NDR Ruger m77 upgrade

R

rob paetzold

Active member
I know this is not a rifle site but I have always been impressed with the knowledge of the people who post here.
Here goes- long story short, I purchased back a tange safety ruger m77 30/06 I sold to a buddy of mine 20 years ago to pay my college tuition. I had already replaced it with another .30 caliber rifle.
I got this rifle back for less than I got for it -so it was a deal I could not say no to. I want to completely accurasize it.
I was thinking of rebarrel it to a 270 or a 25/06 for whitetails, varmints maybe someday a muley. I have come to expect all rifles to shoot like my remington 700s. I was planning on a match grade barrel, synthetic stock and trigger. Can this rifle be turned into a 1/2 moa rifle? Next question who should I send it to?
 
Hey Rob.

I don't have the answer. I'm a Ruger M77 owner and a Remington m700 owner (both primarily for whitetail deer).

From what I read when I we researching, the M700 and M70 are more easily accurized (look on police and military sniper forums - the folks that need to know about accuracy). The M77 fans say that they are good for what they are used for. The snipers and sharpshooters say they aren't any good for long range accuracy.

I like my M77 because it is lightweight and can carry it over hill and over dale and it weighs nothing. It kills deer just fine. It is also a nice looking gun with beautiful internals. The machine work is amazing compared to my Remington. $65 worth of trigger job (hone the sear I think) and glass bedding from a local smith made it into a nice a gun to shoot. Stock Ruger triggers suck stones (rough as gourd guts as someone said the other day - LOL), that is one thing most people agree on. Bill Ruger is more concerned about lawyers and safety than an optimal hunting rifle or perfect accuracy. 12 pound pull, creep to beat the band. My gun is not inherently accurate due to the spaghetti thin lightweight barrel (think mountain rifle). It heats up and deforms minutely affecting accuracy. It is not a target rifle, but on deer it is fine. My dad has an older m77 with the standard barrel and he doesn't have this issue.

I don't know enough about stock M700 to say. My M700 was modified by the original owner (another locally well known local smith did the work). The trigger was reworked, and it is a dream, breaks like a glass rod, no creep. The barrel was shortened, crowned, and fluted. It sits on a cheap factory composite (plastic) stock with horrible almost non existent bedding. This gun will put little holes on top of each other or side by side all day long, and it doesn't have as much felt recoil. I sat down one day after getting it and put a box of cheap federal shells through it and I was amazed - incredibly accurate. I'm not a target shooter and don't have a range setup so I can't tell you MOA measurements, but I can say it is damn accurate - more than my M77 in controlled conditions. On deer, I don't think it matters - think about the size of the kill zone.

My two "complaints" about the M700 are 1) it doesn't seem to feed as reliably and 2) the trigger parts are stamped and look cheap. Now are stamped parts bad, I doubt it. They probably make manufacturing and parts swapping a dream. I'm sure it contributes to the low cost.

The M700 is my go to gun now. That being said, if I hadn't bought it, the m77 would still be great.

A lot of guys (my dad among them) would rather have a 30-06. It is a very versatile cartridge. Jack O'Conner might argue - LOL.

Sorry, this doesn't answer most of your questions. I guess what I'd say is use your M77 as is, maybe a trigger job or bedding. If you want to get into the accurizing game, pick up a Winchester M70 or a Remington M700. There are lots more options for them.

Charlie
 
I have 7 rugers....1 -7mag new style 1 -30-06 old style rechambered to 358 Hawk and 2 -77 internationals with the full stocks in 308 and 250 savage, 1 -77/22 bolt and 2 -10/22's (1 with heavy barrel and fajen stock). What you are wanting to do will cost 12-1500 more than likely. Ruger 77's are basically a Mauser action with a semi controlled feed which I like much more than Rem. 700's. All this said, the most accurate rifle I ever owned (sold it to Brian F here on the site) was a Browning Stainless Stalker A-bolt with BOSS. It was 30-06 and it would shoot anything into 1 hole almost when the BOSS was adjusted to the load. If I was looking for a rifle for your stated uses, I'd try to find an A-bolt in 7-08 or 257 Roberts with the BOSS system. Both are heavy enough for mule deer and have lighter bullets available for "slow" varminting. If you are thinking prairie dog town massacree's...get a 22-250 . My re-boring to 358 Hawk was 450 bucks about 10 years ago and I had a break put on it and the barrel and action Cryo'd. That thing will put shot after shot into an inch at 100..and it doesn't matter if you pop off 3 or 30 so the barrel is hot enough to melt solder. If you want a super accurate heavy barrel gun on the cheap, get a Savage Varmint gun in a deer caliber with their new Accu Trigger.
 
This was my first center fire rifle I bought in 1984 I guess its kind of nostalgic. Like I said I sold it and now I bought it back for 175.00 so I could’nt say no.

I already own a purpose built prairie dog gun in 22-250, a walking varmint rifle .243, a pre 64 model 70 30 government, a M40A3 replica .308 and remington sendro in 7 mm mag. with the exception of the model 70 all shoot well under a inch at 100 yards.

I figured I do’nt have hardly anything into this gun and I would like a 270 or 25/06 and I like the machine work on this rifle

Not alot of gunsmiths want to work on rugers they all like remington 700s
 
I had my work done by Z-hat..Fred Zeglin is the guy. He is out west and has been featured in a lot of rifle magazines. He could do anything you want done. Check out some of his Hawk calibers if you like to reload.

www.zhat.com (I think)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top