I have a ruger m77 300 win mag shooting fedaral 165gn factory ammo. Problem is only getting 3to 4 in. groups at 100yds. I noticed the stock is tight to the barrel on one side and I can slide a $1 in the other side. Is this the problem, should I sand the stock, if so whats the best way? It has a burris scope and 3.5lb trigger .

It could be that the stock has moved that much. If so, the only fix is to remove material from the offending side via barrel channel scraper, or with sandpaper and a proper sized dowel,or even a deep socket. That will take a bit of elbow grease.
First off, I'd loosen the action screws and make sure the action is settled in the stock straight. It is kinda easy to get a Ruger tightened into the stock crooked. If you still have pressure on only one side, then it's time to remove some wood. Don't forget to re-seal the stock afterward, so leave a bit of room for finish!

I can weigh in on this, as well. I'd first do everything Bug said, as some of our Rugers weren't totally seated in the stock and some of the action screws weren't totally torqued.

My M77MKII .270 win had a problem where it would group 2-3 shots tightly then fling the last one out as a flyer. It turned out the (pencil thin) barrel was heating up as I shot and actually moving to touch the stock. I'll have to give my dad credit on discovering that one. The resulting contact would throw the last shot off. After removing some wood from the barrel channel, the problem is gone. (Though, I'll have to do it again anyway because I'm planning on rebarreling to a slightly heavier contour...)

I guess to paraphrase, I would check obvious factors first before I went to carving out my stock.

Whats the best thing to use to reseal the stock?

quote:

Originally posted by Bug:
It could be that the stock has moved that much. If so, the only fix is to remove material from the offending side via barrel channel scraper, or with sandpaper and a proper sized dowel,or even a deep socket. That will take a bit of elbow grease.
First off, I'd loosen the action screws and make sure the action is settled in the stock straight. It is kinda easy to get a Ruger tightened into the stock crooked. If you still have pressure on only one side, then it's time to remove some wood. Don't forget to re-seal the stock afterward, so leave a bit of room for finish!

AS64,

You can reseal with any gunstock finish, but if you're going to that much trouble, you might as well glass bed the whole thing. You can relieve enough wood so that the barrel fits well with a single layer of masking tape on it, then glass the barrel channel. When you take the tape off, your barrel will be free-floated and the stock will be resealed too.