7.62X39 Steel Case in Ruger 77

J

jumpingeezer

New member
I know that the Ruger Mini-30 has issues with using the inexpensive steel case 7.62X39 ammo available from China and Russia.

I want to know if there are any issues with using this type of ammo in the Model 77 bolt action?

I have tried a few boxes in my M77 rifle and found them to be reasonably accurate and a great low cost plinking round. I had no malfunctions with them although the extraction was a bit harder than with my brass cased handloads.

I want to continue to use them as a plinking round for myself, and as I also use this particular rifle to introduce new shooters to a deer rifle class of firearm, I appreciate a low cost alternative to the brass cased ammo.

Can anyone see an issue with using the steel cased ammo in the bolt action M77?
 
I doubt they will damage the rifle in any way, worst case is you get stuck case. I personally had a savage hog hunter .223 and made the mistake of firing steel cased ammo through it. After about 5 rounds, shot number 6 was stuck. Bad. It took a steel rod to pound the case out. Sold the rifle.

Your ruger may have a more "generous" chamber, i would just make sure to scrube amd clean the chamber good after each shooting session
 
Ruger

I'm of the same opinion of x39mm bolt rifles, a useful step up from rimfires for new shooters. I bought one of the Rugers with the intention of having bamaboy use it as a starter.....which he did for about two seasons, then moved up to something biggger, like my .308 Hog Rifle!

I've not shot steel import ammo thru the M77-II, but I suspect that a modest diet of the stuff would not hurt it. Watch out for corrosive ammo. My experience is that accuracy with import steel case is all over the map literally! The rifles are plenty accurate with good ammo......one of the reasons mine gets brass case.......mostly my reloads, which I think Ruger frowns upon for any of their guns.....
 
I don't have a 77 x 7.62 but I do have a Rem 799 in 7.62. I found the steel cased ammo is more difficult to feed because the extractor doesn't move over the rim as smoothly as brass cases. Accuracy is not nearly as good, either. The Hornady SST is accurate enough but still doesn't feed as smooth as brass.
I can only assume the same thing is going on when chambering rounds in an AR.
I use PPU round nose soft point in the bolt action.
 
I generally keep sterl case ammo use to guns made for it. AK, various Com Bloc milsurps, and the like.
Also, as mentioned by bamaranger, I don't trust any steel case or milsurp ammo to be non-corrosive.
 
Ammo available from China and Russia uses a .311" bullet. Your Ruger probably does not. Slug the barrel to be sure
Steel cases are usually non-corrosive, Berdan primed and aren't reloadable anyway. Lot of it is lacquered one way or another too.
 
Thanks for the replies.

According to Ruger, the use of .311 bullets is a non issue. Mine shoots very well with all the common brands. I have loaded them all with a dose of Reloder7 and they have all shot equally well. For a cartridge that is not known for it's great accuracy, it sure impresses me in the M-77.:)

I have recently been using the non corrosive Russian steel case ammo from Tula as a really cheap alternative to my hand loads. The extraction may be just a bit harder than with brass case ammo but the accuracy isn't all that bad. It doesn't match my hand loads but it is more than adequate for the intended purpose. I'm going to continue to use them as long as I can buy them on the cheap unless I hear something really bad about them.
 
bore diameter

I have not spoken to Ruger regards bore diameter in the 77/ MkII rifles. But I have read a good bit regards the x39mm bore and Ruger rifles.

Ruger supposedly made .308 bores in the early runs of the Mini30 rifle. There is internet chatter that they were using up XGI barrels from their failed .308 rifle, but I cannot say that is substantiated. The eary "189" series rifles supposedly had long throats to accept a wide variety of bullet diameters. An article in the "Rifleman" by C.E. Harris supports that story. Sometime in 1992/93, Ruger elected to go with a larger bore on the Mini (.310?) and that is how they have been made since. A tech bulletin from Brownells supports this as well.

The .308 dia Ruger x39 barrels have been source of much chatter ever since, and I have added to it........and I suspect that the rumor has extended to the 77/MkII family as well. The MKII in x39 came along late enough in Rugers timetable that I believe that the decision to go with .310 had been made and the MkII were so bored. Yes slugging the bore, or having it slugged will reveal the facts on your rifle. A call to Ruger might provide an answer as well.

I can tell you that I bought into the .308dia bore story on my MkII and shot .308 bullets from it for years. Recently having read lots of type, I loaded up some SST's (.310?) intended for x39mm and shot some groups. The MkII, always a pretty good shooter anyhow with .308, , took on a whole new level of accuracy with the bigger dia bullet. MOA groups became common and not the exception.
 
Watch out for barrel fouling with steel case. I use my own reloads in my 527 .223, and after firing a box of Wolf through it, my usual 1MOA turned into MOM...minute of man. :eek:

Fortunately a good scrubbing brought it back.
 
bamaranger,

This rifle belonged to my late brother before I inherited it. He bought it because he was very recoil sensitive and wanted a rifle that he could practice and hunt with without developing a flinch. He was not a reloader so I took up the challenge of developing accurate hunting loads for his rifle.

I heard about the .308 vs .311 controversy regarding Ruger rifles so I called up Ruger's customer service. They would not tell me the actual bore diameter, but assured me that any .308 to .311 diameter bullet would work just fine in this rifle.:rolleyes: Well, I never tried any .308 bullets but ALL of the .310-.311 bullets that I tried gave me very good accuracy. I never had to fiddle around with various bullets or powders or grain weights to get this particular rifle to shoot well. It seems to shoot everything well.:) It also looks good! My brother could not stand the looks of that "boat paddle" stock and replaced it with a walnut one.
 
mild

A bolt x39mm rifle is indeed mild to shoot. After all the slam bang action of a mini or an AK, the M77 bolt seems downright gentle.

Curious, is your rifle blue or stainless? Also, the boat paddle stock does take some getting used to, with the print and all the weird angles......but they are as tough as nails.......I believe you could drive a nail with one.

The boat paddles have a bit of a following, if you still have it, it would likely sell for an amount that would surprise you.
 
bamaranger,

I have one of the blued rifles. The walnut stock compliments it perfectly. I still have the old "boat paddle" in storage and it will probably stay there until they plant me. I have no intention of ever putting it back on the rifle but I am going to keep it so that whoever inherits it can put it back to its original condition if they desire. I'm hoping that day is a long way off, but who can ever tell?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top