223 Rem Ruger Issues

[bootlaceb]

Hi all,
I bought a brand new Ruger M77 Varmiter in 223 Rem.
After trying every load possible,40's, 55's,and 60's, I get a minimum of 1.5- 2" groupings at 100.Even a friends reloads that shoot VERY well in his gun.
There was a slight mark on the crown, yeah, new gun!!) I had it cut at 11'. I checked the barrel- it floats. I changed the original ringmounts, as they were scew!!,I had to adjust my scope to the absolute left..)
Now could someone please give me some advise as what to look at next before I sell it
Cheers

 

[treeman]

are you sure the scope is good?___treeman p.s. what does cut at 11' mean?

 

[2506]

You could remove the scope and get a Leupold mount and rings for a SA Rem. 700 and then mount said Leupold mount onto a Remington 700 in 223 and place your scope in said rings and attach to said mount. That just might fix your accuracy problems.
I had a truck that kept messing up once and I fixed it my removing the gas cap and driving a new truck under it and replacing said gas cap. LOL :lol:

Honestly sometimes you get a bad barrel and nothing will fix it.

 

[Tommie]

From my experience, Ruger barrels are highly suspect. Accuracy is hit or miss - at best.

 

[bootlaceb]

Yes, it did mean 11 Degrees, PS: on my system, alt167 does squat...but thanx for the lesson..lol)
I have a Zeiss on it, replaced it with a Bushnell to check,no change..just crappy optics !!
Changed the ringmounts with Leupold, and lapped them..no change
It is a pity to pay a premium price for a nice gun, and then to find out you have bought a dud!!

 

[HarryCallahan]

Ruger can be hit or miss on barrel accuracy like Tommie said, but Ruger would have changed out the barrel and replaced the mounts for you under warranty. Being as it's recrowned I have doubts if they would repair it now, but you may want to try since it sounds like more than a bad crown affecting your rifle. Ask them to shoot it and confirm everything is as it should be before they return it to you.

 

[Calumet]

bootlaceb,
How are you loading for your rifle. If not already doing so try partial neck sizing the brass. Partial neck sizing means to adjust your die to size only about 80% of the neck, then seat the bullets to this depth, providing the magazine, & chamber will allow.


If this doesn't help you might try firelapping the bore. You can get a Tubb's Kit at just about any of the shooter supply stores. Another thing would be to pillar glass bed the action. Kinda a pita to do, but once done, you will love the way the action screws tighten to a point then stop. Brownell's sells pillars made to fit the,I believe 60 degree)angle of the recoil lug screw.

Calumet

 

[bootlaceb]

By what I hear, it would be worth going back to Ruger themselves,as this is a gun problem. Either bedding or barrel. It may be wise to consult with them before I go any further with any new mods on the gun.
So by the way, I am getting my "best" groups of about 1.5" with standard military 55gr Fmbt heads. Not Speer, Sierra or Hornady can give me any better. These are loaded with Remington cases.
I have tried ball and stick powder...much of a muchness
Will keep you guys up to date with the Ruger outcome. Wish me luck!!
Thanx for all the advise

 

[Tommie]

Just so ya know...

Several years ago, I friend had a Ruger .243 that wouldn't shoot any better than yours. He contacted Ruger and they blew him off. In a fit of anger,this guy's a real doozie) he ran the rifle through a band saw and cut the barrel in half. That's when the big eye-opener happened. The bore on that barrel was 1/16" off center. To prove his point, my friend mailed a barrel section directly to Bill Ruger. A few weeks passed until a letter from Ruger arrived. In that letter, Ruger stated that the barrel was within their production tolerances.

YIKES!!!!!!

Tom

p.s. I have other Ruger quality stories similar to the one above. Needless to say, there are no Ruger products in my household.

 

[yamahaman36]

holy hell !!! i have 3 rugers and they all shoot very well, if you consider a .270 win. shooting half inch groups at 100 yrds. good using 130 gr bullets. i have had this mark 2 stainless steel rifle for over 10 yrs. with a bell and carlson camo stock i got for it bout 5 yrs. ago. and it's killed sooooo many deer and it shoots the same half inch groups everytime too. this is the first time ive ever heard of a bad tale of a ruger rifle. i have a .223 mark 2 stainless one just like the .270 and can drive nails with it at 100 yrds. off a sand bag. i've never had any prob with my ruger rifles at all so in my opinion you must have a bad barrel or sumtn, i dunno, i've never heard of a prob like you explained like this b4...oh well, i like my ruger rifles as good as my rem's and win's and marlin's, etc.........as a matter of fact i can shoot the .270 or the .223 better than any other rifle i have. i have killed 1 deer at almost 500 yrds. with it and several at around 400 yrds. i also shot a coyote at almost 300 yrds. with my .223 so i dunno know if i agree fully with ruger being bad.....paul......ps- not to even mention my mini 14 and 30 or the 3 p series auto pistols i have.....all work well with me.....paul.

 

[bootlaceb]

Hi All,
I might just have found the critter causing my nightmares...
Had a look at my fired cases, and some primers are hit harder than others. Some are reasonably centred, some are off centred. I had a look at the bolt,and saw some swarf inside, still stuck on the inside.
Took it to my smith, will hear what he found. Seems you need a masters degree to strip this chunck of steel..

Cheers

 

[jb77]

Tommie, I agree with you in a way that some of the quality control has slipped but it is unfair to dog Ruger when every gun maker producing guns has had a dog get out the door.

If you want to see some real nightmares go to BellmTCs and look at the pictures of the chambers that have been cut off center and crooked.

My point is that every mass producer has let bad firearms reach the shelves, that is why we spend so much money on blueprinting our actions and having custom barrels installed.

Good luck BootlaceB hope your gunsmith cures your rifles problem. Let us know.

 

[Craigyboy]

Pity about that I have always fancied one of those ruger varmints in 22-250 but I have seen too many on the gun racks second hand to give me any confidence in buying. It also seems that very few smiths here will work on ruger actions, I dont know if they are tricky to set up or what the problem is but there is a few that wont do them.

 

[Macs]

I own alot of different guns and now days I feel they all have mistakes go out the door do to more guns going out the door. I recently had a Remington Tactical that I spent the better part of a monthtrying to get it to shoot. It would only pull off 1.5" groups Remington told me they only guarentee 2moa, rebarreled tada, shoots like it should. I think that your gun can be made to shoot & shoot well. Good luck and don't give up on the gun.

 

[Tommie]

jb77-

Heck yes, I know that stuff gets past the QC departments. But keep in mind that Ruger told my friend that a bore that is 1/16" off-center is within their production tolerances. In other words, that barrel wasn't a reject in Ruger's eyes.

I repeat: YIKES!

 

[jb77]

Tommie, yikes isn't the half of it. Most factory gunbarrels come in sticks and are cut at the factory in the right lenghts and then finished with the right profile. I have been told that the sticks are up to 12 feet in lenght. That means that the barrel maker drilled a hole through a piece of steel 12 feet long. I have seen photos of barrels that were so warped or the drill wandered far enough off center that you could only see half of the hole from the breech to the muzzle and that was on barrels 24 to 26 inches in lenght.

I hate to say it but most of the time i am suprised when a gun shoots well. I have come to expect to have to rebarrel, restock and to tweak handloads to get decent,1/2 inch)at a hundred yards. Beyond that I am not a good enough shooter to realize any difference with any regularity. But a hog or deer or coyote won't know LOL!