I recently purchased a used 77R in 7x57. The dealer I bought it from said it had a factory Douglas barrel, and I've heard rumors of this happening in the past. The rifle is an older tang safety gun with a super trigger. A really nice piece.
Does anyone know the info on Ruger using Douglas barrels? How can you tell if a Ruger has a Douglas barrel? Any thoughts on the 7x57 cartridge.
This gun seems to have been fired very little, and does have a very long throat.
Any advise will be greatly appreciated.
Bob

The rumour that I heard was that the early Rugers had Wilson barrels. My 1969 vintage #1 had a 7 mm Rem Mag bbl and the twist was 1-10! That barrel would not stabilize the 160 boattails after it wore. It also had the sloppiest belted chamber that I have seen so far.

A friend who is a serious collector and marksman bought a 77 in 7 mm Mauser. It did not group well at all and he sent it down the road.

Ruger had a lot of people make their barrels. Hard to say. I also know that many of the earlier 77's in 7x57 had long throats which affected accuracy.

Bob257

Bobby, I'm certainly no authority, but it is my understanding that the only factory Rugers with Douglas barrels were 25 caliber.

About your 7X57, I had one for several years, After bedding the action, floating the barrel and having the trigger tuned, it was a good shooter with handloads. By handloading I could seat the bullets waaaayyyy out to be near the throat, and it would put 140 grainers just under an inch. Mine liked 139 Hornadies and 140 Nosler solid bases. It didn't matter which powder I used, IMR4350 or 4320, H4350 or 414, etc. They all shot about the same at velocities from 2820-2850. Very unfussy. I think you'll like it.

In 1972, I bought one of the old, round-top receiver M77's in 7X57mm. I honestly don't know who made the barrel, but in order to get some cases to reload, I shot a box of Remington 175-grain factory ammo in it. The first ten rounds went into just about an inch. I had never before seen either an un-fooled-with factory rifle, and in particular, any factory ammo, that would shoot that well. I killed a couple of deer with it, then when my son got to be 14, he took it hunting one fall. I have not been able to get it back since that day!!

PS: Mine had a very long throat also, but that never seemed to have a negative influence on its' accuracy!!

[ 03-08-2003, 00:04: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

Bobby: I owned a couple of Rugers in 7x57mm, one the old tang safety model and the other the Mark II. The tang safety model shot okay with factory loads, the Mark II shot very well with handloads, but crappy with factory loads. It took for judicious handloading to get it to shoot right, but it was a 1-moa rifle with the 162 grain and 154 grain Hornady bullets. The post about it having a long thoat is an understatement. With the 7x57mm Mauser it had a throat like a euro-mauser. It was so long I could not get enough bullet shank into the case mouth and have it stay there when I loaded to .01 inch from the lands. All Ruger barrels inthe 7x57mm have 1x9.5 twists, which suggests it would shoot the lighter bullets well, but those were just too short for me to get within .2 of an inch from the lands. AFter a while my Mark II's accuracy went from 1 moa to 3 inch groups. I free floated the barrel, glass bedded the action, glassed the bottom metal, cryoed the barreled action, put a timney trigger in it and still had a rifle that shot three inch groups. I was told by Ruger that such groups were acceptable in the Ruger guidelines, which is not what I wanted to hear. Then a Ruger customer service rep told me that my barrel probably had a "soft spot" in it, whatever the hell that meant, and I should return it to them for a rebarrel job. I ended up trading the rifle off after telling the new owner what was going on. All he wanted anyway was the action. Perhaps your rifle will shoot good, but it will still have those exceedingly long throats and it will be a 1x9.5 twist. I hope you bought a good rifle. Many Rugers are excellent values, but I just happened to get one that started having problems and would not quit having them. Tom Purdom

I too had an early 7X57, talk about d-e-e-p throat, the smallest bullets it would shoot were 160gn RN Sierra's. I had 1 thread turned of the barrel & rechambered to .280, it's now one of the most accurate rifles I have. The other 3 are, another early .250S Model 77 & a SakoV 22-250. I don't know who made them barrels but for factory stuff they're good! I wonder if Ruger records would know?? Another problem I believe these early 7X57s had was the neck dia, if you check specs I believe you will find the neck dia is some 12thou larger than a .280 which shoots the same dia bullet that sloppy neck can't be good for accuracy!

[ 03-08-2003, 18:37: Message edited by: sxr6 ]

I had an early R77 in 7 x 57 and it shot "patterns" at 100 yards rather than groups...I had a Redfield Tracker scope on it, which was ALSO a lemon...This was nearly 30 years ago and I was a beginner at handloading and did not know about trying to seat a long bullet way out for a long throated rifle...I peddled it to a guy who used it for hunting whitetails in the woods and couldn't care less if it shot 4-5" groups at 100 yards..

His first season with it, he shot a nice ten point which he had mounted... ......

Well this is an interesting forum for me as I have been struggling with my Ruger 7x57 for quite awhile. Started seating bullets out to maximum recommended oal, but sounds like I may have to go further. I shot some 140 Sierra SPBT this evening and got three in 2 1/8 inch at 100 which is what seems to be the norm for mine. I've been playing with Hornady 139's and Nosler BT 150's and results are about the same normally but once in a great while will put three under an inch.

Mine does have the extra shoulder ( 7X57 to 280 ) but with 1 thread turned of barrel it's only about 1/8". I set die to neck size to extra should & find it causes no problems. I'd recommend this conversion to anyone wanting to make the 7X57 Ruger shoot.

I sold one new I bought in 1974 to a friend. He shoots a lot and never fails to bring up the fact that he consistently gets sub MOA groups.

My 1969-vintage No. 1B in 7mm Rem. mag. is one of the most accurate rifles I have ever seen!! It shot 1" five-shot groups at 200 yards, and still does, with 140, 160, and 175-grain bullets!! It amazes me how much quality variation there is in these No. 1's. When you buy one, I guess you can't have any confidence at all in the quality you will receive. None of the five No.1's and one No. 3 I've had have had any problems. All were very accurate without any modifications! Guess I have just been lucky!!

[ 03-11-2003, 20:47: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

Someone mentioned that they thought the only Douglas barrels were in .25 caliber. Could be...got a Ruger77 .25/06HB in about 1976. One of the best shooting rifles I've had the pleasure to shoot. Shooting Speer 100gr. flat base HUNTING bullets never went over .75 for five shots. Of course that was the first 2000 or so.

I have a Ruger 77 MkII in 7 x 57 I bought new in 1997. It loves Hornady 120 gr. SP or HP and Speer 130 gr. BT. I don't load it hot, only the starting load or a little higher depending on group size. It does not like long 160 gr. Sierra's or Speer's. I have many targets posted on the wall at the clubhouse with .5" to .75" groups at 100 yards. I have owned nine 7 x 57's now and had some rechambered to Ackley Imp. or 7mm-06 Ackley Imp. Not one has been a "bad" gun. My two Rugers are the one in 7 x 57 and the other was rechambered for the 06 Ackley Imp.

R-WEST, I would say this rifle has a "normal" throat. I have never measured it, but it will not accept bullets seated very far out, not nearly as far as the 7X57 Rugers I have had.