M77 in 30-06 want to rechamber

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Dave2

New member
I have a Ruger M77 in 30-06 that I would like to have rechambered, What would be all my options? Wanting a 300yd tac driver. 6.5Gr, 6br I will hand load for it.
 
I guess you want to rebarrel rather than rechamber. I see nothing wrong with the.260 Remington myself. It does not have the magical "Creedmore" name but for at least 98% of us it will do everything that the Creed will do.

If you were to go the 6mm route the .243 AI would be a great choice and if you want more steam than that you could go the 6mm/06 route. After all, you are going to handload and you already have an action that will handle it.

Nice to be able to think of all the possibilities you have.
 
I assume you mean re-barrel, not re-chamber? Its gonna be pretty hard to re-chamber a 30 cal to a 6. Tons of options for a 300 yd tack driver though. A 6BR would be one for sure.
 
Is this going to be a game gun or paper-puncher? A 6mmBR may not feed very well in a long action (sometimes they won't feed well from a short action). As others have suggested something in the 06' length case would be beneficial (6.5-06, .280, .270 .25-06). You might consider a 6.5x55 which is an "in-between" size case made for a long action. But a 6.5 man-bun can be seated longer in a long action... hmmm...
 
My apology to all on the wrong terminology, I should have said rebarrel.

Will be used for deer harvest by day, change to thermal and downsize the yote population at night.

I am leaning towards the 6br because of the milder recoil and it's accuracy at long distance. I would like to add a 6br barrel to the Encore arsenal which is my current deer gun in .243 but am questioning it's consistency with bullet placement with how it's closed. I haven't proven this theory but POI seams to change depending on how authoritative I close it. TIA
 
Originally Posted By: RustydustI guess you want to rebarrel rather than rechamber. I see nothing wrong with the.260 Remington myself. It does not have the magical "Creedmore" name but for at least 98% of us it will do everything that the Creed will do.

 
I would think it very hard to get a 6mm BR to feed reliably in a long action. What is a "tack driver" to you and do you really need Bench rest accuracy for what you want to do with it, what does it take to kill a coyote reliably at 500 yards, a deer is nearly double that. Reliable optics would be worth more than the last 1/10th of an inch.

Good luck and good hunting
 
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Originally Posted By: AWSI would think it very hard to get a 6mm BR to feed reliably in a long action. What is a "tack driver" to you and do you really need Bench rest accuracy for what you want to do with it.

Exactly. Most people will never be able to tell the difference in the field with cartridges in that bore size. If you cannot hit a coyote size animal with your .243 Win at 300 yards you aint going to hit him any better with something like a 6BR or Creedmore.
 
Originally Posted By: Dave2My apology to all on the wrong terminology, I should have said rebarrel.

Will be used for deer harvest by day, change to thermal and downsize the yote population at night.

I am leaning towards the 6br because of the milder recoil and it's accuracy at long distance. I would like to add a 6br barrel to the Encore arsenal which is my current deer gun in .243 but am questioning it's consistency with bullet placement with how it's closed. I haven't proven this theory but POI seams to change depending on how authoritative I close it. TIA







Understand that you may run into feeding issues with shorter, sharp shouldered cartridges in a long action rifle. For the intended use, I would look at either a 6mm-06 or a 6.5-06. My buddy has a stable of wildcats based off the 06 and they are absolutely devastating on long range PA groundhogs and varmints. He's taken deer too. IMO 6mm BR is going to be too hard to get to feed right out of that action but your results could vary. A 6.5x55 would be a fun one too.
 
6mm-06, or 6.5-06 with a 1:8 twist for high B.C. bullets. 25-06 is another option. 270 will require longer brass. Not sure if 280 will work with 30-06 brass or not.
 
Any rifle action built to handle the 30-06 cartridge will also handle the 270 Winchester cartridge and the 280 Remington cartridge without any modifications needed other than maybe smoothing up the action feed rails with some very fine sand paper to lessen cartridge scratching (if it hasn't already been done to the action in its original configuration with a 30-06 barrel attached) and having a new barrel attached to the action.

Not a big deal.
 
I jerked the barrel off my savage 30-06 and slapped on a used 25-06 barrel and it shoots 117 gr bullets into a easy 1/2" group.... so... my two cents are for the 25-06.
 
Originally Posted By: Dave2I have a Ruger M77 in 30-06 that I would like to have rechambered, What would be all my options? Wanting a 300yd tac driver. 6.5Gr, 6br I will hand load for it.

Building a 300yd tac driver shouldn't be all that difficult and there are many cartridges that'll easily get you there but since you're doing this with a long action, if using it as a repeater versus single feeding is important to you, selecting a cartridge that'll reliably feed well will be the most important.

I like using premium brass, it just seems to make life easier in the reloading room as well as shows up on paper and since everything based off the 06 case feeds like butter through a LA I'd probably go with something I could neck down Lapua 30-06 brass to like a .264-06 or .284-06. A .257-06 or .277-06 would be fine too, they just don't quite have the bullet selection the 6.5 and 7mm's do but if you are only shooting out to 300yds I'm not sure super slick high BC bullets are really all that important.

Also, don't think for a second a 30-06 can't be turned into a 300yd tack driver as well. Find a smith that is well versed with working on Ruger 77's have them hang a good premium barrel on it like a Hart, Krieger, or Bartlein and it'll likely shock you how well a standard 30-06 can shoot.
 


I own two M77 Rugers, one is a 220 Swift and the other is a 338 Win Mag.
My Dad was a fan of the 30-06 and so were many WW2 Vets.
His Winchester 70 put a lot of meat on the table.
Since you have a long action, the 25-06 or 270 Win you might like.
Your bolt head should work on both.
 
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