Ruger 77 tang safety build

[Alibiiv]

I could use some help and some direction here. I have a couple of Ruger 77, tang safety rifles that I would like to do a build on. Both rifles are Ruger 77, tang safety, short actions in 22-250, and both have magazine spacers in them for the 22-250 cartridge. I want to turn these two rifles into .450 Bushmasters. I have a Ruger Gunsight Scout in .450 Bushmaster, but... I "want" a Ruger 77 tang safety in that cartridge. The Gunsite Scout has a 16 inch barrel, I want at least a 22-24 inch barrel like my other Ruger 77s. I've tried the Bushmaster cartridge in the magazine of the two rifles that I presently have, the cartridge fits like the cartridge was made for the rifle, but it stops short due to the point of the bullet hitting the top of the existing chamber on this barrel. The case is a rebated case so the bolt face does not need altering.

I have a gunsmith who likes to work on Ruger 77s and said he would do the rebarrel and chamber work, but... he said he would not work on the feed rails to make the cartridge feed. Question is does anyone have a gunsmith who will build this rifle for me; rebarrel, chamber, open the barrel channel, and make this cartridge feed by modifying the feed rails if they have to be worked???? From what I am seeing with the rifle as it presently is, I do not think it will take much to convert this rifle, but... not sure of how much work it will take to turn these rifles into what I am looking for. I have been using Lilja barrels and have been very happy with the accuracy these barrels provide; however... barrel manufacturer is not an issue.

 

[Bret GRAVELINE Graveline]

I really don't think this is a problem for a confident smith, I've been retired for over 10 years now, i never cared for the AR platform so almost never worked with them, so I have no experience with the 450 bm, however I am a big fan of the tang safety ruger, got my first one in 1972, 4 of my 5 go to rifles 220 swift to 338 Lapua improved were on that action, gettng fat cases to feed were never a issue, most the time the feed rails were not much of a issue, tweaking the magazine box was where most my time was spent along with a little polishing of the feed ramp, 458 American several 300 and 338 Jamisons along with a number of WSM's the action functions well with all, my concerns with the 450 would be resting the headspace, but that could just be ignorance on my part never having worked with the 450 on any platform

 

[sable tireur]

I have a gunsmith who likes to work on Ruger 77s and said he would do the rebarrel and chamber work, but... he said he would not work on the feed rails to make the cartridge feed.

It seems fairly useless to do most of the billable work without shaping the feed rails for proper feeding?
Find a real gunsmith who actually understands fit and feeding. It's not difficult but requires skill and experience. You'll need a new follower.



.450 Bushmaster:

.22-250 Remington:

 

[FEENIX]

@Alibiiv PM me, I might be able to help.

Ed

 

[Alibiiv]

It seems fairly useless to do most of the billable work without shaping the feed rails for proper feeding?
Find a real gunsmith who actually understands fit and feeding. It's not difficult but requires skill and experience. You'll need a new follower.



.450 Bushmaster:

.22-250 Remington:

Thank you so much for your reply and for the diagrams. I presently am looking into another smith to do the work. He seems to be quite confident about putting something together that "will" feed.

 

[Alibiiv]

@Alibiiv PM me, I might be able to help.

Ed

Hi Ed, I did send you a PM. Thank you for the help.

 

[FEENIX]

Hi Ed, I did send you a PM. Thank you for the help.

You're welcome, Sir!