Thoughts on Ruger M77 Action Potential?

[Kenny Hart]

Ruger Scope Rings | Alaska Arms LLC

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Morris also makes nice 4 screw rings. I’m not a fan of quick detach levers, but I imagine if there was enough demand he would make non-lever ones. I haven’t seen any issues with Leupold rings so haven’t bothered. Yet

I've looked pretty hard at his rings as they do look much nicer. Not as interested in QD just because they use 25 in lbs of clamping torque vs the 55-60 I put on the regular ring cross bolt, but I may have to reach out to see what he says.

It is a bummer that the extended floor plate isn't for short action, woulda grabbed one a long time ago!

 

[Wapiti1]

I've looked pretty hard at his rings as they do look much nicer. Not as interested in QD just because they use 25 in lbs of clamping torque vs the 55-60 I put on the regular ring cross bolt, but I may have to reach out to see what he says.

It is a bummer that the extended floor plate isn't for short action, woulda grabbed one a long time ago!

Morris makes the best rings that I've used outside of true custom (i.e. I made them myself).

Jeremy

 

[Kenny Hart]

Morris makes the best rings that I've used outside of true custom (i.e. I made them myself).

Jeremy

That's good to know. I had ordered a set of Ruger 30mm rings to mount up because they were 1/3 the price, but didn't realize that the lowest set is the same as the medium 1".

Shoulda just called Morris to begin with, as he has an actual "low" set of 30mm at .35" to the scope tube, and does in fact make a fixed ring on request for a little more $.

Think I'm gonna return the rugers and go ahead and order from him. I will say, these are the first set of rings I've seen from Ruger that are actually round

 

[Kenny Hart]

Took quite a bit of inletting and work here and there to get everything fitting correctly, a long with refinishing the top rails and doing some filing on the mag box so it wasn't binding, but I finally have her ready to mount up a SWFA and hit the range.



Pacnor quoted 5-8 months lead time on new 6mm barrel install, while Kampfeld said he could add a shoulder to the existing 308.

While I have quite a bit of 308 ammo left and feel that every gun safe has a place for one, I know I'll never shoot it once I end up with a 6mm, and can't help thinking I should just do the conversion on this one.

It is a damn good looking rifle with the factory irons that I know I'll never use. Unfortunately the Rokslide-disavowed Athlon is about the only scope whose 42mm objective bell fits behind the stupidly-rearward sight.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Nice work on the bedding OP. I can say that my first attempt at bedding a rifle, which was my M77, did not look that good!

If you really like the 308 in that platform, you could always build a second rifle in 6mm. I agree every safe should have a 308 but the 6mm are just so much fun to shoot. I’ll leave you with this though, that would be one bad rifle with a 6mm barrel in a 3 or 3b profile!

 

[Kenny Hart]

Nice work on the bedding OP. I can say that my first attempt at bedding a rifle, which was my M77, did not look that good!

If you really like the 308 in that platform, you could always build a second rifle in 6mm. I agree every safe should have a 308 but the 6mm are just so much fun to shoot. I’ll leave you with this though, that would be one bad rifle with a 6mm barrel in a 3 or 3b profile!

Appreciate it! I read up on a few good resources for bedding and just made sure to take my time. I'm pretty happy with how it came out, but it definitely took longer than I planned.

Still have a few eventual to-do's. With lower rings, the scallop ridge on the bolt will need to be filed down to clear the bell of most scopes, definitely the SWFAs, so I'll likely just polish the entire bolt handle to make it look nice.

I plan to bed the barrel channel with a 0.03" gap to balance best "looks" with decent pressure clearance. I'll do that after I re-barrel.

If I'm feeling really spicy, while I'm at that I may remove the finish on the outside of the stock, cut off and add a real ebony forend tip, and refinish with oil.

Honestly the trigger on this rifle is pretty darn good. Feels like my Tikka, just a hair heavier. Not sure if I'll fork over the cash to have it worked on....depends on how much it impresses me when I'm all done.

And I agree, it would be a pretty sweet rifle in 6mm. I'm a little hesitant to put a somewhat short lifespan barrel onto a rifle that I need someone to properly chamber and headspace, which is the only issue. Not that I plan on shooting out many 6 creeds, but a Tikka that requires simple tools and a prefit is much more attractive...but then I have the expense of another rifle and tools as well. All the work I've done has been relatively low-cost, just when I have time here or there.

A 2b or 3 would be sweet, I'm just a bit limited on profile by the stock. It's the ultralight model that's trimmed up a bit. A #2 Pacnor will fit with very narrow top rails toward the front, where a #1 would still be larger than the stock barrel and would look more attractive.

I'll come back to this thread with pics when all that happens!

 

[yfarm]

Have an M77 223, any experience with this company’s product?

Ruger M77-Scout SA Bottom Metal DBM-PTG-12910

www.pacifictoolandgauge.com

 

[Kenny Hart]

Have an M77 223, any experience with this company’s product?

Ruger M77-Scout SA Bottom Metal DBM-PTG-12910

www.pacifictoolandgauge.com

No, but I did use their pillars. Mine required a little grinding to shorten just a hair but it was an easy job and they fit perfectly.

Seen that bottom metal, as well as another company that makes one more fluish with the stock, but I'll likely leave mine as a hinged floorplate since it's much more trim and feeds reliably.

 

[Kenny Hart]

Have an M77 223, any experience with this company’s product?

Ruger M77-Scout SA Bottom Metal DBM-PTG-12910

www.pacifictoolandgauge.com

Looking at it now, that bottom metal is NOT for an M77, it's for the American line of rifles which are entirely different.

 

[yfarm]

They make one for the RA and one for the M77 LA or SA. Did the same thing when I first looked at it

 

[Kenny Hart]

They make one for the RA and one for the M77 LA or SA. Did the same thing when I first looked at it

Ah I see now.

That's so strange that the link took me to the American model the second time I clicked on it...or I somehow ended up on that page lol.

If you're a DBM guy, it would certainly add capability. My Tikka obviously has magazines and that's fine because they are flush fitting, Im more of an ADL/BDL guy if it's a good setup.

IMO a 700 pattern gun absolutely needs a DBM because it's so easy to jam the rifle by top loading, whereas it's almost impossible to do it wrong with an M77...you just throw the round in there and press down, and it loads perfectly. No finesse needed, and you can single push feed at the range.

 

[yfarm]

I bought it as a training rifle, easier to do 10 rd timed fire with the dbm. Also have a cz 527 with 5 rd mag in 223, trying to decide which to keep and perhaps thread.

 

[Kenny Hart]

An update on the rings, Morris was kind enough make me some button-head versions of his QD set. He also builds a true "low" option in 30mm, which Ruger does not offer for some reason.

What's even cooler, his rings are not an either-or offering. If you decide you want QD, you can buy the lever mechanism and install them directly in the existing rings to convert them.

I think they speak for themselves, they are beautifully machined and finished, and very stout but elegant. I like that the button head isn't recessed onto the claw, resulting in a very thin spot in the material...drives me nuts that companies do that.

A bit pricey, but same as most other quality rings.

 

[Gasman]

Are those the low or medium 30mm rings that you got? And was there an extra charge (or even a discount) for the button head screws?

 

[Kenny Hart]

Are those the low or medium 30mm rings that you got? And was there an extra charge (or even a discount) for the button head screws?

They are the lows, or 32mm model that he has listed. They are identical in height to the bottom of the scope as the factory 1" low set, but Ruger doesn't make lows in 30mm.

Still worked fine with my 42mm SWFA, only interference is the ridge of the scallop on the bolt handle can slide down the eyepiece if pushed left, because it's pretty big on that scope. Nothing that a file can't quickly knock down if desired

You can compare to my previous pic with the 42mm Athlon scope, that was with factory 30mm mediums, and was too high for my liking.

Morris had his apprentice make the button head screws for me as practice while he was headed out of town. Otherwise I think he typically charges slightly more because it's not a standard configuration that he has boxed and ready to ship, which is fair.

I doubt he sells more than a handful of fixed rings, being that they're multiple times the price of factory, other than if you just want nicer looking rings, or lower like me.

 

[Gasman]

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll have to call them directly, as they don't offer the low 30mm rings for the 77 on their website, only for the 77/22.

 

[Kenny Hart]

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll have to call them directly, as they don't offer the low 30mm rings for the 77 on their website, only for the 77/22.

Ah I see, I misspoke on how he labels them as he uses the term "low" for a flat top receiver with the same height front and back using his "33" height (#3-30mm) rings.

His 33 is equal in height to Ruger #3 rings, his 43 are identical to Ruger #4 30mm, and so on. So he calls a 33-43 set medium, a 43-53 set high, etc, whereas Ruger doesn't make a #3 ring in 30mm.

This is what you want, if you're a right-handed shooter, with levers/bolts on the left side:

 

[Gasman]

Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[Reddish]

I screwed a Tikka 6.5 barrel on my M77 (first rifle) action, bedded it in a laminated stock, trigger job, and polished the action.

Not sure whether to call it a Rikka or a Tuger, but it shoot well and has killed a few deer.

 

[walk2112]

I screwed a Tikka 6.5 barrel on my M77 (first rifle) action, bedded it in a laminated stock, trigger job, and polished the action.

Not sure whether to call it a Rikka or a Tuger, but it shoot well and has killed a few deer.

I’d be curious to know more about this from a technical/make the pieces fit perspective. Barrel tenon thread pitch, etc. Have any details of the ‘how’ we can nerd out on?