Back in the early 90's, Ruger had a limited edition rifle in SS with a synthetic stock and wood insert panels chambered for 7.62x39. This was a limited run for Davidson's, one of the largest Ruger distributors. I picked one of these up then, but was disappointed in the accuracy, avg. 3" @ 100yds scoped. Rumor had it that the bbls. were .308 instead of .311. I have heard this to be true, and untrue..I'm not sure because I never slugged mine. The only ammo available at that time was Chinese and some some Hungarian or Romanian. As much as I loved the idea, I traded the gun off for something else. The idea of a cheap to feed, but relatively accurate rifle stuck with me. I have purchased some accurate Mausers, and even had a Mosin 91/30 that was pretty accurate, but I still wanted a 7.63x39 for some reason. There were a few "Mauser Mini X" rifles imported, but I never ran across any here. Back in 01 or 02, Davidson's had another run of the 77MKII in 7.62x39, this time in blue with the old style synthetic stock. I picked one up, and topped it with a Tasco MilDot Varminter scope. With WOLF hollow points, it would shoot a tad under 1 1/2" with 4 rounds (what the magazine holds). Messy divorce proceedings forced me to sell this rifle, as well as others, to pay lawyer fees. I sold this rifle to my friend for $300 with the scope. This rifle had to be one of my most missed. Yesterday he asked me if I wanted to buy it back for $225 sans scope. Of course I couldn't say yes fast enough. These rifles are pretty hard to find, and I had considered getting a CZ527 in this caliber. He picked up some Barnual hollow points and had been getting 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 groups with it at 100yds on near perfect outings. I am anxious to do some handloading for it and see if I can get some good coyote rounds, preferebly soft points, to hit the 1" mark. I'll keep you posted, and recommend picking up a rifle chambered for 7.62x39 for loads of low cost fun.
Edited to add that I lightly stoned and polished the trigger, and did the "washer bedding" trick to the rifle before I ever shot it. Also, the groups quoted are the best of the outings. The rifle isn't consistently putting in that kind of accuracy, but will do more than one group in the better range. When fouled bad from the dirty ammo, or when warmed up considerably, it does more around the 2 to 2 1/4"-ish range. I didn't want to convey that I had this Buck Rogers laser beam rifle.
But, with that said, and the way it shoots with cheap WOLF ammo, the rifle shows great potential, I think, to be a 1" shooter with handloads.
hans1911
(formerly GHILLIE)
Edited to add that I lightly stoned and polished the trigger, and did the "washer bedding" trick to the rifle before I ever shot it. Also, the groups quoted are the best of the outings. The rifle isn't consistently putting in that kind of accuracy, but will do more than one group in the better range. When fouled bad from the dirty ammo, or when warmed up considerably, it does more around the 2 to 2 1/4"-ish range. I didn't want to convey that I had this Buck Rogers laser beam rifle.
But, with that said, and the way it shoots with cheap WOLF ammo, the rifle shows great potential, I think, to be a 1" shooter with handloads.hans1911
(formerly GHILLIE)
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