M77 Overhaul

[coldboremiracle]

Hey guys, I know this isn't exactly a hot topic, but I figured I'd share it anyways. This was one of my father's favorite rifles, but it burned out years ago. I wasn't going to let it stay that way.

Ruger M77 Overhaul: Turning 50 aint so bad

Rebuilding a fifty year old Ruger M77 chambered in 220 swift

coldboremiracle.com

 

[spife7980]

I do love the ruger m77s and it’s from much the same as you, idolizing my fathers choice. I swapped the sear in his tang m77 and it was a remarkable improvement for 40 bucks, not sure if it would help after your stoning or not though.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

Shaw does a really nice job working with Model 77’s. They rebuilt a beater MKII in .30-06, rebareling it to .35 Whelen, truing, and rebluing. Put it in Hogue stock. Shaws work looks great and the rifle shoots really good.

I picked this rifle up used at a large firearm retailer for about $400.00. It was rough. Picture is not the greatest but I really am proud of the results. Its a shooter too.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Youre right @Wiillk , and they are pretty easy to dress up.

 

[Chesapeake]

Love the new life in the old Ruger!

 

[coldboremiracle]

Love the new life in the old Ruger!

Me too! its refreshing to see it taking hides again.

 

[Llatikcuf]

Tang safety M77 in 220 Swift, one of the (too many) rifles I wish I never sold.
Nice work!

 

[striped1]

If you get one that shoots. I had a M77 in 7mm Rem Mag and that thing no matter the ammo looked like I was patterning a shotgun with buckshot. It was terrible. I had a Mini 14 that was MOP too. (Minute of Pie Plate). Dumped both.
The other complaint I always had was those damn propreitary scope mounts. Those sucked.

 

[coldboremiracle]

This one shoots, and it makes a hell of a mess out of chucks

 

[KYAggie]

If you get one that shoots. I had a M77 in 7mm Rem Mag and that thing no matter the ammo looked like I was patterning a shotgun with buckshot.

I bought a M77 7mm REM Mag in 1981; I was 13 then. It had a bad vertical stringing problem; horizontally it was ok, but not vertically. I had just read an article in Guns & Ammo about using Acraglass Gel to bed a rifle and that’s exactly what I did. So easy even a 13 year old could do it. My dad was a little concerned when he came home from work and I had my gun apart and was using a dremel tool to remove wood from the barrel channel; his concerns disappeared when I shot it after the bedding job. That fixed the problem to this day. I suspect yours had a bedding and or action screw torque issue. My barrel is looking pretty bad after all these years and I’m thinking of replacing it; it will still group 1.5 moa, but it use to be a solid 3/4”-1” gun. It’s killed 85% of the big game I’ve shot.

@coldboremiracle your resurrection of that M77 is inspiring; I’m going to look into a fast twist 7mm barrel for mine and give it an update. Maybe I’ll look for a new stock as well. Thanks for posting.

 

[FuhQ]

I like your build, but you are definitely NOT limited to the proprietary Ruger-style rings designed to fit on the receiver... If you know a gunsmith or are handy with a milling machine, you can bring that old M77 into the 21st century... I did this earlier this year with 2 of my old M77 MKII's (7mmRM & 7mm-08)...

EGW makes picatinny rails for them, but you have to drill and tap the receivers for 8-40 screws. They are actually VERY well built and fit really nicely. They even give you drilling measurements on their website.

Ruger M77 Short Action Picatinny Rail (MUST DRILL & TAP RECEIVER) 0 MOA

Save 10% on a set of Keystone Rings with this rail and get free 2-Day shipping!*Mounting Hardware is IncludedThis mount fits:Ruger M77 Short ActionRuger Hawkeye Short Action (not factory drilled and tapped)This will not fit factory drilled and tapped Hawkeyes including:HunterLong Range...

www.egwguns.com

Ruger M77 Short Action 20 MOA (MUST DRILL & TAP RECEIVER)

Enhance your Ruger M77 with this durable 20 MOA Picatinny mount. Designed for short actions, it requires drilling and tapping. Ideal for precision shooters and hunters.

www.egwguns.com

 

[spife7980]

Don’t have to drill and tap for picatinny

Ruger M77 MKII Rifle Scope Mounts WEIG-A-TINNY^® Weaver Picatinny

WEIG-A-TINNY^® Weaver and Picatinny style scope mounts base Ruger M77 MKII Hawkeye no drill and tap

www.jackweigand.com

 

[FuhQ]

Don’t have to drill and tap for picatinny

Ruger M77 MKII Rifle Scope Mounts WEIG-A-TINNY^® Weaver Picatinny

WEIG-A-TINNY^® Weaver and Picatinny style scope mounts base Ruger M77 MKII Hawkeye no drill and tap

www.jackweigand.com

View attachment 8202833

That was one of my top options when I was researching, before finally deciding on the EGW’s. I wanted to get away from the big side screw design altogether, so I went with the traditional top-mount EGW’s. They had to go to the smith anyway to get the muzzles threaded, so figured what the hell.

 

[Charger442]

Don’t have to drill and tap for picatinny

Ruger M77 MKII Rifle Scope Mounts WEIG-A-TINNY^® Weaver Picatinny

WEIG-A-TINNY^® Weaver and Picatinny style scope mounts base Ruger M77 MKII Hawkeye no drill and tap

www.jackweigand.com

View attachment 8202833

This is the way. Works well for the 77/22 also and no need to start swiss cheesing the action.

I've never really had a problem with Ruger proprietary rings, they've been working pretty well for the last 50 years or so.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Don’t have to drill and tap for picatinny

Ruger M77 MKII Rifle Scope Mounts WEIG-A-TINNY^® Weaver Picatinny

WEIG-A-TINNY^® Weaver and Picatinny style scope mounts base Ruger M77 MKII Hawkeye no drill and tap

www.jackweigand.com

View attachment 8202833

I strongly considered this as an option as well, but ended up going with the regular rings.