Real world accuracy of Ruger tang safety rifles

[yotatrd4x4]

Ok I want to get real world answers. Who has a Ruger tang safety rifle that just will not shoot? I have seen 5 million threads all over google about how Ruger used unknown quality barrels and some rifles were awful for accuracy. Also seems that the guys saying they had one that wouldn't shoot didn't check the stock to action fit, never tried to properly torque the action screws, didn't try to bed the recoil lug or maybe the entire barrel. Also seems they didn't reload. I have had several mark ii m77 rifles that would hold up to a Remington with good loads and I have a line on a Ruger 338wm with a nice wood stock and a browns precision fiberglass stock and the rifle has factory irons but its a tang safety and wanted some inputs. Again do any of you have one that isn't accurate enough for hunting? Say 2-4 inches at 100yds?

[fatnhappy]

My 7-08 tang safety 77R will shoot 5 round 1.06" groups with Hornady 139 grain interlock spitzers at 200 yards off the bench when I can hold up my end of the exercise.

[brotherdarrell]

I have a tang safety m77 in 25-06 that 'almost' fits your description. I bought it new in '86. The majority of loads I shot over the years hovered around the 2" mark. A couple of years ago I dumped a healthy load of Varget in a case and seated a 75 gr. hp on top and I now have a sub moa shooter. Go figure.

I also have a tang safety in .243 with a pencil thin 20" barrel. It shoots everything around an inch @ 100 yds. It seems to be a cr@p shoot what these guns will do.

brotherdarrell

[cdet69]

I have one in a 243 Winchester and 1" groups are the norm. I am using 87 grain Hornady VMaxes with Hodgdon Varget. It is a lot more accurate then my newer 77 MKII.

[shotman4]

buddy had one in 243 he said it wouldnt shoot . I tried it and he was right . about 2in at 100yds . off a lead sled. I checked scope remove and reset. took it out of stock . could not find anything . resighted and same thing . I ran out of ammo. he had and I had a box of 100gr federal. Got a group of 5 in 1/2 in at 100. had some 85gr? I think and back out to 2in So I give him the rest of the feds and he still uses that ammo

[67bear]

My 77R in 30.06 shot OK with factory 150 grain corelokts. Somewhere around 2 MOA. I don't have any info written down for it anymore so going from memory (I've had this rifle 20 years). I hoped for a little better performance, so started handloading for it, did a little bedding, installed a Timney trigger, and a Burris Signature 3X-9X. I didn't have to put much effort into load development to get results satisfactory to me. If I do my part it will shoot MOA or a little better with 150 grain Nosler BT's. Two shots to verify it was still sighted in this season. Three shots hunting this year = three deer. Two bang-flops and one ran 25 yards. I've shot a few others that performed adequately for hunting and I've heard of the ones that won't shoot, but in my limited experience I've never seen one.

[yotatrd4x4]

Great yall keep these coming. I figure I can rebarrel if I have too. I really like the rifle and it doesn't look to have been shot alot but has been hunted with from the marks and scrapes on the wood. I have plenty of bullet weights I can mess with and I also did hear some were picky on bullet weight. I think the main problem with them was most people fired 1 type of loads and said it won't shoot and I suspect that's the biggest issue. My dad will do that from time to time as he isn't obsessed like me he just buys a box of ammo and try's a few to sight in and if the rifle won't shoot them its down the road unless I can get to it fist and try a few different weights. I saw a browning abolt stainless do this. Buddy was getting ready for a caribou hunt and it was putting 180gr bullets in a horizontal string with only a little uneven elevation impacts. He was mad and said he couldn't use anything below 180gr. I explained that a good bullet like the barnes in 150 or 165 will work fine or try a 200gr if need be. Well he used a 165gr hornady interlock factory load and bang it was 1inch for 4 shots with 1 flyer. Also I think the other load was 200gr rem corelokts and same thing with lower impact but they both grouped

[Lonegun1894]

I have one in .30-06 that I fired what I had of an old partial box through. I dont remember the exact load anymore but it was Remingtons, and gave about 4 inch groups at 100yds. A friend wanted to try some of his Federals, and we got 3.5" groups. The very next weekend, we were back at the range shooting hand loaded Remington Core-locts seated out just slightly to almost touch the rifling, and got just under 1" groups without changing anything else. This is the same as my old Remington 700 did when I first got it. I never could get better than 2.5" groups with any factory loads, with most being in the 3-4" range. I started handloading and the same rifle now does .5-.75", so go figure. I say get it if you want it and if it doesn't do exactly what you want, play with various loads and make it work. Most will have a load they like and several that they dont.

[yotatrd4x4]

Thanks for all the help guys I think I'm gonna get it. Well trade for it. I have an old whitworth express rifle in 375h&h that I just never could warm up to it. I love it but feel I want a nice 375h&h and can always get one down the road so I am gonna trade the 375 for the ruger with the extra browns fiberglass stock and also getting a new Taurus 740 slim and a few boxes of ammo and reloading dies for both. I figure that's a good deal as the whitworths keep climbing in price.

[shotman4]

lonegun may have it . The 100gr feds ARE longer. you may try to load some out . If they will feed

[fouronesix]

"I have seen 5 million threads all over google about how Ruger used unknown quality barrels and some rifles were awful for accuracy."

With that many- there might be a reason.

Been there done that with two of those from the late 70s- early 80s. All I can say is, you pays you money, you takes you chances. Both new, both with bad, way out of spec chambers. Those were my last Ruger 77s- no more

[rintinglen]

I had a 30=06 that was ok, but just barely so. It would shoot 4 shots into an inch and 3/4, but there would always be a flier that would open things up to 2 1/2 inchs or so. I tinkered with it in hopes of getting an moa rifle , but finally sold it. If I knew then what I know now, I might have kept it, but probably not. It gave me no confidence nor pride of ownership, and it didn't have a lever.

[alrighty]

I have a tang safety m77 in 25-06 that 'almost' fits your description. I bought it new in '86. The majority of loads I shot over the years hovered around the 2" mark. A couple of years ago I dumped a healthy load of Varget in a case and seated a 75 gr. hp on top and I now have a sub moa shooter. Go figure.

I also have a tang safety in .243 with a pencil thin 20" barrel. It shoots everything around an inch @ 100 yds. It seems to be a cr@p shoot what these guns will do.

brotherdarrell
My .25-06 Ruger 77 tang safety would shoot 2.0 groups when I bought it.This model is the medium weight barrel without sights.I pulled the stock , bedded the action and floated the barrel.It now shoots sub inch with everything except bullets lighter than 90.Thanks for posting your dope.I was more interested in a medium game load so I never tried reloading anything lighter.I also have three .220 swifts made by Ruger , one of them is an older tang safety model.It will shoot inch groups and has never had a bolt turned on it.I have only shot it less than 20 rounds using loads developed for my NO.1.I was wanting to try cast with this gun but haven't gotten round to it yet.

[yotatrd4x4]

Well I got the rifle today. Looks great except someone hogged out the stock trying to float the barrel. I full length bed it with devcon to clean up the ugly uneven mess under the barrel. I bed the rear tang as well as the recoil lug. Once it dries I will bed the entire action too. I am gonna put about 5lbs of up pressure at the tip then if it won't shoot maybe try floating it. I have the extra browns stock to use once I get it figured out but I don't want to bed it until I figure out how the rifle shoots first. It has a decelerator pad on it and I think a mercury recoil reducer in it as I hear what sounds like water swishing in the stock. Not sure I like that but can't take off the buttpad as its a glued on type. Oh well once I see what the rifle and barrel likes I can mount the new stock and go from there. I figure this way if its not a shooter I can either rebarrel or sell it for $300 or so and then still have a $350 stock I can sell as well.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have two Ruger 77s in the downstairs safes, one is a 220Swift (originally a 308,but a second hand Ruger barrel fitted) this is my son's rifle and he seems pretty happy with it, the other is a mint 300WM that I haven't fired. I am going to the range tomorrow, I will dig them out and have a look. I have ammo for the 300WM, so I will give that a run.

[murf205]

Good luck with the 338. I had a 300 win m-77 R made in 1976 and a 243, and a 280 Rem m-77 made in about 1978. The 300 nearly beat my brains out before I finally got it to shoot 2.25" consistantly, and that was with a 168 Sierra bthp-not a great hunting bullet. The 243 NEVER shot any better than 2.5 to 3", and believe me I tried every trick in the book and every load I could find. The 280 finall shot about 1.5" but ai was only at 2500fps. When you tried to make a 280 out of it(2800-2900 w/140 gr bullets) it looked like you were patterning a shotgun!! I shot them right out of the box--floated the barrels, did a trigger job, glassed the lug, glassed the tang AND lug, loosened the center action screw,( these rifles are very sensitive to the middle screw tension) and even removed the middle screw. I must have kept the component manufactures in business single handedly during this time. I shot 'em clean(really clean) and I shot 'em dirty. Finally gave up and bought something else, and swore at and off Rugers untill 25 yrs later when I got a MKII 223 sporter in a trade and it will shoot circles around my Kimber varmint.
Now, with all that long-winded stuff out of the way, if you 338 will not shoot like you want it to, rebarrel with an E.R. Shaw or sent it to Jesse Ocompaugh at jesreboring.com and have him rebore the exixting barrel to 358 Norma to clean up the 338 hole and you can keep your sights. He does good work and is very reasonable. I am a tang safety fan even after all this and have one now that is a 350 Rem Mag on a long action w/a 22" Douglas barrel. Good luck
Murf205

[captbligh]

I had a 1976 M77 in .257 Roberts. Loved the gun, but just could not get it to group decently and finally sold it so it could be someone else's headache. Tried factory and several reloads with bullets from 87 to 120 grains, all of which put 5 shots in about 4" or worse at 100 yards. Finally settled on the old Nosler 120 gr. solid base bullet loaded out as long as possible and got it down to about 2.5" average for five shots. Don't recall the numbers exactly, but the chamber had a lot of freebore and the closer I could get to the lands the better, but never as good as I hoped since I wanted to use this for deer and varmints. Decided I just got unlucky and got one of Ruger's "bad barrels" and used the money for a Remington .35 Whelen. I'm very happy that I made the trade.

[Dthunter]

I had a ruger M77RS in the mark 1 tang safety in 25-06. It shot around 2-2.5" on a regular basis.
I glass bedded the rifle,lapped the lugs,tuned the trigger down to 1.5 lbs.

I loaded every combination i had a available (75-120gr) and many different powders. The best I could scrounge up was about 1.75-2" at 100 yards.
To say the very least, I was disheartened!

A few years after i gave up on this rifle, I got an opportu ity
Of a lifetime! I met a talented gentelman who makes rifle barrels from scratch. We struck up a freindship and a month later I made my very first rifle barrel myself!
I deep hole drilled it, reamed, rifled, tapered, threaded, chambered, then fluted the barrel. It was an awsome experience!
It was a 26" medium weight barrel. I took the newly rebarreled M77 out to the range immediately after I proved the headspaceing! I sat down and shot the first round onto the back board at 100. Adjusted the scope, and promptly shot a .500" group!!!
I friggin ELATED! Since that day my rifle will now shoot every load I have worked up under an inch.
Its my opinion that Rugers barrels were usually the problem on that model. I have noticed that the newer Rugers shoot better "normally".

I love that old action! Insanely smooth, pefcect black/blueing! I now
Have two custom M77,mark1 tang style rifles. I will never part with them now!

Take care guys!

[Four Fingers of Death]

Wow DThunter, awesome luck meeting that guy. It is very satisfying reloading your own, it is even more satisfying when you reload boolits that you have cast, but shooting them out of a barrel that you have made and fitted yourself, that would be awesome! Good one!

[Dthunter]

Yes" four fingers of death", I was very blessed to have met him!

We made many barrels together over the years. He has since been very sick with cancer and his gunsmithing days may be over! All the rifles I built with him will be cherished for my life time. And hopefully my sons as well.

He spent soo much time doing work for others, he seldom completed his own projects!
I was honoured to learn from him!

My friends was also good friends with P.O. Ackley as well. Its understandable were he got some of his experience.
I wish I could afford to buy my own lathes,milling machine,etc. to continue with what I learned.

Take care guys!

[bobthenailer]

Ive owned 2 tang saftey rugers and still have one . both bought in the mid 1970s, never had a accuracy issue with either both would group a inch or better at 100 yards, a 7mm rem mag & I still have the 350 rem mag.

[buck1]

Ive had probably a dozen or more 77 tang saftey and mark IIs. Most were 1.5 inch 100 yard guns but some took alot of load developement to get there. . Very few would hit the magic 1 inch mark. Had some bad ones though. Had two 257roberts tang saftey ultralights that were terrible shooters and one 338 that was exceptionaly bad. Ive had better luck with hawkeyes. They seem to be for the most part consistant 1.5 inch guns.

I have had a few and agree with Loyd 100%.

[wtfooptimax200]

My 30-06 tang safety sits in a crappy ramline stock that the previous owner put it in (I'd like to find something else for it). The gun shoots around 1" with Winchester 150 grain factory loads. I'm in the process of developing a handload for Hornady Interlock 180 grain bullets and H4350 powder. The tang safety is awesome even though the trigger has a bit of creep. Despite my love for this gun, my next bolt gun will most likely be a Remington due to the availability of accessories and aftermarket parts.

[Four Fingers of Death]

The gun shoots around 1" with Winchester 150 grain factory loads.

You want to 'sleeve it!' That is sleeve it alone, haha! It is working well. The only problem I have foound with the Ramline stockc is they are noisy when hunting in dry brush and the front screw used to work loose eventually. The stock is easily quietened down using the foam filler spray and Loctite on the screw seems to have fixed the loose screw problem (pillar bedding would be a better alternative). Mine (it is actually my son's now, but still sits in my gunsafe and I use it occasionally) is a 3006 also, has only ever used full power jacketed loads and is a MkX Mauser (Zustava). It is scary accurate considering the lightweight barrel.

[wmitty]

The M77 tang safety I bought in '79 is a varmint weight .25-06 and is quite accurate with 75 gr Hornadys and 49 gr 4064. I cut a coil off the trigger spring to get the pull weight down and I'm very satisfied with it.

[Idaho Mule]

I have 2 of the older tang safety Rugers, one in 300 WM and the other in 25-06. These are the 2 rifles I used the most in my packing days and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Neither one is a target rifle, but I developed loads for each that would stay inside 1.5" at 100yds. The 300 shoots a Hornady 190 gr BTSP at just under 3100 fps with a healthy dose of IMR 4831. That load is an absolute sledge hammer on game. The 25-06 shoots a Hornady 117 gr BTSP at just over 3000 fps and is also very effective. These rifles both wear Leupold Vari X 3: 2.5-8 scopes. Both rifles have seen literally thousands of miles hanging in scabbards on the side of a mule, tucked under my right leg. They look like someone tied them to their back bumper and drug them cross country. But I tell ya what, they kept my family fed for many years and they both still shoot just as good as ever. Look inside and they are as bright and clean as ever, and function perfectly. I could tell some stories about those two. I plan on having them refinished to like new and passing them on to my two sons. JW

[primersp]

i have an 257 rob with skiny barrel made in 82,bed and free float the barrel, get 1to 2 " at 100m,shoot 87 hornady with vitha n140 ,never have accuracy with 100 grs rcbs cast bullets .

[Ronbo256]

I've owned two of the tang safety Ruger M77's , a 30-06 made in 1976 and a .264 Win Mag made in 1989 that I still own. The 30-06 was a consistent 1/2 MOA shooter with my 150 grain reloads, and the .264 is a consistent 1/4 MOA shooter with my reloads. Both of these are or were totally stock. Possibly I got very lucky, or I'm very good at tuning loads to a gun. I'd love to find a beater 7mm magnum and rebarrel it to .264 winchester so I can save the factory barrel on my current gun since it's a non-catalog gun, one of 1000 made in '89 and '90.

[swheeler]

I had a 77 tang safety in 7mm Express Remington, beautiful rifle and I dearly loved the caliber/engraving on the barrel, but this thing produced more copper than the Berkley Pit. After a year or so I sent it down the road. The Wilson barrels on them were similar to the one's available from Brian Perazone in mid 90's(59.95- with ruger ducking out must have been a heck of a surplus), hum about the same time ruger started hammering their own barrels and introduced the MKII. I still have 2 MKII from that time, boat paddle stocks and all, both shoot just fine and clean easily.

[o6Patient]

Years ago the rugers I ran into did not shoot out of the box as well as the rem 700's, again
"out of the box" I shot 700's at the time and mine shot pretty well. In fact I shot quite well
back then. A good many of my friends had rugers and they would not shoot as well as my rems
at the range. I was an FFL holder as many of them were, but as I said I was a pretty fair shot at
the range and I specialized in bedding at the time so when they would ask me to take a look at
their rifles I was obliged to do so. Some (to some of their dismay) problems were that they just didn't
shoot that well and there was no problem but when I did find issues with the rifles it almost always
was that the bedding needed tweaking. After tweaking was done they shot(with the same shooter)
equally as well as the 700's for the most part. Round bottom rifles are inherently easier to bed but
once the rugers were tweaked there really wasn't much difference. One guy I worked with could only
muster about 1 1/2 ~2 inch groups with his 7 mag Ruger 77. I sat down in his place and did 2 groups
of 3/4 inch with the same loads(H450). He was flinching just enough... that's not the guns fault.

[NVScouter]

I buy every tang safety m77 that comes my way so please keep telling everybody how bad they are!

I do t like the mark II. They all need the basics (trigger job, stock channeling, minor bedding). After that they are amazing.

[Lloyd Smale]

Id had a few of them and some shot real well. Most were 1.5-2 inch guns and some were downright terrible. Heres some i remeber. Keep in mind that alot of load developement went into all of these guns. These were averages of 3 five shot groups of the best load i found for each and all had at least trigger jobs and most were bedded before they gave there best results. Only two there were never touched were the 280 and the 250rsi.
280r 3/4
2506r 7/8
250rl 1"
250rsi 1 1/8
3006r 1 1/2
757r 1 3/4
257 rob r 2"
257rob rl 2.5
257rob rl 3+
7mag rs 3+
338mag rs 3+

Ill add this. In all my years and in all ther rifles ive owned and theres been slug of them from about every manufacture, ive yet to have any other bolt gun that wouldnt do at least 2 inch with its best loads. The markII and hawkeyes are an improvement. All the ones ive had shot under 2 inch but in the ones i have one in guns are still rare as hens teeth. By the way i was one dumb sob for selling that 280. It was hands down the best shooting ruger ive owned and it had exceptional wood to boot. My buddy bought it and its his kids rifle now and he wont part with it for anything. Ive been telling myself for years NO MORE tang saftey rugers. I end up spending as much on load developement as i do on the guns and its pretty discusting to spend that much money and time and still not find a good load. Problem is i like them and when a nice one comes along my heart overides my brain.

[1Shirt]

Well, only own two of them, a 243 and a 7x57. The 7x57 went to Africa with me and took 10 head of plains game in about 15 rounds, and out to ranges beyond 400 yds. Has taken two elk and 3 or 4 deer. Shoots 154 Hor sp to min and a half with full power loads, and for what I want and need it is more than adequate. It is my go to rifle, lite to carry, not hard on the shoulder or powder charge. When I was a kid, 3MOA was condsidered to be very adequate for a deer rifle. Still is in my opinion.
1Shirt!

[NVScouter]

If anybody has one in 250 savage I'm interested and ca up the offer with an old Sagage 99.

[EDG]

I have two of the M77 Tang safety rifles.
One is a 6mm Varmit rifle and shoots like a varmit rifle - groups run from 5/8 to 3/4
The other is a 7x57. Nothing in the 140 grn range shot well. I also shot Hornady, Federal and Remington 140 grn factory ammo with same results 1.75" to 2.5". My rifle has a 3x9 scope. In comparison my 1895 Chilean Mauser which is in mint condition shoots smaller groups with no scope.
One day I tried a couple of boxes of Federal Classic red and white box 175 grn RN ammo. The 175 RNs grouped into 3/4" to 1" in the Ruger 7X57.

[pietro]

FWIW, I've owned, shot & hunted with about 8 or 9 different tang-safety Ruger M77 MK-I rifles over the years in various models & chamberings - shooting only factory ammo.

None of the three M77-RSI Mannlichers in .308 would go under 2-1/2" @ 100yds (scoped), and one wouldn't go under 3".
The two M77-RSI's I had in .250 Savage both shot about the same - 1-1/2" @ 100yds (scoped)
The one M77-RSI I had in .30-06 would do 3/4" @ 100yds (scoped), all day long, with 180gr J-word slugs.
The 7x57 M77RS wouldn't stabilize the 175gr boolits I wanted to hunt with, shooting groups over 4" @ 100yds.
The one .358 Win M77RS I had would shoot into about 2" @ 100yds, also scoped - but I had to work at it.
The .458 M77 Circassian was a 3" @ 100yds gun, with iron sights - about within it's design parameter, but it kicked my young (at the time) butt all over the place.


I once bought a new side-safety M77RS- MKII in .223, when they were first introduced, and couldn't sell it soon enough. I'd never buy another Mark II.

I'd also not recommend buying a tang-safety M77-RSI chambered in .308.




.

[NickSS]

Over the years starting with the very first M77 I ever saw in the late 60s I have owned at least a dozen of them maybe more. I have only one in my safe today it is one I bought in 1972 it is a round top in 7mm Mauser. This rifle have been a tack driver from day one. I can not say that of every ruger I ever owned. About every third one I bought was a lemon which would not shoot even with bedding jobs and hand loads. I quit buying Ruger
Rifles about 20 years ago due to this spotty results. Recently I did buy a Ruger MKII in 308 it is their heavy barrel model in stainless. This rifle shoots very well so it is still in my safe.

[shooterg]

I have a very early pencil barrel (ser. No. 2xxx) in .243 . It has had a Weaver steel tube on it from the day after it came from the local KMart ($160 if I remember right) . Always shot well with factory 100 gr.
After I got into handloading it loves 95 gr. Noslers pushed out the front with Varget. It's a MOA gun still.

[Ragnarok]

Hmmm...I bought a older Ruger M77 .22-250 heavy barrel with some sort of Weaver target scope for cheap not too long back...really have not even looked at it to see what it is..but it's in excellent shape.

The fellow I got it from was going to trade it on an AR...and the dealer was only going to allow him $250 trade...I shucked $300 cash and got another rifle I don't need!!

I guess I should check it out huh?....My guess is it shoots fine but really all I have done to it is wipe it down with an oily rag and stuff it in the safe.

[starnbar]

The 30/06 ruger tang rifle I bought brand new was so so in the accuracy dept after about giving up and selling it I had it rebarreled and it will now shoot 5/8 at 100 all day long

[wch]

I had a 1976 M77 in .257 Roberts. Loved the gun, but just could not get it to group decently and finally sold it so it could be someone else's headache. Tried factory and several reloads with bullets from 87 to 120 grains, all of which put 5 shots in about 4" or worse at 100 yards. Finally settled on the old Nosler 120 gr. solid base bullet loaded out as long as possible and got it down to about 2.5" average for five shots. Don't recall the numbers exactly, but the chamber had a lot of freebore and the closer I could get to the lands the better, but never as good as I hoped since I wanted to use this for deer and varmints. Decided I just got unlucky and got one of Ruger's "bad barrels" and used the money for a Remington .35 Whelen. I'm very happy that I made the trade.

I, too, had one in 257 Roberts that was inaccurate, so I had a 'smith rechamber it to 257 Roberts AI, replaced the trigger with a Basix, and now it shoots very well with 100 gr Sirras seated out to max.

[Lloyd Smale]

the inaccuracy ive seen kind of runs by the calibers too. Just about every 257 rob, 757, 7 mag and 338 tang safety gun ive owned or shot stunk and every 280, 2506, 243 and 250 sav did just fine. Funny thing is that im sure ruger started with the same barrels when they put together 250s and 257s and the same barrels when they do 757s 7mags and 280s. All i can figure is theres got to be something wrong with the way there reamers they used then in those calibers or some drunk that set them up.

[softpoint]

I've owned a number of them over the years, too, and I gave up on them long before the current crop of their rifles were being made. I liked the "feel" of the 77's, smoothness of the actions, looks, But, while almost all of them were accurate enough to hunt with, they weren't very interesting in the accuracy department ,to say the least.
What I call a 1inch rifle and what others call it may be different, too. Before I give a rifle that endorsement, it has to shoot 20 rounds of ammo, in 5shot groups that average no more than 1 inch. And I own a number of rifles that just won't do that. That aside, however, like others, I suspected the barrel quality of the early Rugers. Most of my Remington 700's shoot well. Not all of them right out of the box, but of those that didn't, I could glass bed them and then they would shoot. Many 700's need to be bedded. Bedding just wouldn't fix the Rugers I had that wouldn't shoot.
Not every Ruger suffered this, I had a friend that had an early flatbolt Ruger in .22/250 that claimed his rifle would shoot an inch. That gun had a pencil thin barrel, too. I figured he was pulling my leg, so I told him to bring it over one day. We shot some loads that I developed for my Remington 40x in his Ruger. We shot 4, 5 shot groups very slowly out of the thin barrel that averaged 1 1/16 inch, with three of the groups going around 7/8inch and one group going a little over an inch. That is a rare Ruger in my experience.

[softpoint]

the inaccuracy ive seen kind of runs by the calibers too. Just about every 257 rob, 757, 7 mag and 338 tang safety gun ive owned or shot stunk and every 280, 2506, 243 and 250 sav did just fine. Funny thing is that im sure ruger started with the same barrels when they put together 250s and 257s and the same barrels when they do 757s 7mags and 280s. All i can figure is theres got to be something wrong with the way there reamers they used then in those calibers or some drunk that set them up.
My experience mirrors that, Lloyd, I will add that 77's in .220 Swift were usually pretty good. Doesn't make sense.

[TXGunNut]

I only have one M77 and the safety is on the bolt, suits this M70 fan just fine! It's a butt-ugly stainless/composite 30-06 and it needed a Timney trigger and several hours of bolt-cycling to make it useable. Stock was making way too much barrel contact for my way of thinking but I knew Rugers often liked a cozy, even snug fit. Added a decent scope and it was ready to go hunting. I bought it when a friend was closing up shop and I decided this NIB rifle would make a good rainy day hunting rifle. Most of my rifles stay cased up when the weather gets bad, this old girl keeps me from sittting around camp when the weather gets ugly.
Here's the funny part: it's quick-shouldering, has a smoth action, delightful trigger, and shoots five of my M70's favorite loads into 1.5 inches, oftentimes a bit less. It's a backup rifle that I don't mind uncasing, may not be much to look at but gets high marks for git-r-done.

[DougGuy]

I have a tang safety pre-warning M77 in .308 that I got at a flea market in Virginia many years ago, traded an old .45 auto for it. Took it to the range and fired it, it would group the size of a grapefruit at 50yds.. I thought hmmm.. Got some work to do..

Changed the scope, it went to a tennis ball at 50. Lapped the locking lugs and handloaded some 168gr boattails in fired brass, went to a golf ball at 50. Took the lump out of the end of the stock and free floated the barrel, went back to tennis ball at 50.

So I thought well, if free floating is worse, maybe it likes full bedding. I had read some articles about pillar bedding and how putting metal pillars through the stock for the tang screw and action screw had helped accuracy, I read about bedding the entire action, so I got adventurous one Sunday afternoon and grabbed the bull by the horns.

After using various burrs and dremel tools I had a pretty good area inletted everywhere, I cut some large x-acto handles down and bored through them, put some grooves around them, and fitted them where the screws went through the wooden stock. I used some modeling clay to fill in the holes and build up an area where the safety rod would move without interference, and made it where the entire action would be able to lift vertically out of the epoxy bedding free and easy once it was bedded.

The Brownell's steel bed kit with stainless particles proved to be a winner for this job. After using the releasing agent on the action and barrel, I honeycombed the wooden ledge behind the recoil lug with a drill bit and started there packing the bedding into those holes, then applying it everywhere. I put the action together with the pillars I had made, and gently lowered it down into the wet bedding, suspending the muzzle with an overhead hanger, and resting the buttstock on the bench I threaded the screws into the action and watched as the epoxy started pushing out.

Just before I tightened the screws all the way, I tied a 100rd box of .45 Long Colt ammo to the front sling swivel and cranked the screws tight. After I got the bedding all cleaned up and the rifle re assembled, the stock had a constant upward pressure on the barrel the full length of the bedded stock from weighting down the front with the box of ammo on the sling swivel. It worked like a charm.

I also lapped the scope rings and bedded them to the action.

Next trip to the range had it grouping golfball sized at 100yds, where I began trying different bullet styles and different powders. After a good 2 dozen combinations, it showed a preference for 180gr plain base over 41.5gr of H4895.

The last thing I did was assemble a dummy round and close the bolt on it, then I set the seating die for that dummy round, took it out and went a half turn on the seating die to give about .030" of freejump. That took the groups below 1/2" @100 yds.

Once I got that far with it, I would set aside brass that the bullet seated in hard, set aside the soft ones, set aside the ones where the crimp marks were close to the end, set aside any that the bolt was hard to close on and set aside the easy ones. Out of 100 loaded rounds, I came away with about 30 that are real consistent.

From those, and under actual hunting conditions, walking the woods, I was able to lay prone on the ground and shoot a group that I could cover with a guitar pick at 200yds. That might not seem like a lot for a benchrest shooter, but for a hunting rifle that gets used in the woods, carried up and down treestands, in and out of a vehicle, I will gladly accept that. I have had some shots well in excess of 300yds and was able to register hits within 1/2" of point of aim, and the rifle stays zeroed extremely well season after season.

[Kull]

My first rifle was a tang safety M77 in 243 I received for my 13th birthday, feather weight model, I still have it.

I have no idea how many rounds I've put down range over the years but the thing has always been accurate. Very accurate really for all the abuse I've put it through hunting, packing it around in the truck as a teenager, dropping it a few times, etc, etc. I've read the reports about poor quality barrels, and all the comments about how to go about fixing poor accuracy. I guess I got lucky because I've never felt the need to mess with any of that. In my mind more than likely any modifications I did would make it worse. Only thing I've done, and this was just recently, was put a rifle basix sear in it. The trigger has always been like glass but heavy at around 6 pounds. New sear dropped that to 2 1/4, same glassy feel. It does have a nice scope these days in lapped rings, and I always follow Rugers procedure for tightening down the stock bolts.

Real word accuracy? Other than hunting I shoot for fun out to a 420 yards, 450 yards at the most. I don't do any competition shooting, but I don't exactly suck with a rifle. My M77 243 is a 1 MOA rifle in my hands. Honestly I think its a hair better than that, just not in my hands.

[nicholst55]

I bought a tang safety M77 .308 in 1981, and must have lucked out. I had access to a lot of free ammo at the time, and I shot that gun a lot. It will group right at 3/4-1" for five shots consistently. I used that rifle to shoot a whole bunch of central Texas whitetails, and other stuff, too. I gave that rifle to my oldest son, and he's killed a number of deer with it, too.

[birch]

I had a tang safety .270 ultralight. It would shoot one inch groups of three and three only. If I tried to shoot more than three shots without a 10 minute rest, I would get vertical stringing in a bad way. I think the rifle was designed for long deer drives and for that it was perfect. However, I tend to do more target shooting than deer hunting and I could never get over the stringing. It was a very accurate gun for three shots! I wouldnt spend money to buy another, but I wish I had that thing back. I am sure its light weight will do me well when I have trouble walking to the truck someday.

[yotatrd4x4]

Well I meant to get back to yall sooner. I took the gun out with about 5 different loads I had made up for it with 3 different bullets and the best she would do was around 3.5 inches at 100. Barrel was full length bed so I tried to float it from about 2 inches in front of the chamber. No change in groups but point of impact was more consistent instead of walking up and down which I figured it would be. I re bed the rifle with Devcon plasti steel and no change. I tried a pressure point at the end of the forend and that seemed to make it worse. Anyway after all that messing around a friend of mine who loves tang safety rifles wanted it for a rebarrel job. I guess maybe it had a not up to par barrel. Anyway he was generous and gave me $375 for the rifle and I also had a browns precision stock that he wanted too so he gave me another $375 for the stock and he pulled the barrel tossed out the old stock, had his smith fit a new 7mm rem mag barrel from douglas and had the browns stock inlet and bedded and painted and she now is a shooter. I would have done all that but money is tight for me so I just turned the money into a used but in great shape Ruger M77 375 Ruger Alaskan. It is a shooter for sure with 1.5 inch groups with my first 2 test loads. Im sure I can tweak them a little to squeeze it to and Inch or so. I do love rugers but the tang safetys seem to be great if you know what to look for but I just will leave them to you guys.

[chg]

I had a tang safety M77 .338 I bought in 1985 that wouldn't keep 3 shots on a 5X7" index card at 100 yards. I tried everything from 275 gr Speers to 200 gr (lightest available at the time) and nothing shot. Glassed the action, 1 1/2" full bedded up the barrel channel, then slowly full bedded an inch at a time for several more inches. Shot a bull elk up the Lochsa at about 30 yards with it and sold it to a guy headed to Alaska.

Have a round top M77 in 7X57 that shoots real well. It likes 150 gr Noslers and Sierras, 139 Hornady over IMR 4530. Will touch 3 shots at 100 yards using the 150 Sierras and come close with the 150 Noslers and 139 Hornadys. Also likes factory 175 gr Remingtons. Only bought one box of factory loads for it. This was due to leaving my ammo at home and the 175s were all that was available in the closest town. Not the best choice for hunting the Salmon River breaks but they did work. I found out how well they shot when sighting in with the 175s. The round top 7X57s were not known for their accuracy, this one was an exception and the reason I bought the .338 M77. The .338 was a dog.

[Coonazz]

I guess that I am one of the lucky ones who has a shooter. Pre-warning, tang safety, heavy barrel 308. I installed a Timney trigger soon after purchase. Loaded with IMR 4064 and Sierra 168 MK it consistently shoots under 1" @ 100. Last group @ 500 measured 4.12". Guess I'll be keeping this one.
John

[mpbarry1]

I made the wifes 257 into an ackley and it shoots 1.5 inches with 115 grain Sierras. does what i want it to do. which is to use up a lot of time forming cases. lol. it is a fun rifle w a pencil barrel. so after 3 shots it has to cool down when shooting for accuracy.

[Three44s]

Liberty M77V in .243 shoots .267" with handloads ......... it's a keeper, bought it brand new .......

Liked it so much I bought a 77 in '77 in .270 and though it killed everything I ever went after with it ...... I just never warmed up to the mediocre groups it put up.

Traded it off two years ago for a A-bolt w/Boss in .25-06 and it's lights out with every load I throw at it. ......... another keeper!


Three 44s

[300savage]

A 30-06 that creeps me out it shoots so well, pulled it off a pawn shop wall many years ago, someone did not know what they had.
A 338 that puts whatever I have put thru it into 1 to 1.5 inch at a hunnert, way good enough for what it is used for.
And now recently inherited a like new 7 mm rem that I haven't got a chance to wring out yet.
Love them old Rugers,

[EDG]

I have tang safety M77V in 6mm. It clearly has a barrel superior to the standard weight barrels. The bore appears to have been lapped. It shoots as well as any non benchrest rifle I have ever fired.
I also have one of the 7X57s that shoots most hand loads with 140 grain bullets in a mediocre fashion.
However it shoots 175 grain Federal RN factory ammo like a match rifle.

[brotherdarrell]

I thought I would add an update regarding my 25-06 that shoots most everything into 2" groups.

I had been discussing it with my gunsmith and we decided that there was nothing to loose by setting the barrel back and re-chambering it. Him having a reamer made it an easy decision. He also allowed me to most of the work with him looking over my shoulder occasionally while working on the lathe.

There was only one thing worth commenting on that occurred while doing the work. When taking the barrel off I had everything locked down in the barrel vise and was getting the action wrench set up. I had the handle at about 11:00 and was wiggling it to make sure it was positioned properly. During one of these wiggles the weight of the wrench caused the action to come loose. I am guessing less that ten pounds of pressure to break it loose. We both figured that this could not have been good for accuracy.

After getting it set back and re-chambered I have had it to the range twice. My 75 gr. sierra hp still shoot around an inch, Federal 117 gr speer groups around 1 1/4" for 5 shots and yesterday 100 gr. Nosler solid base gave me 4 shots a little over 1/2" with the fifth making it a one inch group @ 100 yards.

I am much happier with this rifle than I was before.

Darrell

[pietro]

.

BTW - I currently have a tang safety Ruger Model 77R, chambered to .250-3000 (.250 Savage), with which I was able to shoot a 1" 3-shot group @ 100yds, using Remington green box factory 100gr J-word boolits.

http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r431/pwawryk/DSCN1558_zps67e6ebe0.jpg

The hole @ 5:00 near the bull was my 2nd zeroing shot afer mounting the scope & boresighting it @ 100yds - After which I cranked in an inch more elevation before shooting the 3-shot group.

http://s26.postimg.org/8sr4hjlrt/DSCN1911.jpg


.

[Huffmanite]

Bought a well used Ruger Tang Safety feather weight 270, 3 or 4 years ago. Tried a fair number of various bullets/powders in my reloads, with no good luck. Played around with the bedding and etc. Oh, it'd been OK for deer hunting, but forget about having a decent (one inch) 3 or 4 shot 100 yd group with the rifle from benchrest.

Ended up having an inexpensive Midway A&B heavy barrel in 7x57 installed on the action. The old tang safety turned into a very decent shooter for me.

[BrassFinger]

I have a mid '71 "hollow bolt" M77 in .30-06 with it's original Redfield 4x scope. 22" barrel, which from what I've been able to research, is a Douglas barrel and those seem to be the ones that deliver the goods consistently. I've only owned it a year or so, but the previous owner(s) shot it very little and took care of it.

I've only shot cast through it with just a front sandbag rest and it will group under an inch at 50 yds and under 2" at 100. I am the limitation, not the gun. At 200 yds I start to have some issues due to the lack of magnification and a solid bench rest jig.

It really seems to love 165-SIL over 16.0 gr. of 2400 as well as 180-SP over 23.0 gr. of 4759. After 20 rounds the barrel gets pretty warm, but I see no evidence of stringing or other issues caused by it. The barrel is rather light, but it is a hunting rifle after all. I don't hunt, but she's still a sweetheart to shoot!

Chris

117604

[Scharfschuetze]

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I have some experience with the topic.

I bought my first M77 in 1973 or 74 in 308 Winchester. As a young buck sergeant, it was a pretty significant hit on the pay check, even with jump pay. It was a standard weight rifle. With M118 White Box match ammo, it wouldn't hold 4 MOA even after playing with the bedding, both the action and the barrel. It was quickly sold.

The second one was a heavy barrel in 308 in 1976 as I recall. It would seize up with factory ammo and required a wood mallet to open the bolt after almost every shot, even with a cold barrel. It was DXd pretty fast.

In the 70s, metallic silhouette was pretty popular and standard rifles were still competitive so I, like any psychotic, bought a third heavy barrel M77 somehow expecting a different result. The third rifle was pretty accurate with the White Box match ammo, but either the barrel was screwed in crooked or the sight bases were cast out of alignment as any scope tried on it didn't have enough right windage to zero up at a 100 yards. With windage dialed in all the way to the right with a top of the line Redfield scope, it was still about 8 inches left of the point of aim. It too went the way of the first two M77s.

I have't bought one since.

My Dad just gave me his M77 Mk II in .223. A quick trip to the range last week showed it key holing badly at 100 yards with my mid range match load of 69 grain Sierra Match Kings. Suspecting that it has a 1 in 12 twist, I tried some 55 grain FMJ bullets through it for satisfactory results of about 1 1/2 MOA through 200 yards. Now I just need to replace or fix the absolutely horrible trigger on it before using it on prairie dogs or coyotes. As it was a gift, I'll probably keep it... I guess.

I'm glad to hear that others have had more positive experiences with the M77. I've always felt that it was a good looking rifle and my nephew slays deer and elk every year with his 30/06 M77.

[BBOB662]

I own 4 M-77 bought in the '80s all with tang safeties. The .220 Swift & 25-06 both heavy bbls V models shoot great. My International model in .250-300 Savage grouped poorly. and a 7mm Rem mag took a full sheet of typing paper to cover a 10 shot group @ 100 yds. However, if I loaded 175gr bullets the group decreased by 50%.
I used every trick in the book to get latter two to shoot better. Finally re-barreled the International To .250 Ackley Improved & went to a synethic stock which shoots fine now. The 7 mag went bye bye in a trade to a friend who wanted the action as basics for a wildcat project.

[Old Coot]

I have owned two tang safety model 77 Rugers. One in 243 and the other in 7x57 Mauser. Both are quite accurate at least enough for my purposes. I sold the 243 to a friend for his son, and still have the 7x57. I have had to real problems with either rifle except for the 243 had a tendency to jump the top round out of the magazine when my oldest boy over filled it. the 243 killed one deer, two goats, and has accounted for several hogs since Jim bought it. The 7x57 took two deer, three elk, and a number of hogs and I still have it. Brodie

[Jim_P]

I have a M77 Tang Safety I bought in 1983 in 7mm Rem Mag and a sporter barrel. At 100 yards with hand loaded rounds I get 1/2 to 3/4 inch groups consistently. I love the gun. I've used it for deer and elk hunting. I did hone the rails for the bolt. I guess it's all a bit of luck which one you get.

[jjohn143]

I know its an old thread, but couldn't resist. Some years ago a friend who ran a large gun store called and said he had some trade-ins from the tactical unit (they were converting to semi's) of one of the larger cities near me and said I could snag one reasonable. I went to the store that day and sorted thru for the best looking rifle and mated it to the best looking leupold scope and took it home. All of the rifles were .308 Win and wore heavy varmint barrels. To say the rifle is accurate is a gross understatement. I swear the gun aims for the hole in the target all by itself. I have 3 loads worked up for it 125 gr, 150 gr and 168 gr. From a bench the 168's shoot 5 shot groups in the .4's at a 100 all day long if I'm with it, under an inch at 200 and even had a couple just over an inch at 300. I am sure that since they were purchased for the tactical unit they probably had a little more care when being built and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
A friend and I went to South Dakota a fews years back prairie doggin' and it took 5 dogs off a hill that that ranged 529 yds. My friend couldn't believe it, said it wasn't right taking out a whole family like that. The .308 handled the wind out there so well, I quit using my 22-250.
My work horse is a 1984 30-06 tang safety ultra light, a hunting rifle (in terms of accuracy) and I just had Veral (LBT) make a mold for it and hope to see how well it will do with cast. Now I wouldn't even hope for the .308 type of accuracy but it will be fun to play with and is a lot nicer to tote.
So as far as Ruger tang safeties, I got a good one and a great one, nice to hit the lottery once in a while.

[Lloyd Smale]

sounds like you got a good one. I had one of the wood stocked tang safety 308 heavy barreled gun and worked hard to just find one load that shot one inch at a 100 yards. Most were closer to 2inch. Kind of shows you the main problem with the tang safety guns. Its inconsistency from one to another.
I know its an old thread, but couldn't resist. Some years ago a friend who ran a large gun store called and said he had some trade-ins from the tactical unit (they were converting to semi's) of one of the larger cities near me and said I could snag one reasonable. I went to the store that day and sorted thru for the best looking rifle and mated it to the best looking leupold scope and took it home. All of the rifles were .308 Win and wore heavy varmint barrels. To say the rifle is accurate is a gross understatement. I swear the gun aims for the hole in the target all by itself. I have 3 loads worked up for it 125 gr, 150 gr and 168 gr. From a bench the 168's shoot 5 shot groups in the .4's at a 100 all day long if I'm with it, under an inch at 200 and even had a couple just over an inch at 300. I am sure that since they were purchased for the tactical unit they probably had a little more care when being built and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
A friend and I went to South Dakota a fews years back prairie doggin' and it took 5 dogs off a hill that that ranged 529 yds. My friend couldn't believe it, said it wasn't right taking out a whole family like that. The .308 handled the wind out there so well, I quit using my 22-250.
My work horse is a 1984 30-06 tang safety ultra light, a hunting rifle (in terms of accuracy) and I just had Veral (LBT) make a mold for it and hope to see how well it will do with cast. Now I wouldn't even hope for the .308 type of accuracy but it will be fun to play with and is a lot nicer to tote.
So as far as Ruger tang safeties, I got a good one and a great one, nice to hit the lottery once in a while.

[Hickok]

Had a Ruger 77 in 7mmMag that I bought in the 1970's. 1 1/5"-2" groups were the norm @ 100 yards, no matter what I tried, trigger work, re-bedded, different powder and bullets.

It got "gone" and was replaced by a 700 Remington in 7 Mag, a real tack-driver!

[ballistim]

Had a Ruger 77 in 7mmMag that I bought in the 1970's. 1 1/5"-2" groups were the norm @ 100 yards, no matter what I tried, trigger work, re-bedded, different powder and bullets.

It got "gone" and was replaced by a 700 Remington in 7 Mag, a real tack-driver!

I have a Ruger M77 tang safety in 7mm Magnum that was Mag-Na-Ported by the previous owner. Group size using Nosler 140gr. BT & H4831 consistently groups under an inch at a hundred, recoil is less than some of my 30-06 loads with the porting, so guess I had better luck. I just recently picked up another tang safety M77 in .358 Winchester and have only tried one cast load in it at 50 yd. that went under an inch, so it looks promising too.

[Hickok]

I guess it is a flip of the coin if the older M77's have a good barrel or not.

I have a newer made M77 Hawkeye with the Win. M-70 type safety and it shoots great, No problem getting MOA @ 100 yards. Excellent rifle!

[ballistim]

I guess it is a flip of the coin if the older M77's have a good barrel or not.

I have a newer made M77 Hawkeye with the Win. M-70 type safety and it shoots great, No problem getting MOA @ 100 yards. Excellent rifle!

So I've heard. Everyone raves about the Remington Model 7 but the one I own in 7mm-08 refuses to shoot anything well. I'm really kind of stuck with it as it was a 40th b-day present so I've really been looking at having it re-bored to .358 Winchester with all the rave reviews from guys here who've had JES do theirs. One thing I know about guns & guitars and that is they can be the same model exactly & one is a winner & the other is a dog, no disrespect to dogs intended.

[Motor]

Been at this shooting thing for over 30 years. Been reloading since 1985 for close friends and family. I have owned 2 tang safety Ruger M77s and have hand loaded for a few more. From .243 up to .338 Win mag. I competed in Highpower Sillhoutte with a M77V (Heavy Barrel Varment) in .280 Rem. I've nevr seen one that would not shoot good with the factory barrel. In fact I had the barrel on the M77V replaced by Ruger after I wore it out. The replacement barrel was as accurate as the original.

Yes a few of these rifles had to be bedded to reach full potential. Some were free floated while others were glass bedded and pressure point employed.

I also had a .243 that was load sencitive like one other has posted. Some loads it shot great while others were lucky to stay on a pie plate at 100. Nice to be a hand loader. :)

Motor

[Motor]

So I've heard. Everyone raves about the Remington Model 7 but the one I own in 7mm-08 refuses to shoot anything well. I'm really kind of stuck with it as it was a 40th b-day present so I've really been looking at having it re-bored to .358 Winchester with all the rave reviews from guys here who've had JES do theirs. One thing I know about guns & guitars and that is they can be the same model exactly & one is a winner & the other is a dog, no disrespect to dogs intended.

Hey, just saw your post. My brother had the same trouble with his Model 7 in 7mm-08. I think he solved his by bedding the stock. If you want I'll get the details from him.

Motor

[ballistim]

I changed the stock but didn't bed it yet, and accuracy was about the same but it might help. I'd be glad to get the details on what he did & what improvement resulted. Thanks!

[Huffmanite]

Came home with a used 270 Ruger Tang Safety from a LGS several years ago. Rifle was a featherweight and it'd been well used, but still in decent shape.....price was $210. Anyway, shot various reloads in it from benchrest at range I'm a member. Accuracy was decent enough for hunting, but nothing to brag about. Would rebarrel the rifle to 7x57 with an inexpensive heavy barrel and installed a $40 Rifle Basix trigger sear (wasn't a complete trigger assembly) and it turned out to be one of my more accurate rifles. Used it in my range's monthly rifle competition for awhile with decent results....kinda irritated some of my fellow shooters that I'd outscored them shooting an old Ruger.

[BrassFinger]

Had some decent (for January in N. Illinois) weather to take my '71 "hollow bolt" 30-06 to the range today. 100 yds. with 10-12 mph wind mostly at my back. It wears it's original Redfield WideView 4X scope. I put various loads down range, but the star performer was (and always is) 16gr. 2400 under the RCBS 165-SIL boolit, BAC lube and copper GatorChecks. The first two shots were the foulers on the clean barrel and the next three made a nice little Mickey Mouse. I ran some 4759 as well, ranging from 20 to 22 gr. and the 20 and 21 gr. loads did well, but not nearly THIS well. I'm running fairly soft alloy, so I think once I start to push it higher than 16 gr./2400 velocities I might be distorting the boolit from the acceleration?

I also have the old 180-SP RCBS mold and it does well, too, but once I start to get above 23 or 24 gr. of 4759 it just 'patterns'. Probably should move on to slower powder at that point, but I rather just keep the load down and plink for accuracy. I've only shot a handful of 150 gr. factory loads, so I can't say much about accuracy there, but it wasn't bad, but wasn't good either. Those were fired after quite a few cast rounds, so residual lube and such could have affected it.

Chris

128452

[country gent]

My brother had a ruger 77 varmint in 220 swift that shot very well ( around .5-.7 with most loads at 100 yds) until the barrel went south. He also ahs a model 77 stainless lightwieght in 300 win mag that is around 1" at 100 yds with 180 grn partitions. Hes taken 2 elk with it so far. He did have a vais muzzle break installed on it to help tame recoil some. Both are / were great rifles. Bedding isnt a cure all for fixing everything. A bad barrel isnt going to get better by adding epoxy. Bigger calibers in lighter guns get much harder to shoot well also.

[wrench man]

My M77 338WM is a "liberty" model, it was an 1 1/2" rifle, good enough for Elk, but everything I read about them said to free float the barrel?, so I did and it cut the groups in half.
I have a 7x57 made in '72, it shoots about an 1 1/2" too, but I got it new in the box about a two years ago?, I had to clean the cosmoline goop out to shoot it, it only has 14 shots down the barrel, I'll give it some time and some alternative loads to see if it falls within today's standards?

[EDG]

I have a 6mm Varmit that shoots almost everything near 5/8"

I also have a 7X57 that shoots no 140 or 150 grain bullet under about 1.5 to 2.0.
That includes Remington and Federal factory ammo in the 140 weight.
Bullets used were Hornady, Nosler BT, Nosler Solid Base and Sierra. In the Hornady and Sierra lines I tried both flat base and boat tails. The flat base shot a little better but not a lot.

However the plain vanilla Federal 175 RN factory ammo shot about 3/4" groups.
In this 7X57 it all seems to be about the very long throat. I also have a 1895 Mauser with a mint bore made in 1895. It shoots close to 1" with this ammo and the military sights which does not say much for the factory barrels in Rugers.

I also shot a lot of these same bullets through a 7mm Rem mag. This rifle is a Ruger #1-S - the one with the Alex Henry forend and sights on a 26" medium heavy barrel. It was just as sorry with the 140 and 150 grain bullets. Maybe one group out of 30 groups was 1".

[DougGuy]

I have a 1970s M77 in .308 that when I got it, would do 3" @ 50yds. Yeah I know.... I did the following steps to it and got it to put 3 into a guitar pick @200yds from the prone position.

Free floated barrel, it did NOT like this at all.

Pillar bedded the action and tang screws, honeycombed the wood behind the recoil lug and filled with steel bed, inletted 1/16" of the wood 100% of the way from the tang to forend, and steel bedded the entire action, with a 100rd box of .45 Colt ammo tied to the front sling swivel. After the bedding set, I have gradual upward pressure the full length of the forend after removing the box of .45 Colt I used for a counterweight.

Lapped the bolt faces, shoot only fireformed brass, use a collet crimp die with the boolit set out of the case to within .025" of the rifling, lapped and bedded the scope rings.

It doesn't take much to get these tang safety 77s to wake up and shoot. This was my first decent centerfire rifle, and look how it has come along with the minimal knowledge of rifle 'smithing I have.

[Mtnfolk75]

I've have had a 3rd hand 1976 built Tang Safety in .270 Win since 1996, I know both prior owners. It has been a 1" MOA rifle with just about everything that I have shot through it. I have had Winchesters, Remingtons, Savages & Weatherbys over the past 42 years also, this rifle is the best shooter I have ever owned. I plan on giving to my Grandson when I am beyond shooting .... ;)

FWIW, I also had a Model 7 in 7-08, went back to Remington twice for headspace issues before I bought it. I was the 2nd owner but was good friends with the original owner, so I knew the history of the rifle. I killed 2 deer with it and it started having the headspace issues again, it went down the road with the new owner informed of the headspacing issues.