Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: yorketransport on July 26, 2015, 09:29:38 AM

Title: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: yorketransport on July 26, 2015, 09:29:38 AM: I picked up an older tang safety Ruger 77 in 300 Win Mag yesterday for a good price. Now it's time to figure out what it's going to become. Since I have hundreds of ideas and almost that many unfinished projects I thought I'd open this one up to suggestions. There are no real goals with this project. I have hunting rifles in calibers ranging from 264 LBC up through the 458 Arnold and a pretty good selection of target guns up through 375 as well. The goal here is just to come up with an interesting use for this action. You do get bonus points though if you come up with something in the 9.3 mm diameter though. That's about the only bore I've never messed with. :tup:

Andrew
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: jay.sharkbait on July 26, 2015, 09:36:19 AM: Neck up 358 Norma?
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: MountainWalk on July 26, 2015, 09:37:52 AM: 358 STA.. oh maybe not. Might be too short. 40 or 375 hawk?
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: yorketransport on July 26, 2015, 10:13:05 AM: The 358 STA and 358 Norma are pretty close to one idea I had, the 358/375 Ruger. It would be a perfect match to go with the 338/375 and 375 Rugers that I have.

I thought about trying to build a full long range gun off of it just because I never see precision guns built off of Ruger actions.
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: MountainWalk on July 26, 2015, 10:22:22 AM: The more I think about, the cooler a .411 hawk Scoville would be. The idea of "regular" cases and cartridges that can compete and hang with the large capacity Magnums.
From z-hat's info, 411 is about as big as you can go with Papa' 06's cases. Sensible, cool alternatives. Tang safety Rugers are super classy
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: j_h_nimrod on July 26, 2015, 10:34:27 AM: You would probably have better luck than me at a precision M77 but I can tell you it is not an easy endeavor. I've never spent much time with the old tang safety models but always heard they were made a bit better than the later models.

Rugers have always felt more like a heavy caliber and close cover gun for me. I thing a 358/375 Ruger sounds intriguing and a good option for a build.
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: jay.sharkbait on July 26, 2015, 10:39:20 AM: Quote from: MountainWalk on July 26, 2015, 10:22:22 AM
The more I think about, the cooler a .411 hawk Scoville would be. The idea of "regular" cases and cartridges that can compete and hang with the large capacity Magnums.
From z-hat's info, 411 is about as big as you can go with Papa' 06's cases. Sensible, cool alternatives. Tang safety Rugers are super classy

I would be leery of head spacing off that tiny shoulder. It's been done before (400 Whelen) but still seems to be at the limit to me. Since Yorke's rifle already has mag bolt face I'd do 416 Taylor for a .411 caliber.
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: MountainWalk on July 26, 2015, 11:26:32 AM: Ahh. Got me....wasn't paying too close attention. .473 .vs. 532

Need a smiley with a dunce cap. Bolt face in mind, 358. Kinda enamoured with my whelen and just digging 35's in general at the moment.

Lots of bigger diameters going to short action cases ie; 325wsm, 338 Fed, 358 win,350 rm. But no true short action 375. As impressive as the 375ruger is, its still not short. That and it's a little bit more power full than what I'm thinking. Not a short African or Alaskan Brown bear rifle. Just a short, sweet hard hitting bear and elk gun. Ya follow me?

I'm not a huge experimenter, I'm a modest handloader. and I'm not a huge fan of short actions one way or the other, but a model 7 sized rifle able to spit 235,260,285gr slugs at modest elk killing distances would be cool.

I know your ruger is long, just had to get that off my chest.
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: j_h_nimrod on July 26, 2015, 11:45:56 AM: Quote from: jay.sharkbait on July 26, 2015, 10:39:20 AM
Quote from: MountainWalk on July 26, 2015, 10:22:22 AM
The more I think about, the cooler a .411 hawk Scoville would be. The idea of "regular" cases and cartridges that can compete and hang with the large capacity Magnums.
From z-hat's info, 411 is about as big as you can go with Papa' 06's cases. Sensible, cool alternatives. Tang safety Rugers are super classy

I would be leery of head spacing off that tiny shoulder. It's been done before (400 Whelen) but still seems to be at the limit to me. Since Yorke's rifle already has mag bolt face I'd do 416 Taylor for a .411 caliber.

I have a .375 Gibbs and I wouldn't want any less shoulder. I have read about the .400 Whelen and recall that without care head spacing was problematic. All besides the point...

I always wanted a .416 Taylor but never pulled the trigger. Without checking specifications I think the .416 Ruger would be a good fit and give a bit more power than the Taylor.
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: yorketransport on July 26, 2015, 07:36:19 PM: It sounds like a medium bore is the popular direction to go. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a more classic caliber to match up to the action. The gun was manufactured in 1980 and it's in extremely good condition. It seems like the only proper thing to do is to chamber it in a caliber appropriate for the time period.

The 358 Norma is actually starting to sound like a pretty good idea!
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: coachcw on July 31, 2015, 08:02:29 PM: You got a bunch of big , how about a 243/300wm ?
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: BULLBLASTER on July 31, 2015, 08:31:05 PM: My vote would be 358 Norma or sta
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: andrew_in_idaho on July 31, 2015, 08:40:16 PM: Quote from: coachcw on July 31, 2015, 08:02:29 PM
You got a bunch of big , how about a 243/300wm ?
I like the sounds of that. Imagine the velocities you could get outta that round.
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: BULLBLASTER on August 01, 2015, 10:37:44 AM: Quote from: andrew_in_idaho on July 31, 2015, 08:40:16 PM
Quote from: coachcw on July 31, 2015, 08:02:29 PM
You got a bunch of big , how about a 243/300wm ?
I like the sounds of that. Imagine the velocities you could get outta that round.
Is there anyone out there that makes a 120-130 grain 6 mm bullet? That would be pretty awesome
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: j_h_nimrod on August 01, 2015, 11:08:48 AM: I found up 115gr 6mm bullets but nothing heavier commercially. Pretty sure you could find one of the smaller makers to do a custom batch but it would probably be pretty spendy.
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: coachcw on August 01, 2015, 11:26:16 AM: a 100 grain nosler bt would be a rocket ship !
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: crabcreekhunter on August 02, 2015, 02:00:02 PM: Lazzeroni scramjet?
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: ELKBURGER on August 02, 2015, 05:14:00 PM: Quote from: BULLBLASTER on August 01, 2015, 10:37:44 AM
Quote from: andrew_in_idaho on July 31, 2015, 08:40:16 PM
Quote from: coachcw on July 31, 2015, 08:02:29 PM
You got a bunch of big , how about a 243/300wm ?
I like the sounds of that. Imagine the velocities you could get outta that round.
Is there anyone out there that makes a 120-130 grain 6 mm bullet? That would be pretty awesome
It would get a 115 gr smoking fast!
Title: Re: What to do with a Ruger 77 tang safety
Post by: yorketransport on August 02, 2015, 09:01:54 PM: I hadn't really thought about a screaming fast 6mm! I do have the 6.5 Badger that will throw the 160 Matrix bullet over 3400 fps. That would be pretty hard to beat. :chuckle:

The only real issue I have with this action is the very limited mag length. It's exactly 3.340". There's not a lot of room to work with. I loaded up a couple of 200gr Accubonds over a healthy charge of Retumbo to zero the scope that I put on there. The OAL was 3.340" and it smashed the nose on the rounds in the mag after recoil. They still fed perfect though! It may be a prime candidate for a long throated 270 WSM with a little work to the feed rails.