Trying to build a .280AI on a Ruger 77 tang safety

[Alibiiv]

I have a Ruger 77, round top, tang safety rifle in .270 Winchester. I would like to find a gun smith who is familiar with the Ruger 77, who likes working on Ruger 77s, who has the tooling to work on Ruger 77s, and who is willing to make me a tack driving rifle in .280 Ackley Improved on this action. I have tried for nearly four months now to find a smith to make a rifle for me, and it isn't happening!! I have a gun safe full of Ruger 77 tang safety rifles, and.....that is what I want to build a custom rifle on. I cannot find anyone who will true the action, square the bolt, lap the lugs and rebarrel this action for me. Some of the responses that I have received has been like they are talking like the action is made out of pot-metal and about to explode!!! I've gotten that they do not do Rugers because there isn't a big demand for them, we are afraid to work on Rugers because they are investment castings and the heat treating is not good on them and they are likely to crack when we tighten down the barrel. I had one "very" prominent barrel maker tell me to ship the gun to the company and they will measure the rifle up to see what it needs and then they will give me a price on the work. Well I sent an e-mail to this company because I was ready to select them to do the work, I received an e-mail back that they will not do the work because they only work on Remington actions. They also told me that I should buy one of their custom guns because I am only investing my money into something that I will never get my money back on once it is built. I like the Ruger tang safety rifles for me they are classics and that is what I want to build the .280 AI on. I know that there is someone on this site who can help me out with this problem.

 

[NEMTHunter]

Olson Gunsmithing Plains MT. He can set you up.

 

[Alibiiv]

Olson Gunsmithing Plains MT. He can set you up.

Great thank you for the response

 

[NEMTHunter]

Some smith do not like the rugers because it hard on their tooling. Ruger actions are harder then most actions on the market. The are strong thats for sure! If they had problems cracking ruger would have there hands full trying to put there own barrels on the actions..

Denis has done a ruger for me, and cambered and reamed a barrel for me. He does good work.

Another nice thing is IF you go with a Lilja barrel he could pick it up are they could drop it off. They are based out of Plains MT to.

 

[TG-5150]

The one problem you may run into with the action you have is running longer bullets. The mag length is hard to modify on the tang safety actions from what I have learned. I have one too. If you find a way to do a magazine mod or someone knows a sensible way to get it done, I'm all ears

 

[Alibiiv]

The one problem you may run into with the action you have is running longer bullets. The mag length is hard to modify on the tang safety actions from what I have learned. I have one too. If you find a way to do a magazine mod or someone knows a sensible way to get it done, I'm all ears

Hello TG, thank you for your feedback on this build. I did contact Dennis, he "will" be building my next rifle for me. And also thanks to everyone else who has replied back on this forum on my build. As for lengthening the action, based upon my experience with these actions, what you see is what you've got. IMO even if you could find someone to fabricate/machine out an extended magazine, you would then have to deal with the hinged floor plate and the mechanism that locks the magazine into the magazine well (on the stock) and into the action. IMO again I do not believe this would be possible to do and certainly not worth the money to get done. With all of that done, I am not sure if the feed rails would work after all of that. Again thank you for your recommendation on Dennis, I spoke with him this morning

 

[Alibiiv]

Olson Gunsmithing Plains MT. He can set you up.

Olson Gunsmithing Plains MT. He can set you up.

Hello NEMTHunter, that you for your recommendation. I did speak with Dennis this morning, we had a really good talk about the build. He will be building my next rifle for me. He had some good thoughts and some really good suggestions on the build. I was not aware that they Ruger could be pillar bedded, that will be done in the build as well. I cannot thank you enough. This is a great forum, the people are really great with good information on shooting and how to get things done in the shooting arena.

 

[NEMTHunter]

Hello NEMTHunter, that you for your recommendation. I did speak with Dennis this morning, we had a really good talk about the build. He will be building my next rifle for me. He had some good thoughts and some really good suggestions on the build. I was not aware that they Ruger could be pillar bedded, that will be done in the build as well. I cannot thank you enough. This is a great forum, the people are really great with good information on shooting and how to get things done in the shooting arena.

Good to hear. Dennis will take care of you. Yes they can be pillar bedded and glass bedded no problem. The smith that say you cant either have never worked on them. Or they just do not want to work on them. OR they cant figure out how to do it.

When its done post up some picture! and specs of the build.

 

[ruby76]

I built a 280AI from a 270 tang safety Ruger 20 years ago. I have mainly shot 140 barnes out of it, played a bit with 162 eldx, and now 145 barnles lrx. Mag box is limited with the really long big pills but the 140/145's shoot so good, and have killed many moose and deer that I do not need bigger. Its a 9 1/4 twist 24" barrel. Tried a Boyds pro varmint stock but its quite heavy (comfortable though). I modded and bedded my original stock to lighten it up. If you want really light, Wildcat Composites in Alberta Canada makes an ultra light stock for the Ruger tang saftey's.

 

[Alibiiv]

I built a 280AI from a 270 tang safety Ruger 20 years ago. I have mainly shot 140 barnes out of it, played a bit with 162 eldx, and now 145 barnles lrx. Mag box is limited with the really long big pills but the 140/145's shoot so good, and have killed many moose and deer that I do not need bigger. Its a 9 1/4 twist 24" barrel. Tried a Boyds pro varmint stock but its quite heavy (comfortable though). I modded and bedded my original stock to lighten it up. If you want really light, Wildcat Composites in Alberta Canada makes an ultra light stock for the Ruger tang saftey's.

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Thank you for your response and for sharing the photos of your build. I am thinking that I would like to play with the 145-160 grain bullets for my hunting and shooting needs. I have had tremendous results with the Barnes bullets. I feel like the all copper bullets have really changed the hunting arena. The expansion and the total pass throughs are taking down game that one would have to be shooting a larger caliber to get the same results. Thank you again.

 

[Timnterra]

I've built a couple custom rifles off Ruger actions, two tang safety and one number one. All three shoot bug holes. Most smiths don't want to mess with them because they are not round and thus don't fit in most jigs for holding actions. The smith has to be creative to get the job done but they are good actions and I think they are some of the best looking rifles out there.

 

[Alibiiv]

I've built a couple custom rifles off Ruger actions, two tang safety and one number one. All three shoot bug holes. Most smiths don't want to mess with them because they are not round and thus don't fit in most jigs for holding actions. The smith has to be creative to get the job done but they are good actions and I think they are some of the best looking rifles out there.

Yes that is one of the responses that I have received is that the receivers are not round and they don't work in the smith's fixtures. When I contacted Olson Gunsmithing he stated that they are one of the more precise actions made. I just really like the balance and the feel of the 77's and that is what I want to build on. Thanks for the replay.

 

[Alibiiv]

I built a 280AI from a 270 tang safety Ruger 20 years ago. I have mainly shot 140 barnes out of it, played a bit with 162 eldx, and now 145 barnles lrx. Mag box is limited with the really long big pills but the 140/145's shoot so good, and have killed many moose and deer that I do not need bigger. Its a 9 1/4 twist 24" barrel. Tried a Boyds pro varmint stock but its quite heavy (comfortable though). I modded and bedded my original stock to lighten it up. If you want really light, Wildcat Composites in Alberta Canada makes an ultra light stock for the Ruger tang saftey's.

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Hello Timnterra, was thinking about your build. Just curious about what length barrel do you have on your rifle? I am going to be using a Lilja barrel, however not certain about whether I want to go with a 24 or a 26 inch barrel. I'll be using this rifle strictly for hunting, although do enjoy shooting metal at 300 yards, but that certainly would not matter whether 24 or 26 inches. For hunting purposes I feel that 26 inches might be a little too long. I am hunting whitetail deer and "maybe" a mule deer/antelope hunt.