RedSnake
Active Member
I breathed some new life into a 1980s tang safety Ruger M77 originally chambered in .270 Win. and had it rebarrelled to a 338 Sherman.
One of the drawbacks of the ruger action is the limitations it puts on OAL due to the short (3.40") mag well. To allow a longer OAL to feed, I lengthened my action posteriorly with a Wyatt's cut (which included milling away the center floor plate screw). I fabricated an extended mag box from two factory boxes spliced/welded together. The bolt stop was moved posteriorly about 0.25" by tapping/drilling a new retaining screw hole and the window for the stop was enlarged. I am now able to feed rounds up to 3.600.
Build Specifics
I plan on loading Rocky Mountain 250gr ULDs. Wanting a more temp stable powder I thought I'd try R-16 and Varget. Prelim load dev using RL-16 had disappointing mv (mid 2600s) — couldn't pressure out before case capacity was at max even with a drop tube.
Switched to Varget and got mv of 2760 before signs of excess pressure with ejector swipe and sticky bolt lift.
* Rocky Mountain 250 gr
* Norma Brass formed from 338-06 A2
* Fed GM215M
* OAL of 3.530" (.005 jump)
Hoping to get back to range to finalize loads in next couple of weeks.
One of the drawbacks of the ruger action is the limitations it puts on OAL due to the short (3.40") mag well. To allow a longer OAL to feed, I lengthened my action posteriorly with a Wyatt's cut (which included milling away the center floor plate screw). I fabricated an extended mag box from two factory boxes spliced/welded together. The bolt stop was moved posteriorly about 0.25" by tapping/drilling a new retaining screw hole and the window for the stop was enlarged. I am now able to feed rounds up to 3.600.
Build Specifics
- Action: Ruger M77 tang safety
- Caliber: 338 Sherman (LA)
- Original wood stock (refinished)
- Pillar and full length bedded
- Benchmark light palma 1:9.4 finished at 24"
- APA Little Bastard brake
- Factory trigger reworked
- Cerakote midnight blue
- Leupold 34mm rings
- NF ATACR 4-16
I plan on loading Rocky Mountain 250gr ULDs. Wanting a more temp stable powder I thought I'd try R-16 and Varget. Prelim load dev using RL-16 had disappointing mv (mid 2600s) — couldn't pressure out before case capacity was at max even with a drop tube.
Switched to Varget and got mv of 2760 before signs of excess pressure with ejector swipe and sticky bolt lift.
* Rocky Mountain 250 gr
* Norma Brass formed from 338-06 A2
* Fed GM215M
* OAL of 3.530" (.005 jump)
Hoping to get back to range to finalize loads in next couple of weeks.