Ruger M77 Tang Safety...What To Do With It?

[Olympus]

Well fellas, it doesn't happen often, but it happened this time. I made a bad trade deal with a guy online for a Ruger M77 tang safety in 270. The pictures he sent didn't accurately show the condition and the guy's opinion of "great condition" and mine are apparently two different things. The gun arrived today and I've just been bummed all afternoon since opening it. Most of it is my fault for not insisting on better pictures and generally not being on my game, so I'm also bummed at myself.

Anyway, the stock is actually in pretty decent condition. Obvious handling marks from it being hunted with, but nothing that I would consider significant or unsightly. However, the photos showed the gun with a slip-on recoil pad and when I got the gun, I removed the pad to find that the stock is completely missing the original red recoil pad. A quick call to Ruger customer service found that they have no parts available for tang safety M77s. So I really don't like the slip-on recoil pad and was hoping to have a factory looking rifle, but it appears that's not going to be the case. I'm not sure what to do about the lack of a factory recoil pad.

Next comes the bluing. The barrel has several spots of bluing wear that I couldn't see in the photos. It's not rusted, which is a good I guess, but it's certainly been used. That's not really a make or break things as I expected there to be some degree of wear on the barrel. The crown does look to be a little rough in one spot, so I'm betting it has some affect on the accuracy. And I found that the trigger guard has a crack in it, starting at the outside edge and going about 1/3 of the way across the bottom. I can feel it with my finger and now that I know it's there, it's an eye sore to me. The slots on the screws for the factory rings or gnarled up, which is to be expected from who knows how many years of scope changes. And I measured the trigger pull at 5.5 lbs, which is excessively heavy to me and I'm not super excited about. I know I can put in a Timney if I decided to keep the gun though.

So essentially I don't really know what to do with the gun. If I could just get a factory recoil pad for it, I'd probably leave it like it is and use it as a wood rifles, provided I can get it to group reasonably well. I know I can install and fit an aftermarket recoil pad, but I was just really hoping to have a factory looking rifle. I can maybe look for a whole new replacement Ruger stock, but I'm betting that won't be cheap. I can probably find a replacement trigger guard to fix the cracked one, but again I'm guess that won't be cheap either. I could send the gun out to be rebarreled and reblued, which I wouldn't mind doing if the stock still had the factory pad. Or I can take a financial loss on the gun and sell it for whatever I can get for it and learn a valuable lesson from the experience. At this point, I'm just not sure what to do.

 

[.455_Hunter]

My local gunsmith fits recoil pads to gun such that they look like a perfect match. My 9mm RF Webley Garden Gun had no pad nor butt plate, so I had a red rubber pad fitted to give it a finished look. I would ask your gunsmith for his thoughts.

 

[Olympus]

I live in a pretty rural area and there no gunsmiths to speak of anywhere near me. I would have to ship the gun to a reputable gunsmith somewhere else, which I'm not opposed to doing.

 

[adcoch1]

Considering how many things that aren't what you want, I vote to send it down the road if you can recoup enough cash to not feel horrible. Otherwise just go shoot it. Working on rugers can be kind of expensive, so you need to be the judge of how deep your pockets are.

That said, I love the ruger m77 rifle I had, it was a 338 win mag, but I couldn't keep from breaking stocks, and I wanted a classic looking rifle so I sold it and got something else. Probably should have bought a synthetic stock for it though cause it would regularly shoot sub moa with the factory barrel...

 

[Olympus]

Considering how many things that aren't what you want, I vote to send it down the road if you can recoup enough cash to not feel horrible. Otherwise just go shoot it. Working on rugers can be kind of expensive, so you need to be the judge of how deep your pockets are.

That said, I love the ruger m77 rifle I had, it was a 338 win mag, but I couldn't keep from breaking stocks, and I wanted a classic looking rifle so I sold it and got something else. Probably should have bought a synthetic stock for it though cause it would regularly shoot sub moa with the factory barrel...

Honestly, if I could get a factory pad put on it and a new trigger guard, and if I could shoot 1.5-2" groups with it, I'd probably be ok with keeping it in the condition that it's in. It would make a fine carry rifle for the woods. But I don't know how expensive or how possible a factory pad and trigger guard would be. If those two things are more than say $150, I wouldn't invest that much more. I'd just send it down the road. But if I could get a factory pad and trigger guard for reasonable money, I would not be opposed to keeping it and at least trying to work up an accurate load for the gun.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I vote to let it go, if you are like me the deal will always bother you. UNLESS, you take it out to shoot and it's a tack driver, then I would re-think it. That said, I don't expect it to shoot well given all the warts so that may well be the confirmation you need at this point.

 

[GBExpat]

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/ruger/rifles-ruger/77-mkii-series?page=5

Look at Part# 50 ... perhaps one of those would work.

 

[Olympus]

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/ruger/rifles-ruger/77-mkii-series?page=5

Look at Part# 50 ... perhaps one of those would work.

That's the Mark 2 schematic and I know the trigger guard is different hole spacing than the original M77. So that won't work. I'm not sure about the recoil pad. I've searched Brownells for the trigger guard and they had one at one point, but it's been discontinued. Only the Mark 2 available now.

 

[redneck2]

I had a Marlin .45-70. Had a Pachymyr Decelerator recoil pad installed as soon as I got it, before the first shot was fired. It looked great, had little felt recoil even with stout loads, and wasn’t particularly expensive

 

[Olympus]

Here are some photos.

 

[GBExpat]

That's the Mark 2 schematic and I know the trigger guard is different hole spacing than the original M77. So that won't work. I'm not sure about the recoil pad. I've searched Brownells for the trigger guard and they had one at one point, but it's been discontinued. Only the Mark 2 available now.

Sorry, if you had referred to it as the "original" M77 rather then the "tang safety" M77 (a reference that I did not recognize), I would have provided a link to what they referred to as "77 Old Model" ... but you've probably already checked out those pages by now.

Actually, I bought an M77 (.243) back in ~1976. It was quite accurate as well as being a fine-looking rifle.

 

[Olympus]

I looked all through Numrich for the original M77 and they don’t have a trigger guard.

 

[Bill1225]

Me personally If something bothers me I fix it or flip it , I would find new trigger gaurd on eBay there are two complete bottom metals on there now for tang safety's and put on a presentation pacmyr pad and go from there but you mentioned you traded but didn't see how much you have in it , i would dump 700 total ( value of trade, parts and smith ) and not feel horrible about it .the tang safety Rugers are nice rifles I have a 308 rsi tang safety rifle and find it to be a great rifle

 

[mustanger98]

First thing I'd do, after cleaning and checking the torque on the action screws, is shoot it with the slip-on pad and see where it hits. (I have a couple of those slip-on pads. They work.)

Step 2- Maybe re-cut the muzzle crown. Shoot again. Did it improve?

Step 3- Install a grind-to-fit pad. Shoot again and note improvements.

Step 4- The trigger guard... If I were dealing with it, and couldn't find a replacement, I'd think about welding up the crack, smoothing it out, and rebluing. If you want the rest of the rifle reblued, IMO, that'd be the time while you're at it.

From here, it don't look bad... just not perfect. To me, if it shoots pretty good, the rest is not a big deal to straighten out.

 

[jmr40]

You may not be able to get the original factory butt plate but there are several options for high quality aftermarket recoil pads that will look fine if installed properly. Different screw holes are not a problem.

The Tanger's had aluminum bottom metal and I've never seen one that wasn't scratched up like that. Even if you replaced the bottom metal you'll have the new parts scratched up very soon. Leave that as is.

I'm pretty sure the rings on new models are the same. I'd bet money Ruger will send you new screws for a nominal fee if not free.

Considering they stopped making those in 1991 I don't think it is in bad shape at all. It is at least 27 years old.

Any competent gunsmith can make the trigger a lot better.

Shoot the gun 1st. Ruger purchased barrels from outside vendors prior to 1992. Some of those rifles got barrels that were match grade, others got VERY poor barrels. Accuracy on those guns vary a lot. If yours shoots then it might be worth the effort to make some improvements and keep it. If you've gotten a dog then I'd dump it ASAP.

 

[Olympus]

Thanks fellas. It’s one of those guns that looks pretty good from about 5 feet away, but when you get close you start seeing the flaws. Honestly, the stock condition is better than a lot I’ve seen around at gun shows. I just wish I could get a red pad for it. I’d even settle for a black pad if it was Ruger branded. The bottom metal scratches don’t bother me as much as the crack. That’s the worse part. But I will definitely shoot it first to see how it shoots. No harm in doing that. A woods deer rifle is supposed to have “character”.

 

[Bill1225]

Brownells has a very similar to factory red pad

 

[mustanger98]

I'm reminded that someone asked me "have you ever hunted with a pretty rifle". Briar patches, among other places, are a pain.

 

[MistWolf]

I shot a few of those old Rugers with the original factory buttpads. You don't want an original factory buttpad. You want a nice, cushy aftermarket buttpad, like a Pachmyr Decelerator

 

[LoonWulf]

Imo shoot it and see if your willing to live with the accuracy. If it's bad I would dump it.
If you decide to keep it, I'd have the metal refinished, the pad replaced and the cracked trigger guard fixed or replaced.
Throwing good money after bad might not be real smart, but it's also sometimes the only way I'm happy with some stuff.

Pad wise you COULD have a red aftermarket pad fitted....heck if you got a belt sander I'll loan you my jig to do it yourself.

 

[edwardware]

The butt pad is easy. . . find a Ruger wood stocked long gun model with a red pad, ask for one, and Ruger will send you a grind-to-fit red rubber pad. Alternately ship just the stock to any good smith for a replacement pad.

The aluminum (!) trigger guard is harder to solve; see my repair here. Maybe someone could weld the aluminum.

 

[Olympus]

I’m going to try to shoot the gun today. The scope is junk. The windage and elevation knobs have no clicks, they’re smooth turning. Basically I just need to get it on paper somewhere and see how she groups. I’ll keep everyone updated. Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[Olympus]

Well, I ran out this morning and shot the rifle. I shot it at 50 yards just to get it on paper and reasonable dialed in. I moved out to 100 yards and shot two groups of 3 and I have to say that I’m not disappointed, surprisingly. I was using reloads I worked up for a totally different gun that I no longer have. It was all the 270 ammo I had. So I’m thinking with a properly worked up load for this particular gun, a trigger that’s lighter than 5.5lbs, and a better quality scope, I could shave the group sizes down a little more. But here are the results:

 

[LoonWulf]

That's pretty good. Might be worth it to have work done, and clean it up.

 

[Riomouse911]

I shot a few of those old Rugers with the original factory buttpads. You don't want an original factory buttpad. You want a nice, cushy aftermarket buttpad, like a Pachmyr Decelerator

Yup, the red pads on the old M77 rifles are just short of useless. My M77 RSI in .243 isn’t a kicker, but the “recoil pad” doesn’t do anything more than look good.

Decelerator pads all the way! It may not look stock, but in this case the non-stock looks will be trumped by the performance.

Good luck with your rifle, it will come together and be a decent looker before you know it.