Gunsmithing ruger m77 action for a build ?

[cjmac1988]

so , is it worth the money to build a custom 243 on a ruger m77 action? and is there anything that can be done to make the action a little smoother ?

 

[nashlaw]

Not being smart with you, but this has been hashed out many times. Probably why there are no responses to your question. The Ruger is reliable, but not conducive to precision, generally. Also, what do you mean by "custom"- hunting rifle or longrange boomdinger?

 

[cjmac1988]

oh.... well was wanting to go with a magnum or a tad bit bigger barrel for varmint hunting { coyotes , and others pests } maby hogs. with a mcmillan m40a1 style stock . so your saying thay are not really worth the trouble, i have a tikka and rem 700 . wanting something different tho

 

[Chad44]

I'm doing a build right now on a ruger m77. the main problem is the aftermarket parts are hard to come by. ie bottom metal, scope rails and stocks. I've found all that stuff. PTG is just starting production on the stealth DBM. they also make a 20 MOA base as does ken farrel. I too choose the McMillian as not many other choices. I talked to several smiths and most said that a ruger is fine to use and it would shoot great. They said that if they were building an F class rifle it wouldnt' be a top choice but a lot of others wouldn't either. for hunting and long range steel you'll be fine with the ruger. A lot of smiths don't work on them because they don't have a ruger fixture and they don't get enough in to justify the cost of getting one. The integrated recoil lug has its issues with some but once properly bedded it is fine. I, like you, wanted to use the ruger action for something different and mine has sentimental value. I found several guys on longrangehunting.com that had built rugers and they shot lights out. hope this helps.

 

[Chad44]

I forgot to mention that the smith I chose is Greg tannel at gre-tan rifles. He came highly recommended by a lot of folks.

 

[kiff]

The only thing better on that build would be a PTG one piece fluted Bolt .

 

[Chad44]

Do you guys make one for a m77 mark 2?

 

[cjmac1988]

anyone have a few pics ?

 

[cjmac1988]

and chad did the action loosen up at get not so ' sticky ' ?

 

[AK10mm]

For a scope rail, just contact Murphy Precision, does great work and totally custom, I've had him do several, top notch work.....


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[Chad44]

This action was bought new as a 243 about 18 years ago. It's had tons of rounds through it and the bolt cycles good. It's not like my savage but it never gets stuck or anything. I'd love to show some pics when it's done. It's at the smith now. Waiting on parts to arrive and those wait times are ridiculous. Greg Tannel ensured me this rifle will shoot great. His exact words were "if you own the action use it". This rifle had sentimental value to me. I killed my first deer with it years ago and my daughter just killed hers last year. I know I'm changing most of it but the action remains.

 

[sinister]

The best Ruger target rifles ever built, specifically for the United States Palma Team to compete in the World Long Range Championships (shot every four years):

Originally posted by Bart B. Posted - Oct 18 2005 : 09:02:32

Regarding Ruger's Palma rifles....

In 1990, two firearms companies contacted the US Palma Team Coach and offered to make 20 Palma rifles for the 16-person team. Here's what happened.

Remington was first offering their 40X target rifle in .308 Win. But the coach said no, thanks. He (as well as other knowledgable highpower competitors) knew that that round receiver was notorious for working loose in a few hundred shots from epoxy bedding due to barrel torque. And its extractor was not all that reliable. Plus the Remington trigger wasn't too repeatable. And finally their barrel quality wasn't all that great and the 1:10 twist they used was way too fast for 150-gr. bullets.

Along came Ruger; they offered to build 20 rifles. The coach said to go ahead and the team would test them. Ruger had no idea what a Palma rifle was. They called around and asked people they thought were experts what should be done. Nobody at Ruger knew what a Palma barrel had to do so they guessed. Nobody at Ruger knew what a good barrel had to be made like to shoot no worse than 3/4th MOA at 1000 yards. A black powder barrel maker, Green Mountain, was contracted to make barrels. Ruger had no idea that the best barrels for Palma rifles were then made by Border, Obermeyer or Kreiger and that's what the team members had on their own rifles. Two barrel types were made by Green Mountain; some with 6 grooves and others with 4.

Ruger modified their Model 77 receiver such that the front stock screw was vertical (not angled) and welded in a loading platform for single-shot operation. They designed a new trigger, too. A new stock style was made with a height adjustable cheekpiece. The stocks were all the same length of pull without any adjustment for different sizes of shooters. And the pistol grip wasn't all that good for proper trigger control.

These rifles were given to the US Palma Team mid-summer of 1991 and were tested by the 16-person US Palma Team. Out of 20 Ruger rifles, one shot fair, one was average and the rest horrible. Triggers were not very repeatable. None of the 6-groove barrels shot well. And the fixed length of pull didn't fit half the team members very well at all. I checked out the triggers on three of them and they were pretty bad. People noticed how rough the bores were when they cleaned them.

So at the 1992 World Championships, 15 team members shot their own rifles and 1 shot the best Ruger rifle because his own rifle went sour.

These rifles may still be in a vault at the NRA Whittington Center at Raton, New Mexico.

Note that Ruger's receivers are one of the least stiff ones on the market. They do bend a lot from recoil forces whipping the barreled action.

For factory rifles, seems the Savage ones shoot the most accurate. I'd go there long before even speaking the name "Ruger" out loud as a recommendation for a target rifle; it would hurt my mouth.

Last edited by Bart B.; December 28, 2009 at 05:11 PM.

 

[turbo54]

No reason an M77 can't shoot great when all tuned up and properly barreled.

Top end smiths will be hard to find because the 77 is rarely used for target rifles though.

Personally, I think it's a foolish endeavor unless there was a really compelling reason, such as high sentimental value or rules regulations.

If Mauser style controlled round feed and integral recoil lugs make you horny, I'd highly recommend a Win70 or FN SPR. They are great, smiths commonly work on them, and parts are much more readily available.

 

[Straight Shooter]

That action will work fine for a 243.

 

[cjmac1988]

that being said , theres just something the ruger that i like .ik might just bee that what everyone in my family swears by and most of what we have always had . and like said thay are just about bulletproof .

 

[cjmac1988]

win 70 is hard to find and the ones iv found are not worth what people want in the shape its in

 

[Randfal]

Go ahead and build it. Every factory action needs some kinda help. Just look at the list of things that everyone says you have to do to a Remington action. Same things can be done to a ruger. Most people here are more familiar with Remington based actions and change is always difficult. I bought a Ruger MII 223 varmint rifle back in 1996 that was a tack driver. At that time, there wasn't anywhere near the selection of factory heavy barrel rifles that there is today. I bought every magazine with a varmint rifle review in it that I could find. There were quite a few shoot out comparison articles and at that time, Savage and Ruger were always in the top two slots. No Remington custom shop gun were compared of course. I decided I was going by the a Savage but couldn't get past the plastic stocks they had so I bought the Ruger. It was a great choice. I only have one Ruger left today and its just a 35WhelenAI moose gun. The limited aftermarket for Rugers keeps me from owning more. Kinda like an old Dodge 360 engine. Not a bad engine, but anything you want to do to it seems to cost twice as much and hard to find a good mechanic that know what to do with them. 350 Chevy(Remington) now there's an engine that's cheap to buy parts for and any monkey can work on one. Get the picture? Ruger really blew an opportunity with those Palma rifles. That's been over twenty years ago and let's hope they learned from there mistakes.