Not a lot of smiths will work on Rugers. Better check around for that first.
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Not a lot of smiths will work on Rugers. Better check around for that first.
Why is that ?Quote:
Originally Posted by tomme boy
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#1s are a bit more challenging, can't imagine why anyone would not want to work on one of their bolt guns. It doesn't get any easier than those.
Cast receivers is the main reason.
What would that have to do with anything?Quote:
Originally Posted by tomme boy
Talk to the smiths.
Waiing to ser where this leads....
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A lot of smiths arnt set up with the action wrenches and tooling for rugers bolt actions and being a small market ( not a lot rebuild rugers bolt actions) they don't want to invest in tooling that sits more than its used. I was going to do a NRA Match rifle in 243 on a ruger 77 bolt action, Rebarreling to the barrel and contour I wanted wasn't the problem but the sight mounts, magazine ( Had to feed 5 rounds from magazine), stripper clip loading, trigger, And the stock I wanted were all issues as they weren't available for it and needed to be custom made. The actions are fine and easily rebarreled its just the lack of people doing them.
If you rebarrel the Ruger you are pretty much assured of accuracy if the smith is good. Or just sell the rifle and buy a Tikka, CZ or Ruger Predator with the rate of twist you want.
I personally had 3 Rugers rebarreled and all turned out to be tack drivers.
Ruger's cast steel is as strong or stronger than anyone's forged or bar stock steel. Any gunsmith worthy of the title can rebarrel any bolt action Ruger. Yes, an M77 will require special inserts for the action wrench. Doable.
Honestly, some but not all of the old Wilson sourced Ruger barrels should be replaced. My opinion only.
Best, Thomas.
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Rugers actions have zero issues related to being cast for rebarreling. With the flat side receivers the universal type action wrenches work well.
http://mcgowenbarrel.com/rebarreling-services/ chargers $205 plus cost of the barrel
http://pac-nor.com/pricelist/
Fitting and Chambering PAC-NOR Barrel to Your Action
(Includes Lapping and Truing of Action)
Add $300.00
Heck, don't need a special action wrench for 77s. Two pieces of aluminum flat bar stock and a big crescent wrench are all I have ever needed. It doesn't damage the receiver at all. That's after taking apart several hundred of them over the last 20 years. They never have much torque on them and come apart with no trouble.
had a 264 mag hawkeye that didn't shoot for ****. Tried bedding and it didn't help. So I sent it off to a reputable gunsmith whos name I wont mention and had it rebarreled. He used a Hart barrel. It didn't shoot a bit better after throwing 500 bucks at a 600 dollar gun. Well I should say it didn't shoot better. Before it was a 3inch gun and was very erratic sometimes a bullet wouldn't even hit the paper. Afterwards it was pretty consistent but still the best loads in that gun only went 2inch at a 100 yards for a 3 shot group. Hardly the long range deer killer I was looking for. Ended up trading it off and got 500 bucks for it so I basically gave it away. Found a rem classic in 264 and right out of the box it shoot moa with good loads. My best advice to you would be to trade it off on a different gun in the caliber you want before you take it in the but like I did. Ive had at least 20 different 77s through the years and all of them except for one 2506 mark II went down the road because they were marginal shooters. Some probably good enough for 200 yard deer hunting but some were down right crappy shooters. It bothers me because even today ill walk into the gunshop and see one on the shelf and get tempted but I just been burned to many times and wont bring home another 77. Funny thing is some will tell you that its the #1's that are poor shooters and most of the #1's ive had shot just fine. Some were even exceptional shooters. I'm not a gun expert so I don't know what the problem with them really is but I find it odd that I can buy a cheap American for 400 bucks and about be guaranteed its a shooter but spend nearly twice that on a 77 and get a dud more times then not.
Lloyd, I got burned, wait, BLISTERD, on 77's in the tang safety era too. I must have owned a dozen(all 1976 guns except 1) and the only one I owned that would hit a bull in the butt was a 270 and it was a great shooter. The rest had demons in them that wouldn't let them shoot less that 2" at best @ 100yds. I finally rebarreled the last one, a 7mm mag, to 350 Rem using a Douglas. It shot pretty much 1" with anything and is now a 358 Norma thanks to Jimmy McCollough in Selma, Al. The Wilson barrels they used in the early days made Acraglass and the bullet manufactures rich trying to get them to shoot. Re-barreling a 77 is not a big deal. BUT.....I love that tang safety.
E R Shaw is who you need. JimP.
I have had 3 tang safety 77's. The 25-06 looked like it was dragged behind a pickup, when I got it. 243 was better and the 338wm in great shape. Haven't played much with the 338, but I think both other rifles were early enough they had douglas barrels. Both with shoot under and inch@100 after I got them both home and cleaned the barrels. Didn't look like they were ever cleaned before I got them, especially the 25-06!!!
Art in Colorado,
IF you call Shilen Rifle Barrels in Ennis, TX, they will fix you up with a new quality barrel for a decent price, including installation.
That said, I believe you can likely find a nice/used complete rifle in .223/5.56NATO for nearly the same price as the tube alone, if you "look about a bit".
yours, tex
If it was going to cost $500 to rebarrel what I had, I would put a little more with that money and buy a new gun that had the twist I wanted. Then I would have 2 guns that shot 223.
don't know if you are still looking but
you can get a prefit Pac-Nor barrel
chabered in you twist for around 500 or so
its not all that expensive to do really
you can't even buy a decent rifle for that anymore
This Remington 700 has a 1/9 twist.
Attachment 208345
I recently rebarreled one of my Remington 700's using one of Brownells 1/9 twist short chambered barrels made by Shilen. You finish cutting chamber until bolt (stripped bare bolt) just closes on virgin case or go gauge. Warning... it is easy to cut too far...so be careful. This 1/9 twist barrel is a tack driver using Sierra 52gr Match bullets, 23 grains of N133 and Remington 7 1/2 primers. I have not shot heavier bullets yet.
Items that I needed for Remington 700 (sorry yours is a Ruger):
Short chambered barrel, stainless or chrome moly (chrome molly needs rust protection)
Reamer of your choice. I used a PTG 5.56 NATO reamer with close fitting pilot bushing. Turning reamer by hand worked well for me...gun is very accurate