Ruger actions and barrels.

[jb77]

Hello all.

Was reading a post on another thread and didn't want to hijack the subject, so wanted to ask for opinions on Ruger rifles Good or Bad.

Not my intention to start a Ruger bashing just want to be educated to why the Ruger does not lend itself to customization the way the Remingtons do.

I own a Ruger Model 77 in .270 cal. It has always performed really well. The feeding is good the rifle will shoot 1 inch at a hundred yards and the fit and finish are very good. I bought this rifle back in 1981 and it is still my primary big game rifle.

I have not bought any more Rugers as i find the Remingtons are cheaper to buy in my area and there is lots more aftermarket stuff for them.

Thanks in advance for your informed responses.

 

[NeilNE]

why the Ruger does not lend itself to customization the way the Remingtons do.

Probably because of the Mauser type action. I have a 77 that was blue printed by M. Bryant, when he did them. Got into the 1K VH club with it. Not much stock any more, dif. barrel, stock and trigger. I’m in the process of putting another stock with barrel block on it


I own a Ruger Model 77 in .270 cal.

Sounds like it does very thing very well for what you use it for!

 

[curtjollimore]

I wouldn't have minded if you cut in, all the help on the ruger the better. as for if they are any good, i guess time will tell. I didn't shoot my frontier yet it is still in the box, but my wife has the same gun in a compact 308 win the only diff being no barrell rib for forward mount and thiner barrell wall and it shoots 180gr win super x silver tips at 3/4 inch at 100yrds. I thought that was pretty good for stock/factory ammo. If ruger action is no good why did remington come out with mauser type action like rugers.

 

[memilanuk]

Because it's their entry-level,i.e. cheap low-end) gun. Now there are some 'entry level' guns that have turned out to be gems in the rough... Remington's own 788 design was one,shoulda just brought it back instead, but that's just my opinion), and the Savage actions are another example. But the brutal truth is the '798' is targeted at the Wal-Mart crowd, like the 710 before it, not the upper-echelon accuracy market. The Mauser action design tends to not be as ridgid as a more cylindrical Rem700 action... huge legacy cutouts for top loading into the magazine,though very few people still charge their rifles w/ stripper clips anymore), and I've heard tell of some issues w/ bedding the tang area of the receiver. Not that it can't be done, but that it is a bit more involved than on other actions. Combine that with the Mauser action generally being considered fairly slow in the lock-time department... and it makes a fine hunting gun, and in the right hands it can still win matches,Kent Reeve won the 2006 Long Range Championships @ Camp Perry w/ a Mauser in .300 WM), but I think the general consensus is that these sort of victories are *in spite* of the characteristics of the action, not because of them.

YMMV,

Monte

 

[Bobs243Ackley]

Hello All,

This could wind up being an interesting thread for the Ruger. I have one of the older "Tang Safety" 77 actions. A lot of the reasons that I hear why the Ruger is not as popular seems to have a lot to do with the angled front action screw and that the action is an investment cast item. The gunsmith that does a lot of my work says that the Ruger is a bit harder to bed but the action is not bad to work on. With the use of the Rifle Basix sear, we were able to get the trigger down to around 8 ounces of pull without to much difficulty. This action has always worked well for me, and is currently set up as a switch barrel action. It is chambered in 6/284 and I am waiting on the stock so that I can get it up and running. I have no problems with the action being a cast action and it has been trouble free over the years.

The reason Remington did not bring the 788 back is simple. They cannot since they sold the rights, parts, and tooling, to the folks at Pennsylvania Gun Parts quite a few years ago, and as they say "That is the rest of the story" on this issue.

Cordially,
Bob Blaine

 

[tightneck]

I really don't think the fact that the fact that they are investment cast means anything. Farley actions are investment cast same as Rugers. The angled front screw is a bad design as you have pointed out though Bob. Also the fact that the barrel tenon is not meaty enough IMO. Add these factors as well as the fact that they tend to require more metal removal for truing than the others, and it becomes apparent why they aren't very popular on custom rifles. However Mauser style actions are customized every day, including boatloads of 98's. Many gunsmiths and hunters prefer the Mauser's 3 position safety as well as the claw extractor and consider any other type of action completely unsuitable. I have personally owned and worked up loads for only 2 77's and had pretty good results considering the factory barrels. Got them both to shoot under a minute and that is perfectly fine for a deer rifle, but I'm seriously into accuracy now and I just feel that if you want to shoot the smallest groups available to a custom barreled factory action, then Ruger is the wrong place to start.

 

[NeilNE]

This is what I'm going to do with my old model 77. I'm going to have the angled front screw section milled off and have it drilled to match a Rem. 700. I have two stock for this action, one with pillars and one with barrel block.

 

[Bobs243Ackley]

Hi Neil,

Before you have the angled part cut off, you might want to look at Brownells catalog. If memory serves, I thought that I had seen that they were showing an angled pillar block set available. This is what I am going to use for my Ruger when the stock come in. It sure would save a lot of work for you. When my Ruger was still a .243AI, with the factory barrel on it, it would shoot solid .350" groups at 100 yards from the bench, so I know that these actions will shoot as well as a field prepped Remington, or any other properly prepped action for that matter. I hope this information will help you with your Ruger.

Cordially,
Bob Blaine

 

[BillK]

there are two main reasons why people don't use Rugers. The first is that they are harder for gunsmiths to work on. This is going to either induce either higher prices for the work or less profit margin for the smith. The other is that the mauser style extractors are a pain to use when using as a single shot. This is a problem in benchrest. Now that the negatives are over. I personally own a RugerMark 2 Target in 25-06 that is one of the most accurate guns I have EVER seen AND I have had a few non-Ruger guns built by a truly great gunsmith for benchrest. I have several friends that followed my lead and bought Mark 2 Targets and all have shot remarkably well. I hope the barrel on mine never goes bad but when it does I will put a custom barrel on it. BTW I think the angled screw is only a problem because it is more difficult to locate from the stock to the action. If you can properly utilize this screw it will hold the action tighter to the recoil surface than a Remington.

 

[NeilNE]

Bobs243Ackley, thanks for the info. I still going to mill of the front lug, actions front screw mount. This way I can use any short action Rem. stock. Way more around than Ruger stocks and someting different. I'm going to make it a switch barrel, rechamber 6.5x284 to 6.5 BR,if I can) and some kind of 7mm. Will use it for PD and F-Class. Thanks again Bob.

 

[AckleymanII]

Bill Ruger shot himself in the foot bragging about how little money he put in his barrels. I had several of the #1's in 6mm Remington that were breath taking in their beauty but the barrels were nothing but pure crap. You could feel lots of tight and loose spots in the barrel.

So, I got in to the Tang safety 77 V's in 6mm Rem. I had a bunch of them shooting dog towns.

I re barreled two guns at the same time with Shilen SS barrels a Parker Hale V in 6 Rem and a Ruger 77 243 AI both with 26" light Varmint contours, but I put a McMillen Hunter class stock on the 77. Both guns would shoot with the bullets touching at 100 with the 3 shot groups going in the high 2's with my bullets. All I did was skim coat the actions in both stocks and completely freefloated the barrels.

Well, you can imagine my amazement. After shooting BR for 8 years, listening to all the hype about how worthless and inaccurate these actions were for accuracy, I was amazed at how accurate these rifles continued to be. Humm........

I still prefer the Rem 700 due to all the upgrades that you can get on. Ruger has come a long way in producing much better barrels on it's rifles since 1980. Many of the Rugers of that era had unbelievable junk for barrels...too bad...

 

[Hammer]

Have played with quite a few different actions over the years.

Personally like the Ruger 77. My gunsmith routinely works the factory trigger to 2.5 pounds.

Have rebarreled some with Shilen barrels. Two in particular in 6.5 x 55 and 7 x 57. Shoot pretty good.

The Ruger 77 appeals to me, but so do others. Will continue to play with Rugers.


Hammer