, in 308, of 42gr of 3031 behind the Nosler Partion 165 gr bullet. With the use of fast burning powders like 3031, you should only lose about 20 fps in velocity. By extrapolation, I think I am getting just under 2600 fps with this load.

As far as recoil, it is like sex, it's about 85% mental. In my case I don't notice it. But, I donot shoot long strings. If you shoot short strings you ought to be ok.

As an aside, there is a lot of military  ammo  availalable, cheep, so that you can get in a lot of low cost practice.

My
$.02.

SK

[PeterB]

Flathead,
Coming into this message a little late as we have moved and haven't been on the website for awhile.  My wife and nephews have two compacts in 708.  Killed 3 cow elk (all first big game kills) with the two rifles this past fall.  I can't speek for the velocity issue.  I can only say that it is minimal.  Get one.  I really like 708, but if you check velocities posted for standard barrel lengths.  The 308 wins for the same bullet weight, hands down.  No regrets.  I just need a 308.  :lol: