I will be taking possession of a beat up MkII M77 here soon, with intents on building a 375 Ruger.

Like to get some ideas/pics of what you guys have done, building a 375 from the ground up. I am not married to any barrel length or profile. This gun will mostly be used for big brown stuff with antlers, horns and claws here in NA.

barrel - $300
chamber/feeding $150
sights +install $150
bluing $200
stock - whatever you want to pay -

this is a ballpark price, but if i was doing this, i'd call mcgowen precision and ask

looks like $800 but but no stock, (this could be from zero (use what you got) to $750.. or much more) and likely a year or more to get this all together, as EVERYONE is swamped

tell you what - let me have you a small fortune and sell you my 375 african, no brake model - very low round count, has box .. decent wood - just a production one before they made all of them with the brake,,,, nothing special

The 375 Ruger is one of my most favored cartridges. I had one for my son and one for myself customized:
SS Mark II actions (donor rifles were early vintage 375 Ruger Alaskans)Lilja factory contour 22.5" barrel on his and 23.5" barrel on mine, both with McMillan Ruger Classic stocks, reused the rear sights and added NECG banded front sights, his a trigger job and mine a Spec-Tech Tigger. Both with barrel band sling swivel stud. And both with Alaska Arms detachable rings.

Of these two, I like the feel of his best, which has a Zeiss Victory 1.5-6x42. He terminated a moose this year with his, using a hand loaded 270 gr TSX. I have not actually hunt with mine, perhaps this next season.

But, have hunted with a 20" Alaskan, with McMillan Hunter stock, Spec-Tech trigger, 1.1-4x30mm Kahles. And it too has terminated a moose with 270 gr TSX (Double Tap factory loads).

I do really like this cartridge in the Ruger Mark II / Hawkeye platform. I also have an early African model.

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quote:

Originally posted by MileHighShooter:
I will be taking possession of a beat up MkII M77 here soon, with intents on building a 375 Ruger.

Like to get some ideas/pics of what you guys have done, building a 375 from the ground up. I am not married to any barrel length or profile. This gun will mostly be used for big brown stuff with antlers, horns and claws here in NA.

Idmay,

So having handled the 20, 22.5, and 23.5 do you think the 22 is the best over all? I was kind of leaning in the 21-22 range.

Jeffe if I could swing the cash up front I'd jump on that! As it is, I'll be buying the bits and pieces until I have everything. I have an old friend who is a smith doing the work, he usually charges me below the average going rate. As far as I know, he isn't 1yr+ back...but we'll see when I get everything together.

Barrel maker was a big question I couldn't figure out. I recently bought a McGowen on sale for another project and it looks to be of good quality, I'll keep them in mind! Thanks for the suggestion on that.


Anyone have a preference on the contour? After handling a Sako AV 375 recently, I'm kind of liking a 375 in a lighter contour. Especially after handling a Win 70 that had a freakin sewer pipe for a barrel that had to weigh as much as a small dog.

If I ever customize another with a factory contour, it will have a 22-22.5" barrel. I like the handling of the 22" barrel and find it a bit more aesthetically pleasing to me. Though have no qualms using the 20", and do so often in 375Ruger and 416Ruger. I certainly have no complaints with the 20" as to strapping to the rear of a 4-wheeler, getting in/out of Argo, or the alders/willows/grass; but think the 22" would do as well.

The areas that I hunt are close range affairs, with 200 yds being about absolute as to seeing game. Usually well under a 100yds, so the velocity loss associated with a less than 24" barrel is of no consequence to me. I do have rifles with 24" barrels and have used them in the same terrain, but do prefer a bit shorter in the bigger bores. My 338 Win Mag is a 24" and I have no desire to shorten it. I have a 458 Lott on the way and it has a 22" barrel.

The 416 Rugers that I have are 20" factory barreled, but if I ever replace the barrels it will be with 22" ones.

The long and short of it is, how the individual rifle feels / handles to you. Remember,as they say, you can always shorten one rather inexpensively prior to adding sights.



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quote:

Originally posted by MileHighShooter:
Idmay,

So having handled the 20, 22.5, and 23.5 do you think the 22 is the best over all? I was kind of leaning in the 21-22 range.

The way the factory made the .375 Ruger M77 Hawkeye African initially was very nice, walnut and blue with 23" barrel, like jeffeosso has for sale.

If you want a custom barrel, I would still go with 23" barrel.

I have used Douglas, McGowen, Shilen, Pac-Nor, and Lilja barrels for .375-cals.

I like them light. No. 3 sporter contour is as light as you should consider, and No. 4 sporter is as heavy as you should go.
Consider length of barrel and type of stock to get the right balance.
No. 3 sporter can be accurate, sub-MOA at 24" length, maybe stiffer and more accurate if shortened.
No. 4 sporter is more than enough for accuracy in a .375-cal.

Or get a No. 6 sporter contour with 6 flutes and you will be right at same for weight as the No. 4 sporter non-fluted, and it will cool faster.
Spiffy in stainless.
I would recommend Dan Lilja for that.
I have two of his .375 barrels, fluted, stainless, No. 6 sporter, 1:12" twist.
1:12" is the only twist you need consider.
Though I have a 1:10" twist Pac-Nor, No. 4 sporter, stainless, 25" long, on a .375/404 Jeffery Saeed of 2012,
I am just a riflecrank.
The Lilja fluted No. 6 barrels are on a .375/.338 Lapua Magnum (9.5mm Tornado) and a .375/404 Jeffery Saeed of 2012 also, and left 26" long, on CZ actions.

I could not improve on the .375 Ruger African with 23" barrel and somewhere between 3 and 4 contours.

Riflecrank Internationale Permanente
NRA Life Benefactor and Beneficiary

quote:

No. 4 sporter non-fluted, and it will cool faster.

One needs that when one is shooting herds of bears buff and ele.

I have an early 375 Ruger African and like the 23 inch barrel. The short pull required me to replace the pad, which helped reduce the chance of a scope cut with the 1.75 x 6 Leupold I mounted on it.

When I bought mine, there were frequent reports of the Africans splitting the stocks because of improper bedding/fitting. Usually this occurred in the first 40-50 rounds. I took mine apart and relieved some of the wood directly behind the tang and have had no problems with about 300 rounds through the gun. I also floated the barrel.

I don't like brakes in general but did take the barrel and have it Magna Ported. Four slots, that reduced felt recoil about 15% and did not appreciably increase muzzle noise/blast. It retained its accuracy after the porting job of about 1 MOA depending on the load. RL 15 produces consistent accuracy in my rifle with 260-300gr bullets.

If you are starting with M77 MK II, you may need to consider a new trigger as well. I have two MK IIs that had terrible triggers and ended up replacing them with Timneys.

Good luck on your build.

Barstool(er)

I have the Ruger M77 Hawkeye Guide Gun in the 375 Ruger. It has the 20" barrel with the muzzle break. The 20" barrel handles well in brush and I am getting 2590fps. with handload Nosler 300gr. Accubond bullet using RL17 powder. Getting 1/2" 3-shot group at 100yds.

I still like the original Ruger Alaskans with stainless metalwork and Hogue stocks.... I have them in 375 and 416 Ruger.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
tell you what - let me have you a small fortune and sell you my 375 african, no brake model - very low round count, has box .. decent wood - just a production one before they made all of them with the brake,,,, nothing special

Jeffe,
Is it the model with the barrel band or the swivel stud on the forearm? I might be interested...

not mine, but looks like this one, no scope, though

I rebarreled a post 64 Winchester Model 70 264 win mag to a 375 Ruger. Used a Pac Nor 3 groove #4 finished at 24"



The #4 is a little heavy at .650" muzzle but the extra weight helps with recoil. Also to reduce recoil I got a Knoxx stock. Kicks like a regular 338 win mag or a light 300 win mag

Shoots too!

ya'll need to stop posting vels over the HH .. some ludites will be along shorty, telling use how that all lies... dirty, filthy lies

Blame the chrono, not me

I also own an early African model, just like this one. although I didn't like the idea of the front sling nut in the stock, it wouldn't be too big a deal to put one on the barrel. However, turns out I like it just fine as it is.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
not mine, but looks like this one, no scope, though

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

No. 4 sporter non-fluted, and it will cool faster.

One needs that when one is shooting herds of bears buff and ele.

Taken out of context, including the wink, so funny as it was, here it is again:

Or get a No. 6 sporter contour with 6 flutes and you will be right at same for weight as the No. 4 sporter non-fluted, and it will cool faster.

Out of context or no, pretty funny comment anyway, thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by woods:
Blame the chrono, not me

LOL

quote:

Out of context or no, pretty funny comment anyway, thanks.

That's why I posted because it was funny

Yep,
Faster cooling is the only advantage to fluting.
No. 6 contour is as light as you can go if you flute.
Same stiffness and weight as a No. 4 contour (non-fluted) for all practical purposes.
Just to be clear.
Use a fluted barrel for culling herds of buffalo and elephant where barrel heating might be a concern,
or if you just want to be cool in some other way. Know what I mean?

Or use a No. 3 contour if you want to be cool without the fluting. You will also have to use a lightweight stock to balance the barrel.
Then you will expend less energy and generate less heat while carrying the rifle. That will make you cool.

Riflecrank Internationale Permanente
NRA Life Benefactor and Beneficiary

Here is mine on an original M77, 7mm RM

Gents

In my quest to restore old guns that have seen better days, here is the next rifle I've added to my stable

I stumbled across a Ruger 77 in 7mm Rem Mag, the barrel was all shot out, the clear coat on the wood was patchy and all but gone and the old stock had a few dings here and there

But it was super cheap enough so I brought it as a stock and action only

I also stumbled across a pull off barrel in 375 H&H from a CZ550 project, again it was cheap so I purchased this as well

Putting it all together, Firstly I heated and removed the front sight, then slowly heating, putting it back on, peened and removing it a number of times, I was able to get enough stretch out of the band to move the front sight u the barrel about 3 inches, my aim was to make the barrel 22 inches NOT 25 inches

I also installed a talley barrel band while the front sight was off

I smoothed and polished the front of the feed rails, opened up and polished the feed ramp, It needed NO other work

Off to the gunsmith, I told him to remove most of the old CZ thread and rethread for the ruger action as well as rechamber in 375 Ruger, this cartridge fitted perfectly into the Ruger action, additionally I wanted him to shorten and recrown the barrel back to the ne position of the front sight band

While this was being done, I removed all of the old lacquer and gave the stock a clean, I had a friend instal the talley crossbolts and we pluggged up the front sling hole, I've given it about 9 coats of turps/oil, wood grain is really coming out and its a nice dark color, I will seal it soon

When the metal work was complete I had to inlet the barrel channel quiet a bit to fit the 375 CZ barrel but it was fine

I could have purchase a good 2nd hand one for the money, but it wouldn't have anywhere near the character this gun has, yes it does look a little off to see a Ruger with a CZ barrel and sights, but it works and has come together nicely

Here's some photos of the project so far, I will be bedding the action this week and installing an orange old English kick pad on as soon as it arrives in a fortnites time, I'm looking forward to shooting it

very unique and interesting 375 ruger.

thanks shortandfat.

SnF --
Very cool!

ShortandFat..nicely done. Got me thinking of reworking a M77 Mark II I have but do not use for hunting. Very nice blueprint.

One of my guides was looking for a 375 and I had a takeoff 375 Ruger barrel I had given a friend $100 for, so I looked around and found a pushfeed M-77 7mm mag for $325 at a local pawnshop. The 375 barrel headspaced perfectly, although the sights were off to the side but he wanted a scope anyway. We removed the sights, bedded it with accraglass and a cross bolt, widened the feed ramp very slightly with a file and the rifle feeds and shoots wonderfully.

quote:

ShortandFat

Excellent work! May I ask who did the gunsmithing? I'd like to contact him for my own project.

really nice!

Years ago, I found a used LH Ruger Mark II with fairly nice wood.
I brought it home, sanded the sharp radiuses off the bottom, full length bedded it (relieved tang area as well), installed a Timney trigger, stripped it down & applied a hand rubbed oil finish.

Then I sent it off to the 'smith and had the following.
-Re-barrelled & chambered it to 416 Taylor (don't remember contour but is 0.65 @ muzzle)@ 22'' finished length.
-He cleaned up the feeding
-Installed front and back NECG sights & bbl band
-Installed ebony fore-end.


I have a Leupold 1.75-6 mounted in Alaskan Arms QD rings (not shown).
The rifle comes in @ 7 lbs 10oz with out scope.

It figures....about 3 months after this was completed, Ruger came out with their LH "African" in 416 Ruger.

These work just fine for me, in 375 and 416 Ruger :-)

Deep blue and decently odd wood on this one

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
Deep blue and decently odd wood on this one

Very nice stock on that one.

If you could just get rid of those horrendous bolt handles.

quote:

Originally posted by lindy2:
If you could just get rid of those horrendous bolt handles.

Just think of them as a parochial school Nun in that that everytime your knuckles get rapped you need to do something, and quickly !

If you were a lefty I still have a few of the stainless/ laminated Alaskans. I have sold about 135 of them since 2008.

quote:

Originally posted by Vol717:
If you were a lefty I still have a few of the stainless/ laminated Alaskans. I have sold about 135 of them since 2008.

My wife has one of those.
Great rifle.

Nikon Inline scope has 5" eye-relief.



Yes, 0.366" group with 250TTSX 84grains R17