Can Old Rugers Shoot?

M

murphy

Guest
Have been offered a Ruger77 in 22/250 at a very reasonable price. Rifle is the one with the tang safety and adjustable trigger,has heavy barrel about number5 profile and very nicely figured walnut stock. Rifle is in virtually unfired condition and I know these things are always a gamble, but is there a chance that I get a good shooter or am I:confused: heading for certain disaster. Have never owned a Ruger or any other sort of 22/250 for that matter. Maybe some one out there knows if they are any good? Murphy.
 
I've shot 2 tang type and 1 stainless mark 2 heavy rugers in 22-250.

The stainless MK2, shoots .3 groups consistently, one of the steel ones does as well. The other steel one, was a mess.

It shot .5, but ruined every piece of brass. There was excess chamber dimensions. I sent it back to Ruger and they said it had been over pressurized. I mic'd the outside of the barrel at the breach and there was no bulge, signs of extrusion, so I called bull and concluded a bad chamber from the factory. I set the barrel back and rechambered it. It shoots .3 now also, but the barrel stamp is in a weird spot, an aesthetic problem.

I also looked at one that had erosion visible from the naked eye, and the tang safety had worn the blue off around it,otherwise it looked mint, but It was probably shot out.

I think they are a handsome rifle, but it may or may not shoot like a 22-250 deserves.

Look it over good.

Ben
 
Ruger 77

Hi:

Buy it and have it rebarreled. If you do not want to take the chance, let me know where it is. I need an action.

Good luck,

Zeke
 
Murphy, it's a crap shoot.

I have an old tang safety 77V with a heavy barrel in 22-250. It was a shooter right out of the box. I got into reloading with that gun and it got better. It really began to shine though when I bedded it. IT WOKE UP! To this day it is a solid .5 gun. My smallest group even went under .25 for 5 shots. The weak point, on the older Rugers anyway, is the barrel. Ruger didn't make their own barrels and farmed that out. Lowest bidder made them for Ruger. That kinda took quality control out of their hands. My barrel is showing some throat erosion and heat cracking but my last group was in the high.3's. I'll keep shooting it till it goes south.
 
When they first came out I bought a limited run with open sights in .257 Roberts. Sent it to Micro Sight and had it rechambered for .257 Roberts Ackley Improved, and skim bedded. That rifle shot well under .5" for years with 75 grain hollow points and H-380. It killed ground squirrels by the hundreds with a Leupold 3-9x scope. They can be good shooters with minimal work. I prefer the tang safety, it never failed. It was a new rifle when rechambered, so I don't know how well it would have shot if left alone. Certainly the factory barrel was a good one (probably made by E.R. Shaw in those days).
 
Old Ruger.

Thanks Guys for your help. I will most likely buy the old Ruger,with that pretty stock it would be a good candidate for rebarreling even if it doesent shoot. Reguards Murphy.:)
 
ruger info

most of the old tang type ruger 77's that had a varmint barrel, were douglas barrels. douglas is an old barrel maker. i have one in 22-250 also and it is my confidence gun. shot the old barrel out and about 3 years ago i rebarreled it. guess what i put on it? yepper another douglas in CM and it shoots just as good as its predicesor did. years ago there was a smith that lived close to me and he would only work with a shilen or douglas barrel. according to him they were the straightest ones made. Greg Moyer
 
Fireball Fred said:
most of the old tang type ruger 77's that had a varmint barrel, were douglas barrels. douglas is an old barrel maker. i have one in 22-250 also and it is my confidence gun. shot the old barrel out and about 3 years ago i rebarreled it. guess what i put on it? yepper another douglas in CM and it shoots just as good as its predicesor did. years ago there was a smith that lived close to me and he would only work with a shilen or douglas barrel. according to him they were the straightest ones made. Greg Moyer
Click to expand...

I had a "match grade" Shilen SS blank, ,257 1:10 remington contour in my lathe a few weeks ago that was curved .100 in the center. It looked like a jumprope when looking down the bore turning in the lathe. I chambered it anyway, and it shoots 1.500" group at best. I've ordered a new barrel for that rifle, and yes, it's another Shilen. if this ones bad, I'll let y'all know.

Maybe in the old days, this would not have happened.
 
Ruger using Douglas barrels?

Hi Fireballfred:

This question has come up before. I called Douglas to ask if they ever made barrels for Ruger and I was told NO. Perhaps this is some type of trade secret that the public must not know. When I was having problems with my 77V, Ruger told me that their barrels were made by Wilson Arms.

perhaps the truth lies somwhere inbetween these stories!

Good shooting,

Zeke
 
Over a 30 year period I have never seen a Ruger VT in .220 Swift that would not put 5 shots at 100 yards that a dime would not cover so I bought their New Mod. 77 MKII VT Target Gray with the 2 stage trigger in .220 Swift and have not been disappointed. :)

"Aim small miss small", :D

gt40
 
From what I gather, Ruger accuracy in the newer guns (M77 MK2) can be a crap shoot - some excellent, some good, some not so good. I bought a second hand tang safety M77 in 25-06 back in the 1980s which would shoot max. loadings with 115 gr. hunting bullets into .5 consistently. Perhaps my imagination, but the sporter barrel on that rifle seemed to be a bit heavier contour than the current M77 Mk 2s.
 
Wilson made barrels for Ruger...

Some of them shot very well after a bedding, float the magazing box, remove the center screw, and trigger job.

Good luck!
 
John Kielly said:
Man, I'd hate to bed anything with that crazy angled front takedown screw. M17s were about enough for my patience & that back screw had hardly any angle to it at all. :eek:
Click to expand...

You need a solid steel pillar that sandwiches between the floorplate hinge and action, machined to the correct length and epoxied to the stock. Metal to metal is the key with the Rugers.

I had hell with one of these, and I finally figured it out, after bedding it 3 times.
 
M77's can be good

Had a M77 in '06 that shot around .5 MOA.

Don't know if this is true or not but I was told in the late 80's Ruger was purchasing their barrels and sometimes were using barrels from companies that made match grade barrels.

Anyway mine shot well until I had shot over 2,000 rounds through it and it sufferred from a mountain fall while I was sheep hunting in the Yukon. It was never the same and I sold it after that.
 
I have a tang safety m77v in a 220 swift that is an honest .5 gun. I have set it back twice and its ready agin. I may just screw a new tube on it. I get around 1500 out of a throat, pushin on it pretty hard. I keep it super clean and that seems to make the difference.
 
lilabner .25-06 ruger sporter

Hi, I've noticed that ALL the tang safety 77's in .25-06 sporter barrells had heavier contours than most of the other calibers' sporter barrells.
Steve Long
 
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