Restock a Ruger M77

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wover98

New member
I am looking for a good synthetic stock for my Ruger M77.
I know nothing about stocks but a friend told me that my accuracy would improve if I get rid of the wood stock. Something about the wood touching the barrel at the forend.
Any advice is welcome

Thanks
Will
 
Google or search gunbroker for one that is "free floating". Most of the time that is what people are looking for when switching from wood to synthetic.
 
I know nothing about stocks but a friend told me that my accuracy would improve if I get rid of the wood stock. Something about the wood touching the barrel at the forend.
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It all depends on the rifle in question. Some rifles like pressure points (barrel touching the stock). Some rifles like to be free-floated (barrel not touching stock).

My M77 Mk II shoots well free-floated, except for a left pressure point (generally considered a horrible situation - you want pressure from the bottom).
My M77 tang safety shoots extremely well with a fully bedded barrel (stock touching barrel for the entire length of the fore end).
My Mossberg 800 needs a free-floated barrel.
And, my Marlin XL7 needs pressure points.

... It all depends on the rifle in question.

If you like the wood stock, and want to keep it...
Have a gunsmith free-float the barrel in that stock. If accuracy goes to crap with the free-floated barrel, it's a piece of cake to have him build pressure points back up at the fore end.

If you don't care about the wood, go for the synthetic stock. Just be aware that you may suffer from an accuracy loss, rather than an improvement.
Or... Boyd's stocks are free-floated from the factory. A good laminate keeps a more natural appearance, but provides the benefits of a synthetic stock (other than weight savings).

*I just wanted to note: My rifles should not be used to judge all M77s or M77 Mk IIs. They were only used as examples for the subject. Every rifle is different, even rifles of the same model and chambering.
 
I agree with Frankenmauser. You should be able to free float the barrel in the stock you already have. Wood is very easy to work and a little carving or rasping will likely get the job done. It is not difficult, if you are confident in your ability to remove the stock and put it back the way you found it, do it yourself. If you remove the stock look for the areas where the barrel has been rubbing on the wood. It will appear to shine or show as a dark mark that is smoother than the wood around it. You can use 80 grit sandpaper or a small wood rasp to remove a small amount of wood at those areas. Then put the stock and action back together. Try to slide a dollar bill between the barrel and stock. If it slides all the way to the action your done. If not mark the spot on the stock with a piece of masking tape and do it again.
 
After a bit of research into replacement stocks, I went with the Hogue overmolded stock with the aluminum bedding channel. It fit my Ruger Hawkeye MkII perfectly. It feels good in the hands and I'm very pleased. And yesterday, while wandering around in a gunshop, I noticed a nice looking FN Tactical, and it had exactly the same stock that I bought, and that made me feel even a bit better. The price for the stock, from Cabela's, was about $230. And the rifle does shoot better, though I can't honestly say that it's all due to the stock.
 
I have a Ruger Hawkeye Standard with a wood stock that used to push right on the barrel and could not get it to shoot well at all ,went on some forums and read that I could float the barrel myself .So I did it was a peice of cake and took all of a 1/2 hour and the gun is very accurate 1/2 to 1 inch groups at 100 yds. Get a wood dowel wrap a peice of med sand paper around it and sand a little at a time out until you can slide a dollar bill down to the chamber .Then seal it neatly with tounge oil 1-2 coats is all . I find the trigger to be fine on the Rugers now and really enjoy shooting the gun now and it did not cost alot of money.
 
a friend told me that my accuracy would improve if I get rid of the wood stock
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People say all sorts of things . . .

There are many ways people address accuracy issues. Whenever I have a customer who says they want to accurize their rifle, I ask them to fire several 5-shot froups and bring me a target. Then I look for tell-tale signs of accuracy issues.

Different issues have different signatures. Tight groups with just one flier are usually the most difficult to analyze, usually ammo or trigger related. Most bedding issues have a definite signature: stringing or seemingly random shot dispersal.

If you have never bedded a rifle before, the Ruger 77 action is not a simple one to bed, but it is not impossible. And bedding is typically much cheaper than a replacement stock. If you are going to try and you have questions, ask someone who has successfully bedded stocks in the past or refer to one of the online sites.

For your Ruger 77 Mark II, remove the pressure point in the barrel channel, then put a small amount of bedding compound in the recoil lug area and a small dab at the rear bedding point (remember to use plenty of release agent). There is no need to use a whole bedding kit in one bedding job just because you can.

I am fixing a Ruger 77 Mark II bedding catastrophe right now, and the perpetrator . . . err . . previous owner used a whole Brownells Steel Bed kit in it, as well as homemade bedding pillars (AAAAAAARRRRRgggggh!) and had the barrel pointing upwards at an absurd angle to the bedding. Of course, after he could not get the rifle to turn out correctly, he sold it on the internet . . . Please don't do this.
 
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