Grouping

[dwightb]

My understanding is that the early Ruger tang safeties had barrels bulk make by Wilson not Ruger. Some of them would group, a few would not. Some of the bases were machined off on the receivers. Leaving scopes with out enough windage. I had two friends with both bases off and no grouping. One was a 1776-1976 in 25 06, the other a 30 06. Love them for what they were!

 

[Bob Wright]

I worked on one of the 77's for days on end. Finally got it to shoot well enough for hunting at 3/4 moa. There were 2 issues. One was the hole in the stock of the front takedown screw. It was riding the screw hard on one side creating a second recoil lug. I opened the hole up to clear the screw. On the wood stock you might find a black streak in the hole showing the riding condition.
The other was an mis-machined rear scope mount scallop cut. I bedded it to see if that would fix it. It did but after about a year it started acting up. I believe he went with a "wigatinny" rail mount and new rings which pretty much corrected it permanently. Hope this helps.

 

[AkleyFan]

I have a Ruger 77 tang safety 7 mm mag, made in 1974, gun, stock and action are all in what I would consider pristine condition, I've went through all the basics, torque the stock, scope and rings, completely cleaned throughout, no problems with the bore, still can't seem to get it to group the way I want it to. Also have tried several different ammo brands and grains, I don't reload, so I can't go that route. Any suggestions? Yes barrel is floated and action is in stock solid.

My Ruger M77 in 300WM did not group well with factory ammo, reloads were the order of the day with it and a Timney trigger kit. Now, lets talk about the front screw on the trigger guard - it will cause you no end of grief if it's torqued down too much. I set mine down to about 5 inch/pounds to set everything in place then back it out to just a tad over finger tight with a piece of electrical tape over the screw head to keep it in place. Try varying the tension on this screw along with the other recommendations and observe the results. My rifle now shoots sub-moa with hand loads - it had been about 2.5" at 100 when I got it, then started my learning curve.

 

[xsn10s]

Thanks for that info, I'll give it a try for sure, I've actually picked up some different ammo that I hadn't tried yet, I got a box of Winchester Expedition 168 Long range accubonds, hopefully what you said and this will do the trick!

Unless you get all of the previous copper fouling out of you barrel first I'd suggest using the ammo you started out with first. I'd follow Lance's tuning instructions first with the original ammo you were using. And then once you tune the action screw torque then maybe try different ammo. Nosler AB's and BALR are very sensitive to other copper fouling and usually won't shoot accurately with other bullet copper fouling.

 

[Phidelt208]

Man, there is some good advice here.
I'll give you my thoughts, some barrels are just not cut well and NEVER group well no matter what we do.
I did load development on 14 barrels over 1000s of groups all 5-20 shot groups. The one common thing found was that some barrels' chambers were not cut well and never shot well.

 

[ghklr67]

Any idea of total round count?

Near the end of mine's barrel life, it took nearly a box of shells to foul the bore. Then it would go another 0-5 before it went to pot again. Still looked halfway decent through borescope.

Are you sure of your scope and rings.

ABLR may not be best choice in your twist. Always had good luck with most anything in 140-160 grain Nosler.

It was a guys safe queen, low round count, I didn't really want to use the 168's but I've tried several different lower grains, I don't reload so it gets pricey trying different rounds. The scope is a leupold freedom 4x12, not high end but I've had good luck with them, rings are factory ruger steel.

 

[jseandsje]

I have found that playing with the action screw torque can play a big role in accuracy with the old tang safety M77s. Especially the front angled one.
Is it bedded? Or just the wood connection?

Start at 20in/lbs and shoot 2.
Tighten the front to 25in/lbs and shoot 2 more.
Then tighten the back to 25in/lbs and shoot 2 more.
Then 30, 35, 40...

I have done this with Savage rifles too, and it can make a huge difference.

Your twist is probably a 1:9.5", so stick to 160-165 and down for bullet weights, and 145 and down if you run monos.

I agree totally about the action screws.
Also if it is bedded, that could be a problem. That angled front screw and bedding don't mix sometimes.

That barrel should soak overnight for 3 nights straight with a safe foaming bore cleaner, cleaning after each night. Wipeout, Gunslick, etc.

If that gun was stored for a long time with bolt cocked, could be weak firing pin spring.

Check muzzle with a strong magnifying glass. See if q-tip snags on anything.

Then shoot some simple bullets. If it won't shoot a 140 Ballistic Tip decent, might need a barrel.

 

[waveslayer]

The time and money you will spend to chase this is not worth it. Buy a new barrel from Bartlien and go from there. You will think me in the long run

 

[highfinblue]

I had pretty much the same rifle back in the day and it loved 162 grain Hornady's until I shot the barrel out. I know you said yours is in great shape so I wouldn't worry about that, but torque things as have already been recommended and keep trying ammo loaded with bullets in that 160-165 range and you should be able to find something that will shoot. Certainly, bedding the action would be a good option, and a better trigger is always good on Rugers. A fine rifle except for the trigger in my opinion.

 

[jasgus]

I would check the front action screw torque. Ruger recommends 95 inch pounds . I have found the sweet spot on one rifle at 110 inch pounds but never lower than their recommended torque.

 

[Mike99]

I realize you noted free floated and action solid. If the comments above don't help here, are some others. I think some of those rifles had a pressure point up front. One temporary way to test is to put small business card spacer in and shoot. Also look for other unintentional pinch points in stock. Sometimes a little bedding can help as well in areas like lug.

I agree it should shoot better than it is.

 

[Shane Lindsey]

IF you're gonna torque to 95"LBS. I would bed the front lug. 95"LBS is going to be rough on the wood alone.

A new barrel was what really made the rifle shoot.

 

[xsn10s]

I would check the front action screw torque. Ruger recommends 95 inch pounds . I have found the sweet spot on one rifle at 110 inch pounds but never lower than their recommended torque.

I was going to call BS but I checked and that is the factory torque setting. I learned something new today! Thanks, that's pretty wild lol.

 

[575hunter]

For factory ammo I've always found that Remington Cor-Loct will shoot good when nothing else will.
I have a model 77 from that same time frame in 257 Bob and that's the only factory ammo I've ever found it will group with.
Certainly not the best for long range but they seem to shoot well in most rifles I've tried them in.