Ruger M77 Help Needed?

S

SAshooter

Guest
Hi Guys. . . .

I am in need of some help with a Ruger M77 in .243win:confused:

A friend of mine who is a farm manager brought his rifle (m77 .243) to me so that I could help him fit a new scope(Leupold VX-III 3.5-10 x 40) that was given to him by a client. I fitted the new scope(boresighted) and went out to the range the next day. We were firing handloads which his father had developed for the rifle, the first two shots were close enough (1 inch or a little more). Then I adjusted the scope to zero it and from there it went all crazy!! At this point my friend informed me that the client who gave him the scope had dropped his rifle and thats why he gave the scope to him!

Not knowing how good the handloads were, we went and bought a box of factory ammo and tested the rifle again. The rifle was still spraying them all over the paper. My conclusion was that the scope must have been faulty.....

One week later when I had the time again I took that Leupold scope off and put a cheapy scope(4-10 ultraoptics - perfect working order) on that I had lying around in my reloading cupboard. Bought another box of factory ammo and loaded up some test loads with 100gr Sierra Gamekings.

I zeroed the rifle @ 25m just to make sure and then I proceeded to try the factory loads. . . 4 to 6 inches was the best I could get! So I moved over to my test handloads. . . . Also terrible... Best I could get was 3.5 inch group and the others were also out around 7 inches. All these loads were being fired @ 100m?

Any Ideas?? I did forget to mention I freefloated the Barrel and bedded the action after the first shoot.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks in advance

SAshooter
**Keep the Passion**
 
I tore my hair out trying to get a Ruger M77 in 7x57 to shoot well. I called everyone and tried all their tricks and it was still perpetually erratic. There is not enough time in life to spend trying to figure them out. I even had Ruger re-barrel mine. It was slightly better than before but still not good. I sold mine. I would bet that your two first good shots were a fluke and the norm are the sprayed rounds. We also have an M77 in .270 that is marginal at best. There are other rifles out there that will shoot quite well without all the endless tricks and wishful thinking only to be frustrated again. Remington or Savage or many other companies make rifles that seem to function better and are more predictable. Give Ruger a call and ask them what their acceptable accuracy is for your rifle. You will be surprised. My 7x57 was 3" at 50 yards!! A muzzleloader with iron sights can do better. For all the time and effort I spent and bullets and dies and powder, I could have probably bought a Kimber for gosh sakes! My vote is to move on. Sorry for the bad news. Good luck, Peter.
 
I have come to a conclusion about low and mid priced factory rifles. All production rifles are built to a price point. The engineers/designers have to decide how they are going to allocate the production costs; x amount for the bbl, x amount for the action, x amount for the trigger, x amount for the stock and x amount for cosmetics.

Savage seems to allocate more of the production costs to the things that have a large bearing on accuracy and less $$$ on things like pretty bolt handles, nice jeweling, action sculpting, etc.

Ruger seems to allocate more of the prod costs to cosmetics. The original M77 stock is a beauty to my eyes, only topped by the mid 70's Winchester Featherweight. The Ruger rec looks a lot better than the tubular recs of their competitors. The fit and finish on the M77 is very nice. After all these prod costs are accounted for their ain't many $$$ left to make the things actually shoot as good as they look.

I have seen at least one Ruger that would bust out the occasional great group but the accuracy was not there consistently and one group does not make a tackdriver.
 
Sadly all these points about ruger rem chester...Are true..The barrels, The chambering are critical to what is now considered accuracy...if the barrel is not a horrible fouler & it seems uniform from one end to the other A good gunsmith could do a small set back job & re-chamber it..Oh & it may be worth looking at the crown on the muzzle as well...Good luck, mike in ct
 
m77 problem

mate i would try a few more variations of factory ammo and try them until one shoots straight

i had a tikka in 6.5x55 and only federal 140gr sp would shoot under an inch
evry other eg, winchester,highland and remington just wouldnt shoot.

i went insane trying to figure out what it was i changed the scope twice then finally tried changing ammo around and what a huge difference

i also have a remington700 sendero in 300 win mag and its just got a simmons on it and the only factory ammo that shoots under an inch is pmc ammo and i cant buy it anymore. i put remington 180gr corelokts through it and i couldnt even hit an a3 size target at 100 mtrs.

try different ammo and try some differnt handloads.

alot of my mates have ruger m77s and they love em

but i would sugest bedding and floating the rifle

hope it helps
 
Thanks for the help....

I think what I am going to do is try a few other weight point and see if it doesn't at least come down to and inch at a hundred meters.

I checked it and the barrel seems to be a 1-10 twist, so I should be able to shoot the 80-90gr range of bullets?? Does anyone have any other possible suggestions?

If I can get this rifle to shoot 1-1.5 inches @ 100m I will be very happy!
 
accurising Ruger M 77

SA There has been in the past, on this forum, quite a deal of good useful info on the M 77. Search back. The Ruger forum then completes the picture, with action screw tension. Its all there mate. dont write this rifle off yet.
My 308 had every problem that is mentioned, but armed with the knowledge on how to rectify them and doing the work,and load development. it now shoots under MOA. No chamber job, barrel set back or expense. :)
 
I've been partly lucky with my Rugers--2 of 3 shoot great for me. A .25-06 I bought new for $137.50 that I've pillared and bedded shoots under .75" with Hornady 120 gr HPs over IMR 4831 with Win Lg Rifle primers and shoots factory W-W 120 gr positive expanding point loads even better. My second one, a '76 model in 7mm Rem Mag would shoot one bullet and one bullet only--the Nosler 160 gr Partition in handloads or Federal Premium factory loads with same bullet--under .6" from the bench. After I swapped out the barrel when accuracy fell off, I could only get it to shoot Nosler 150 gr Ballistic Tips, and just as accurately. And, by the way, it isn't bedded and has the original trigger. The 3rd one? Well, it is no longer in my possession. It was a MkII LH .270 Win. Even after bedding and a trigger job, it was still a "4 in one hole and one somewhere else" rifle. I didn't really like the rifle so I didn't go through all the nut-rolls to get it to shoot, and just sold it to a friend who had to have it--and yes, we're still friends.
 
Ruger rifles:

Hi:

The best thing that you can do is get a match grade barrel for your rifle.

I went through this years ago with a 77 "Varmint" rifle. The gun was terrrible for accuracy. I contacted Ruger and was told that the gun met the factory standard of 1.5" @ 50 yards. My barrel measured .259 in dia. I was told that my barrel was made by Wilson arms for a cost of $13.00.

I sold the gun to a friend who just had to have despite its faults.


If you like the gun, get it rebarreled with a good barrel bu a benchrest gunsmith and all will be well.


Zeke
 
How many time have I heard the same thing about the M77? I cannot understand why folks are so enamored with them. They usually shoot like crap, except for the occasional good one. They look nice but that is about it. I have owned two in my life and worked with quite a few more. Unfortunately, what you are experiencing is not unusual. The Remington and the Savage will shoot circles around the Ruger.
 
play with the action screw torque

I totally agree with blunt shooter. play with the damned angled action screw tension. Everyone one of the M77 has its own magic setting. Get some factory ammo, set the front screw a little lose and shoot a 3 shot group, then tighten it a quarter a turn and repeat. Keep doing this until the groups minimize and then never touch it again. I had a M77 Varmint in a 6mm Rem in the late 80s that drove me crazy trying to figure it out. I gave up on Rugers after that. I would rather have an ugly accurate rifle (like a Savage) than a beauty that doesn't group. Take it to the nearest gun show would be my recommendation.

luck, tiny
 
I had many Ruger 77s in the 1970s. Every one shot spectactularly well. I bought some vintage '70s Rugers a couple of years ago on GB.com and none of them would shoot (problem rifles? Shot out?) anyway, My MK II in 7mm RM circa 2,000 will shoot MOA.
 
Have you checked the scope mount screws? Sometimes on the Rugers the screws that clamp the rings to the receiver will bind as they're installed. They will feel tight until you start shooting and then they'll loosen up on ya. The "half moon" parts are what causes it, they will sometimes bind along the sides of the corresponding cuts in the receiver before they bottom out and tighten up like they're supposed to.
 
I had found I was having a problem with erratic groups and holding zero with my 22" sporter Ruger 77 MK II in .308 Win. The thing kicked like a mule. After a scope being ruined it became evident that the rings were coming lose, but were still stuck into the little half moon deal so there was no visual problem. I decided to try some new Burris rings. Not a problem since and the accuracy actually surprised me.
 
4-6" group?

something is loose or damaged.

Check bases, stock/action screws, crown damage, barrel, look down the bore

No way that's a bad chamber making it hit that bad
 
Got It Right. . . . .

Hi Guys. . . . .

Well I have good news..... I eventually found a load for this Rifle, with 85gr Sierra GameKings... 42gr S365 (med/slow powder)

This Load comes in with a +- 1" group at 100m and it fires that group very consistantly!

The proof in the pudding was that I took the Rifle up to him last week, when I was helping him out with clients (hunters). Two warthogs and one Impala were shot with this rifle/load combination. The two pigs in the head and the Impala in the shoulder!

So thanks for all the advise and help. . . . . .

SAshooter
Keep the Passion!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top