I feel kind of weak being on the gunsmithing thread when all I have ever done is tinker, but I am trying to get more out of my rifle/cartridge combinations.

With that said, I basically have stock guns in my safe (with the exception of a new animal that I aquired on a trade). I have a .243 Winchester in the old style Ruger 77. No matter what I put through that gun the best I can do is in the .8's. I know they can and should be able to do better than that. I bought the gun used, refinished the stock, glass bedded the front lug and free floated the barrel. This was a long time ago.

Now I am looking at trying to really get some potential out of it, and since it is used soley for coyotes on down to ground squirrels I want to squeeze everything I can out of it.

I have found a heavy barrel for it that was a take off and I have found a Bell and Carlson Carbelite stock for it. My thoughts are to take the barrel and have it fit, glass the whole action, lug, and an inch or two in front of the lug, all fit into the new carbelite stock. I'm also going to have the trigger worked.

My biggest question is what kind of a job is putting a barrel of this type into the receiver? I know it is more than I want to do, but obviously less than taking a new barrel blank from one of the big barrel makers and threading, chambering and installing. What kind of cost should I be looking at to have the old barrel removed and the new one installed properly?

Second, is my plan stated above flawed in any obvious way? If so, please tell me what I should do. I want to do this right, but I don't have a lot of cash to dump into the project.

Thanks.

First thing I would recommend is having that barrel checked over before putting it on the action to make sure it isn't flawed.

What Malm said.

In 2000, I bent the bolt on a surplus Mauser, drilled and tapped, trued the large ring. Lapped the inner ring. Lapped the lugs. Cut threads that fit so well there was no slop and no friction. Dialed in both ends of a bull barrel. Cut the .243 chamber .050" at a time with cutting oil and cleaned all the chips off each time with a toothbrush and compressed air. Glass bedded the action into the stock. Did a trigger job that got the Mauser trigger down to 1 pound. Aligned and glass bedded the scope mounts. Put a 40X stock on it. Handloaded ammo concentric to .001" at the ogive.

Went to the range, one fouling shot, three holes touching, and then all over the target. Cleaned out massive Copper for an hour. Repeat. Repeat. Put the rifle in the safe and forget it for the last 7 years.

I had done all that work, on a piece of junk barrel from Midway.

To get better than a stock Remington, Winchester, Ruger, Savage, or Browning barrel, one must step up to a premium barrel:
Krieger
Hart
Lilja
Shilen stainless, not Chrome Moly
Lothar Walther
Border
Pac-Nor
Broughton
Kostyshny
Lawton
Schneider
Bartlein
Badger
John Benjamin
etc

I think that I can get just as good accuracy from Green Mountain or Douglas, most of the time. But why take chances when of lots of time and money is going to be spent.

Trade the Ruger for a Howa or a Savage.....you'll spend less money than a rebarrel and have a better gun in the end. You have a better chance of accuracy that way as well!

A factory Ruger shooting in the 8s isn't all that bad. I wish I had your optimism when you say you know it can and should do better.