Rings for the Ruger M-77

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9mmepiphany

9mmepiphany

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I have a client who has a Ruger M-77 in .338 Win Mag...he picked it before I met him

It came with factory rings, but they are 1" rings and he wants to use a 30mm tube Leupold scope and of course no one has a set locally. As a matter of fact, a well respected local gunsmith mentioned that the factory rings had had issues with alignment on the receiver bases

He suggested Millett rings, because they offered some windage adjustment.

I know Millett got swallowed by some larger company a while back, but I guess they are available again.

Has anyone had experience using them on the Ruger factory bases?
Where did you buy them?
Were you satisfied with them?

There isn't a huge hurry, he's using his .375 H&H, built on a Springfield '03, in Alaska this coming week.

Thanks for any help
 
Call Ruger and say you want to exchange the 1-inch rings for 30mm rings. No charge, they even pay shipping both ways.

Nothing wrong with Ruger rings. I tried Millett Ruger rings on a Ruger rifle and did not like them at all, frail attachment design and they don't return-to-zero. Ruger rings are anvil strong and do return-to-zero.
 
Thanks for the responses so far

I'm leaning toward the Warne rings, because I have friends who seem to like them...didn't know they made ring sets for the Ruger M77

I glanced over an article mentioning Talley rings, but their site doesn't list ones for the Ruger. Has anyone had experience with these.

This guy just want's the best rings out there, he'd rather cry once than have a problem down the road.

Thanks again
 
Alignment issues with Ruger ringmounts could happen I suppose. It is a mass produced product. I have never seen it. I believe most problems with Ruger's mounting system are operator induced. Do not mix ring tops or swap their orientation as they are shipped. Make sure the dovetail is squarely seated/bottomed in the receiver cutout before tightening the mounting screw. Do not overtighten any of the ring or mount screws. I don't lap Ruger rings as a matter of course, just hasn't been necessary. I have seen all these either singly or in combination with the initial diagnosis being "it's out of alignment", or something to the effect that the system and/or Rugers are junk. Just not so. If the cutouts are truely out of alignment, Ruger will fix that problem, for free. If the rings aren't proper, Ruger will fix that problem too, for free. If you don't understand the system and/or install the parts incorrectly, get disgusted and call Rugers junk, Ruger, or anyone else, can't really fix that. The fact is Ruger's mounting system is rock solid with a minimum of parts. It's saves you from a whole bunch of hassles and expense and is a testament to the engineering genius of Bill Ruger. I have mounted new scopes on new rifles on several occasions and had to make only one or two inch elevation adjustments to zero the rifle where I wanted it. I have removed and reinstalled scopes in their rings without changing zero. Ruger doesn't make that claim and it doesn't always work out that way, but it is entirely possible, perhaps probable if you are consistent in what you are doing. The only complaint I have is that Ruger 30mm rings don't come in "low", which I wanted for a straight tube scope.
 
I have more than a handful of Ruger rifles and have never seen any misalignment issues with the Ruger rings. I tend to use the Leupold 1" extra-lows where I can, but I would not hesitate at all to use the Ruger rings if they had the tube diameter/height dimensions that I needed.
 
The 1" Ruger rings looked very sturdy to me...but this gunsmith seemed pretty insistent...maybe I'll give Ruger a chance to make it right first

He has a 4.5-16x with a 40mm objective...so I'm thinking the high rings
 
A 40mm obj. shouldn't require high rings, 50mm maybe. Might even be able to use low rings depending on the length of the scope. Ruger ships rifles with a medium set. Also, just as an FYI. To change from High to Med, Med to low, you only need to replace one ring, moving the shorter front ring to the rear and vice-versa for increasing height. Another particularly elegant aspect to the whole system.

If your gunsmith recommends rings with windage adjustment with Ruger's mounting system, he doesn't "get it". Applying experience with other mounting systems that the Ruger system has engineered the need for out of the equation. It will just add more parts, increasing cost and complexity, decreasing reliability and strength. Why not just drill and tap the receiver and mount a weaver rail? You'll eliminate all the design features he doesn't like. If the alignment is off then it is the drill operators mistake and he can "correct" with a windage adjustable mount and lapping the rings into alignment. Kind of a waste of money, time, and energy to arrive at an inferior setup.
 
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A 40mm objective should clear the barrel with medium rings and maybe could use low rings, assuming that the ocular lens clears the bolt handle.
 
Warne also makes QD Rings for the M77. I have them on my RSM in 375H&H. Work great. Only complaint is they have the lever on the right side, no way to change it, and the short bolt handle leaves a little less room to clear the lever with big fingers. Other than that, great rings that do return to zero well.
 
Warne rings are a good option if you want the quick release feature. Ruger shipped these with the Boddington series #1s for just that reason. If you have a quarter you can do the same thing although not as quickly :).
I have also seen standard mount screws modified with a lever. Done correctly they work just fine and the levers are on the left side of the action.
 
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This has been really helpful guys.

While I'm attracted to the QR feature, I'm thinking clearance might be more important when encountering dangerous game.

I'll give Ruger a call on Monday
 
To change from High to Med, Med to low, you only need to replace one ring, moving the shorter front ring to the rear and vice-versa
Click to expand...

Sam, are you sure the M-77 uses rings of differing height? I know some Ruger products do, the Super Redhawk comes to mind. But, I have a M-77V in .243 and a M-77 MkII in .223, and I'm certain on those rifles both rings are the same height.

9mm, go the free route first with Ruger rings. I'm confident your client will be satisfied. If the money is burning a hole in his pocket, he can always drop the $90 it will take to get the Warne aftermaket rings, down the road.
 
i have the low rings on mine with a bushnell elite 3200 ...40mm objective clears and the low rings make the cheek weld that much better

Sam, are you sure the M-77 uses rings of differing height? I know some Ruger products do, the Super Redhawk comes to mind. But, I have a M-77V in .243 and a M-77 MkII in .223, and I'm certain on those rifles both rings are the same height.
Click to expand...

know for a fact...use the ruger ring finder on its website...i just ordered some
 
Sam, are you sure the M-77 uses rings of differing height? I know some Ruger products do, the Super Redhawk comes to mind. But, I have a M-77V in .243 and a M-77 MkII in .223, and I'm certain on those rifles both rings are the same height.
Click to expand...

I'm sure too...all you have to do is look at the relative heights of the receiver rings
 
I have had issues with my factory rings. I contacted Ruger and they insisted I must purchase a new pair on the website. I spoke with two different people. I have seen people say that Ruger will swap them out, but I have had no luck (I specifically asked).
 
Ruger makes rings in 4 heights. Lows, medium, high and extra high. They come from the factory with a high ring to put on the rear and a medium for the front. This gives you a medium height. If you want higher or lower you only have to buy 1 ring. Always use 1 size taller on the rear to get the height you want. The height ring you have on the front is considered the height you have.

The Redhawk and Mini-14 will use the same rings, but you use 2 of the same height.

At one time Ruger would let you return the ring you did not want and they would swap it out as long as it was new and still in the original packaging. I've never tried it myself and have read conflicting reports on the internet as to whether they still do this.
 
For the already answered questions, if you have a Ruger rifle receiver that has integral mounts the rings are most certainly of different heights.

tnieto2004- I don't know how the details of the conversation you had w/ Ruger went but this is the only time I have ever of heard this happening. Were they new rings? I have numerous times called Ruger and told them I wanted low rings instead of the medium normally shipped with a new rifle, they asked for my address and the serial# of my gun so they could match the finish, said send the rings you don't want back, and they sent me new ones. They didn't require receipt of the old ones before they sent them either as I didn't send them back anyway. If they sent me a mailer I would have. As a side note, Ruger used to ship w/ new guns, and sell separately, ring sets packaged as pairs. Now they are sold individually as you only need one ring to change heights.
 
As Kernel stated "contact Ruger and exchange them". I'm very fond of ruger long guns and believe that Ruger rings should be used on Ruger rifles. Why mess with what works...
 
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