At the rear of the receiver is the bolt release. It’s unobtrusive but easily accessible by the tip of your fingernail or a small instrument.

This innovative rimfire rifle features a two-piece stainless steel bolt. The front part of the bolt is non-rotating and incorporates most of the guide rail area, which runs back and into the dual locking lugs for support.

The rearmost section of the bolt is the rotating part and, aside from helping the bolt run true within the receiver raceway, provides the lockup, via opposing locking lugs, and keeps the close tolerances needed to control headspace. The bolt face has dual extractors for faultless ejection of the .17 HMR case.

The 77/17 has a traditional three-position safety: all the way forward is the “fire” position; middle blocks the trigger but allows bolt operation; and all the way back is the fully locked position.

When moving the safety to rearmost position, make sure you don’t stop halfway back. The safety lever will “spring” itself to a position roughly 45 degrees from the middle detent and stop. To engage the safety to the completely locked position, you must push the lever toward and into the rear of the shroud, thereby engaging it within the cocking piece.

The trigger is preset at the factory, is non-adjustable and broke at 31⁄2 pounds with no slack before the sear let go. Because of the hardness of all components, and according to the factory, this trigger pull should last many, many years. The trigger face itself is left in the white and is finished smooth. It is set back within the trigger guard, allowing the use of gloves.

ACCURACY RESULTS: RUGER 77/17
.17 HMR Ammo Type	Bullet Weight (gr.)	Muzzle Velocity (fps)	Standard Deviation	Groups Size (in.)
CCI HP	17	2,647	28	0.88
Hornady V-Max	17	2,606	12	0.75
Remington V-Max BT	17	2,590	20	1.25
Notes: Velocity recorded 10 feet from the muzzle with a Shooting Chrony chronograph. Accuracy tested off a bench rest; results are the average of five-shot groups at 75 yards. Abbreviation: HP, hollowpoint; BT, boattail.

Capacity of the Model 77/17’s rotary magazine is nine rounds of .17 HMR. The plastic magazine, which is reinforced with alloy steel retaining lips, sits flush with the bottom of the floorplate. These compact magazines are simple in operation and surprisingly rugged. The magazine release is located forward of the trigger guard.

Included in the package are a set of Ruger rings, about a $50 savings when one considers the price of good steel rings today. I mounted a Burris Safari 1.5-5X scope and at the range used a mixture of CCI, Hornady and Remington ammunition with good results. I had no trouble with feeding or ejection.

For the casual shooter, plinker or small game hunter, the Ruger 77/17 is a valuable addition to his rifle battery.

Best group of the day went to Hornady ammo with five shots going into a tight circle that measured only three-quarters of an inch at 75 yards.