Ruger M77 tang safety .270 - questions *UPDATE*

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rookie7

New member
Hello all,

I have a Ruger M77 tang safety in .270. This rifle is circa early 80's. I would say 1982 or 1983.

Trying to gear it up for deer season. I shot it a few times the in the past few weeks. First load was using IMR 4350 and 130 gr Nosler BT and cci 200 primer. Can't remember the charge, but it was the minimum listed - around 50 grs I think.

Yesterday I shot it with a load of 53 grs of IMR 4831, cci 200 primer, and Hornady 130 gr sst bullets. Best group was 1.5" at 100 for 3 shots. After that it was stringing them everywhere.

These are not known for being an MOA rifle are they? Is the .270 capable of MOA or less?

The rifle is currently bedded - saddle bedded - with 2" bedded in front of recoil lug. The rest of the barrel channel is free-floated.

Curious to see what others may have, done, found that helps. I may pillar bed it after season, or before if I have the time.

I think I will reduce the 4831 to a starting load and see what she will do. I will say after 3 shots that barrel was hot!

My gun has a beautiful walnut stock, high luster blue, and factory iron sights.

Thanks

 
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I have my father's tang safety 7mm remmag. It will group 3 slow fire shots at 100 yards into a nice tight little group with all 3 rounds touching. After that it starts to string. It is picky on ammo and loads. Only likes 160gr and up bullets.
 
I had a Ruger tang safety .308 that was one of the most consistent 1.5" shooters I've ever had.
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To be specific, it would really shoot what it really wanted to shoot. But it was really picky too. That walnut stocked short action .308 Winchester weighed 9.75 lbs with Ruger rings and a Redfield 5-Star 3x9 scope. I killed several deer with it but got tired of humping it around the hills. It got swapped on something else somewhere down the line...

I'd work with that IMR-4831/130 gr. bullet load. That's a time proven combination. I do remember that there is a proper why to torque the action screws on the Rugers with that angled front screw. Need that front one to snug the recoil lug firm, it has to be very tight. The back screw should just be firm, middle just tight enough to not fall out of the gun.
 
I didn't mean to give the impression that it didn't have a scope. Was just describing what it looked like to chronologically place the gun. I have a Zeiss Conquest 3-9 on it in lapped Ruger rings. I will check free float space for barrel. Will also check on how to tighten the action screws.
 
Mine's a 7x57 that shoots most loads around 1.5".Thats with a 1-4x scope.It could probably do a little better with more magnification.Being that old there's a good chance copper fouling has built up.Happened in mine.I'd give it a thorough cleaning with Wipe Out.Always worth trying the cheapest possibilities first.
 
Mine shoots just under an inch with 4350 and a nosler 130 BT. I have mine floated so that a dollar. Will slide freely all the way to the action. Those thin barrels heat up quickly and need consistency in your loads.
 
I had/have the exact same rifle. I bought mine as a Christmas present to myself in 1983. I could never find a load that would consistantly group under 1.75 inches. My factory barrel was a copper collector too. After 30 years I had a #3 Shilen installed in 270 and restocked with a laminated Boyd's. I bedded the action, installed a Timney and floated the barrel. Hodgdon 4831sc and 140g accubonds produce 3/4 inch 3 shot groups regularly.
 
What's the trigger like??? I always do two things when trying to see how good a given rifle will shoot...first clean the barrel. I don't mean slop some Hoppe's on a brush and wipe it out and call it clean...I mean get the copper, all of the copper out. J-B Bore Cleaner works good for this. Next is get the trigger to a consistent 1 1/2 pounds. Then go shooting and see what she will do. Obviously, all the screws have to be tight and the ammo needs to be good stuff.
I have owned a few tang safety Rugers, they all had a bad trigger that seriously needed help, but a couple shot fantastic.
 
I just remembered a quote from that era, "Ruger M77's have the best $12.00 barrel that can be had." IIRC the first M77 rifles had Douglas barrels and shot really well. Then Ruger began to outsource to cheaper barrels while they began producing their own barrels in house. M77's went through a bad spell with inconsistent accuracy reports being common. That's when that quote came about. Eventually Ruger got it figured out and now seem to produce as good a factory barrel as anyone else.
 
I have a tang safety 77 that I bought in 1980. Have killed a lot of animals with it. It's in a .300 WM though. It will shoot 3/4"-1" consistently at 100 yds. Had the trigger worked on when I first bought it. Makes a big difference,Also you need to check the torque and proper sequence on the bedding screws. This will make a big difference. Still have several Rugers and love them. Use mostly Remington's now. Had a 270 also. Try IMR 4350 or H4350 with the 100 gr and 130 gr. Also play with your seating depth .
 
My old .270 Ruger really liked 55 to 56 grains of IMR 4350 and the Sierra 130 grain bullet. I had no issues keeping 5 shots in less than .75" at 100 yards. Shot a group of less than an inch at 200 yards one time at least. You may want to give it a try.

Great gun you have there. Wish I had not gotten stupid and traded mine off. Just had to have something else at the time. Was not the first time I did it or the last. Not that dumb anymore thank goodness.
 
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