Rebarreling my Ruger M77

[hidesert]

My Ruger M77 tang safety .284 Win is strictly a hunting rifle and in 46 years of ownership it only has perhaps 500 rounds through it. After bedding the action and freefloating the barrel and spending a lot of time and money working up loads I finally realized that it is not going to be a one MOA rifle. It has taken several deer up to 150 yards but I'd like to be able to confidently shoot to at least 500 and ultimately up to 700.

I'm thinking of having it rebarreled by Pac-Nor this winter. The original 22" barrel looks similar to what they call a lightweight sportster. With this and scope the rifle weighs 8 pounds. If I go with a #3 contour sportster it looks like I'd gain a pound. That would be acceptable but I would not care to go heavier. Do you think this would give me the potential of .75 MOA or less?

 

[AZShooter]

First off I also own an old Ruger chambered in 284. I would say a new barrel should improve accuracy as the old Rugers barrels have a reputation of not being that accurate.

I use Rem takeoffs and have had excellent results with minimal expense. My first two barrels were 7 Rem mag takeoffs with 3/4" removed from chamber end, rethreaded and chambered to 284 win. My third barrel is a rethreaded and rechambered Rem 7-08. I only had to face off the bolt recess, turn down the rem diameter to 1" and rethread, the reamer cleaned the old chamber up nicely. Just saying..... this could be an inexpensive alternative. Use the difference in cost to make a reamer to your specs.



Another consideration for the new barrel is who's brass will you be using?


If you are using Winchester brass it would work better if you turned the necks for more consistent neck tension and resultant bullet release. Use a reamer with a slightly tighter neck dimension to help extend brass life. I am using a .315 neck. I bought 800 pieces back when Win announced they would be discontinuing production. I knew I couldn't rely on their "yearly production runs".

If I were to begin now I would buy bullets.com's specially made 284 Win Norma brass or use 6.5-284 Lapua brass and neck it up. The reamer would be a no turn neck as Lapua cases are very consistent in neck wall thickness.

IMO either way you really should consider the reamer's dimensions and including the distance to lands and throat angle. IMO 1.5 degree throat angle works well. Talk with your gunsmith about the dimensions of the reamer they will use or buy your own.

As for powder: I am using RL-17 these days with H4350 as the alternative. H4350 fits well and is an extreme powder.

Finally: Look into extending the length of your magazine box. My gunsmith, Joe Reid at Harry Lawson Co, Tucson, has done this to three of my Ruger M77 tang safety rifles. I had him lengthen my SA Ruger tang safety box to 3.1" for a useable OAL of 3.050". Should you decide to have Lawson lengthen your mag box I would be willing to let you use my reamer with Joe doing the work. The reamer is set so a 168 VLD engages the rifling with an OAL of 3.050". PM me if interested.

Good luck. Let us know your results when the rifle is complete.

 

[hidesert]

Thanks for the comments and advice. I'm looking at this entire project costing roughly $800 for a SS Super Match grade barrel, fitting, shipping both ways, and new scope rings. I guess a used barrel might save a couple hundred bucks unless I found a local gunsmith who had everything on hand.

About the chamber: Pac-Nor offers a plain .284 Win and also a ".284 Win .315 nk 0FB" Okay I understand now about the neck size but what would 0FB refer to?

 

[Pdvdh]

You should ask Pacnor. FB commonly means free bore, so it might mean zero Free Bore.