Ruger 77/50

The History of Sturm, Ruger & Co.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., more commonly known as Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company headquartered in Southport, Connecticut. Founded in 1949 by Alexander McCormick Sturm and William B. Ruger in a rented machine shop in Connecticut, the company has since become one of the largest firearm manufacturers in the world - shadowed only by Remington and perhaps Smith & Wesson.

Ruger is widely recognized for producing firearms that span a broad spectrum of uses such as bolt-action rifles and pistols, semi-automatic rifles, single-shot rifles, shotguns, and revolvers. As recognition of its quality products grew so did the public’s interest in investing in the company’s shares. Ruger went public in 1969 and grew exponentially since then, and it is on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:RGR) since 1990.

In 2020, Ruger made another big move with their acquisition of Marlin Firearms from Remington Outdoor Company.

For decades now both newbie and seasoned shooters have been consistently trusting Ruger’s guns for their excellent accuracy and superior long-term performance as evidenced by its continued success over all these years.

Today, Ruger’s most popular products include the Ruger 10/22 semiautomatic rifle, the .22 rimfire semi-automatic pistol Ruger MK IV, the bolt-action Ruger American rifle, the tried and tested Ruger No.1, and, of course, the timeless Ruger Security-Six revolvers.

Ruger 77/50 “Muzzle Loader” Rifle Review

Ruger 77/50 with stainless steel barrel

Figure 1: Rugger 77/50 Muzzle Loader with stainless steel barrel (source: https://www.gunsamerica.com/989095047/Ruger-77-50-50Cal-Muzzleloading-Rifle-22-Stainless-barrel.html)

The Ruger 77/50, also known as the Ruger "Muzzle Loader" or "ML," is an inline percussion rifle that Ruger introduced in the late 1990s. This model represents Ruger's attempt to reach muzzleloading shooters. But this effort was largely in vain since it hasn’t really stuck with the market and not many units were sold.

By the mid-2000s, Ruger had already discontinued the 77/50 "Muzzle Loader". Despite its short production span, the rifle managed to at least leave a mark in the Ruger annales. It is a powerful .50 caliber black powder hunting rifle that mostly shines on short to medium range hunts. Design-wise, it looks a lot like the popular Ruger M77 Hawkeye.

The "Muzzle Loader" comes with a 22" long barrel, equipped with an adjustable folding open iron sight and a gold bead front sight. It is important to note that only Pyrodex and Black Powder are recommended for use as propellants in this rifle, ensuring optimal performance and safety when used as directed.

Ruger didn’t skimp on visual department either. 77/50 ML features a traditional wooden stock that's sure to evoke a sense of nostalgia among seasoned hunters. For those seeking a bit of modern flair, a laminated variant was also available, offering a different aesthetic while maintaining the rifle's overall classic feel.

Of course, the comfort is also important, which is why the buttstock is fitted with a rubber recoil pad that greatly reduces the powerful recoil.

The receiver is crafted from hardened blued steel. Adding to its durability, the bolt is made of sturdy stainless steel and comes with two locking lugs for added safety.

Top of the receiver is fitted with Ruger's integral scope bases, machined directly into the receiver. These bases match up perfectly with the Ruger scope rings typically supplied with the rifle. What's more, some models also had the receiver drilled and tapped, allowing for additional aftermarket options if desired.

The safety mechanism on the Ruger 77/50 is of a winged three-position style. This design means the nipple can be safely capped or decapped even when the safety is engaged, adding an extra layer of security.

Ruger 77/22 Variants

These are the Ruger 77/50 variants we were able to find. If we missed any, please make sure to contact us at [email protected]. We will gladly update our database:

Ruger 77/50 RS
Ruger 77/50 RSO
Ruger 77/50 RSBBZ
Ruger 77/50 RSP

Ruger has developed its own scope mounting surface which is integral to the receiver of some of the Ruger rifles. It is unique and offers an exceptional amount of sturdiness and reliability, but the price to pay in exchange for that is that finding a proper scope mount for it can be challenging at times.

Ruger 77/50 with stainless steel barrel

Figure 2: The receiver of Ruger 77/50 (source: https://www.hnco.com.au/large-sized-sales-brochure-ruger-77-50-in-line-percussion-rifle/)

Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger 77/50

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger 77/50

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension.

Unfortunately, we aren’t aware of any rifles that would have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable with the Ruger 77/50 rifle. If you could help us update our database, please contact us at [email protected].

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Ruger 77/50

For two-piece scope mounts to be interchangeable, the mounting surfaces of the rifles must match in every dimension except the action length which can vary.
Rifles that have two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with the Ruger 77/50 are:

Fixed Scope Mounts for Ruger 77/50

Warne produces all kinds of quality scope mounts, especially for American rifles. It comes as no surprise, then, that they also offer a great fixed scope mounting solution for Ruger 77/50.

We recommend these Warne Maxima Vertical-Split Fixed Rings for Ruger No. 1 which will also fit on the 77/50. They are made of steel and come with a 10-year warranty.

Weaver Base for Ruger 77/50

One simple way to solve a lot of scope mounting problems on the Ruger 77/50 is to install a Weaver base that requires no drilling. Burris has a solution for that.

We recommend this Ruger to Weaver Base Adaptor from Burris. It is made specifically for the Ruger integral mounting system, and it is made of steel.

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Ruger 77/50

With the aforementioned Weaver base installed, you can then proceed to mount this detachable repeatable 30mm Innomount for Weaver scope mount.

It is made in Germany and also comes with a 10-year warranty.

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: [email protected]

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EGW HD Ruger M77 Hawkeye Factory Drilled Short Action Picatinny Rail

EGW HD Ruger M77 Hawkeye Factory Drilled SA Picatinny Rail

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VIDEO

Introduction

In recent years we can observe that a trend of Picatinny rail has become widespread and global. It is driven by the NATO standardized rails, more commonly known as the Picatinny rail standard. Picatinny rail being the New Jersey Arsenal that developed it in 1995.

These mounting options are revolutionary. The biggest and best advantage being that the Picatinny rail can be used its entire length and not bordered to a few pre-designed slots like for example the Weaver rail standard was before.

The other main advantage is the ease of use and interchangeability. If a product is meant for a Picatinny rail design it will fit all Picatinny-rails, no matter the manufacturer or date of production.

Picatinny/Weaver Rail

Picatinny Rail and Weaver rail profile

Design

The Picatinny rail is almost exclusively crafted from a single piece of metal (in some cases aluminum). In this manner, the axis of the Picatinny rail is perfectly straight and aligned with the axis of the firearm. Therefore the rifle scope which is mounted onto this kind of configuration is certainly aligned with the rifle / gun and the trajectory of the ammunition.

Weaver rail design on the other hand is usually manufactured in two separate pieces, greatly increasing the possibilities for the axis to be crooked, overlapping, and out of line.

It is always harder to align two separate pieces to a third line than it is to align one piece to another. In this way, the lapping of two mounting rings on a single-piece Picatinny rail is no longer required.

The single-piece rail will assure that both rings are perfectly aligned to each other and that no unwished stress is transferred to the riflescope.

Picatinny compare to Weaver Rail

The Picatinny rail itself is an evolutionary step forward from the older Weaver rail. The main difference between Picatinny rail and Weaver rail is the spacing of the slots. Picatinny rail design has them evenly placed exactly 5.23 mm from one slot to the other, 3 mm deep. For this reason, the mounting options are repeatable and the same as other firearms using the Picatinny rail standard.

Interchangeability was a major driving force in the development of the new standard as different NATO armies need to be compatible with each other.

Weaver rail has 3.8mm wide slots and these slots can be placed anywhere on the Weaver rail and in any number that the producer wished.

Advantages of Picatinny design

A big advantage for using the Picatinny rail design is the ever-present recoil stop. Furthermore, the manufacturing of the rail is not very technically demanding and can be done without the use of state-of-the-art machines which greatly reduces the cost of the finished product, making it very affordable.

The Picatinny rail is easy to mount and usually, this type of configuration does not transfer negative stresses and forces from the fired weapon to the rifle scope.

In addition, the Picatinny rail with its very long useable surface works well for mounting longer rifle scopes or to achieve optimum eye relief.

The durability and toughness are other big pluses for this solution.

Manufacturers of Popular Models

A majority of the Picatinny rings are fixed, but a number of best rated European manufacturers (EAW, MAK,..) have, in recent years, put a lot of effort into the development of detachable ring with100% repeatability, with which it becomes easy to remove the scope from the weapon without the use of tools.

No re-zeroing is needed with such mount options, but these models tend to be expensive.

Weaver and Picatinny Rings

Picatinny rail and weaver rail share one more thing. It is possible to use the Weaver ring and the Picatinny ring on the Picatinny-rails, but it is usually impossible to use the Picatinny ring on the Weaver base. The reason being the above-mentioned positioning and spacing of the slots.

Picatinny mounts have a 5mm recoil stop that goes into the rail slot and since
Weaver rail only has 3.8mm wide slots such rings do not fit on Weaver rails.

Due to this reason, the Picatinny-rails are popular and prevailing on the market in recent years and eventually, these options will completely oust the Weaver rail from the market.

Ruger 77/50

The History of Sturm, Ruger & Co.