I have an opportunity tomorrow to trade for an older Ruger 77 (tang safety, dark, nice wood) in 25-06. It has a heavy tapered barrel--the barrel is sort of an odd girth, being somewhere between a sporter and a heavy barrel, and is 24" long.

The rifle has a Timney trigger, and appears overall in decent shape. The Ruger rings are in place (no scope), the wood is good, and the bluing is much nicer than I've seen on many other 77's.

Is it worth 375 dollars?

Thanks for any comments...

green 788

I am getting to the point where I think the older models that are in good shape are worth as much as a new one and sometimes worth more. If the gun is in as good a shape as you say and has the Timney trigger to boot I say go for it.

Don't tell anyone but an older Ruger with some bedding will usually outshoot a new N American made production rifle anyday. I love them!!

I like the older M77 & have a .338-06 built on one. If the rifle is in good shape, go for it.

I have an older Ruger 77 in 25-06. It is the Bicentenial model 1976 says "Made in the 200th Year of American Liberty " on the barrel and it's extremely accurate .75 inch groups from the bench with 117 gr Hornady BTSP in front of 54 grains of H 4831 about 3100 ft/s. It has the factory trigger. The one you are looking at should do at least as well with the timeny trigger. I'd buy it for $375. I paid $425 for mine and I don't regret it.

I have the same rifle. It is the most accurate factory hunting rifle I own and with factory ammo to boot. It came with @ 200 rounds of Federal 100 grain ballistic tip ammo. Before I shot it I installed some temperary bedding to just see how things would turn out. That was 3 years ago. the damn thing shoots so good I havent touched it sense. It shoots in the .3's when I'm having a good day, .5's are the norm.

I had that same vintage Ruger in .25-06 and it was a real shooter. As you mention, it has a rather strange barrel on it - not a sporting weight barrel, but not varmint either. Eventhough it was a very accurate rife, I finally got tired of lugging that weight around and traded it off.

Try to buy it with the deal that you can return it for credit if "you don't like it". If it does not group then take it back and say it's too heavy!

The shop owner does not want his stuff bad mouthed.

Atkinson said that if a rifle does not shoot or stay sighted in he "takes it for a stroll on gunshow lane" and I do the same thing.

Also as mentioned above a heavy rifle is forever. I have one and I picked it out to be a combination target and varmint rifle. It did well for targets but for carrying it's too heavy.

Of course for $375 and maybe less if you make a offer for $325 or ask for some ammo or dies with it this is not a big risk.

Some of the old Ruger (Wilson) barrels were not very good plus the rife was sold. I would keep a hot shooter heavy or not.

[ 06-05-2002, 19:49: Message edited by: Don Martin29 ]

Green 788,
I ordered one of the Ruger 25-06 in the late 70's early 80's I remember being very surprised at the weight of the barrel. When I asked the dealer about it I was told that they used the same barrel for the 25-06 as they did for the 7mm magnums?
Bryan

Green788,
I had trouble with my gun stringing the shots out about 3/4 of an inch between each shot of a five shot group. I found the problem to be the pressure point Ruger had in the end of their barrel channels for the barrels to press against. Once I removed a little wood to float the barrel it shot very well. I had bought the gun to deer hunt with but I didn't care for the weight, it was a good ground hog gun!! Bryan

Green... I've owned only one Ruger and it was an older rifle like the one you looking at. I bought it used 4 years ago for $375, it was a .338 equipped with a 3X9 Redfield scope, a Timney trigger, magnaported, glass-bedded and the action was the slickest I've ever owned. I killed an eland, wildebeest and an oryx with it, HOWEVER its accuracy no matter what the load was 2.5" at best. It finally began to fire upon closing the action, so I had that fixed and sold it as I felt that I could never trust it again and that it wasn't that accurate. My suggestion is that if you really want the subject rifle, it is probably worth ~$325 - more if it has a decent scope.

Even if the barrel is gone, I'd go for it. That is a very popular rifle with several I know. All of them shoot well.
In my book, the action is worth $350. I have a custom .280 built on one. E

At the risk of sounding unrealistic here. Wouldn't it be detrimental to the shooting sports if all the inaccurate guns were marketed at gunshows? How can y'all live with yourselves knowing that some kid may have saved for years to buy a gun only to buy your "reject" weapons? I wish I could say I buy from gunshows but unfortunately the rip-off attitude is too prevalent. Sorry for any offense this may have caused.

The rifle I posted about above came from a gun show and so did several others I own. You just need to watch who you deal with. At the local gunshows around here you can get black balled very quickly by word of mouth if the regular's find out you sell someone a lemon and don't at least make an effort to make it right by them if there are problems.

That's the problem around here with our gunshows. All the sellers are traveling individuals with no accountability. I hate to see gunshows go but it looks like they are killing themselves with some help from gun laws.