Ruger 77 tang safety new build, 30 cal build suggestions.

[Alibiiv]

I recently acquired a long action, Ruger 77 tang safety in 30-06 as a donor rifle for a build; right now it is a beater gun! I intend to use it as a rifle to hunt white tail deer, black bear or any thin-skinned game; and, to use it as a back up gun to take along "just in case". I'm thinking 300-600 yard shooting at game or targets. I've been asked, "Why the Ruger 7 because the magazine box it short?", it's because I like them, I have a safe full of them. I know that there are better actions to build custom rifles on, I just like the Ruger 77 tang safety rifles. Now I have a .270 Ackley Improved (almost built), a 35 Whelen, a .358 Winchester, and a 45-70. I use both the 35 calibers and the 45-70 for black bear hunting. I may be making a mule deer/antelope hunt in the future; but, that's a maybe. I'm not certain if the Ruger bolt face could be opened up to .534 thousandths, however I'd like to stick with the .473 thousandths bolt face diameter. I'm considered "ole school", like the older cartridges. I'd like to build something that is larger than .277 caliber; and....no I do not want a Creed! With that in mind I have been thinking of blueprinting the Ruger action and simply keeping the action in 30-06 with a quality barrel and a good stock, or even a 30-06 Ackley Improved. Then recently a friend suggested the 338-06??? I reload and the budget, for now, is around $1200-1500. I don't need another rifle, however I'm thinking that most none of us on this forum do, but...... I always get good information when I post on here and get some good direction with other's ideas and input. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[Frog4aday]

I am a HUGE fan of the old Ruger 77 with tang safety, so your project gets two thumbs up from me. I like the idea of either a .30-06 AI or the .338-06, so whichever one of stirs your soul the most.

 

[AZShooter]

In case you bump into a deal on a Remington 308 chambered barrel, it can be easily machined to fit a Ruger tang safety if it is rechambered in 30-06 AI. Threads for Rugers vs Rems are 1" vs 1.060". Rem's recess gets removed, shank gets turned and rethreaded. The '06 AI will clean up a 308 nicely.

 

[NEMTHunter]

I to am a fan of the Rugers. But if you do not want to open the bolt face up the hottest 30 cal I know of is the .300 Sherman. Or 30 Gibbs. Both will be close to the 300 WSM.

Or you could do the .338 Sherman. I think A guy just did a .358 Sherman to could be wrong on that one though.

 

[Konrad.INc]

I love the tang safety Rugers as well. I'm in the process of building a long action 284 Shehane on a ruger action. I'm doing a short barrel (20") and planning on pushing 175gr bullets to a little over 2700fps. Should deliver 1100 ft-lb of energy to 800yds. Plenty good for hunting deer and elk. High B.C. 7mm bullets too.

 

[NEMTHunter]

As far as the short mag box it can be opened to 3.6. OR you could see if this will fit. Not sure if it will the old tang safety but they do say for the Ruger M77 to.

http://pacifictoolandgauge.com/ruge...i-la-stealth-detachable-mag-bottom-metal.html
It lets you use a 5 or 10 round mag that is 3.715"

This one below will work on the tang models. price is installed by them.
http://www.cdiprecisiongunworksstor...ye-and-early-gen-tang-safety-long-action-dbm/

 

[Frog4aday]

I know you said you wanted to go BIGGER than the .270 AI you already have nearly finished, but since you mentioned a potential antelope/mule deer hunt in the future, I feel compelled to say .25-06 AI with a 1 in 9 twist. That would be a light kicker with amazing speed and flat trajectory, making it perfect for those pronghorn and big eared deer. I just have a soft spot for the .270 and .25-06 cartridges. You have the .270 covered and several bigger calibers already. Someone had to toss out the 'baby ought six' so I threw myself on that grenade.

 

[ntsqd]

If you could open the bolt face up to the classic Mag diameter I'd suggest the .308 Norma Mag. It was designed to fit where an -06 would fit because it was designed to be a simple re-chamber of an -06 rifle and thus is deliberately shorter than the other .30 mags.

 

[ofbandg]

I like the tang safety Ruger's as well but mostly because the ones I owned had stocks that fit me comfortably. Those were in magnum calibers and I had to trim the safety and round it off because it was biting my thumb. You also have to watch when you take the stock off that the linkage to the safety doesn't fall out. I had one that regularly did. My wife owned one in 7x57 and it was an excellent rifle, very accurate with light recoil. I think they are a good choice for a build. As for caliber, I own both 338-06 and 30-06 AI and either would do what you want. My favourite load for the 338 gives me just over 3000 fps with a 180 gr. accubond out of a 22 inch barrel. It it handy to carry and has proven very effective on mule deer. The 30-06 AI has proved to be a bit more finicky for me. I am working on it now and I get amazing velocities with 150 grain bullets and Superformance powder, just under 3200fps with a 24 inch barrel, but the accuracy isn't there. I get excellent accuracy with 165 grain loads and Rel 16 but the velocities aren't there. At present I am tinkering with the bedding and doing some more work with the 150 grain Superformance loads, seeing if I can trade a bit of that velocity for some accuracy. Both my rifles are built on 98 Mauser actions.

 

[Varmintnv]

Nothing wrong with the old tang safety Rugers! Tough to build lightweight rifles with them, but not impossiblel! I have an old flat top tang safety chambered in .257AI, and a later model that I rebarreled a couple years ago to .22-250AI.

 

[javman]

Have 3 tangers with red pad that are my favorite rifles. All three are very accurate. 270, 7x57 and 7 RM. I like the idea of the 338-06!

 

[villagelightsmith]

I recently acquired a long action, Ruger 77 tang safety in 30-06 as a donor rifle for a build; right now it is a beater gun! I intend to use it as a rifle to hunt white tail deer, black bear or any thin-skinned game; and, to use it as a back up gun to take along "just in case". I'm thinking 300-600 yard shooting at game or targets. I've been asked, "Why the Ruger 7 because the magazine box it short?", it's because I like them, I have a safe full of them. I know that there are better actions to build custom rifles on, I just like the Ruger 77 tang safety rifles. Now I have a .270 Ackley Improved (almost built), a 35 Whelen, a .358 Winchester, and a 45-70. I use both the 35 calibers and the 45-70 for black bear hunting. I may be making a mule deer/antelope hunt in the future; but, that's a maybe. I'm not certain if the Ruger bolt face could be opened up to .534 thousandths, however I'd like to stick with the .473 thousandths bolt face diameter. I'm considered "ole school", like the older cartridges. I'd like to build something that is larger than .277 caliber; and....no I do not want a Creed! With that in mind I have been thinking of blueprinting the Ruger action and simply keeping the action in 30-06 with a quality barrel and a good stock, or even a 30-06 Ackley Improved. Then recently a friend suggested the 338-06??? I reload and the budget, for now, is around $1200-1500. I don't need another rifle, however I'm thinking that most none of us on this forum do, but...... I always get good information when I post on here and get some good direction with other's ideas and input. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[Hespco]

I know you said bigger than 270 but you mentioned CM. I built a 6.5-06 on a Ruger action. 24" Bbl 1/8 twist . Using one one of the mono bullets it handles deer to elk cleanly. No abusive recoil , very accurate & a pure delight to shoot.

 

[MudRunner2005]

With the short mag box of the M77, I would say something along the lines of the .284 Norma or a .260 AI would be an excellent option. Even a .308 Winchester would be excellent, as you can set the bullets way out there where they need to be seated for max case capacity.