It followed me home and I couldn't say no. A 1980s-vintage Ruger 77 International in .250 Savage. I am not sure what I will do with it, but it was too cute to pass up at a price that was very reasonable. I have a Leupold 2x7 compact in my safe that will be perfect for it. The quick phone picture does not do it justice, the wood is quite nice and has subtle fiddleback the full length.

I've seen a few 77 Internationals lately, never could warm up to the 77 though despite the International's good looks. That said, I'd have found it very difficult to walk away from that .250. Probably wouldn't have. Congrats!

I'll drive on over one day soon and you can let me shoot it!

Can it be made into a 257 Roberts?

Sweet Nothing wrong with it left as 250 and loaded to pressures similar to any modern cartridge.

I am responsible for Ruger bringing out this rifle; I was deployed somewhere in 1979 and was writing letters (no email then) to all the gun companies expressing my ideas. I told Ruger that they should make the 77 into a Mannlicher. I got a quick reply that said they would never do that as there is no market for such rifles; Have a nice day.
Not a few months later, they introduced the 77 International. I know they took my idea and ran with it. At least it makes a good story.
And I got one of those the first day they came out. Never fired it.
As for the 257, these are built on short actions; not fully suited for 257 in modern form. And I don't think the taper at the shoulder is compatible, so you would have two shoulders.

I hope your 77Int'l is more accurate than the one I had that was chambered in 308Win that I bought new. I had trouble keeping shots into a 6" circle target at 50 yds. I tried different factory ammo and tried working up hand loads, but in the end it was traded for a standard M77 chambered in 30/06. I loved that handy little rifle but the romance was over in a short time. I probably should have done some barrel relief but just got tired of messing with it. Maybe yours is a shooter or if not, you can work the bugs out and make it shoot. I would have settled for 1.5 MOA from mine because I liked it that much but alas......

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
Can it be made into a 257 Roberts?

Lord, I apologize for JB's ignorance .. we'll have him beaten later today to atone for his transgressions

Boomy, that's a sweet little carbine in an unusual but quite useful caliber. Save it!

Ive had several of those in 250-3000 from Lipskys or Hollowell..ONe was wood on stainless steel, I should have kept it for sure, but those Lipskys and Hollowells in the rare calibers triple in price and I get greedy..I had blue 308, and 06 and a .270 at one time all RSI models..love those little carbines, and ever one of them shoot very well indeed..If one didn't Id suggest a full length glass bedding..worked for me on a few Rugers..

If you deside to pawn that RSI off give me a call..

I am hoping that I can get this to shoot reasonably. I have a granddaughter who is interested in learning to hunt, and this would be a great first centerfire rifle.

Mine, from November 1990:

Man. I would have sent it back to Ruger.
A minty RSI sits in the safe in .308 and it only shot 2 inches at 100 yards using factory Corelokt. Ruger said that 2 MOA is about right.

quote:

Originally posted by Luckyducker:
I hope your 77Int'l is more accurate than the one I had that was chambered in 308Win that I bought new. I had trouble keeping shots into a 6" circle target at 50 yds. ......

quote:

. Ruger said that 2 MOA is about right.

One can kill am lot of game with a 2 inch rifle.

A six inch group from any rifle at 50 yards is indicative of something very wrong and it isn't the barrel. I can shoot groups better than that with an 1816 Musket. Muskets are not rifled.

Yes. Scope issues come to mind.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
A six inch group from any rifle at 50 yards is indicative of something very wrong and it isn't the barrel. I can shoot groups better than that with an 1816 Musket. Muskets are not rifled.

Maybe maybe not out of the 20 or so Mimi 14s I played with had one that wouldn't group into 8 inches.

Sent it back to ruger they replaced the barrel and it grouped around 2 inches like the rest of them.

Had a 95 mauser that wouldn't group on a 8x11 at 50 had to cut off 2 inches of barrel and recrown it to get it to group.

So yes a bad barrel can do it.

I look at other stuff first but one can not discount it.

I have a 77 RSI in .243; my fav coyote gun. Only complaint is the sliver bolt handle. Shoots tight groups at 100 yards with 58 gr VMAX bullets.

I also tried one in .308 back when I was writing. I dearly wanted to send a check to Ruger for the rifle but sent the rifle back instead - its accuracy was horrible.

Well then I stand educated. Thanks.

I'd love to see the inside of that barrel through a bore scope. Must have had one helluva void(s) in there.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
A six inch group from any rifle at 50 yards is indicative of something very wrong and it isn't the barrel. I can shoot groups better than that with an 1816 Musket. Muskets are not rifled.

Maybe maybe not out of the 20 or so Mimi 14s I played with had one that wouldn't group into 8 inches.



Sent it back to ruger they replaced the barrel and it grouped around 2 inches like the rest of them.

Had a 95 mauser that wouldn't group on a 8x11 at 50 had to cut off 2 inches of barrel and recrown it to get it to group.

So yes a bad barrel can do it.

I look at other stuff first but one can not discount it.

Ruger had some bad barrels at one time and 6" groups were rather common apparently..IMO if a gun is shooting 6 inches it is the barrel..other problems seem to upset its ability to hold a zero, shoot various size groups etc..scope, out of line barrel, improperly ground scope rings, scope itself..

Bottom line is its an investigation and who knows how its going to turn out. The true cure is send it back to Ruger and let them deal with it..

Ruger won't touch a tang safety 77; way too long after production ended.
The issue is that, before Ruger started making their own hammer forged barrels, they used Wilson barrels; the bottom of the barrel, as they say; down there with some other makes I can name. PM me and I will tell you about them. Poorly made and poorly stress relieved; out of ten, 6 would shoot good hunting accuracy, two would shoot great, and two would not shoot at all. You must have one of the last two. But they were cheap, and suited most hunters who don't know the difference in a one MOA or a 4 MOA barrel; they still killed stuff.
Ive had a lot of them; none as bad as 6 inches at 50 though.

My brother has one just like that. I doubt he has shot it in 30 years, just sits in a safe.

Tom, I had one of those barrels on a tang safety 77 I bought about 1979 or 80 -- in 7X57. Even tried different scopes. I sure was disappointed.

6"s at "50" yards is a pipe not a barrel, I don't see how they could do that..at 100 yds Im sure they made a few, as where there is smoke theres fire, IMO 3 inchs at 100 is unacceptable, and two inches doesn't make me happy, wouldn't want it..Im looking for an inch in a rifle at 100 yards, and that's more common today than yesteryear for sure...

Those are awesome little guns I had one in 22-250 just like it It shot awesome 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards .The problem it was the same speed as a 223 with that 18 inch barrel. I sold it wish I had it still I would have made it into a 260 rem which would be awesome. That rifle in 250 sav should be just fine .It will be lots of fun to shoot

Well, this one at least shoots acceptably. I took it out today, and in spite of the 37-degree weather and 10 mph breeze freezing me, I was consistently getting 1-1/2" 5-shot groups using 85-grain ballistic tips, 87-grain Sierras, and 110-grain Bergers all driven by 31.0 grains of IMR 4895. I suspect that with comfortable shooting weather and some playing with loads I can get it to shoot better.

Very nice LnB! I really like how Mannlicher/full-stocked rifles look. 87gr Sierra would be a great coyote load