Can anyone give me an idea what it involves to convert a standard (30-06) length Ruger M 77 Mk II into a 375H&H? I read a short blurb on this elsewhere, something about a new magazine follower and grinding down a bolt stop? Are there any downsides to a project of this sort? This could be one way to get a stainless steel larger game rifle? Thoughts?

Respectfully,
Harry C.

Harry, do a search, in this forum, it was discussed about 5 maybe 6 mos ago.

Harry,
Have you ever thought of doing one in .375 Dakota? It will give you the H&H balistics in a shorter package.

Harry,

Dave Scovill did this starting with a .338 Win Mag Ruger M77 MkII, and wrote it up for the Jan '04 Rifle. His rifle was chrome moly, but he noted you could do the SS/synthetic rifle too.

He used a Shilen 12" twist barrel turned to the Ruger dimensions so that the iron sights would transfer to the new barrel.

You need the longer magazine box and follower (from Brownell's), plus move the ejector and bolt stop back and lengthen the cut in the stock for the longer mag box.

His rifle ended up weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces.

jim

Hunter Jim, Thanks for the lead and information, I'll track down the article

WyoJoe, That's probably a good idea, but not the direction I'm thinking at the moment. As I mentioned on an earlier thread, I have done very little recreational shooting over the past 25 years. I retire in four or so years and wouldn't mind taking it up again as a hobby. Truthfully I am dreaming more than anything. Fortunately there is nothing wrong with dreaming!

Dave James, I'll give it a search.

Many thanks,
Harry C.

While we're dreaming, an article in the Australian Shooter mag. this month amused me no end. About the Prof.Hunter/Guide final tests
in Zimbabwe, quoted as "without a doubt, the best in Africa."
Well, what a scream. Heaps of failures to feed
for (mostly) conversions to larger cals, esp
458 Lott, esp. Brno's, and spliting stocks within 12 shots. And these people had to have
worked in the profession for a min.of 2 years to
get into the test.
The harsh conditions were said to play a part,
but lousy gunsmith conversions were said to have
been a major problem.
The design of the big fat long cart's was also
a problem, with books such as "Handloading for
Handgunners" & "Custom Cartridges" pointing this out.
Two of the failures to feed were in front of charging elephants. (Now this is what I call a final test.) Presumably thoes who had
the cheap conversions were the ones to fail the exam. I think the moral of the article was if
you want a dangerous game rifle, get the factory
rifle and cal. and then cycle quality ammo to
prove function. (I'd do it slow/fast, and while
running.)
JL.

JAL,

Sobering and a very good point. I had a duty gun worked on, only not to fire later. I had competition springs put into a Ruger Security Six. The trigger pull was great but it didn't break the primer several times out of each cylinder. I had taken the revolver straight from the gunsmith to an IPSC style match. What frightened me was that it was my duty revolver.

I completely agree in testing the daylights out of anything you use for personal safety. I found that pistol matches, especially the IPSC style matches, would find whatever flaws I had with equipment or technique. I've had a few embarassing failures. Once the revolver froze up because the reloads I was shooting (not my own) had a great deal of unburnt powder that stuck to the excess oil I had under the extractor star. There are more, equally embarassing.

Respectfully,
Harry C.

JAL,

A continued thought...my mis-experiences still haven't cured me of tinkering with firearms! I really do think that good designs can be improved on, in spite of some glaring failures I have come across. It reinforces the point you made of testing your weapon under every possible condition.

Respectfully,
Harry

Had a similar prob with aftermarket springs in
a "working" security six. The old model trigger
return spring broke, the after market one went
soggy within a week or so.
Asked the Ruger agent in Aust. for a replacement
got a thing big enough for an alarm clock that
wouldn't fit. Whinghed direct to Ruger USA
and got a nice set of both springs for free,
and armours notes on how to make the big new
spring fit. I think it was a Redhawlk spring
and gave an horrendous DA pull, but was then safer than any weird Glock trigger.
As for Gunsmiths converting rifles, I had one
do a M92 25/20 to 218bee and when miles away
found it wouldn't feed in a million years. So
what did he try it with?.
JL

Harry C.

Bill Atkinson "stretched" a left-hand stainless Ruger 77 MKII for me. It is now a long 458 Lott. Works great.

Hammer

Hammer,

Did you put in an additional recoil lug? What was the final weight of your .458 Lott? It sounds like a very interesting project.

Respectfully,
Harry C.

Harry C.

There is an additional barrel recoil lug.

The stock is laminated wood.

Did add one pound of lead to the stock to increase weight.

Don't recall the final weight right now, and am not where it can be weighed. So will have to get back to you on that.

In November 2004 under the old forum software, posted pictures of it. Don't know if those can be retrieved under the new forum software or not.

Hammer

I think this is the article refered to above
http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/article.cfm?tocid=1186&magid=84

Hi Ivan, Thanks for the link, I had unable to locate the article and was about to ask for help. Harry

(possible duplicate submission)

Rather than go through all this, I'd think it would be cheaper and simpler to rebarrel a .338 to .375 Taylor and leave the action as is. You would accomplish the same thing except no factory

jstevens,

Since when are we into "cheaper and simpler" ?

"Cheaper and simpler" would have us going to the local grocery store for meat.

If there is a difficult, expensive, and impractical way to do it, we'll find it.


Hammer

I haven't had any luck locating Bill Atkinson or the Atkinson Barrel Company using internet searches. Does anyone know if he is still in business or has a web site? Thanks in advance, Harry

Harry C.

Bill Atkinson has retired twice before, so maybe he has retired a third time. He was not looking for work to do when he was sweet talked into building my Ruger. He used to answer at

928 772 0241

Bill Atkinson
9625 N. Coyote Springs Rd.
Prescott Valley, AZ 86314

No use of the internet that am aware of.



Hammer

Thanks Hammer