I am purchasing a NEW stainless synthetic Ruger Mark II for $550 in the 300 win mag caliber. I am trading my Savage 30-06 to bring the price down, not because I don't like it, but to try something new. I've owned Rem, Savage, and Marlin rifles. I thought I'ld give Ruger a try.
Is the ruger generally a good rifle in 300 win mag caliber?
Is there any suggestions for modification I should make to the ruger once I get it?
Any one who has experience with this rifle, I would like to here comments/stories/mods made/ect...
I would also like to get comments on the 300 win mag caliber also
Thanks

I have the same gun its great.I didn't do anything to mine it shoots most factory loads I've tried into 1 inch or less groups at 100yds.One of the guns I won't sell. Good luck on yours.

Sportsmans warehouse has these rifles on sale for $469 right now here in Wisconsin.I bought the .338win mag.

I have the same rifle in '06... Even that has some pretty good kick mostly due to the light weight and that "recoil" pad ... I just had my smith do a trigger job and put a regular Pachmayer pad on it... All the difference in the world... I would say for a Win Mag you'd want a Pachmayer Decelerator for that extra comfort...

I enjoy shooting ths rig now and it's always been a shooter.. Since I've cleaned up that "lawyer" trigger and put a real pad on it I find I run out of ammo long before my shoulder starts to give ....

Ken....

There is little that a good 180-200gr premium bullet out of the 300 win mag won't do anywhere in north america. My buddy has used a rugger 77 in 300 mag for everything in alaska for the last 15 years. Put a good 3-9 scope on it and take it hunting.

About two years ago I bought one because the price was too good to pass up. My plan was to keep it for the action, and maybe rebarrel it into a really useful cartridge.

But my step-son started taking it deer hunting, mostly because it's the only rifle I would loan him, and that's mostly because I consider it almost indestructable. I'm not a fan of the 300 WM, but I've shot this rifle some, and it will get the job done. It has one of those boat paddle stocks, so unless he runs over it with the truck or the four-wheeler, I think it will hold up. I started him out with some of those managed recoil Remington ammo, so he doesn't develop a flinch. The kid practices a lot, so it's not easy keeping him with a supply of ammo. I don't have dies for this caliber, because I didn't intend to keep a rifle in 300 WM. It is possible that I could change my mind about that.

I may have to give him that rifle - we'll see, but maybe I'll give him a 308 instead, which is more useful overall, and lighter.

It's easy to up-grade the stock. There are lots of good replacement stocks for the Ruger. It's difficult to go wrong replacing the stock, most anything is an improvment. I put a Timney trigger on all the Rugers I have, but I understand that Ruger has come out with some kind of new factory trigger assembly. I don't know anything about it except what Ruger claims, but I seriously doubt it is an improvment or adequate. Ruger has had many years to get their trigger right, and failed, so why just now? What I suspect is that Ruger figured a way to hinder replacing their trigger with a better one, such as a Timney.

Added by Edit:
Yes, I use the Warne rings too, but not the QD version. These are great rings, in QD or not. I use them on my Mausers too.

Another thing, since I have only stainless Rugers, I have the gunsmith bead or sand blast the shiny finish off. They look really nice that way, with the satin finish.

I think Rugers are great, and I have four stainless 77 MK IIs. The thing I like most is that they are relatively easy and inexpensive to modify into something acceptable to me. As they are out of the box is not acceptable to me, but they don't require any serious work by a gunsmith to perform very well as serious hunting tools, that don't need to be babied. Haul them around on a mule, horse, four wheeler, boat, truck, whatever - they can take it.

KB

I always do this with my Rugers: change out the trigger to a Timney, jewel the bolt, and put a kick eze pad and adjust the length of pull at the same time. I use Warne QD rings instead of Rugers. Am very happy. Also have
Winchester Model 70s...You will like your Ruger.

Well, I picked it up today. Traded in my Savage 114 30-06 and took home the Ruger 300 Win Mag for $215 Dollars. I haven't gotten to shoot it yet, but I do like the feel and the looks of it. I can tell it is heavier than my Savage which is a good thing. Heavy rifles don't bother me. I had no problem running around flushing out deer with my 10 1/2 lb buffalo classic rifle last year. I noticed the trigger is pretty heavy like everyone said they are. It doesn't seem too unreasonable though. I will probably end up switching the trigger eventually. I used the ruger scope mounts and after attaching them to the rifle, the scope fell into them with no torque or binding.
I have noticed with every new bolt rifle that I've bought that there is always a slight grinding feeling when the bolt is moved forward. Will this smooth out after a lot of use due to wearing of the metal or would getting the bolt jeweled be a better choice?

It'll smooth out. You just need to cycle the bolt a few hundred times and get the action "broken in."

Yeah, I have the same rifle in .308win. Its a sweet shooter, keeps 3 within about an inch of one another at 150 yards. My trigger wasnt that heavy that i felt a need to replace (but i like heavier triggers anyway) But the bolt roughness will sort itself out with a trip or two to the range. Good luck with your new rifle and feel that recoil.

Well, I took it to the range. The kick wasn't bad. To me, it felt about like the kick of the 30-06 in the Savage 114 I traded for it. I wasn't really shooting for accuracy, but to break in the barrel. I'm pretty sure I've got some more breaking in to do. I only fired 40 rounds through it. I was too impatient to do the standard break in. I cleaned it to the bare metal before I took it to the range. then Cleaned it to the bare metal after every shot for the first 6 shots. Then I cleaned it every two shots for the next 8 shots. Then cleaned it every 3 shots for the next 6 shots. after that box of ammo, I fired the next 20 with out cleaning.

quote:

Originally posted by Elkoholic:
I have the same gun its great.I didn't do anything to mine it shoots most factory loads I've tried into 1 inch or less groups at 100yds.One of the guns I won't sell. Good luck on yours.

Ditto the above.

I have a boat paddle one, with a timney trigger and a leupy VX-II 3-9x... best group has been able to cover with a dime, it is my go to do everything rifle.....