ruger question

[300UltraMagShooter]

243 ruger mark II 77

any good? 

how much would you pay for one in good condition?

[CAMPMEAT]

$400 tops.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Ruger 77, mark II.

Stainless? Blue? Composite or wood stock?  Trigger work? (trigger is the worst part of that gun, but can be made sweet.) (OK,... a lot of people don't like the boat paddle plastic stock) How does it shoot? Great action. Great bolt throw. Good safety. I think they have the best scope ring mount of all. Every one of them I've fired were accurate.

On a used one in terrific condition.. Think 70% of local current retail price of a like item.

-Steve

[Hoyt204]

I have a 270win stainless composite stock.  I like it, its been a great rifle.  it shoots 3/4" to 1" groups at 100yds with just about any ammo.  As far as a basic hunting rifle goes, its great and I have never had a problem with it.  The trigger is a little on stiff side but not that bad.  You can always replace it if you dont like the trigger.

[h20hunter]

I shoot a .270 Mark II All weather. This is the one with the shorter stainless barrel and the rubber/composite stock. It has been worked over with trigger, bore lap, and bedding done. It heats up fast, kicks like a mule (for a light .270), and will drive tacks. I have shot one 1/4 inch group at 100 yards. I think overall Ruger makes a great rifle for a good price.

[GlennGTR]

How many rounds down the barrel? 243 has a barrel life of around 1500 rounds, depending on how it was shot.

[JackOfAllTrades]

How many rounds down the barrel? 243 has a barrel life of around 1500 rounds, depending on how it was shot.

You've got to be kidding me!

Yes, some of the dinky little bullets can reach 4,000fps, but that doesn't mean that the barrel is shot out if someone is using it for regular hunting of varmints or deer. Fired round count can be important, but to put a static number on the barrel life to say that's when its spent is absurd. Even over-shot barrels may have reduced accuracy, but those that shot 1/4" groups may open up to 1" groups after thousands of rounds fired. Still quite adequate for most hunting. The 77 MKII (as explained) is not a long range heavy barreled target rifle, so one would hope that its not shot out.

-Steve

[GlennGTR]

Velocity is NOT what burns barrels, its a small throat and excesive heat due to bore diameter. I did say AROUND 1500 on average all depending on how the owner used the rifle. Barrel diameter has nothing to do with it either, but a skinnier barrel heats up faster, so if it was used for groundsquirrels, prarie dogs where there was a high volume of shooting and the barrel was repeatedly heated up that will create throat errosion which can degrade accuracy. If it was used as a deer rife or a walking predator rifle and the owner was careful during range sessions then even 1500 rounds can be a lot of years, just like cars its not the years its the kind of driving and the mileage.

[C-Money]

Yep! M77 in a 243 is a great rifle! I have shot one and it was a tack driver! If in good/fair condition, I'd pay up to $350 for a used Ruger.

[FC]

Most people can't afford enough ammo to kill a 243 barrel unless they are shooting the light weight varmint pills at 50+ rounds per hour, if you are sticking with 100-110gr you probably won't be able to kill one if you tried.

FWIW, velocity is exactly what burns out barrels. If you do some looking you'll find that most of the cartridges that exceed 3500fps don't live all that long and the ones that exceed 4000fps live about 1000 rounds at the most. The ones that stay under 3000 fps live for tens of thousands of shots, look at most military cartridges.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Well, 'small throat/barrel diameter' and such does contribute to heat build.. Yes... any rifle not treated correctly, with high velocity rounds that do build heat faster, or repeated firing without allowing the barrel to cool properly can be damaged and experience reduced accuracy in even less than 1000 rounds out the tube. But I still would never put a static number on this.

So, as my first post said..  'How does it shoot'?  If you can still shoot good groups with it with factory ammo, the fired brass looks good, the headspace checks good and there are no other signs of abuse, then its probably worth buying for a fair local market price, which is at most,  70% of the best local retail price you can find.

When in doubt, have a gunsmith look at it. (I'm no gunsmith)

I bet you could find one for $550 new.. So, less than $400 without scope. Add a bit if it has the factory rings and/or a scope mounted.

-Steve