Old Ruger M77 in 220 Swift to 284 Win?

[bgodbold]

Guys, I've been away from shooting since the '80s with my Dad. Now my 14 year old is going in with both feet. We have his 700 Varmit in 308, my 40x in 22-250 and my dad's old 77 in 220 swift that needs a new barrel. My son wants to shoot F-class at the local range. I think I want to make the 77 into an open gun in 284 win. I work as a engineering group manager and have access to a full machine shop, but think I'll leave most of this to a pro. I know the reloading base is slightly different on the 220 swift, but can I just have the barrel changed to 284 win? Any recommendations on where to send the 77 to have the barrel swapped and properly chambered? We live just outside Memphis TN, so let me know if there are local options.

 

[gamma]

Jee man, you situation sounds almost painful, if you could find the right people to talk to Id bet you could actually apply for some sort of grant to make life easier.

 

[bgodbold]

Sorry if "old" sounded like a complaint. I just meant the 77 is not a Mark 2, but an early to mid 80's Ruger 77 long action. My son and I are blessed with great hardware and excellent resources. Of course, some of the rigs on this sight are much, much nicer. The 77 is special to me, so I’d like to see it used. With modern powders, the 40x in 22-250 may be just better for a .224 caliber and the barrel is in great shape. A 6.5 or 7mm would be nice to have and the 284 win seems like a rather easy swap unless I am missing something with the extractor???

 

[spitfire_er]

Should work. I've gone the other way around and made rifles into .220, but not the other way around. It's usually easier to go to something like the .284 vs going to the .220 with it's partially rimmed case.

 

[Larryh128]

Have fun, no reason it won't work. The magazine rails might need tweeking a little but it shouldn't be a big deal. I have a 284. You'll like it. They had a little bit of a bad rap about feeding but I've never had an issue. Whoever does your work, make sure that they check the bolt lugs. Most of those older Rugers will benefit from having the lugs trued.

 

[Larryh128]

Seeing that you have a well equiped shop, that Ruger bolt is 1/2-20 threads. That will accept a tap & bottom out. Center on the tap, live center in the firing pin hole & rotate on centers & check the lugs. You'll know if there is an issue to be corrected before you re-barrel.

 

[bgodbold]

Larry, you might have gone a little over my head on that last bit. We may have a small enough center to go in the firing pin hole, but we do tend to stay away from live centers. Our camshafts are a bit larger than rifle bolts. I assume the threads are where the handle attaches to the main bolt section. I've never disassembled a bolt. Do you have any good recommendations on reference books? I assume if the lugs show runout, you cannot true them in the lathe as then the system would be loose unless you could narrow the receiver slots... As is, the action is as smooth as I have felt. However, I want to do things right, and I am quite thirsty to learn more about bolt actions. Disassembling the bolt, inserting a good emuge bottom tap and centering the tap shank on a 4 jaw while having the tail center in the firing pin hole all seems within our capabilities. Unfortunately, from that point I don't know tolerance range required or the proper steps if out of tolerance. However, I do want to thank you for your response.