Given that there are discussions here about good and not so good Ruger rifle experiences, I thought this might be interesting to some of you.

You know what they say about cars made first thing Monday or late Friday? They used to say it anyway. I’ve got a Ruger 338 African that seems to fit the bill. Reading this forum, it’s clear all manufacturers make some. Nearly all the issues have been sorted out, but there’s still some problems.

I’m mostly just relaying my experiences. I should have called Ruger at several points in the process, but when I finally did, I had gone too far in trying to deal with it for them to accept responsibility. That’s my doing. Sometimes I can’t leave well enough alone. Also, I’m not a Ruger hater. I have a number of them and generally am satisfied for the most part.

So I purchased, new a Ruger African in 338 to take to Namibia, in early 2016. The trip was planned for late June ’16. The dealer ordered it and problems were apparent when I opened the box. There was a significant gap on the right side of the barrel channel all the way down to the end of the forearm. The forearm clearly wanted to bend right. There was also a line a few inches long on the left side of the forearm that looked like a crack in the wood. Taking the stock off, we found there wasn’t a crack (at least not all the way through); it was a gap in the grain of the wood that they had sprayed over with finish. The ebony forend tip was also poorly finished. There was a bit of some kind of yellowed finish peeling off. I kept the gun, although it should have gone back. Figured I’d float the forend and not worry about the finish issues. I wanted to have it ready for Namibia.

My initial efforts at the range were very poor. Three inch or bigger groups at 100 yds off a bench with several different kinds of factory ammo, including Federal Premium Nosler partition stuff, Barnes TTSX factory loads (225 Gr.), and plain old Remington 250 gr. Also tried Hornady ammo. Only thing that shot at all well was a mild handload (maybe 2700 fps) with 200 gr. Speers.

But there was another troubling issue. The bolt was very hard to close with a significant number of these new, factory rounds (from all these makers). There were no unusual pressure signs however. Opening the bolt was fine. Hornady ammo was the most that were troublesome. I studied the brass carefully and it looked like the belt portion of the chamber was just a tinny bit short. It didn’t chamber more easily if I full length sized the same cases to the point where I set the should back a little (I didn’t reuse those cases). I decided to lap the lugs just a little. It mostly worked. Still tight with a few Federal or Hornady rounds (maybe 2 per box of 20), fine with all the Barnes factory rounds. I should mention that during this time I had an opportunity to buy a used Browning X Bolt in 338 at a good price, and all this ammo would cycle through it with no problem.

Back to the accuracy issues… I free floated the forearm. As the wood came off, the forearm continued to pull right. Before taking off too much, I tried to steam it straight. Didn’t work, so I continued sanding. A lot of wood had to be sanded from the left side of the forearm before it was free of contact.

By this point, I’d developed a mindset that I was going to pursue this to the bitter end. I did call Ruger around this time. I was forthright and told them everything that happened. At first the guy tried to explain that on a push-feed gun, there is some resistance when the extractor snaps over the case rim. He clearly wanted to explain it all away. I explained again this was not a push feed model. I have no idea why he assumed that it was. Since I had lapped the lugs a smidge, he said they would probably charge me for a new bolt. I decided to pass and continue with my folly. During the conversation, he told me that the M77 is intended to be set up with the front action screw and middle action screw tight (over 90 inch pounds for the front screw!), and the rear action screw backed off from that just a little. I never had a bolt gun before where the middle action screw was intended to be tighter than the rear. So I did learn something from him.

The rifle shot a little better floated, but not nearly well enough. So then I glass bedded the action and first few inches of the barrel. While doing that, it became apparent that the action and bottom metal clamped down hard on the magazine well. Tight as can be. So I removed just enough metal from the mag well until I could just move it with my fingers.

Returned to the range, and low and behold, it became a good shooter. Especially with Barnes TTSX bullets. Still not very good with partitions, but that’s not a problem if the others do well. So, now the gun is tight on closing with one or two rounds out of a box of most brands of factory ammo except for Barnes. The barrel channel has a bigger gap than I would like. I finished off all the interior wood surfaces to protect from moisture. It’s a very serviceable gun, even though I’d like to look into the chamber dimensions in more detail. It was an interesting learning experience. But, I should have sent it back as soon as I discovered the tight chamber, if not upon first inspection with the stock issues.

PS: I took the Browning X Bolt 338 mentioned above to Africa as a backup to my main rifle, a Ruger No. 1 300 H&H. But I didn't use it. The 300 H&H carried me through. Had a great time with Sebra Safaris.

Interesting saga but certainly one I would not have even started on.
I have no time for tight chambers on a hunting rifle. All factory ammo should be an easy fit and in most cases belted magnums are usually always a little sloppy. If I'm a factory ammo shooter I only need the case to fit and fire once. As a reloader I can compensate for loose chambers but I can't do that for tight chambers and factory ammo.

To go to the trouble you have with a new rifle is, respectfully, crazy. There are plenty of rifles out there that are very well made, shoot accurately out of the box and come relatively cheap. Take a look at a Tikka T3x, you won't beat these for out of the box accuracy and durability. I wouldn't buy American if that is the sort of crap that is being produced despite what The Don is promoting.

No argument there. Wish I hadn’t started on it! Tikkas seem to be especially popular in NZ.

Hind sight is often the best.

Should have gave it back to the dealer and let him handle sending it back to Ruger from the start.

As far as the barrel gap I would wrap some tape around the barrel then full length bed it with some dyed bedding.

I have own rifles from a lot of manufactures most work well I have had Remington Winchesters Savage andrugers with problems.

They are made on an assembly line after all.

Only one was sent back that was a mini 14 that wouldn't group into 8 inches at 100. They re-barreled it and it became a normal mini shooting 2 inch groups with 55gr fmj ball.

The fix for the Winchester is to shoot only factory ammo.

The Remington took a full bedding job to get it to shoot good.

The savage had burr at the chamber mouth polishing took care of that.

I know the feeling you get when you decide that you're going to fix the new gun no matter what. Coincidentally, also with a Ruger 77.

When I took it out of the box (MkII, stainless, laminated stock), I could pick up the gun by the trigger without it firing. I added bases, rings, a scope and a full magazine of 7 Mag ammo and the weight of the gun would still not trip the trigger.

When I took out the front and rear action screws, the tang would rock up and down over 1/4". If you tightened the front (angled) action screw it would push the front barrel up so much that you could see the vertical impact difference at 100 yards for every 10 inch pounds of screw torque.

quote:

Originally posted by JeffreyPhD:
No argument there. Wish I hadn’t started on it! Tikkas seem to be especially popular in NZ.

Yes to the Tikkas for very good reason, I haven't heard of a bad one out of the box and we do have some harsh hunting conditions here. Nonetheless, I and family currently own and use some American made firearms and the ones we have are good but I just wonder when reading stories like yours what has happened to at least some basic quality control. At the moment we are using a Marlin XS and a Rem 700SPS both 7mm-08, a Ruger All American 223 and a Weatherby Vanguard 7mm-08 (made in Japan I think the Weatherby's are). All cheap but good rifles that regularly take animals without fuss. Two sons a red deer spiker each last night with the Vanguard and Ruger.

Yes to the Tikkas for very good reason, I haven't heard of a bad one out of the box and we do have some harsh hunting conditions here. Nonetheless, I and family currently own and use some American made firearms and the ones we have are good but I just wonder when reading stories like yours what has happened to at least some basic quality control. At the moment we are using a Marlin XS and a Rem 700SPS both 7mm-08, a Ruger All American 223 and a Weatherby Vanguard 7mm-08 (made in Japan I think the Weatherby's are). All cheap but good rifles that regularly take animals without fuss. Two sons a red deer spiker each last night with the Vanguard and Ruger.[/QUOTE]


I've had the privilege of hunting in NZ once; hope I get to do it again. The station owner (Makapua station, North Island east coast) used a Tikka, as did his son. They were both very happy with them. Certainly they are available here but at least in the area where I live, they are not too common. They seem to have a very good reputation for accuracy. There does seem to be some issues with American-made rifles, I think. I like many of the design features of the Ruger M77, but execution is sometimes problematic. Up until about 1991 there were problems with some of their barrels. They are made in-house now and are reportedly better. The No. 1 single shots are especially appealing to me but there's lots of variation on how well they shoot (see the discussions in the Single Shot forum here). I've been lucky (I guess) with those, as I have 6 good shooters. Remington 700s have gone through recalls due to trigger issues. The late New Haven made Winchester M70s were not too well put together either. It can be very aggravating.

I'd be happy if any of my guns shot 3 inch groups.

I have owned the Ruger African inseveral calibers, they have all shot one inch groups and no problems. I have a .338, and a 9.3x62 presently..I think they are the best rifles on the market since the win. pre 64 mod. 70...Only problem is they keep going up in value with new and unusual calibers, and I sell them at a good profit since they run these guns in batches..

Im keeping the three I now have..