Ruger m77 - Butter knife Bolt handles anywhere?

H

HKFan9

New member
This is my predicament. I decided maybe to hold off on buying a few handguns for awhile and build up a nice classic looking deer rifle since I am graduating college in a month and will have more time to enjoy deer hunting.

I love the classic looking European rifles.

My Idea:

Ruger m77 with the full Mannlicher stock (clearly the mannlicher is a necesity) :rolleyes:

Putting on an older Bausch & Lomb 2.5-8 scope (w/ the appropriate adjustable bases) ps. I have 3 of these scopes on other rifles, simply amazing.

Now for the last small addition I wanted and my problem. I love the way the older "Butter Knife" bolt handles look on old mausers. I was wondering if anyone of you knew where I could get an after market one to install on the Ruger m77.

Please help me in building up a nice looking Brit :rolleyes:

I promise to post pics when I am finished.

After it is built up and I find a full time job after college I thought about getting some simple but nice engraving work done on it to make the rifle a little more personal to me. I want to make this simple as a nice but not so expensive gift to myself for all the hard work I got through in my college career.
 
$26.50 @ Brownell's:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=8787/Product/BUTTER_KNIFE_BOLT_HANDLE

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I can understand where you're coming from. To keep this simple, most any decent gunsmith can get the bolt handle from Brownell's and remove your old one and weld on the butterknife handle.
While esthetically pleasing, a butterknife bolt hande id a bit slower to operate should a second fast shot be needed. I had two Mannlicher-Scoenaur carbines, both 6.5x54 that sadly were stolen on Elko Nevada while i was at a gas station.:( :mad: One was the origunak 1903 with the stright up and down hndle and the other was an, IIRC a 1950 or later model that had the handle than was slanted toward the rear. The main problem is they sit bit too close to the stock making the reach for it a bit more difficult should a fast reload be needed.
As far as the Ruger m77 RSI goes, I have three of them, all in .308 Win. I just wish I could find one in 7x57 that the seller wasn't asking big money plus certain favored body parts for the gun :(
FWIW, when Bill Ruger made the prottype for the RSI, it did have the European style butter knife handle. I don't remember if the decision to not use it was a cost cutting measure or for some other reason.
I have plans for one of my RSI's myself, most of which I can do myself. :D:cool: One of my favorite cartridges is the .358 Win. Of the three rifles I have, one has a stock that is a bit thicker than the others. I feel it is stout enough to handle the recoil of a .358, even if Ruger doesn't agree. But that's another story. I have two standard Ruger M77s chambered to the .358 Win. I'm thinking that if I do a serious glass bed job on the action I can put one of those .358s into the RSI stock, cut and crown the barrel. open up that muzzle cap and end up with a one of a kind Rugerr 77RSI in .358 Win. :cool: That would be my go to pig gun for sure and just about anything else I might want to hunt. The nice thing, except for cutting the barrel and redoing the sights, I can do it all myself.
Paul B.
 
Yea I have heard the butter knife handles are a bit more slower or awkward to work with. But I learned to hunt on two different Rem. Model 600's one a .243 and another a .308 both with the more flat euro style handles. The .308 is one of the guns I still have with the B&L older scope and it works great. The .243 was my uncles and had I forget which brand scope but it had wide bases with thumb screws and I would bust my knuckle EVERY time I racked the bolt, so I'm pretty much used to that.

With the B&L scopes tho the mounts don't sit in the way and the flat bolts don't really phase my bolt cycle all that much.
 
The Ruger RSI stock is inletted for their dog-leg bolt handle. Anything else may not look very appealing.
 
The Ruger RSI stock is inletted for their dog-leg bolt handle. Anything else may not look very appealing.
Click to expand...

That's a great reason for a high grade custom stock with super duper checkering. I like burl or feathered Claro, but there are plenty of thin shell walnuts that would suit this kind of project.
 
I've never used one or even so much as touched one but I rather like the looks of a so-called butter knife bolt lever, only that don't look like any of our butter knives. That point aside, I think the main reason I like them is the old-fashioned styling, from the golden days of the African safari, not that they necessarily showed up in Africa that much. I do understand the Mannlicher was popular there, however.

I never cared much for scopes, though. I was never able to shoot anywhere beyond a hundred yards anyway, so it didn't really help when I did have one. I'm not sure if they belong on an old-time rifle as far as looks go. But I do like the full stock and I had two CZ full-stock rifles back when I still owned rifles. I came close to buying a Ruger "International" a couple of times but I never thought the stock had enough drop. Should be about right with a scope.
 
If you want European style full stocked rifle then you should consider a CZ for sure in 6.5X55. You can have the bolt handle replaced with a butter knife handle. Instead of the B&L scope which is great I'd look at something else like this Zeiss with a German #4 reticle. For mounts I'd look to something like the traditional German claw mounts from NEGC just look under scope mounts on the left side of the page. That will help you to finish out the European look, and the good think is you don't have to do it all at once. Buy the rifle and use the scope and bases you have, but keep the end product in mind and build the rifle over time.

The CZ rifle just has the more Eruopean design over the RSI. Basicly if you go with the RSI you will have an american style rifle with a butter knife bolt handle. The CZ has the single set trigger and the Europeans were big on set triggers.
 
Yes I like the CZ a little better and forgot to point that out. The problem was being the B&L older scopes are very affordable, high quality, and if you have ever used one, the way the cross hairs tapper in just sucks my eye right to the target. Problem was although CZ is said to have copied mauser actions, they do not make bases for the older B&L scopes for CZ's. They make them for the different Mauser's but who knows if CZ uses the exact same one as one of the Mausers. I do not have that knowledge.

However I love the idea's I am hearing I would appreciate more ideas. Thank you.

Also the problem for me with the CZ is I would probably get it in .243, I know this is not authentic, but the 6.5x55 would just be more of a hassle to find ammo for. Also I have a Rem. model 600 and an old Sako Forester in .308. I miss my .243, its perfect for PA whitetail.
 
Well I have found some 6.5x55 ammo on the net so it could be a possibility. I would just really love to get one of the older B&L scope mounts to fit the CZ. Guess I will have to see if it is at all possible, if not go hunting for a different scope set up I suppose.
 
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