Toying with a Ruger M77 for accuracy

[nixdorf]

Hello all,

I have a 1979 production Ruger M77 with tang safety chambered in 30-06. This has been a project gun for me. I may use it for hunting in the future. I bought it with a beat up stock for next to nothing. I’ve since sanded/stained/sealed the stock, added a decent Redfield scope to it, and hand loaded and shot a few hundred rounds. I’ve found this rifle is best with Sierra Game King 165 grain BTSP bullets over 47-48.5 grains of IMR 4064.

With that load, I can consistently shoot sub-MOA with a three shot group: <1 inch at 100 yards and around 1.75” at 200 yards. I have not shot longer than 200 yards. I frequently end up with one outlier outside 1 MOA with a five shot group, but I’m 99% sure that’s the shooter’s limitation (me) and not the rifle. I’m working on that.

Now that I’ve found a good load that this rifle likes, I’d like to look at other options for improving accuracy. I’m looking to you fine folk for ideas. Should I glass-bed the barrel? I’ve heard about doing something with the rifle’s headspace in working up a load, but I don’t know anything beyond the definition of headspace.

Any and all ideas would be welcomed.

Thanks in advance!

Pete

 

[Varminterror]

Small bites almost every Ruger needs:

• Free float the barrel
• Pillar block and glass bed the action
• Pay for a trigger job or aftermarket Jard, Timney, or Rifle Basix trigger
• Free float the mag box (file the bottom on a flat file to relieve)
• Check torque on front action screw 90-95in.lbs.
• Reload ammo to match chamber headspace and throat jump

This should get almost any Ruger comfortably under 1MOA, with only about $150-250 invested.

Bigger bites:

• True bolt lugs
• True bolt face
• True receiver lugs
• True receiver face
• Chase threads to true thread bore to boltway
• Replace barrel with precision tube

By now, you'll have $1000ish in smithing done, and it'll still be a Ruger...

 

[VoodooMountain]

I would try to bed the stock and relieve any pressure at the mag well if there is any.

I’m not sure how possible it is to shrink those groups though. Ammo and the shooter could probably be tweaked to better effect in most cases but for all I know you are a great shooter .

 

[morgaj1]

With the accuracy that you are currently getting, I'd leave it alone.

 

[R.W.Dale]

What in the world would prompt you to mess with a sporter weight hunting rifle that shoots that well?

So you spend several hundred dollars and get it down to .75” groups. What does the rifle do better?

 

[Art Eatman]

The most important thing for a hunting rifle, IMO, is that the first shot from a cold, clean barrel reliably goes to the point of aim. If it does that consistently, group size becomes irrelevant.

 

[SwampWolf]

With the accuracy that you are currently getting, I'd leave it alone.

Amen, brother-don't try to "fix" what doesn't need fixing.

 

[mshootnit]

The old Rugers like that typicall have very good factory triggers, I bet yours does as well. I would just make sure the barrel is straight in the barrel channel as you snug up the action screws. Try accuracy at 55 in lbs on the front screw. if that doesnt work try 65 in lbs.
Let your barrel cool between shots for zeroing, for the first shot on a cold barrel is what matters most. When you can get three shots under one inch, that is good enough for a deer hunting 30-06.

 

[someguy2800]

I would free float the forend and torque the front action screw to see if that gets rid of your flyers. Next step would be a skim action bedding in the front and the tang in the back.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/fixing-a-ruger-mk77-for-a-family-member.827673/

 

[nixdorf]

Awesome feedback with some great ideas.

I also appreciate the blunt feedback on not messing with a gun that’s already pretty accurate. Having said that, this is a project gun. I bought it to tinker.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[R.W.Dale]

Project guns need aftermarket support. Something you don’t get from a tang safety Ruger

Go buy a $200 pawnshop Savage 110 if you want a project to tinker with

 

[hq]

Project guns need aftermarket support.

Not necessarily, depending on how proficient you are with router/lathe, chisel, file and a bunch of other metal- and woodworking tools. Nothing beats good old-fashioned gunsmithing and getting results that can't be duplicated by any kid with a credit card and a screwdriver.

 

[jmr40]

Ruger strongly advises NOT to free float their barrels. What you have is already better than average for a Ruger 77. I'd not touch a thing, chances are that you'll only make it worse.

Probably the best advice is on how to tighten the action screws. The angled screw on a Ruger pulls the action and barrel back toward the rear and down at the same time. That screw should be tightened down TIGHT 1st. Then the other screws just snug enough so they won't come loose during recoil.

 

[Steve S.]

Sounds like a great shooter as is; since it is not a target piece and it may be used for hunting in the future, brother you are there (proverbial diminishing returns going forward) - I would think that chasing improvement falls to you behind the trigger - the rifle has arrived. Congratulations on finding the combo that shoots that well in that rifle.

 

[mshootnit]

I would free float the forend and torque the front action screw to see if that gets rid of your flyers. Next step would be a skim action bedding in the front and the tang in the back.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/fixing-a-ruger-mk77-for-a-family-member.827673/

I have skim bedded a few and agree that it does work. my question is longevity, durability of the thin sheet of epoxy. Would it not break over time and repeated recoil?

 

[Varminterror]

Not necessarily, depending on how proficient you are with router/lathe, chisel, file and a bunch of other metal- and woodworking tools. Nothing beats good old-fashioned gunsmithing and getting results that can't be duplicated by any kid with a credit card and a screwdriver.

Here here!

 

[Picher]

You could try a lot of "fixes" to improve the accuracy, but unless you're very experienced in glassbedding, pillar bedding, etc. you're likely to mess it up. I've found that Ruger M77s are the one of the most difficult rifles to make shoot better than 1 min. groups, probably due to the angled front screw and action lug.

 

[someguy2800]

I have skim bedded a few and agree that it does work. my question is longevity, durability of the thin sheet of epoxy. Would it not break over time and repeated recoil?

The main thing the one I did in the link above needed was something to keep the reciever from moving side to side in the stock. There was enough clearance between the wood and action that you could grab the barrel and move the whole thing around in the stock even with the screw gorilla tight.

 

[someguy2800]

Project guns need aftermarket support. Something you don’t get from a tang safety Ruger

Go buy a $200 pawnshop Savage 110 if you want a project to tinker with

You guys are no fun at all. None of my guns that I have accurized had any aftermarket support of any kind. Adapt and overcome, everything needed to make a great shooter out a ruger came with it from the factory plus some tools and epoxy and time.

 

[R.W.Dale]

That Ruger is ALREADY a great shooter.

There minimal realistic room for much better accuracy but the sky is the limit for making it shoot worse.

 

[someguy2800]

Nobody ever learned anything by playing it safe.

 

[Charliefrank]

I too have a 70's model 77. Mine is in 308 and has the manlicher stock. If your already getting 3 shot groups at 100 yards of less than an inch, your already ahead of where mine is. Mine will shoot 2-3" groups at 100. Definitely not one of my most accurate rifles, but plenty accurate enough for the whit tail deer hunting I use it for. If you really need it to be more accurate then I would follow Varminterror's advice. He's got you pretty well covered.

 

[Varminterror]

I'be done bedding jobs on dozens of Ruger rifles, many smiths will not take on the work, so I've made good money on referrals when other smiths send folks my way. Pressure point bedding is a red herring, a poor Smith's excuse for an un-square faced receiver, or a poor reloaders excuse for not finding the right powder to suit their barrel. If a guy wanted, for any reason, to add pressure back, it's just as easy as bedding the action, or considerably easier since we're talking Rugers.

Skim bedding will last forever if done properly. The idea is to fill in voids, not necessarily add any load bearing mass. When you ARE adding recoil bearing mass, then the bedding mat should be thicker, which is simple - remove more wood/plastic mass behind the recoil lug and run the bedding thicker in this area. It's really not so complicated. Getting your technique down to allow the insertion of the pillar blocks and floating the screw in the pillar, and getting nice, even bedding contact takes a little pre-planning, and a guy might screw up their first run. The consequence of a screw up is about $20 in wasted bedding compound and an hour of your life stripping it out and starting over - pretty small consequences...

 

[someguy2800]

When I did my brother in laws I didn't think it was any more difficult than any other rifles I've done. In fact I think the flat bottom receiver made it easier. I can understand if they just don't think they can charge enough for there time but I think any gun smith that can't figure out how to bed a 77 is pretty poor excuse for a smith.