Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles M77 Mkii action

I have a Ruger M77 Mkii LA that is chambered in a .25-06 Remington. I cant seem to get the accuracy out of it that I would like. I am thinking about buying a prefit barrel chambered in 6.5x55 Swede to throw on it. The question is--- Is the Ruger M77 Mkii action worth building on?

Its a great action. Have you glass bedded your rifle, tuned the trigger, made sure the mag box isn't in a bind? A ruger m77 can be made to shoot very well, it just takes a few trick moves. Im wondering what you've done with yours, since you say you "can't seem to get the accuracy out of it".....

Basically just tuned the trigger, floated the barrel in factory Walnut stock and torqued action screws. H4831sc and Speer 120s will print 2.5", best I can do. This rifle has aggrieved me over the last couple years.

Try a different bullet.

Find some Sierra 100 or 117 grain Prohunters and a try load of IMR-4350.

As mentioned earlier, be sure your mag box is freed up. If it’s bound up take it out and file the bottom enough it will sit loose when everything is tightened back up.

Does this cause accuracy issues?

Depending on how bad it’s bound, yes it can cause issues.


It’s the first thing I check on MKII/Hawkeyes when I get one.

While the barreled action is still properly tightened in the stock, open the floor plate and try to jiggle the mag box with a couple of fingers. If it is not loose and doesn’t rattle a slight bit, then it is binding the action! It can and will cause accuracy problems in a MkII Ruger.


PS- when tightening the action screws, do so in this order........first, tighten the front angled screw farmer tight. To put it another way, Ruger specifies 95 inch lbs. second, tighten the rear tang screw to 35 to 40 inch lbs and third, tighten the front trigger guard screw just enough to keep it from falling out. Failure to properly tighten the action can and will affect accuracy!

PS # 2- the action screw directions above are used with rifles in synthetic stocks. I’m not sure that I would go to 95 inch lbs. in a wood stock. All my M77 MkII’s are stainless in the factory synthetic stocks.

Agreed, they are excellent actions. Some of mine have had nothing done to them, some have had homespun trigger smoothing, all have floated barrels, one or two have been bedded. All shoot great and they are rugged and reliable.

Currently I'n Wyoming with my .257 Roberts.Not a MKII or Hawkeye, of which I have multiples, but an original M77. Planning on two MKII's for elk season, a .280 Rem and .300WM.

As my above post signifies, I am quite fond of Ruger Mk II rifles. I have had and still have several. I long ago learned how to work on their triggers and tune whatever else needed tuning and have had excellent results from all. I know that a lot of guys including Mule Deer prescribe bedding. I have never, after doing the things mentioned in my earlier post and and the aforementioned trigger tuning, had to bed one to get it to shoot good groups at 100 yds. If it needs to be bedded, by all means do it. I’m just saying I would try the other corrective measures first.

The two most important things to do to a Ruger are, IMHO, float the barrel and tighten the action bolts properly(very tight up front, jut tight enough to keep the rear from backing out).

Action tightening is the most important of the two unless shooting long strings. My first Ruger (M77 in 7mm RM in 1982) would shoot higher and more left the longer I shot it. Floated the barrel and that problem went away. Since then I have floated the barrel on all my wood-stocked bolt rifles before they go to the range. Smoothing the trigger also helps, but to a lesser extent. All mine, except the VT which has a good 2-stage, have been polished - an easy job a person can do themselves.

Still have that 7mm RM and it still shoots great 38 years later.

Different loads? Have you had someone else shoot it?

I will try to torque the action screws to these specs and try a 5 round group.

If the mag box isn’t free it won’t matter.


Mine are set at 65/0ish/50 for synthetic and 50/0ish/40 for wood stocked rifles, bedded or not.


The mag box being bound has a greater impact on accuracy than the action screw torque from what I’ve seen.

My .25-06 Tanger shot 4-5 inch groups( factory standard all the way), until I started fire-forming and neck-size only. Then it shot MOA or less, nothing more done.

120gr Speers, don't remember the powder charge. I suspect it was either a head-space problem or a throating problem, but I was young and dumber then and never bothered to figure it out.

It also always threw the first round through a clean barrel several inches high and left, so I never hunted without a fouling shot.

Never should have sold that one.

I still have two Tangers - bedded, free-floated, triggers tuned - the '06 shoots into 1.25, the .338WM is MOA or less, with most anything. One particular load for the .338 gets 1" , 3 shot groups at 200 yards.

If this was a belted round we are talking about,like my .338, I'd recommend headspacing off the shoulder instead. I have always found an improvement with this.

First thing I do is ream out the angle bolt hole in the stock. Then make sure the magazine box is not binding and keep going from there if necessary.

What scope. Hint.

Thank me later.

Hint............

I know you love your m77's, but theres a few good reasons for glass bedding them.

1. Keeps the stock from cracking. Have seen a few unbedded rugers succumb to this.

2. After glass bedding, action screw torque isnt as critical.

3. Shrinks groups considerably.

4. After pulling the barreled action and putting back, there wont be a poi shift.

I killed every Axis with my Ruger All Weather MK II in 280, except the first one. That 280 is a highly trusted tool. Made my longest shot on a running pig with it @ 389 yards, rolled him like a flat tire. Shot an Axis Doe in the head at 300 yards with it. Very, very reliable.

I like the Ruger actions. I rebarreled three Rugers two years ago, one a M77 tang safety and two MKll actions (7x64, .257 AI and 6.5 CM). The 7x64 (tang safety) is the most accurate rifle I've ever fired, putting five shots into well under an inch with a couple of different bullets (150gn Ballistic Tip and 154gn RWS Twin Core). The 6.5CM will put three shots under an inch and the .257 AI shoots three rounds into about an inch. So Ruger actions are definately suitable for building accurate rifles. If you like the rifle then go for the rebarrel. The 6.5x55 has a slightly larger head diameter so the bolt face may need to be enlarged a tad.