http://www.rjrenner.com/pre-war-77.html

MAN they are sexy rifles.. I love the old sporters.. I have handled a few.. Never shot one...
Anyone know anything about this maker ??

The below picture would be very interesting in 303 British on a colour case hardened receiver sporting light English scroll work.


I could really go for that.

Price is beyond reasonable, would like to see one up close.

Not a Ruger single shot fan. Give me an 1885. Now that is a sexy rifle.

DAYUM!!!


I think I'm in LUST!


Thanks for posting...you gave me an idea I'm not gonna be able to shake now.....

Sorry Buddy.. Yea; I know what you are saying...

You were just minding your own business then this...

I like his work.
He and I think the same way. That's how rifles should look!
Beautiful!

Those are gorgeous and the price is so good as to be akin to a Craigslist scam.

Wonder what his turn around time is? Since he uses the factory wood most modern #1's are limited in how good they will turn out but even their somewhat plain wood could be improved with a darker stain.

I agree with ingwe, I'm in lust. I'd about given up trying to get a custom rifle that really reflected what I wanted - they're out there but the cost is measured in thousands of dollars. Thanks for posting this. Or maybe, "you bastard!" is more appropriate. Why did you have to show me this!

Get one please... Birddog this for me..lol... Sorry could not resist..

Would it be a sin to put a scope on a rifle like this?

Nice. I could see doing a Ruger No. 1 in 7x57 with the optional case hardening "Tie-died T-shirt."

They do sexy up a Ruger!

No...but you would probably be beaten to death by the first person with taste that saw it.

That's what I thought

Wish I hadn't seen this...

I got a No.1 9.3 Mouzzy that is begging for that stalker treatment and a peep sight...

Would also love to send them a 77 in 7x57 or such for the German treatment...

My three 77's are all stainless with laminate stocks, two with that Green Mountain pattern, not exactly good candidates for classic English styling. I actually started perusing gunbroker for a likely blued/wood candidate for this.

Geez, I need a new gun like I need a second rectum. Actually trying to sell two and thin the herd right now. But the little guy on my shoulder, not the one with the halo, is feeding me all kinds of reasons why I need to get a new rifle and have it made over like this.

Shame he only works on Rugers. I do have a left hand Model 70 blued/wood that would look great as a Faux-Rigby.

Go direct to Ruger for a M 77 Express!

Here is one but it's only a factory rifle and the delivery is immediate! Sorry but they are asking $804 but they throw in the rifle!



http://www.gunbroker.com/item/621752805

Just got off the phone with Roger after an interesting conversation. Apparently they do work on rifles other than Ruger, such as any of the Mark X Mausers, CZ, Winchester and even Remington. He mentioned that a Remington Model 700 BDL has the wood volume and shape to be made up into a nice faux Germanic "Mausery" looking rifle with the oval cheek piece and everything. Not sure I can see that in my mind but what the heck.

Anyway, I got a good impression talking to him, he seemed very down to Earth and knowledgeable and struck me as a responsible guy. No offense to our gunsmiths here but I don't get that impression from everyone who does custom work. A fairly standard package as displayed on his website takes about a month which is a really reasonable turnaround - once he gets to it. That's the problem, he has a backlog of work which he has to get through before even starting anything new.

So... I'm in the process of getting together what all I want and will send him an email to start a work order shortly, that at least reserves my place in line.



Uh, actually, never mind, I was just BS'ing you guys. What I meant to say is the guy is a charlatan and a fraud and if I were you I'd forget you ever heard of him. So don't none of y'all be sending him any work to do - at least not before I get my name in the queue...

Please keep us posted..

Who says you can't put lipstick on a pig!

Looking to do the English stalking rifle on a Ruger #1. Something I was concerned about was the "baby crap brown" wood on current #1's and he said that was a sprayed on finish they used to try to match the stock and forend, but once you stripped all of that off there was often some decent if not fancy wood under there, and sometimes you got lucky and found really nice wood.

One option he offers is a "vintage finish" which is a custom staining they mix up for each rifle and is feathered in to be darker around the metal. He said a rifle so finished basically looks like a 100 or 150 year old firearm that had been stored in a safe all that time.

I asked him about stainless Ruger 77's since that's all I have and those can have the barrel and trigger guard ceracoated to a glossy blue-black but with the receiver left uncoated. So finished and stocked in a Germanic style apparently they can closely mimic a 1909 Argentine sporter with a blued barrel and trappings but the action left in the white.

My little brain is all awhirl at the possibilities. I should thank you for turning me on to this guy but I think you are going to cost me some money.

That is interesting stock work.

😂

I too called and spoke with RJ.

Man, I can't get this idea out of my head.

So much so, today I bought a tang safety Ruger M77RS in '06 so as to have a donor rifle on hand should I decide to go through with it. It's in like new condition, with the bluing 100%.

Both the Pre-war 77 and the Faux Rigby look awesome.

What to do .

I know how you feel.

I emailed him two days ago to get a work order started to turn a LH M70 into a faux Rigby, already have an unfinished Supergrade stock coming thanks to a campfire member and ordered some other bits and pieces of hardware - the Skinner peep sight arrived in the mail this afternoon. It will be a while before he is ready for everything but it gets my name in the queue.

Keep looking at that pre-war German design as well and thinking my MRC 1999 6.5x55 would be a perfect candidate for that. As is standard loony practice, whenever you can't decide between two things, get both. Trying to slow down though to see how the "Rigby" turns out but it's awful hard not to order both at the same time.

Well, after dreaming about a RJ Renner Ruger and going back and forth with RJ, he must have sensed my impatience and he mentioned he'd sell me his demo Pre-War M77 he used for his website pictures.
He made me an offer, and I accepted and paid right then.
It'll be shipped Monday. Here's the pics RJ sent sent me.

It's a tang safety round top in 7mm mag. I'm a sucker for the casehardening.

This from RJ, "It has a round-top casecolored receiver and floorplate with a period Williams Fool Proof receiver sight. This Pre-war 77 has a 24" barrel chambered in the versatile and ever-popular 7mm Remington Magnum. The rifle is mechanically like brand-new with a perfect bore and blued bolt face - not even a primer ring. And, of course, the exterior IS brand new as seen in the photos."

Congratulations! I bet that's going to look even better in person than it does in the pictures.

I should be jealous but that's a good solution. That's the way to beat the waiting time and get to the head of the line!

Hmmm. I wonder what they could do with my No 1 RSI?

I got my Pre-War M77 today.
First, I want to say, it's a work of art, as far as I'm concerned. I love the casehardening and the checkering.
Second, wow- it breathes new life into an ol' Ruger M77. The way it shoulders, points and handles now is awesome.
Third, until you see it side by side with a standard Ruger M77 you just cannot appreciate how much wood he removes off the stock.
Lastly, RJ is a stand up guy who does excellent work and I wholeheartedly recommend his service.

I thought I'd share some quick pics of the Pre-war M77 aside a Ruger M77RS 30-06.

PLEASE Get to the range and let us know..

Thanks for those pictures. Or not, since you're giving me second thoughts about whether to do up a faux Rigby or that pre-war Germanic style.

Seriously, I appreciate the pics and especially the one showing the top of the barrels, he really does remove a lot of wood. The MRC 1999 ASR has a funky kind of stock - it's a Boyd's Prairie Hunter in case anybody's interested - but there are two flutes or indentations at the top of the forend next to the barrel channel and I wasn't sure there would be enough wood there to do anything with, but from your pics it seems there is.

Beautiful.

That's a sharp rifle!

That is nice!

Stunning. That Germanic is killin me.

I may be totally wrong about this, but I wonder if the barrel contour on the ASR might be a bit heavy to give the finished product the same appearance/balance as the M77. Dunno.

It's a good point, after reading your post when I was home at lunch I compared the MRC to a Ruger 77 .308 and the MRC barrel is definitely a heavier contour - not terribly so but the difference is plain especially through the middle portion.

But I just remembered that the rifle Skeen bought is a 7mm RM so I'm guessing that has the Ruger magnum contour, in the picture it looks to be a bit heavier than the .30-06 standard contour he shows next to it. They chamber their .25-06 Hawkeye with that same magnum contour so I can compare my .25-06 to the MRC.

Skeen, if you read this post could you verify that?

Jim, it's a standard contour barrel. If the barrels look different in the pics, it's just camera angle or lighting. And, of course, no one has ever mistaken me for a professional photographer.

Cigar, thanks for turning us on to RJ. I don't know when I'll be able to make it to the range. I envy guys who can just go out and shoot out their back door. It's a little bit of a production and drive for me.

I spoke with RJ, again, last night, to get in "line" to have that 30-06 M77RS turned into a Faux Rigby.

Though some may disagree with this decision, I went ahead and removed the Williams peep-sight and mounted a gloss Leupold FX-3. I like it. The Redfield rings are casehardened too.

That might be a standard contour, but it still looks slimmer than the No. 2 "pipe" MRC puts on the ASR. I asked Jeff Sipe at MRC about a lighter contour barrel, and he said they make one, but when I tried to get the specs from either of the two sales managers he put me in touch with, things skidded to a halt. Over the years I've found that once you get below Jeff things just bog down.

By the way, this might be heresy, but I don't think the scope looks bad. I'd sure need one because my eyes don't work with iron anymore, open or aperture.

RM

The scope is okay and still correct for the style, it just needs extra-extra high rings.

That is an unfortunate fact. I really want to like MRC and mostly like my two 1999's, but their company seems to be filled with incompetents (as opposed to incompetence which it also unfortunately displays occasionally).

welcome..

That is how a rifle is supposed to look...which is why I have 3; A Christoph Funk in 8 X 60, J.P. Sauer & Sohn in 9 X 57 and one by Johann Peterlongo in 9 X 71 Peterlongo. That fella surely does very nice work. If I didn't already have the real things it would be very, very tempting to spring for a Mod. 77 and have one done.

If a scope is needed because of vision then I don't know that a fella has much choice. Sure would look better with a svelte Zeiss, Schmitt & Bender with a #4 reticle...but that's a matter of taste and there's no accounting for taste.

Bringing this to the top. Got an email from Roger on Thursday that he is ready to start work on my rifle, so we had a good long talk Friday morning to finalize the details. He will take a stock LH Ruger 77 Hawkeye and reshape it to a classic pre-war German Sporter style as shown in Skeen's pictures. I'm going to splurge a little and will be getting his "vintage finish" and "faux rust blue" bluing, which is really needed since the Ruger I got has the matte finish they put on for a couple of years and it mars so easily.

Interesting side note about how sometimes it really does seem like someone is watching over you. I went through several iterations of stocks and rifles trying to decide which one to use for this project but none of the stocks were suitable. He lowers the nose of the comb but you have to start with some drop to the heel as well and everything had straight, high combs. After about giving up, I was perusing the classifieds here and found an ad which I'd missed before and it was the perfect candidate, a LH Hawkeye .30-06 with a decent piece of factory wood - and it had an NECG Masterpiece banded ramp front sight already installed. The price was right so after a quick email conversation with the seller it was mine.

I've taken some before pics and will post those when the project is done. According to Roger turnaround is about 4 weeks after he receives the rifle (but don't quote him) so I'll post the before and after pics when it gets back.

Teaser before. The rear sight is an NECG ghost ring to go with the front sight. It works very well and should blend in nicely with the overall pre-war sporter look.





After taking the fence post pics I realized they showed the lesser side of the stock, so here's an indoor pic of the wood on the right side. Nothing fancy but it'll do - this indoor pic does not do it justice since the sun really brings out the color and grain. In another "someone's looking out for me" aspect, that recoil pad puts LOP at just over 14", but when it was installed the stock was not shortened. Ruger sent me a brand new red pad for free so all that has to be done is replace this with the factory red pad to restore LOP to 13.5" which is exactly what I want.

Whilst not enamoured with side panels I really do like the stocked rifle, very neat and very desirable.

Sorry Jim, as nice as that is I would prefer the worked Ruger.


(and I had to grit my teeth to get that out).

Don't worry, no offense taken as that is not my rifle, just a picture I grabbed off of the internet to show the old style with a scope.

Funny you mention the side panels, I was going to have them left off when the Ruger was reworked since I had this idea they would be annoying under my hand. But apparently the stock is thinned so much they actually do add (or leave in) some strength through the action area, plus the way Roger does them they are only about 1/16th" or .06" high so they shouldn't be obtrusive.

Well how did it do on paper ?? I got to know...

I'm sorry. I like most of the before guns.

Be alright just so long as you don't value any kind of cheek weld and have a neck like a goose. That lowered comb is meant for use with iron sights.