Congratulate me please, and then help me.

[ChefJeff1]

I bought my first deer/elk rifle today. A ruger M77 in .270. It came with a weaver 4x scope but I upgraded to a 3x9x40, I forget the brand. Any way, this is my first rifle and I have a few questions. 1. Is it ok to dry fire? 2. What is involved to remove the action from the stock for cleaning and polishing? My new rifle is used with some "memories" on the stock. The blueing is good except for the muzzle. The cost----$275 + $115 for the new scope. My local shooting club has an event in 2 weeks for sighting in. Thanks, Jeff

The scope is a simmons master series prohunter-3-9x40. Should be a good rig.

 

[Eightball]

I'll be the first to congratulate you! Nice find!

But, I'll let someone who has actually done the "action removing process" be the first to tell you about that. Might help you out more.

 

[jlacy]

Weaver

I possibly be interested in that Old weaver 4X. If it is a K4. Let me know.

 

[redranger1]

To remove the action...

you must release the magazine floor to expose two of the three screws. You remove the two from the trigger guard and then one from the from of the floor plate hinge and then the action should come right out of the stock. Good luck with a great find!

 

[langenc]

When you put it back together do NOT tighten as tight as a muscleman can. Those screws only need 50 IN pounds and the rear one probably 35 IN pounds. Tighten them both until they draw things back together and then tighten the FRONT screw first.

Dont wait for the club 'sight in days' as it will be a zoo. Go asap.

PSm congratulations-and save the brass-you will be reloading 'for you know it.

 

[nipprdog]

I upgraded to a 3x9x40, I forget the brand

thats not a good sign.

 

[Terrierman]

And yes it is OK to dry fire your M77. Remember to keep the rifle aimed in a safe direction at all times, as well as all of the other safety rules.

 

[ChefJeff1]

Thanks, that was fast. I'm going to dry fire all night woooo-hooooo!. Did I get a bad scope?

 

[Ifishsum]

Not necessarily, I've had great service from several $100 range Bushnell scopes. Sight it in, practice with it and enjoy it!

 

[rockstar.esq]

First things first, the dry fire debate rages on. My prediliction is towards using snap caps which are cartridge dummies which cushion the firing pin to prevent damage. The comment regarding your scope speaks more to trust in "name brands" vs. imports of unknown quality. Many folks feel that the best optics you can afford is the only course of action. Others (myself included) will opine that whereas cheaper optics usually aren't made for constant adjustability, they will frequently hold a zero once properly set. I'd suggest that you shoot quite a bit to see how the whole rig performs for you. If nobody's mentioned it to you, I'd suggest that you try a few different loads to see which one your rifle likes. Although costly to try all the availible loadings, I'd suggest you start with just trying different bullet weights since the twist rate of your rifle is likely optimized at one particular weight and will thusly shoot tighter groups with that bullet. After you've narrowed the weights down, you can then try out whatever particular load possesess the characteristics you're looking for.

 

[Dienekes]

You could fill a few freight trains with the deer and elk that have been shot using old Weaver 4 power scopes.

Once bought a Sears proprietary Winchester 670 '06 with a Tasco scope mounted. Threw away the scope and found an old K4 at a gun show for $20. Still using it 21 years later.

Always like to have a couple around, but people are starting to figure out how good they are and jacking the prices up again.

 

[MachIVshooter]

The scope is a simmons master series prohunter-3-9x40. Should be a good rig.

Should work for most hunting situations. The difference between economy and high-end optics are subtle, but become important for longer ranges and smaller targets. better scopes will be clearer, exhibit less glare, have cleaner (and usually finer) crosshairs and you see less mirage.

For exaple, I have a Bushnell Banner 6-18x 50mm ($150) on my .223 and a Weaver V-16 classic 4-16x 44mm ($380) on my .17 Rem. Out to 300 yards or so, both work fine. But the fat crosshairs of the Bushnell begin to cover praire rats at 400 yards and farther, and the images become less clear-especially on hot days, when mirage is very noticeable. My serious hunting rifles are all equipped with Leupold glass, mostly VX-III's.

My suggestion is to upgrade when you can afford it and plop that Simmons on a .22 or some such.