Ruger 77 Rebarrel Help

[Tiny Tim]

I don't post much here, but I gain a lot of insight and members have helped me greatly in the past when I've been stuck. So here I am again. My first rifle was an early 80's Ruger 77 in 7RM. Barrel is toast. I'm looking for suggestions as to cartridge selection. The short mag box on this rifle is very limiting. Do they make an extended box for these like the Wyatts to make it more user friendly, or should I go to some form of short mag. I'd like to keep it "cosmetically" close to factory simply for sentimental reasons (i.e. I'd like to keep the factory stock if possible). I already have a new 7 RM, so possibly a 30 cal? Its been a good carry gun and has served me well for some 38ish years. Mostly hunt white tails and long shots for me are 3-500 yds. I reload so not tied to factory ammo. Any suggestions on cartridge and/or a gunsmith to help? Or do I relegate it to the safe which seems a waste? Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Wolf76]

If you already have a new 7rm, why not go smaller?
You have a magnum bf, so I'd take a 270 wsm. No worries about COAL and an ideal deer cartridge.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Have a 243AI build in progress. Hadn't considered another cartridge in between. Considered a RCM but brass is relatively nonexistent. Any issues with feeding/ modifying feed rails to accept a slightly fatter cartridge. How about 300 wsm?

 

[Battering Ram]

I'm tagging in on this conversation. I have heard the re-barreling a Ruger is hard to do. I want to see how this turned out. I also have 7rm that's shot out and would like to replace the barrel. The 270 wsm was a good idea. Tiny Tim, please let me know what you decide to do and how it went.

 

[L.Sherm]

My 6.5x300wsm is on a Ruger tanger, you definitely have to work on the lips and ramp to make it feed with a WSM case.
A 300WSM would give you mag box length for heavies if you get a Smith to work on getting it to feed.

 

[Wolf76]

Have a 243AI build in progress. Hadn't considered another cartridge in between. Considered a RCM but brass is relatively nonexistent. Any issues with feeding/ modifying feed rails to accept a slightly fatter cartridge. How about 300 wsm?

Depends on your end goal. 300 wsm is a complete overkill for deer at the ranges you mentioned. It would address elk if that was in your plans. For just deer, I'd take a 270 wsm. I'm sure there would be some small rail work, but it would be minor. Brass is readily available and it would have substantially more thump than the 243.
For elk: the 7rm certainly will kill elk. I prefer 30/33 cal over the 7mm in this application.
Wildcard choice: 257 weatherby

 

[Shane Lindsey]

I've got a Tanger 300 WM from 1974. Re-barreled it with a Hart 1:10 in the same chambering. Mag box is short, but I have found loads that work (even 215 at mag length). I thought about the wsm when I did it, but just went with what it was already set up for.

If going wsm, I would go at least 7 or higher. No such thing as overkill when you are burning the same powder capacities. You will probably need to talk to someone who has worked on Rugers and modified them. I wouldn't just hand that one over to any GS, they would have to prove it. That is partially why I just went with the original.

 

[Dean2]

Personally I would redo it in 7 Rem Mag and sell off the newer one or do it up as a 338 Win or 375 Ruger if I wanted some variety. I am a little sentimental about the guns I have done a lot of hunting with so I rarely change the original layout much.

I don't like the short mags to start with because even with a lot of work I don't like the way they feed. Even factory guns originally designed for the SM cartridges don't feed near as good as the longer, straighter cartridges. There is a real good reason the 375 H&H, 7x57 and the like are built the way they are.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Thanks for the replies and sorry I haven't been more active in the discussion. Had a wedding yesterday. I have no experience with the short mags and feeding was a concern with the 243 AI. I guess I'll know more about this in the near future and imagine this would only be magnified in the short magnum platform. Thanks Shane for your reply. I also considered rebarreling to 300 WM, but again was concerned about mag length. Good to know that's a possibility. I also should have made it clear that I don't want to go full custom and want to keep this fairly simple. Really looking at options. Gunsmith suggestions anyone? Sorry for the long post.

 

[AZShooter]

You could chamber for the 308 Norma mag. It is .060" longer and its other dimensions are very similar to a 7mm mag so feeding shouldn't be an issue. Performance is slightly slower than a 300 win mag, with a shorter OAL. There is always Norma brass available.

Or you could make a 30-338 win mag which is just the 7 rem mag necked up. Dies are inexpensive and readily available.

If you wanted a greater difference in bullet diameter then the 338 Win mag would be the logical choice. Uses same case as 7 rem mag so feeding should be fine.

As for rebarreling those older tang safety rifles, a piece of cake. It is a 1" x 16 thread without a bolt face recess or a extractor cut. In fact a Rem takeoff barrel can be used. Rem's barrel shank is 1.062" dia so there is enough metal to turn down and rethread. Bolt face recess is faced off, shoulder moved forward a bit. Then it gets chambered.

The magazine can be lengthened by cutting and rewelding/brazing in extension pieces. My gunsmith did three tang safety M77s for me. Some alterations to bottom of receiver and stock are also necessary.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Thanks, I like the sound of the 308 Norma or 30-338. Maybe with a bit of mag work, could be a real winner! Pretty hard to go wrong with any of these options!

 

[Dean2]

Thanks, I like the sound of the 308 Norma or 30-338. Maybe with a bit of mag work, could be a real winner! Pretty hard to go wrong with any of these options!

You realize a 30-338 is basically just a 300 Win Mag right? just with a bit less powder capacity. Case is .16 longer on a 300 WM. Big advantage to a rebarrel is you can have it throated for the bullet and max COAL the magazine will allow, so you don't have to worry about lengthening the mag box.

 

[Rhett Crider]

Tim, I re-barreled a M-70 that was 264WM to 6.5PRC. The belt on the 7RM and 264 is .532 as is the case on the PRC so no problem w/ feed lips and the bolt is the same. I just got it back from my smith and fed some Precision Hunter cartridges through it and it fed fine. Seems to be a good option to me. I'll use the Precision Hunters for break-in then start the reloads.
300WM is a perfect match too though.

Rhett

 

[Ovis Spotter]

I have a Ruger M77 MKII that was originally 300WM that I re-bareled because I couldn't get it to shoot anything but 150 ballistic tips. I chose .300 Dakota for the following reasons: Its slightly shorter than 300 WM so it functions even better in a standard long action giving plenty of room for fine tuning bullet seating depth, It also runs close to .300 Weatherby with a much smaller charge. I'm pushing 180 TSX at 3200 fps with no pressure signs. The only work I had to do to the action was to open the bolt face slightly, the cartridges feed flawlessly and I didn't do anything to the feed rails etc. The real downside of the Dakota is the initial expense / availability of the brass, but once you have it its a great case that gives you more performance out of the standard length action. At the time I did my re-barrel 12 years ago, there were no PRC's, you have a lot more options now than I did at the time I did mine. I really like the Dakota, but I'd probably go with something that has more industry support.

+1 on the 6.5 PRC so many great bullets to choose from.