It was designed primarily as a hunting rifle featuring a traditional Mauser K98-style two-lugged bolt with a claw extractor.

[5] Ruger M77's popularity rose fast due to features such as the Mauser type claw extractor that filled a gap in the market that occurred in 1964 when Winchester discontinued the controlled round feed version of the Model 70 in order to compete with the recently introduced Remington 700, as well as for the writings of the late Jack O'Connor favoring the rifle.

The claw extractor was retained, but the bolt face was opened up to turn the action into a true controlled-round feed.

Major changes were made to the trigger system and the stock was recontoured, but otherwise the rifle remained unchanged.

The orange coloured buttstock has been modified so that it can fold along the left hand side of the stock and it also can hold six additional rounds of ammunition.

The rifle is issued with a special case that has been designed to attach to the search and rescue technicians' parachute harnesses.

The rifle is chambered in .308 Winchester, weighs 7 lb (3.2 kg), and has a 16.5" barrel and black laminate stock, ghost-ring iron sights, flash hider and a picatinny rail for optics mounting.