Why Ruger M-77 are not the choice for rebarreling or modifications.

[bibsmachine]

I've rebarreled Rugers, it's not a problem...no different than anything else. What is a problem is truing a Ruger action, if the customer wants that done. It will not fit in any jig I know of, and the inquiries on Rugers are so few ( 2 in 5 years ) that I would not spend the time making a special jig. What I have noticed is that the tenon is skinny and short compared to other makes, and the action is a little more labor intensive to bed into a stock.

Personally, I've owned three Rugers over the years. They were the worst shooting rifles I ever had. I do have some friends that have them and theirs shoot great...just bad luck on mine I guess.

As I type this, I have a brand new M77 Hawkeye in my lap that I'm logging in from Ruger to replace a M77 in 270 Win that a customer fired a 308 Win round in. Ruger did not replace it free ( of course ), but the rifle was made in 1995 and they gave him a BIG discount on this one. They are a great company to deal with.

---------------Jeff

Jeff I use a GTR action jig to true up Ruger actions you have to do a little machine work on the rear of the jig to make room for the trigger hanger but it is not that much work.I have trued up several of them.And if done correctly they will shoot right along side any other action made with a good quality barrel installed on them.

 

[Prose]

I built a ruger 77 MkII into a 260 rem. If you search my name I'm sure some threads will pop up. I chose the ruger action over a remington style for a few reasons.

1. Had plenty of remingtons and wanted something different.
2. Controlled round feed at a reasonable cost.
3. Side bolt release.
4. Most rem donors come with plastic stocks, and I wanted to refurbish a wood one and make it very nice.
5. Trigger can be vastly improved without replacing for just a few dollars and some elbow grease.
6. Easily tuned accuracy issues if you know what to look for.

The objective of my build was to make a very accurate, and nice looking, hunting rifle. For less than the cost of a new ruger I did that. My trigger is crisp with no creep @ 3 lbs. Wearing a featherweight barrel I shoot 5 consecutive three shoot groups at about .2 MOA (with precision handloads). Barrel contour does not tolerate 5 shot groups.

Here are a couple tips on a ruger build. Each is merely opinion.

1. Generally, there is nice wood underneath the factory ruger finish. Re-do it yourself.
2. Study the trigger and improve it. A spring kit runs about 4 bucks. Search the net for specifics on grinding and polishing if you have the capability.
3. Buy ruger rings, not the redfields.
4. Buy a Mcgowen barrel pre-fit for a ruger. Great money saver with no custom fitting needed.
5. Would recommend having the old barrel cut out rather than unscrewed to ensure no action twisting takes place.

Again, focus here is on hunting. I know this is an old thread but people do search the site trying to answer this question. Lastly, folklore is that a ruger either shoots or it doesn't. Start with a loaner that shoots and skip the problem solving.

Frequently asked question, "Hey Tony why'd you put so much effort into a ruger? Oh, that's really nice, wow, it really shoots. Great looking wood you wanna do that to mine?"

 

[jeff walker]

Jeff I use a GTR action jig to true up Ruger actions you have to do a little machine work on the rear of the jig to make room for the trigger hanger but it is not that much work.I have trued up several of them.And if done correctly they will shoot right along side any other action made with a good quality barrel installed on them.

I just looked and I made that post back in 2012. I have not had a Ruger in my shop since then. Oddly enough though, I took a call today about a Ruger. If I get the job, it'll be three Rugers in ten years. I may look at machining my jig.

 

[Shynloco]

Ruger Model 77 are great rifles for their intended purposes. One of the most accurate rifles I ever owned was a m-77 in 220 Swift.

I get calls weekly asking for me to rebarrel a Ruger model 77. The callers generally say they can not find any gunsmiths to rebarrel their M-77 Ruger.

I have been told the Ruger model 77s are investment cast then they are finished machined. This technology is lends itself to cracking if a replacement barrel it torqued to tightly. There is a lot of liability to the gunsmith if something were to happen to the action or anybody that could get hurt.

There are a few gunsmiths who do work on Ruger M-77s maybe one will speak up and provide a resouce for those who need rebarreling on their M-77 )
Nat Lambeth

Well Nate,
IMHO, the highlighted word in your post exemplifies the flaw in your theory. I'm no Gunsmith and have not been trained in Metallurgy. What I know is having (4) M77's in various calibers (3) of which have been rebarreled by one of my Gunsmiths. The fourth hasn't only because the round count doesn't require it.....kicks like a mule on my old ass shoulder. And since buying my first M77V (back in 1983 that was used as a Primary SWAT Sniper rifle) I've experienced nothing but accuracy on a dependable and strong action that has little flaws. I've BEEN TOLD and repeatedly heard the PURE BS spread around various shooting blog about the faults, weakness and inaccuracies of the Ruger Rifle. But my rifles have shown me just the opposite as three of the rifles (including that .308) all of which are now in a Benchrest stock and configuration that have Match Grade barrels that convince me, every time I sit down at the shooting bench, that I can still shoot very accurately.

I've learned over the years, especially when it comes to weapons, opinions are like navels...everybody has one. And oft times, those opinion are as accurate and useful as tits on a boar hog. SO if you are concerned about civil liability, what the heck are you doing working on other people's weapon's in the first place? Your statement about your own Ruger says it all about how good they can be. For me, when the time comes, I wouldn't hesitate to have another barrel put on any of my Rugers. AS for I've been told, some is true, some is false. Sometimes we just have to consider the source and determine if you feel that person is credible and knows enough to render an opinion. But again, that's an opinion that either you feel comfortable with or not. If it's the later, don't do it. But keep shootin that Ruger....it'll outlast you as I'm sure mine will me.

Alex

 

[Barlow]

I have had two Ruger 77 ts rebarrelled. A 220 Swift with a Douglas, and recently a 257AI Rock Creek. The Swift was done a few years ago by W.C. Strutz, and the 257AI by Randy Gregory. No talk of hard to do or any reservations what so ever. They both perform flawlessly and are sub 1/2 moa with good loads. Randy told me he used a Ruger 77 action for iirc Palma shooting and put many thousands of rounds thru it with no issues. I am paraphrasing him here. I love the stocks, they fit me well. Barlow

 

[spitfire_er]

My first "custom" rifle was a 77 MkII in 243 win with a Hart barrel and a nicely tuned trigger. The barrel was shot out and I sold it to move onto other things before I knew better. I should have kept it and rebarreled it at the time. If I run across a beater 77 I'll do another, but most of the 77's I see are ether too nice or too expensive to go to town on.

 

[stalkingbear]

When I had my shop, until Ruger did away with the tang safety model, the M77 tang safety was my favorite action, and recommended them to any customer wanting a custom build in addition to having about a dozen of my own personal custom rifles I'd built for myself. I never had a single action to crack on me in all the years of building custom rifles using M77 actions!When Ruger ent to the MK 2, I converted over to the Browning A-Bolt action, and never looked back! In fact, due to the advanced design (3 locking lug, tang safety, adjustable trigger, concealed detachable box mag that has an X spring instead of the usual W spring, etc), I wish I'd switched to the A-Bolt action years sooner! Getting back to Ruger M77 actions, and even the M77 MK 2 actions, if you pay close attention to detail, make sure the barrel is TIGHT in the vise use rosin, and use a precise action wrench with NO play or slop whatsoever, and give the wrench a good HARD smack with a 2# short handle sledge to pop it loose, you'll never have a issue with the action cracking!

 

[Shynloco]

Not quite accurate Nate. Rugers method of investment casting is every bit as strong as a forging/billet, maybe stronger. They have the luxury of adding components to the mix as desired. Forging/billet are limited to the steel produced at the foundry. They could beef it up, but, at a considerable cost. One does not have to worry about the Ruger action breaking. They have been quite successful with this. I had a Ruger in 600 Nitro express built by Gary Reeder. He had no problem with the action, other than being hard on tooling.
Something else I will add: Pac-Nor and McGowan, both well known barrel manufactures, will ra barrel the Ruger 77 without hesitation.

+1....Somebody hasn't looked in the right places and has info that is flat wrong. JRS just gave the RP good info and TWO sources that can take care of his M77 needs and other Smiths will switch barrels that the owner even provides. And on the South West Coast, there are also a number of Gunsmiths who will happily work on any Ruger M77. All you have to do is look.

Alex

 

[STOMP442]

I've got a buddy of mine that I built a .260 Remington on his old M77 MKII .308 and that thing shoots like a dream. It's not the nationals but when he shows up to our local monthly match he generally heads home the victor.

 

[Will Henry]

I have a 77 which I converted to a single-shot and barrelled to 30/30 Winchester (14 twist Hart). I altered the receiver to accept a Canjar LP trigger. I kept the angled screw and bedded the action with three screws; all ahead of the trigger group. The tang floats. It's in a 1980 vintage Lee Six SPG stock. The receivers don't break. They are easy to work with. I'm not wild about the scope mounts but they will hold a scope OK. WH

 

[IdahoSharpshooter]

I'm not nearly the expert some of you are, but talking about PH's packing Rugers, I have made three Safari's from 2008-2012 and I saw more CZ big bores, 375 and up than anything other than OM 70's and 98's. I saw exactly two Rugers, both 416 Rigby.

If Ruger were interested, they could build accurate rifles; it just does not seem to interest them.

 

[mauser284]

I did not say they were weak. I said they may crack if over tightened.
Please don't misquote me.
Nat Lambeth

You are still wrong even if mis-quoted!!! You clearly have no experience in this area and do not understand investment casting. Eddy Stones are forged and they are crack magnets! LOL

Everyone thinks forgings are magical and always better but that sort of simple thinking and painting with a broad brush is just silly and wrong.

The real problem is most gunsmiths do not have a clue when it comes to setting up a flat bottomed receiver for blue printing. Get it wrong and it is absolutely not save-able. It is not designed to be blue printed by an unskilled machinist or gunsmith. If you attempt to treat it like a Rem 700 it will not end well for the 'smith or the consumer! LOL

The are easily 30% harder and tougher at the same time than a receiver turned from homaginious round bar stock. If they wanted to use a custom melt of steel they could and each layer represents an opportunity to add in a different steel to change characteristics like a laminated composition. When the Ruger 480 in the Super Redhawk line it used a custom melt of steel to give it more strength.

This is almost as "fake news" as the " Howa are Cast" nonsense we see all the time. LOL I know people can read and write if they are on the internet so please read first type second!

 

[Raythemanroe]

This thread went off into bashing Ruger so I feel obligated. Having had a few Rugers I will be first to say their configuration is aimed more to hunting thus the controlled feed Mauser type action and big block y body. Bedding is harder and pillaring with the angles used isn't ideal and the design in whole leads gunsmith to rather work on simpler equipment. This doesn't mean that after you true everything up like you have to with a Salvage that it doesn't perform. I have rebarreled and bedded a couple Rugers that I feel shot well enough to compete. Popularity leads to aftermarket availability thus easier to accurize. The Ruger American is simpler and easier to work with thus the popularity, has nothing to do with whether it is more accurate, all these guns are just mass produced cash cows..

Edit: I now see this thread has been brought back from dead a couple times over more than a decade. Lol

Ray

 

[shooter74]

What I have found with the gents that turn them down is this. For the extra amount of work, specific holders, demand of builds on them, etc. They turn them down because the profit margin isn’t there and more of a pain and work to get the same level of consistent accuracy of a trued Remington. The same reason most love to work on a Remington easy setup and truing with a lot less effort. I’ve owned some very fine shooting tang SAFTEY rugers but remember before they started making their own barrels in the early to mid 90’s. They started out using Douglas then wilson barrels on the m77. This has just been my observation asking guys years ago about building on a m77 action. They always recommended picking up a used 700 cheap at a pawn shop as a first and better option.

 

[shortgrass]

Off topic, but; I don't believe I have ever seen a Rem 700, 'cheap', in a pawn shop (or a 77, or a 70).

 

[RV-Customs]

Just finished this M77 .300WM Tang Safety for a customer, Benchmark #5 with Harrell's Brake in Boyd's Heritage Stock

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I love the bluing on those old ones

 

[davidjoe]

Ruger uses both Investment and Injection casting. Yes the 77's are investment (Mini's are injection). BUT if done properly there are no issues. I do a lot of work on the 14 types, best ever made were done in Devine Texas. Loved working on them compared to today''s mediocre M1As.

Fan of Ruger in general. Ruger actions aren’t weak for their given purpose, but these casting methods were not chosen because they were thought to be stronger, either. A wrench would be a good example where the two methods diverge in strength. Forged wins.

You can get an M1 that was forged, or cast. The cast version is a fraction of the cost of a forged one. Ruger casts for economy. The military specification required a forged receiver.

 

[Will Henry]

I like the Ruger 77 action in most respects. They are strong and rugged. I like the angled front screw. I like the bolt stop which cushions the impact of a quicly-opened bolt. I would rather have seen a conventional Weaver-type scope mount system. An integral base which would take Weaver-type rings would be much better although the Ruger system certainly works just fine. One thing Ruger has avoided doing, except on their varmint/target rifle, is build a good trigger. Although the tang-safety trigger is fully adjustable, it is not easily so. Still, I love the tang safety. I currently have only two Model 77's. One is an F class rifle in 30/40 Krag and the other is a hunting rifle in 7x57. The hunting rifle has two stocks. One is the factory stock, slimmed down and recheckered in the factory pattern. The other is a glass stock from Wildcat stocks and is what is usually on the rifle for a mountain trip. The barrel is a light, 24 inch, Benchmark. Shoots great and not bad to carry. WH

 

[SeabeeKen]

I have 2 Ruger tang safety rifles. A 243 varmint with no mods that printed one hole groups all day and countless head shots on groundhogs at 350-400 yds. A 7 RM that killed many a deer and never missed one. An African Hawkeye in 338 RCM that shoots in the .2s. I like my Rugers, they’ve always worked and hit their mark. I have a number of savages also and they shoot just as well. Load development worked for me.