I was just curious how the older Ruger tang safety rifles were. It is a 300 win mag. I don't remember if it was a mauser action or not or are they all mauser actions? Thanks for you help. Doug

It is standard Ruger 77 action with a tang safety. Too bad they quit making it.

This gun is in excellent shape and he wants $400 for it. Good deal or what?

I have one in .338WM and wouldn't mind getting one to match in another caliber. Price is fair depending on condition and use. Nate

I actually prefer the old tang safety M77 to the new one. They are not a Mauser, they are a push feed w/ a claw extractor. Some of the older ones had suspect barrels. If you know the rifle or owner, not a bad deal.

Price might be $25 or so high. I sold my Ruger tang safety to a fellow-AR member, who said he'd seen them at $360 - $375. Mine was exactly what he wanted or he would have passed. Last time I emailed him he was happy, so FWIW. If I liked something I don't think I'd let $35 stand in the way...

Jaywalker

Years ago Ruger had a barrel problem and it was a crap shoot if you got a good barrel or a bad one. I bought a .270 Win. back around 1990. The throat on was so long, the only bullet that I coould get close the lands was a 150gr. Speer Hot Core and it shot really well. Anything else was was just pissing in the wind.

Not long after that Ruger came to thir senses and started producing their own barrels, with much better results.

I let that rifle go and haven't owned a Ruger since, not because they aren't good rifles, I just have other interests now.

I have two tang safety models, the newest a 7mag built in 1987. Very accurate and an adjustable trigger! $400 for a truley VG model would be a good price. Go for it.

I ordered one of the early Mod 77s when Ruger announced that they were bringing it out as a present for my first wife. It took over 2 years for me to take delivery on the gun.

Back in those days Ruger advertised products to test their marketability long before they actually went into production. I really liked the tang safety because it worked just like the safeties do on my sxs and ou shot guns and was located in the same place on the gun. The serial number on that Ruger 243 was 695, and my ex took it with her when she left. The gun shot under an inch right out of the box and needed no further work. The trigger was also fine. I still wish I owned that Ruger 77...Rusty.

The old tang safety M77's were pretty good guns if you could get them to shoot well. I liked them better than the M77 MkII.

Ruger has serial number / manufacturing date info on their website:
http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/PS-SerialNumberHistory-RI.html#