I'm planning to order a Ruger 77 in 7x57. I've read a lot of them are inaccurate. If this one is, what are some other FACTORY calibers I could have it rebarreled to or reamed out to? Is it a long action (.30-06)?

I'm getting a pretty good deal on this gun - that's why I'm taking a chance.

Thanks for any help,
Scott

If you have accuracy problems it's most likely the rifle, not the cartridge. Other cartridges you can try:
257 Roberts will need a new barrel. Ammo is still available, but handloading is recommended because it's often under-loaded.
8 x 57 is a simple re-bore and chamber job, not sure if that's a factory offering.

Check out the Wildcat forum, where I started a thread about necking the 7x57 up to 308, or the 8x57 to 338.

No matter what cartridge you pick, if the gun isn't shooting straight it isn't worth the effort. Might be cheaper to have some accuracy work done and keeping it 7x57. New trigger, work over the stock and bedding.

I had a Ruger MK11 in a 6.5 x 55 and had a lot of trouble getting it to shoot - eventually traded it on a Tikka 308.

But if your 7x57 shoots well I would keep it in that caliber as it is an excellent choice. If, after bedding and floating it won`t shoot, put a decent barrel of the same caliber on, then you should haved an excellent all round rifle. Thats probably what I should have done with my 6.5. Good luck.

See if it shoots first, then check the length needed for the cartridge to end up a wee bit short of the lands. As I recall Rugers are sometimes long throated, although it doesn't cause any problems with my 308 M.77RSI.

If you hanload you can try seating the bullets out to minimize the jump to the lands, some report that helps accuracy.

I'd work on that first and try to keep it as a 7x57, it's a grand old cartridge that works extremely well. I took a nice Sika deer in December with mine at 165 yd.s and this is just one of those cartridges that works better than it should.

The long throat in the Ruger 7x57 is what has me concerned. Now, having it rebored to 8x57 sounds intriguing. About how much does it cost to have it rebored? Now, I'm wondering if I should get two and have one of them rebored to 8x57...

Thanks again,
Scott

If you're reloading anyway, I wouldn't be concerned about the long throat. Just load the bullet out about .020 or .030" from the lands and work up a load. Chances are real good the Ruger will shoot 1-1.25" if you work the trigger over a bit. This is easy to do or a gunsmith will do it for $25 or $30. It is fairly common for a .375 H&H to hit maximum length for the magazine before it's bullet is close to the rifling and I've never seen a .375 that wouldn't shoot, although I'm sure there is one somewhere. I sure can't think of a lot of calibers I'd want to change a 7x57 to anyway, but any .30-06 based cartridge will work in the Ruger action.

By the way, is $360 for a new M77 MKII in 7x57 a good price?

I had a 7x57 that would put five bullets into a thumbnail at 100 metres, and I have seen several others that will do similar. Nothing inaccurate about this fine cartridge. It has been a killing machine for 100+ years.

Sounds like someone has been pulling your chain.

If the quality/ design of the rifle is causing poor accuracy then the calibre has nothing to do with it. You may be better off glass bedding and putting a better trigger on it, but be in no doubt, the 7x57 can shoot if you and the rifle are up to it.

Good luck.

I had a 77 in 7X57 that was not a great shooter. I suppose because of the long throat. You could stick a bullet (I can't remember the weight right now, but I think 140gr BT)in the throat, and then put a case in the gun and the bullet would not stick in the case, when extracted. So I'd say it's a good bet that was the problem. At the time I wasn't willing to tinker with it, so I traded it for a 77 in 308, which I love.
If I were you I'd look into rechambering to 280 Remington. It's a fine round, and no new barrel is needed (unless you want a new custom tube, of course), and it should feed pretty well with the rifle as is. If it were me, knowing the 'smith has to remove the old barrel to do the rechamber, I's send it to Montana rifles and let them work their magic with a new tube, you're probably only looking at an extra $175 for something that will shoot like a laser.

GA Shooter,

You do have a couple options concerning a long throat on your 7x57 before rechambering. Use long bullets like 160 grain Partitions (which shoot great in my rifle)or 175 grainers or or have your rifle installed with a longer magazine box. A recent article showed how a 3.6" (magnum length) box could be fit into a standard length Ruger action fairly easily.

If I was to rechamber the rifle, I would make it a 7x64 Brenneke or 280 Rem. If you really want to keepthe rifle in 7x57, have your gunsmith set the barrel back one thread and rechamber for the shorter throat. Many of the "standard" 7x57 were throated for the 175 roundnose ammo, accounting for the long leade.

Good Luck,
BigBullet

Have you seen the rifle? If it has a decent stock and your looking for something to do sure go ahead.

Rugers come with rings also and I like the Mark 11's for the CRF and good safety they have.

Also the trigger needs work. If your handy you can do it yourself but remember to do a drop test. If you mess it up learning to do it then put on an aftermarket trigger.

It would be easiest to rechamber to 280. I know the early 7x57 had extremely long throats which affected the accuracy. Maybe they've corrected the problem?

Bob257

Spend some time shooting that thing and working up loads before rechambering or rebarreling it. I think it's plumb silly to order a rifle thinking it's not going to shoot well. Bet it does, though, if you do your part.

Okay, I ordered two of them in 7x57 (getting a decent price on them). I'm planning to keep one in 7x57 and have the other converted to 8x57, probably. What would be involved in converting it? Can it be rebored and rechambered or would it be cheaper to have another barrel put on it?

If another barrel, what's a good one? I'm not looking for an expensive, bench-rest type barrel, just a good, accurate hunting barrel.

Thanks again for all the help,
Scott

You're still jumping the gun. Try 'em out first!



If you're really interested in modding them, though, you'll get more helpful responses in the "Gunsmithing" forum than here.

I'm not jumping the gun. I ordered one of them specifically to convert to 8x57. Whichever is less accurate as a 7x57 will be the one I have converted.

Thanks for the info.

Scott

The information I have is Ruger barrels now a days are as good as anyone's. Several over at 24hourcampfire have alot of experience with them. See the posts on the Ask the Gunwriters Forum for instance.
I had one of the very first 7X57 Rugers. Tang safety and hollow bolt knob, etc. It shot OK. I could get nice round groups at an inch or less with 44 grs. of IMR 4320 over the 139 gr. Hornady, for instance. That's with no tuning. Factory bedding.
One thing about them is their middle action screw. Like the ones on the M70's, it just wants to be finger tight, not really tight like the front guard screw. Otherwise the action distorts and the rifle's groups go to pot.
They have lots of good features and make a great basis for a custom rifle. I'm probably going to get one myself before long. My old tang safety action is the basis for my custom .280. It shoots lots of loads into .6 MOA or better. E

Check the chamber with a casting before you re-chamber to 280 rem. The standard neck diameter of the 7X57 is .3207 and the 280 is .3150 ( from the Speer #12 book) and the 280 body is not long enough clean up the 7X57 neck. It might work - Depends on how tight the 7X57 chamber is and how big the 280 reamer is - otherwise a strange looking fire formed case. Or you could take a thread off the barrel and rechamber.

Eldeguello,
Yes, you're quite right. And that's exactly why I made the post.
Regards,
Inyati

My model 77 Ruger in 7X57 proved to be the least accurate rifle that I'd ever purchased. I worked every angle from my loading bench to make it shoot up to a reasonable standard. In frustration I had the bolt face opened and the barrel re-chambered to 7mm Remington mag. It's now a superbly accurate rifle. It proved an excellent conversion.
Bought a model 70 Featherlite in 7X57 to satisfy my interest in that caliber.

Whoever told you these are not accurate are just not seating the bullets out to the throat length in the Ruger. It is long throated to take the older European style ammo..

I own two and once I seated them out to the full length, ( 80 mm OAL), they are some of the most accurate hunting factory barreled rifles I own.

No wonder this cartridge still works so well after being designed before the 30/30. It will penetrate like no tomorrow.

Buy it, and smile with a good value you picked up.

GA Shooter, there's lots of good info on the 7X57 here. It has been my favorite bottleneck cartridge for a long time and I've had some interesting experiences with it. One thing I've learned is to not make a lot of assumptions about the typical long throats frequently encountered. My lovely bride (of 34 years) surprised me with a Brno 22F for Xmas that I had been admiring. I measured the throat and found it too long to seat anything near the rifling. A 175 grain Hornady RN seated one caliber deep into the case was not long enough! I figured that I'd just have to settle for mediocre accuracy and be content with it's high rating on the 'neat rifle' scale. The groups I shot with the iron sights were OK, but didn't tell me a lot because my old eyes aren't up to good open sight shooting.

When the rings I'd ordered finally arrived last Thursday, I mounted a Weaver K2.5 scope on it and shot it with the 175 RNs and 139 gr Hornady SP's I'd loaded for my other 7X57s. They are seated to the cannelure. The groups with the 139s were well under 2" and I think it can do much better. It was sprinkling rain here in central Alabama and I was hurriedly shooting and rushing it back and forth to the truck to keep it dry. I only wanted it close enough to use for the rest of this deer season.

I think you'll like the 7X57 that you keep. You have the right game plan....keep the best one and modify the least accurate. Good luck and let us know the outcome.