In .280 Rem? I purchased one (M77 MKII Stainless w/ rings mfg. 1992) recently that looks truly brand new, not the slightest scratch on it anywhere. I had been thinking of picking up a stainless/synthetic hunter for awhile and recently came across this one in a pawn shop for $350.00.
I called Ruger about how many were produced, but was told they did not have that info. Any of you guys ever come across this info?
It seems these rifles are becoming popular with some people as I've seen some in the less common calibers purchased on Gunbroker recently that sold for over $1,000. If this one shoots okay, I'll keep it as a foul weather hunter.
I was just wondering how many in .280 Rem were produced compared to .270 and .30-06.
Thanks...

No idea how many but I do know you got a steal. congrats!

Can't stand 'em myself...

.338WM semi-customm, .300WM, .30-06.



Tried to buy another Zytel stock from gunpartscorp.com (Numrich Arms) but they were sold out.

Here is a list of Ruger KM-77RP MKII Rifles. It does not give a production #, but it does give a range of years that each model was made.

It shows the .280 as being produced in the known S/N range of 784-41255 to 787-86874. 1996 - 2000.

I would spend the $10 and get a letter from Ruger. It's a pretty generic letter. Tells the given S/N, configuration...KM-77 MKII, and month and year it shipped from the factory. If it confirms the 1992 date range it would be the earliest know .280 with the skeleton Zytel stock by about 4 years.

This info is from the "RED EAGLE NEWS EXCHANGE" RENE, all things Ruger. See the note at the bottom of this KM-77 section.

well dang now i need to look up my .280 all weather year of mfr.

308ld,
Thank you for the detailed reply. Interesting that my rifle was made a good bit before the majority of the others.

Coyote Hunter,
I've got a question for you since you have 3 of these rifles (nice collection). Can you look at the serial number etched on your bolts to see if there is also a letter etched below the number? Mine has the letter "R" etched there. I was wondering what the significance is of that "R"? I thought perhaps it indicated that the rifle had been back to Ruger for some type of a bolt repair. Ruger told me that it was the initial of the person who assembled the rifle. The person I spoke with had to ask another Ruger employee about it for the answer, but they sorta sounded like that was a guess.
Thanks for your help!

I have two of these rifles, both in 270. One has what looks like a W etched on the bolt by the serial number. The other one has a B on the bottom of the bolt handle, not on bolt body.

there is a Ruger .264 Mag boat paddle on GB right now. they are 'not known to have been produced' on the list above. I've heard of a couple others also...

LINK

I can remember seeing some blued BP 264's. Never saw a stainless one though. That's way cool!

yea. I'd probably buy it for the $900 opening bid, but it will go higher than that.

Just a heads up on some of these Boat paddle/skeleton stocked guns at auction. a lot of these guns were made in the full Zytel stocked models.

Stocks are easily changed...so if it matters to you that it is factory original. The only way to know for sure is if it has the box with S/N and model number, or a factory letter stating the S/N and model number.

The stainless BP/Skeleton stocked models are in the 780-XXXXX - 788-XXXXX range and the Full Zytel stocked models are in the 787-XXXXX - 792-XXXXX range. There is a bit of overlap in the S/Ns, but if you see a BP stainless in the 791-XXXXX serial number range I would be more than sceptical.

Here is my .308 Hawkeye SN 710-82856 with a BP stock, hardly original. It was shipped in 2009 with Full Zytel stock.

With .270WCF and 7mmRM being available it is unlikely that .280R and .264WCF were made in anything but low numbers. The prices being realized for some skeleton stocked Runger investment cast actioned "wonders" has me dumfounded. To me these are $400 to $500 rifles if found in little used condition. Paying hundreds extra for what amounts to be "generic" product makes no sense to me. The only Ruger bolt gun I would be willing to pay small premium for is old .35 Whelen with tang safety.

They're skookum, so that comes at a premium. And Ruger stopped making them, so double down.

the only SS Ruger boat paddle in .264 that I've handled was a "1 of 1,000".

as far as price, it doesn't matter what we think they are worth. it matters what they actually sell for. I haven't seen a 77/.22 mag for less'n $800 in years. and, yes, i'll probably have one someday.

and the .264 in the link above has a bid.

and another on GB with box, up to $880

LINK

toad, the .264 in your link is an interesting gun. I can't see the SN, but it does have the very early stainless Ruger rings. The first stainless rings that Ruger used for their stainless guns had blue or black screws in them. They later changed to all stainless screws and rings.

And I agree, the prices are pretty high on these guns.

Some of the more scarce to find are the Stainless BP with sights KM-77RSP MKII, KM-77RLP MKII Stainless Ruger BP ultra light.

The 1 of 1000 .264 was a special distributor model with the 50th anniversary logo engraved on the floorplate. SN range 786-67703 to 786-77604. 1,035 were produced in 1998 for "Go Sportsmen (MT) and Acusport (OH). Very scarce model.

Again....all info is from the RENE, Reference of Ruger Firearms, Volume Two.....I take no credit, just relaying the good info in this publication.

Sounds to me like this person really wants one of these, but can't afford it. Whay else would someone bitch about the price of guns they supposedly don't like?

Ruger is not w/o merit. I had two firearms from them. One was six shot .357 police revolver with 3" barrel and second was 28ga O/U shotgun. I almost bought the only affordable US mass-produced round action game gun aka Gold Label. I did not buy it only because I do not enjoy hunting little birds. If I wanted affordable and well made SA large bore revolver I would give Ruger some serious thought. Since I own Winchester rifle I have zero interest in owning Ruger rifle.

I purchased my .280 BP,new in 1994 serial number 781-777XX.

Seems to fall into the serial number range of the .270s

Flyer