I recently bought a Ruger stainless/synthetic in 30-06. The first thing I did was to install a Timney trigger which breaks around 3 lbs. So far I have shot the gun on three different occasions using Factory loaded Remington Partitions(180 gr.) at 2700fps. My scope is a Leopold VX-1 2-7x. Shooting at the bench has given me rather dissapointing groups averaging around 2.5 or more inches. My question is for those of you who have had success improving the accuracy of Ruger rifles. As I am now moving on to handloading the same 180 gr. Partition using Lee Collet dies I expect to see some tightening of my groups. This is the load I have settled on and will stick with for my elk hunting. Any suggestions on improving the accuracy of my Ruger are appreciated. One thing that comes to mind is the stock. Thanks.
Posts: 60 | Location: Montana | Registered: 16 July 2003
Now I just purchased a 77 stainless with the boat paddle composite stock in 7mm Mag - I also have mounted the same scope as your rifle - I also did a trigger job per some directions I found on a web site. I have only shot 150 gr NBT's using RL22 and SC4831 - as the loads got hotter the groups got better - .750 inch with SC4831 and WLR primers. Some shooters seem to find that their Rugers group better if the forend pressure in the stock is sanded down to free float the barrel - I have had improved results by adding a pressure point. My Ruger 77 - wood stock - which I had glass bedded the forend pressure point seemed pretty good - but I just sanded it off to see what the difference will be - easy enough to add it back - will know this Friday - but I would suggest to see what happens with your reloads first and then take a look at the forend. You might also check to see if the barrel is in contact with the stock along the sides - usually not good since as the barrel heats up all sorts of contact stresses develop. Good luck.
Posts: 363 | Location: Madison Alabama | Registered: 31 July 2002
Can synthetic stocks be sanded? My gunsmith says accuracy would be improved by glass bedding. About $80. Will glass bedding result in a free floated barrel? A friend in Maine just bought the same gun with a laminated stock and is getting similar groups. He suspects the stock as well.
Posts: 60 | Location: Montana | Registered: 16 July 2003
I am a Ruger fan from way back and can say from experience every one I own had to be free-floated to see their accuracy potential. My 300Win Mag was also bedded along with free floating the barrel. If I do my part it will shoot around an inch all day long. My 270 on the other hand only needed the free floating and with sierra 130's a good effort on my part will shoot under an inch easily. I have shot an -06 a 308 and a 257 roberts as well, and while the -06 and 257 were not as accurate the 308 is a tack driver. Free float the barrel..try it and decide then on bedding.
I have a Ruger M77 MkII 7mm RM that is an absolute tackdriver. I have developed 10 different handloads that consistently group an inch or less. The big difference for me was replacing the "boat paddle" stock with a Hogue overmolded stock. It's heavier, but damn, it shoots good. I used the pillar bedded model, which is also less expensive.
Ruger stainless, synthetic stock, mark II, 24 inch barrel.
I took the stock and hollowed out the channel using an knife and sanding file, put a credit card spacer on the recoil lug to free float the barrel. No trigger job, no glass bedding. My groups with 117gr Sierra matchkings went from 1 1/4" to 1/2" 3 shot groups.
My varmint load with 75gr v-max bullets went from 1" to 3/4".
I did the job myself and I am not a very handy person normally so that tells you this was easy to do.
Also experiment with pressure on the action screws if it still won't shoot. If they are extra tight or not quite tight enough it seems to make a difference.
Posts: 162 | Location: Boise | Registered: 07 May 2003
In my experience, the Ruger rifle, while being very strong and durable, has not consistently delivered accuracy at the level of some other designs. Alot of this was due to relatively poor barrel quality, and has been improved upon in the past 3-4 years. Not that some M77s aren't accurate, but just on a general basis.
I'd say continue your load development and see what it does. From there, work on barrel floating or various amounts of pressure. Last thing would be to have the action bedded.
One note--bedding the action does not float the barrel-these are two different operations...
Rugers do seem to be fussy, but I've been able to get them to shoot fairly well more often than not. It just depends on the gun. Some like forend pressure, some don't. Some shoot fairly well without touching the bedding, others need work. My .270 shoots great without any work at all. Just load 'er up and fire. My ultralight .308 shot pretty darn good straight from the factory, bedding improved it even more, especially with consistency. My 7X57 tang safety model wouldn't shoot for sour apples, all kinds of work, still shot crappy. It resides at someone else's house now, hope it's happy, it sure caused me a lot of grief. 6MM heavy barrel tang safety model I bought new years ago only shot fair no matter what I did to it. I spent a fortune trying to make a tack driver out of that hunk of steel. I eventually gave up and showed it the door also. So it's just a labor to find out what to do to get your baby to shoot. There's really no technical reason a Ruger won't shoot with the best of 'em out there. It's just that a factory rifle has a lot of the labor intensive accuracy work left off to save money. That's where us tinkerers come in.
Thanks for all the good ideas. As it seems that the fit of the Ruger stocks are can be a problem I decided to take my rig to my gunsmith. He agreed with the stock needing some help. His solution on past guns has been to open up the foreend section of the stock on both sides of the barrel so that there is no contact here. He doesn't free float the barrels as he believes that contact under the barrel is fine for a hunting rig. Free floating, he says, just makes for extra space where pine needles, etc. can rest and cause more problems. He likes to glass bed the stock as he feels that the recoil lugs are flimsy and that the gun never seats against them the same way with enough consistency to give repeatable accuracy. Other Ruger's he has worked on now shoot under an inch at 100yds. This is more than good enough for me. When I can test out the gun after alterations I will report back here with the results. Thanks again for all your help. Everyone who has replied has given me some valuable info.
Steve
Posts: 60 | Location: Montana | Registered: 16 July 2003
I sympathise with you - I had 2 Rugers both with similar problems and I do not want to be negative but I ended up, after a lot of time, expense and load developement, failing to get my Rugers to shoot under 2" and 100 metres.
They have now both been replaced with Tikka stainless Whitetail hunters which both shot sub 1" groups out of the box with no mods and only a little load developement. Triggers are adjustable-both rifles are just sweet.
I know that some Rugers do shoot well out the box but I would not buy another until their overall poor reputation for accuracy improves.
Suggest you take a good look at the new Tikka T3s if you get frustrated enough!
Posts: 789 | Location: Australia | Registered: 24 May 2002
I am not sure it is fair to declare a rifle "Inaccurate" based on one factory load, using a bullet that is NOT known for accuracy.
I don't use partitions much ($), but my experience with the ones that I have tried is that it is not generally a sub-moa bullet (more like 1 1/2 moa in the loads that I tried), with best handloads.
Try some 165 Nosler ballistic tips using 4895, and see if that combination shoots acceptably, or at least some additional factory loads.
Of course the suggestions above do generally improve the accuracy of most rifles.
Regards, Bill
(Edited to add) P.S. My rock-stock Ruger M77 stainless/laminated 30-06 shoots Winchester factory 180s into 3" "patterns", but my 165 NBT load is sub-moa.
[ 07-17-2003, 17:26: Message edited by: Bill M ]
Posts: 1169 | Location: USA | Registered: 23 January 2002
I have one of the early M77s in .270 Win, and some of those early barrels were truly lousy. Mine was very light, fouled like mad, and had bore diameter variations that were obvious just running a patch through it. I'm emotionally attached to it, having owned it since I was a teenager.
Luckily, having glass bedded the action with a free-floating Lilja barrel, it now shoots plain-vanilla 130 Hornady spire points into half an inch at 100 yards. Nothing intrinsically wrong with the action. Before the Lilja barrel, we put on a tube from a Ruger #3 and that also shot substantially better than the original factory barrel. In any case, glass bedding and free floating are always a good idea. If you don't handload, experiment with different factory ammo. If you do, try and seat your bullets out as close as you can to the lands and still get proper feeding.
This is the way I see it and its worth just about what it costs you to read it. If I bought a new car and had to spend hundreds of dollars just to make it drive in a suitable manner I would be mad as hell. Why then do rational people find this acceptable when buying a new firearm? Bought a ruger #1 that had to have work before it would shoot accurately, bought a ruger P94 pistol that wouldn't feed most of the time, traded for a ruger just about like yours stainless steel, boat paddle stock, 30.06 caliber and, like yours, is disappointingly inaccurate. Then I bought a Tikka blue steel with a synthetic stock in 25.06 and I agree with dingo. Tikka shoots like crazy right out of the box. No trigger work, no stock work, just put a scope on it, zero it in and point it where you want the bullet to go and it will go there. Much better deal for about the same money.
I've had good Rugers,and I've had bad ones.....My first a plain walnut stocked 7mm Magnum would shoot Remington factory loads into an inch every time...My next one, a 270 wouldn't do four inches even after extensive load developement.....Next cma a boat paddle 300 Winchester stainless, which to this day was THE most accurate rifle I have ever owned....3/4" groups EVERY TIME...unreal..However,Delta Airlines lost it on a hunting trip to Montana. My next Ruger,a 25-06 walnut stocked rifle,,did about 1 1/2" groups,not good enough for a 25-06 since I wanted to hunt varmints at long range with it-got rid of it. My present one is a 7.62x39 boat paddle which serves as my plinkin' rifle, and gives me 1 1/2" groups with Chinese battle ammo--good enough.......Big K
Posts: 33 | Location: Pa. | Registered: 19 March 2003
My Ruger 25.06 typically shot 3 - 4 inch groups, and that was after a timney trigger job, free floating the barrel, glass bedding the action, checking scope accuracy, and trying dozens of different handloads. I put a Shilen barrel on the Ruger in 25.06 Ackley Improved. Now I shoot half inch groups with 100gr Barnes X bullets.
Posts: 4 | Location: Texas | Registered: 09 July 2003
Factory rifles are just that, some shoot well and others do not....Factory standards are 3" at 100 yards....out the door....
Glass bedding can help, some shoot with pressure up front, some don't...Some shoot free floated and again some don't...Try some different loads and bullet weights as some guns like lighter bullets and some like heavier bullets..
Based on that I would free float the barrel first and try it. If that does not work put shims under the barrel and try it with several thicknesses....If no luck then glass it tight all the way from the tang to the end of the foeend...If no luck then think about a good Lothar Walther barrel then it will shoot 1/2 inch.
Posts: 42226 | Location: Twin Falls, Idaho | Registered: 04 June 2000
quote:This is the load I have settled on and will stick with for my elk hunting. Any suggestions
What load, pray tell? You have specified the Nosler Part. 180, an excellent bullet, but there's a lot more to a "load" than just the bullet, including cases, powder, primer, etc. I would suggest that until you have gone through the process of developing a load, working up with several different kinds of powders, etc., to determine the best performance available from your rifle, you have NOT "settled on a load"!!
Do not make the mistake of automatically assuming the unacceptable performance is the rifle's fault!! Not until you know for sure what it can do with the right ammo!! Before you start piddling with the RIFLE, the very first thing is to see what kind of accuracy you can develop with nothing but the optimum load. In other words, a good load tailored for your rifle may be all you need!!
2.5" groups @ 100 yards are nothing to write home about, but are pretty typical of an "out-of-the-box rifle shooting FACTORY LOADS. Granted, some factory stuff will sometimes do much better than that, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't! I'll bet you'll find a handload with the Nosler Partition bullet that will at least cut your 2.5" in half!! Any rifle that'll shoot into 1.25" @ 100 yards is plenty good for deer and elk hunting, and is typical of more guns than the sub-MOA ones we always hear about. I was shooting a No. 1 .375 H&H yesterday, and it was averaging 3 shots into 1.25" or a bit less all afternoon with loads using Sierra 300 grain, Hornady 270-grain, and the old-time, automatic screw-machine Nosler Partition 270 grain bullets. Needless to say, I was tickled to death with this performance, even though my shoulder now looks like it had been through the Battle of the Bulge (should have worn something thicker than a T-shirt!!).
You are correct. A 180 gr. Nosler Partition is a bullet. not a load. I am currently shooting the Remington factory loaded rounds. Compared to the dozen or so other rifles that I have owned in the past, I feel that this one could do a better job with this load. Handloads have always improved accuracy for me, for the most part, but I have yet to own a fifle that didn't shoot factory loads better than this gun. As I am a big fan of Ruger's I will put some more money into this rig. As I have decided that the 180 gr. Partition is THE bullet I want to shoot for elk this season I will be working on some handloads using IMR-4350 and Reloader 22 to start and try to duplcate factory velocities at around 2700 fps. Even if another bullet might shoot better groups than the Partition I will accept less accuracy because I like this bullet. I just want to get my gun to shoot this bullet a little better than it is right now. About the same as other Ruger's, Remington's, Steyr's and Winchester's that I have owned in the past.
Posts: 60 | Location: Montana | Registered: 16 July 2003
Before I spent a bunch of time rebedding, rebarreling, etc, I'd get to work on a load and see if the rifle really doesn't shoot to your satisfaction. One factory load in one rifle is meaningless, if I based my thoughts on this I have a .223 HB Remington that is junk. With Winchester loads it shoots about 1 1/2 inches, this is a laminated stock, varmint gun. With ordinary Rem. factory loads it shoots .350, the worst group with these it's ever shot is .410. I'm sure not pulling the stock off and rebarreling , rebedding it. I sure have more fun shooting one anyway than tinkering with it, the first load you shoot through it may go 1", who knows?
Posts: 2788 | Location: gallatin, mo usa | Registered: 10 March 2001
Steve, GO to STEVES PAGES.COM, And follow his recommendations. He is a Ruger man and has some real accurate rifles. Read the "story" that goes with each caliber, to see what he had to do to his rifle to get it to shoot. Following his advise got my sons 77/6m/m shooting in the 3's and I don't mean inches. Stepchild
Posts: 1326 | Location: glennie, mi. USA | Registered: 14 July 2003
Owning a batch of Rugers, I would WING the synthetic stock! Their's suck!
If you have to go with a synthetic, then get an aftermarket one. Even a Butler Creek is a major improvement. I only buy Rugers with Synthetic Stocks to get the stainless steel action and barrel.
My preference is a Boyd's laminated stock. ( www.boydboys.com) One that is easy to refinish, start at just $65.00 plus shipping. A completed one is $116.50 plus shipping. A completed thumbhole in Grey Laminate or Brown Laminate is $130.00 plus shipping. It has improved any Ruger rifle I have installed one on, basically because it was not binding somewhere like the Ruger synthetic stock was.
Final thing on a Ruger ( and this is just passing it on). I have a 7 x 57 that constantly shot 2.5 to 3 inch groups with anything down the barrel. One day, I tried a load of 40 grains of IMR 3031 with a Remington 175 grain bulk bullet.
That loads group 1/4 or better! Go figure. Needless to say, that is the load that Rifle will be fed the rest of its life in my ownership.!
I bought my son a Ruger MKII laminate in .30-06. All I have done is change the trigger out. Most of my handloads will shoot under 1.5MOA. I settled on 60.5gr RL22 & the 180grNP for a comb. elk/deer load. It hits 2750fps from the 22"bbl. & will break the 1MOA if I'm having a good day. No elk w/ it yet, but he took a his 1st muley w/ it (2) years ago @ 275yds, he's satisfied.
Posts: 7752 | Location: kalif.,usa | Registered: 08 March 2001
I've always thought the only reason the newer MkII Rugers are inconsistent compared to Remington, etc is due to the light barrels. I'm not talking about the old ones everyone knows had $7.50 barrels. I have more luck free floating them. My favorite hunting rifle is a plain jaine Ruger 7x57, shoots 160 Nosler partitions at 2817fps, my last group was .620 for three shots. An interesting side note is that while in Namibia, my PH was intrigued by the 7x57 Ruger (my son was using it), he had a nice Mauser rifle or two and was amazed that one of these Rugers could be bought for $400 or so and wondered how I could ship him one. He wasn't overly impressed with my Whitworth .375 with a Zeiss scope, but couldn't believe the Ruger sold so cheap. By the way mine is stock except for a trigger job and floating the barrel.
Posts: 2788 | Location: gallatin, mo usa | Registered: 10 March 2001
2.5" groups @ 100 yards with a particular lot of FACTORY AMMO really doesn't tell you ANYTHING about your rifle!! SOMEWHERE there may be a lot of factory ammo that'll shoot like the very devil, you just have to find it! Conversely, I never worry about what a factory load does, because I'd only be shooting it to get the brass so I could develop a load that WILL shoot! Good luck developing same!!
I have a Boat Paddle Ruger M77MkII Stainless in 7mm Remington Mag that all I have done to it was install a timney trigger and it will shoot 3 shot groups that looks like a little clover leaf all day long if I do my part. I have it scoped with a Leupold 4.5 X 14 X 50 A/o Scope with target knobs. I have thought about restocking it and having it bedded and free floated but as long as it's not broke I don't think I will try to fix it. It really likes 140 grain ballistic Tips loaded to around 3300 fps and 160 grain Partitions loaded to 3100 fps. I don't know much about factory ammo as I never shoot the stuff.
Welcome to the dis-satisfied ruger owners club. I have owned three Rugers, none of which would shoot up to my expectations. I'll never buy another. Three strikes and your OUT!
Posts: 1984 | Location: The Three Lower Counties (Delaware USA) | Registered: 13 September 2001
I can tell you one thing, the reason we have to tinker with factory rifles to get them to shoot is two fold. One, we aren't willing to pay what it would cost to have all the hand fitting and barrel lapping, action truing, bolt lug lapping and other accuracy work done at the factory. That's why we're not buying custom rifles in the first place. That's why a typical custom costs in the neighborhood of $2000. The second is all the lawyers have made putting a decent trigger on a rifle impossible for the factory. We have them to thank for most of the problems today. So let's see, a custom rifle shoots 1/2" groups and costs $2000. OR, buy a Ruger, add a Timney Trigger for $75 and do a little stock work yourself, total cost equals maybe $625. You save $1375. Even if you add a custom barrel you save around $900, and you still get those 1/2" groups. The one other thing is, we accept this type of quality. Whether by not being willing to pay for it, or just not demanding it. We accept it, and we have to accept some of the responsibility for it. We want everything faster, cheaper etc. and now we're paying a different price for it. The price is monumental medeocrity (that's a big word for me, hope I spelled it right).
quote:Originally posted by Bobby: The second is all the lawyers have made putting a decent trigger on a rifle impossible for the factory. We have them to thank for most of the problems today.
BULLSHIT.
Go buy a Tikka if you want to see a $500 rifle that is accurate as all get out, and has a USER ADJUSTABLE, CRISP TRIGGER. Tikka and Sako triggers can be adjusted safely dowwn to two pounds, which is about as light as a trigger should be on a HUNTING, not target,rifle.
Sako is exposed to exactly the same liability as Ruger, since they both sell rifles in the US. Yet I don't see Sako using that excuse to install shit triggers on their rifles.
Try again.
Posts: 2206 | Location: USA | Registered: 31 August 2002
I'm not sure of the exact legal position, but I've read that Ruger was forced by a court decision to put the warning on the barrels of every gun they sell. If that's true, why don't the other gun companies have to do the same? Because they didn't lose the same suit Ruger did. You are absolutely right Sako/Tikka does a great job with triggers. Point well taken. But, I sort of bet at least in Ruger's case, there's a legal problem in there somewhere, just from the little bit I've read on the subject. My point is, that some lawyer will argue that if the factory wanted to insure that a guns trigger couldn't be adjusted below a safe weight, then why didn't they make it non user adjustable.
I have a Ruger 7x57 AI that shoots .5 to .75 with 120 gr sierra pro hunters, with an OLD weaver 4 power at a hundred yards. Only thing I know of being done to it is the trigger was lightened. The barrel was smooth from the get go, fouls little. Guess I got lucky, but I'm not complaining either.
quote:Originally posted by Bobby: I'm not sure of the exact legal position, but I've read that Ruger was forced by a court decision to put the warning on the barrels of every gun they sell. If that's true, why don't the other gun companies have to do the same? Because they didn't lose the same suit Ruger did. You are absolutely right Sako/Tikka does a great job with triggers. Point well taken. But, I sort of bet at least in Ruger's case, there's a legal problem in there somewhere, just from the little bit I've read on the subject. My point is, that some lawyer will argue that if the factory wanted to insure that a guns trigger couldn't be adjusted below a safe weight, then why didn't they make it non user adjustable.
Putting a warning on a barrel isn't the same as installing an unusable trigger.
Regardless. It doesn't matter much to me because I don't buy rifles with shit triggers that need to be replaced immediately.
Come to think of it, none of my hunting rifles are American made, yet they all have very good to outstanding, adjustable, factory triggers. It will probably remain so for a long time.
[ 08-29-2003, 06:24: Message edited by: Orion 1 ]
Posts: 2206 | Location: USA | Registered: 31 August 2002
quote:Welcome to the dis-satisfied ruger owners club. I have owned three Rugers, none of which would shoot up to my expectations. I'll never buy another. Three strikes and your OUT!
Your feelings in this regard are certainly understandable! However, I hear that the accuracy problems with Rugers were mainly due to their using poor barrels from an outside supplier, and that this problem has been eliminated. I must have gotten all my Ruger rifles before they started to use bad or cheap barrels, because they all have shot well, including an M77 "round receiver" 7X57(1972), a No. 1.B 7mm Rem. Mag. (1969), a No. 1H .375 H&H (1970), (these last two shoot into 1" @ 200 yards)!! and a 1 MOA No. 3 in .30/40 (1976).
ya because when buying a rifle the trigger is the most important thing to look for. Really? If you want to buy outside of the US manfactures fine but it is these American builders that are fighting the BS lawsuits that build precident to keep our shooting rights alive!
Andrew
Posts: 49 | Location: Texas | Registered: 23 August 2003
quote:Originally posted by navrunner1: ya because when buying a rifle the trigger is the most important thing to look for. Really? If you want to buy outside of the US manfactures fine but it is these American builders that are fighting the BS lawsuits that build precident to keep our shooting rights alive!
Andrew
First, when you pay for my rifles you can tell me what to buy.
Second, I don't know what will it take to make fools understand this point. Foreign manufacturers ARE involved in litigation over their products in the USA ALL THE TIME. When it comes to rifles, they seem to be involved less. Probably because they make better products.
When push come to shove, I can buy Czech, Finnish, and Japanese rifles that have very good, adjustable triggers and shoot MOA or very close to it RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX almost every single time.
Posts: 2206 | Location: USA | Registered: 31 August 2002
I have a MK II in 6.5 x 55 swede. I had the same problem. Shot 140gr Nosler Partition Federal loads into about 2 inches at 100 yards. I turned it over to a smith. We replaced the trigger, and did a proper bedding job. It now shoots those loads into .5 inch groups. But Federal for some reason dropped that load. My hand loads do just about as well. My guess it that your rifle needs a bedding job. Ruger M-77's are pretty good guns, but like with a lot of mass produced guns, they need some hand work. I don't think you will have to do much to that .30-06
Posts: 1070 | Location: East Haddam, CT | Registered: 16 July 2000
My point was that if it's true that Ruger lost a lawsuit and was forced to put the warning on the barrel, then it's quite possible that they were more or less forced to put in a non-adjustable trigger. What people seem to have a hard time understanding is that just because a lawsuit forces Ruger to put a warning on the barrel, doesn't mean every gunmaker has to do the same. Same with triggers. I don't know what the story is with Ruger, but I know the legal system makes about as much sense as non alcohol beer. I do know that CZ and Sako et al. put on some very fine adjustable triggers, and I wish Ruger did too.
quote:Originally posted by Bobby: My point was that if it's true that Ruger lost a lawsuit and was forced to put the warning on the barrel, then it's quite possible that they were more or less forced to put in a non-adjustable trigger. What people seem to have a hard time understanding is that just because a lawsuit forces Ruger to put a warning on the barrel, doesn't mean every gunmaker has to do the same. Same with triggers. I don't know what the story is with Ruger, but I know the legal system makes about as much sense as non alcohol beer. I do know that CZ and Sako et al. put on some very fine adjustable triggers, and I wish Ruger did too.
I think we are in violent agreement.
Posts: 2206 | Location: USA | Registered: 31 August 2002
I guess my handle says it all, but I've owned Remington 700's, 788's, Win 70's and Ruger 77's and 77 MkII's. The rugers have delivered more consistent accuracy than all the others (apart from the 788 in 6mm Rem). My current Ruger, a 77 MkII stainlss/laminate in270 win, consistently shoots less than half MOA with handloads, but is a bitch with factory stuff. I also have a CZ527 in 223 that shoots like shit with factory, but is a dream with handloads. My Rem 700BDL in 6mm Rm was the most inaccurate piece of shit that I have ever owned - even less accurate than my old 303 SMLE!!!
Posts: 1275 | Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | Registered: 02 May 2002
I have had nothing but good luck with the Ruger rifles that I have owned. I have a M77MkII in 7mm RM with a Hogue stock that shoots at least 10 different loads sub-MOA. I have a M77 RSM in .416 Rigby that shoots MOA, and I just bought a wood-stocked M77 MkII in 7mm RM for the farm that I took out to the range for the first time and it shot five 3/4" groups with Winchester 160 gr. Partition Gold's...
After that display, I promptly tested on an impala....one dead impala.
No, the triggers aren't perfect, but the Ruger's I have owned have required less gunsmithing to shoot well than any recently produced Winchester or Remington that I have been around.
Just my opinion...
Posts: 643 | Location: DeRidder, Louisiana USA | Registered: 12 August 2001
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