Rebarreling a Ruger 77 questions

[Wolfer]

I have a friend that has a heavy barrel Ruger in 220 swift. While it shoots great the gun is not very packable friendly. He would like to change it to a 22-250 sporter barrel with a sporter style stock.

Bolt face will work, I believe the feed rails will work.
I don't ever see short chambered, pre threaded barrels for Ruger 77s. Is there something oddball about rebarreling one of these?

Yes we both know the best thing is to just go buy a sporter 22-250. However if your on this site you understand.

Does anyone know where you can get pre threaded, short chambered barrels at a lower price than Shaw?

[izzyjoe]

I'm not aware that anybody make a pre threaded barrel for the ruger M77, you would need to get a blank and have it threaded by a gunsmith. The feed rails may work, and they may not like they are. So they may have to be modified, and then replace the the stock. It might be feasible to go buy an M77 22-250 and be done with it.

[NoAngel]

Many smiths do not like messing with Rugers. They are notoriously difficult to remove the barrel. It's not unheard of to crack or seriously damage the receiver. They are investment castings and while VERY strong, can be a nightmare to remove the barrel.

Best to just sell it and put the money towards another rifle.

[PB234]

If you remember the banned Goodsteel he can easily change out a Ruger barrel for you. I suggest that if you go that route to be very clear exactly where you want the finished product to be. If it were me I would just buy a Ruger American Ranch Carbine which folks here report achieving minute of angle results right out of the box. Recently I saw them going for as little as $333 on an auction site. So with shipping and transfer included it would be under $400. They were 223 which is not 22-250 but probably just fine especially with a fast twist. After trying the rifle I might go the money for a new trigger, but that would just be if I had nothing else to do with the money.

[KCSO]

Had a customer with the same problem and we picked up a barrel on Gunbroker and swapped it out with no problem.

[HotGuns]

I've done a few dozen and never had an issue, they really aren't any different that anything else. Depending on the caliber, you may have to cut an extraction groove but I don't see that as a big deal either.

Most of my barrels are made from barrel blanks.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

If there is any difficulty or risk, I think it would apply to getting the barrel out intact. It should be safe to cut it off, bore or counterbore it out, and pick the remains out of the receiver threads.

1x16 should be the same as the Winchester 70, though it is best if you can check a Winchester barrel without actually irreversibly laying out cash, as there just might be some variation. The Ruger may need a longer thread, but there is a 1x16 Unified National Special thread for which adjustable dies aren't uncommon on eBay, and that could be used to extend the thread forward.

[Wolfer]

As of right now we are planning on buying a green mountain blank and threading, contouring ourselves.

The blanks are 25" long so I have room to mess up the threads a couple times. My old lathe is an 1894 Porter machine works. It has a little slop but I can usually get good threads by threading longer than I need and then cutting to length.

[runfiverun]

Goodsteel is not Banned.
your welcome.

[izzyjoe]

Goodsteel is not Banned.
your welcome.
Ain't seen him on here in awhile?

[nicholst55]

Ain't seen him on here in awhile?

I believe Goodsteel voluntarily removed himself from this forum.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I believe Goodsteel voluntarily removed himself from this forum.

He was involuntarily banned and no doubt voluntarily never came back. Perhaps he didn't know he could. It is possible that he expressed himself unreasonably on threads I didn't see, but on technical issues he was a first-rate contributor.

[hc18flyer]

He was involuntarily banned and no doubt voluntarily never came back. Perhaps he didn't know he could. It is possible that he expressed himself unreasonably on threads I didn't see, but on technical issues he was a first-rate contributor.

My sentiments exactly! flyer

[farmbif]

I have a tang safety 22-250 , I bought a sporter 308 barrel for it , still need to change it out, its got a bull barrel with lots of pitting on the outside, A barn gun, but bore is perfect. last time i shot it was 15+years ago killed a 275lb 8pt, 1 shot.

[Wolfer]

Can that pitted bull barrel be turned down?

Would you be interested in selling it?

[EDG]

With the 16 threads per inch shank a M700 Rem barrel either pull off or after market can be rethreaded to fit the M77.

Be careful of M70 barrels. Some model 70s have a fine thread pitch and would not work so hot on a M77 unless you cut the entire shank off.

[PB234]

Anyone notice that Larry Gibson has also gone missing along with Goodsteel? Don't know Larry, but he often had considerable experience which he shared.

[Bjornb]

Anyone notice that Larry Gibson has also gone missing along with Goodsteel? Don't know Larry, but he often had considerable experience which he shared.

Guys,
without commenting on what happened in the past, both Goodsteel and Larry Gibson are reachable via PM. Runfiverun is correct in that Goodsteel is not banned. However he is not able to post on the forum for some reason, but his PM function seems to work just fine.

And yes, rebarreling a Ruger is everyday work for Tim Malcolm. He fitted an FN varmint barrel to my ho-hum Ruger Gunsite scout rifle with excellent results.

[Huffmanite]

Had a tang safety 77 Ruger rebarreled about 6 years ago. Recall reading about the Ruger sometimes a problem rebarreling.....gunsmiths didn't like working on them and etc. Took my Ruger to a local guy, who while a machinist by trade, had done gun smith work on the side for 40 plus years. Asked him about re-barreling my Ruger. Basically, he told me he'd re-barreled a fair number of them and never had a problem doing one. Had the rifle back within a week.

[Love Life]

Guys,
without commenting on what happened in the past, both Goodsteel and Larry Gibson are reachable via PM. Runfiverun is correct in that Goodsteel is not banned. However he is not able to post on the forum for some reason, but his PM function seems to work just fine.

And yes, rebarreling a Ruger is everyday work for Tim Malcolm. He fitted an FN varmint barrel to my ho-hum Ruger Gunsite scout rifle with excellent results.

Bjorn knows where the barrel came from, but I wanted to expand on the barrel more.

The Barrel came from a FN-SPR rifle, which is really just a souped up model 70 CRF. It was a chrome lined, heavy barrel that was extremely accurate. I miss that barrel sometimes, lol.

If I remember correctly, the barrel didn't require much work at all to go on the Ruger.

[nekshot]

If I was(had the money) to blue print and rebarrel a action for its best performance I would go no further than Tim Malcom.

[Wolfer]

I have the Green mtn blank here. Been playing with my lathe a lot cutting threads on a 1" bolt. Since he lives at Sparta this has to be a weekend thing. Since my lathe is under a lean to outside decent weather would be nice but not mandatory.

[ackleyman]

We had one heck of a time with a Stainless 77 Mark II. The action and bbl threads gauled upon trying to remove the barrel. The threads were ripped out of the action, it was destroyed.

I had a blued tang safety re-barreled to 243 AI, put in a McMillen Hunter class stock, and oh my goodness what a shooter!

[Wolfer]

185742
The barrel came off relatively easy. Reamer arrived today so we can start putting it back together.

[Wolfer]

Got the barrel threaded and the chamber finished today. Started cutting the contour and quit for the night.

Rebarreling these is no more difficult than a Mauser. Easier than many rifles.

[nekshot]

Impressive! New gunshmidt in town! I bet you have a secret lube based on bee honey also!! Just having fun with you, I wish I could figure how to cut threads with my metric lathe and its german directions.

[kmrra]

Where were you in German class in high school......oh wait never mind that was spanish

[Wolfer]

186576

Im about as fluent in German as I am in Spanish!

Got the barrel contoured and sanded to 100 grit. A little more sanding, cut a crown and a coat of paint and we will be ready to shoot this puppy.:D

[John 242]

Good job Wolfer!
You'll have to change your sig line at the bottom of your posts. It looks like you've been doing some living and learning after all!

Anxiously awaiting your range results.

[Wolfer]

It's been an adventure. My lathe is an 1894 Porter machine works. I don't know when it was made but they stopped branding them that in 1898.
It originally ran on a flat belt from the ceiling but someone has rigged an electric motor to a model A transmission to run it now.

While I have 3 foreward speeds and reverse in the transmission to change speed on the lead screw you literally have to change gears. I have a bucket full of gears.

My thread dial has no markings on it whatsoever. No matter what I can't disengage the half nut and get it to pick a thread back up.

The only way I've found to cut threads is to leave the half nut engaged. In reverse it wants to bind up and kick itself out of gear. I get around this by helping it along with the apron wheel. If I get ahead of the lead screw the half nut will fall out. A string on a weight looped over a nearby handle keeps the half nut engaged but I can still disengage it if need be.

The cross slid tends to rotate on it own so another string/ weight keeps it in one spot and I do fine adjustment with the compound.

The old girl has a lot of quirks but is still pretty capable if you have lots of patience.