Ruger M77 Sell it or live with it?

O

Ocraknife

New member
I have a early 80s Ruger M77 in 7mm Mag that is in great shape. There are a few scuffs in the wood but otherwise it's beautiful.

That's the good part. The bad part is that I just can't shoot it well. I've tried a lot of different ammo types, weights, charges etc and none of it seems to matter. The best groups I get are a little bigger than a softball at 100 yards. If I wen't out to 150 I'd probably be looking at MOFrisby or so.

Yes, this gun will take a deer humanly at 100 yards which is probably the longest shot I'll have East of the Mississippi and south of Canada which is where I'm likely to hunt.

Still, it bugs me that I can't shoot this gun well. Should I just live with it or should I sell it and get something that I can close the groups with?

What are your thoughts?
 
You should find someone else to shoot it and see if it's a you or gun problem totally.

In the long run it will probably be a sell thing.
 
You should find someone else to shoot it and see if it's a you or gun problem totally.
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Good idea and I have done that already. Their groups were no better, and actually a little worse.

I've had it checked out by a gunsmith, the crown is fine, the rifling is good and I had him remove the copper fouling.
 
good shooting guns are where you find them. off center action to bore axis, crooked scope mounts or holes, piss poor throat length or diameter, poor chambers, poor rifling or bore size, doesn't feed from magazine. the list goes on. ditch it get another gun. jmho, bobn
 
I would personally live with it. Before the popularity of scopes hunters took thousands of deer with rifles only able to shoot softball groups. Sometimes more. As long as the rifle never needs to be a target rifle, it will reliably bring in the venison.
Sure you may not be able to brag at the range, but you wont go hungry.
 
Life is too short to shoot questionable guns. There is no need for it. Move that gun on, let bygones be bygones and replace with something worth shooting. You will feel better for it. You deserve better.
 
If you don't like how it shoots, you'll never use it. If you're not going to use it you might as well sell it or fix the problem. One gets you a little money, and one costs a lot of money.

If you fix it, I'd start with a new barrel, bed it, and have a trigger job done. You're probably looking at close to $1000 for all that, depending on who you use and the barrel you buy. You can buy a pretty nice rifle for that price as well so it's a trade off.

I'm it a big Ruger fan, so I'd probably sell it before I sunk a lot of money into it.
 
Replace it with a model 70 Winchester in 270 Winchester or 30-'06. Either one of those will do anything the 7mm magnum will do, plus, in the model 70, you will have 5+1 round capacity.
 
notorious

The early, tang safety M77's were notorious for so-so accuracy in some rifles, regardless of caliber. The issue apparently, was the sourced out barrels that Ruger was using, some were good, some were not. The later MkII rifles started using Ruger barrels, and generally shoot much better by all reports.

If you have no sentimental attachment, I'd move that one on and find something else. You've tried to make the thing shoot, and it won't. I like the old M77's, and have an affintiy to blue steel and walnut, and might even tolerate a consistent sub 2" group, but a softball sized group (3-4"!!!!!) from a modern high intensity scoped rifle at 100 yds just wouldn't cut it.
 
Any chance it is the action screws or stock pressure at the tip of the forearm. Both are easily tuned. Can you reload for it?
 
IMHO I would get rid of it. For under a grand you could get another rifle with scope and alot less recoil than the 7 mag that will take deer where you live all day long. I am a big fan of Ruger rifles but they can be finiky. I am not a fan of the 7 mag which I owned 1 at one time and would never get another. Too much gun for deer here in New England.
 
7mm Mag is overkill for your described needs.
And if it doesn't fit you well, you'll never shoot it well.

Dump it, and find something more appropriate.
 
I know that for the Ruger, I have read that their barrels werent the best, they have recently, like the last decade or so made a switch to hammerforging their barrels and the Ruger rifle has seen an uptick in quality and accuracy.
Frankenmauser, 7mag isnt overkill, its a quick killer....both the game and the shoulder...:) I know I love mine for the way the cartridge shoots and takes game cleanly out to wherever I spot them.
He may also have a flinch problem arising from the bark and bite...
 
30 years ago, a 7mm Rem mag was my primary "game gun". I shot mostly deer and a couple of elk with it and even shot "target of opportunity" coyotes. I liked the range and capability of the boomer but age and infirmities took me out of the magnum game. I found I could get along with a 25/06 with less recoil.
I've seen many shooters who really couldn't handle the "bark and bite" of the 7mag. There's nothing wrong with admitting you're not comfortable with that much action when you trip the trigger.
Move the magnum along and get something you can handle.
FWIW, I'm going to "re-visit" the 7mmRM this year for an elk hunt in December. We'll see if I can manage it well enough or if I revert to Plan B and take something kinder to my old shoulder.
 
I have no idea how much I should ask for this gun. You think $400 is about right for it without the scope?

If I replace it, I'll probably get a .308 or 30-06. However, I have powder, bullets, brass and dies for the 7mm Mag so maybe it makes more sense to stick with that chambering.
 
If scoped did you try a different one?
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I'd try this before I gave up on the rifle. It's always been surprising to me how often accuracy problems are the result of a defective scope and/or a poor mounting set-up. A lot of shooters check the sights last after blaming everything else first for poor accuracy. It can be an "eye opener".
 
A friend in the same fix rang all the changes; ammo, scope, back to Ruger (Twice!) and eventually had it rebarrelled by an established shop. It now shoots like he wanted it to.
 
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