I'm thinking of picking up one in 308 Win (with a tang safety) for "projekt work" (caliber and barrel change etc). Does anybody know any short comings or good things about these guns?
Thanks
K9

K9,

Your going to be getting rid of the barrel so that is one problem solved. I like the fact that the trigger on these are removeable which makes them easier to throw away.

I would look at inviting the factory wood stock over for a house warming party with it as the guest. That only leaves the receiver. hmmmm.


Just kidding! Replace the barrel, the stock, tune up the trigger and take it hunting...

Malm

I understand that some of them are quite good. I hope yours is one of those.

actually,the trigger on the old model ruger with the tang safety has a fully adjustable trigger.at least the flat bolt handle (early production) does.

I have one in .270 that has no modifications and will shoot 3 shot 1 inch groups with handloads if you let the barrel cool. The guy I bought it from said it had been sent back on a recall, and he pissed and moaned about the trigger to Ruger when he sent it in, and it came back at a crisp 2.5 lbs. Over the years I've thought about floating the barrel, re-stocking it, etc., but I never get around to it and always worry that I might make things worse. It is a great utility gun that has taken many deer.

One thing someone here might be able to address is the challenge of pillar bedding the action due to the angled action screw...

Roger

Roger,

The Ruger design poses a bit more of a challenge to add a front supporting pillar due to the angle of the front guard screw, but it is doable.

Since pillars are designed to maintain the vertical position of the action to that of the bottom metal, then the forward pillar for the Ruger would have to occupy the same plane as the screw that pulls the action into the stock.

The trick will be in machining the compound angle that contacts the receiver. The other end of the pillar is a straight 90 degree angle.

Drill out the forward screw hole to the desired size and insert a pillar. Mark the pillar where material will have to be removed to allow a flush fit against the receiver and then machine it.

Insert the action in the stock against the pillar and then mark the bottom end where it will contact the floor plate hinge. Cut this at a 90 degree angle to the body and then pre-assemble everything to make sure that when the action is pulled down tightly, that there is no bending or binding of the action. Once this is complete, bed as usual.

Malm

I have 2 of those a .250 & 7X57 converted to 280 both shoot under an inch & are excellent handling rifles.

Personally I like the older Rugers. I've got 3. All will shoot, although I recently replaced the barrel on one after over 20 years of use.

I just sent my old (28 years) Ruger to Shilen for a new barrel. It used to shoot under an inch with my handloads.

K9--

I'd much rather have an old Ruger M-77 than a lot of other actions I can think of. The best ones were the pre-prefix serial # guns. Some had VERY good, but plain walnut stocks.

You'll know how good it is when it's rebarrelled. Like all factory actions, some need more work than others.

Brownell's now has pillar bedding bushings for the M77 & M77 MkII, stock #080-000-007.

Regards, Bill

Hmmmm.. Looks like most have something positive to say about them - if one looses the barrel that is.
My intentions are to build a short action short range thumper for moose and boars - either a 350 Rem mag or a 458x2 American / 450 Marlin (esentially the same). Will the ruger be a good base for such a cartridge?
Also, are there any known problems with the tangsafety?
There are of course other possible action like rem 7, 600 and 700, sako etc - better or worse than the ruger?
I've been offered to buy a rem custom shop m/7 ks in 350 mag for ca $950. Might be better to buy it??

Thanks for helping me out!
K9

K-9---

I shot a Ruger M-77 short action with a light 458 American, 20 inch barrel for several years for Whitetails and wild hogs in Florida. It's one gun I wish I'd kept. .........I also wish I'd kept it original. It was in 350 Rem Mag when I bought it at a clearance sale for $169.

They also had a dozen or so in 6.5 Rem Mag. They're now among the rarest of the M-77s.

The 358 Winchester is a drop in conversion. The belted magnum case will take some feeding work.

I have an original 358 M-77S and it is a thumper.

I picked up one in a trade, 6mm Rem, and it shot an honest 1" at 200 yds with some thrown-together handloads. The trigger breaks like the proverbial glass rod at about 2 1/2 lbs. If I ever get serious about load development, it might turn into a shooter...

Yep, I like them too.
My first bolt action rifle was an M-77 .30-06 "round top" and it has a great adjustable trigger, and still shoots 1/2 MOA with 150 grain bullets, amazingly from the Ruger factory barrel. It now resides in a Brown Precision fiberglass stock. Cheers!

I've got an early model 77 RSI in 308 and it needs nothing to shoot 1-1 1/8" using factory Hornady 150 SST's. That's with a full length stock not known for being highly accurate. Original barrel shoots fine, trigger is crisper than factory and I assume the previous owner had it cleaned up.

me to. I have a "tang" safety model in 300 win mag.
Picked up used. Everything is stock, but had my gunsmith shortenn stock for me and add packmayer Decelerator, also glassbeded the action and entire barrel. With my 200gr partition handloads at 2950 it shoots into .5 - .75 inch(3 shot).
Very consistant