Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger Tang Safety 77 7x57

Well my gunwhore nature got the better of me Saturday morning.

I went by a local shop and there on the shelf was a near mint condition Ruger 77 tang safety 7x57 with a Canjar trigger and gloss finished 3-9 Burris Fullfield scope in what looks like Warne QD rings.

I simply could not resist and it followed me home. The serial number says: 1972 mfg.

Pictures to follow as soon as I can. (our power just came back on after 3 days due to that damned Zeta storm).

Anybody got any pet loads for one of these old Ruger 7x57's?

I'm loading 50gr of H4350 and 140gr Corelokts for my Mannlicher MC. I reckon 139gr Hornady flat based bullets would work as well.

Thanks for the info.

Hb that run of 77R s had a long throat find some rn 154 &175 gr Hornady bullets. I can still get 139gr horn sp flatbases to work also as well as140 and 160 npt's. Imr 4350 follow the load books. MB

Thank you.

A fine rifle and a fine caliber!

Yep

I have a Ruger round top in 7x57 with the adjustable trigger. I bought at least 25 years ago from a pawn shop. I replaced the aluminum floor plate, that was cracked where the action screw goes through, with a steel one. It came with a 4x Leupold on it.

I bought a box of Norma loaded with I believe was 154 grain bullets. Took it to the range and was shocked at the first 5 shot group. So was my buddy. The bullets overlapped with exception of 2 that had about 1/16” of paper separating them from the others. Unfortunately, that was the only box of that ammo that I ever seen locally.

The rifle is far back in the safe. I do recall it was extremely mild shooting compared to the 30-06, 338 Winchesters, and 340 Wby that I shot that day. I need to get a set of dies for that rifle.
I wonder how 140 grain Barnes would shoot in it.
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Wonderful guns.

My #1 in 7x57 really likes the old Nosler 150 Solid Base bullets pushed by R17.

I bought one several years ago, on a whim. It shot very well but the barrel had some minor pitting near the muzzle and it bugged me to the point that I had to re-barrel it. I installed a Benchmark barrel which I turned to the same contour as the factory barrel so it would fit the stock. Now, the bore looked great and it shot about the same. The factory stock seemed a little on the fat side to I reshaped it to be a little closer to the original 77 stock and re-checkered it in the Ruger pattern.It looked factory but a little slimmer and lost about 2 ounces.
I decided I needed a lighter mountain rifle so I turned fifty thou off the barrel for the full length and put it in a Wildcat stock. Unfortunately, the Wildcat stock is about the same shape as the original, maybe even fatter; but it is light.
In the end, I bought a Ruger 77 for 550 bucks. I spent 300 on the new barrel, 300 for the new stock and stiffed myself on the labor. Great cartridge and I do like the tang safety Rugers but, economically speaking, it's a turkey. GD

Liked the looks of the old M77s, but they never felt right to me.
Passed on several good deals over the yrs.
Honestly, the MkII in boat paddle feels better to me, but it still isn't my fave.

Guess thats why they make so many rifles, everybody has their likes/dislikes.


Compared my boat paddle to a B #1 last night, only rifle I like of Ruger is the #1 and they tend to honk me off w their quirks.

Solution is a custom #1.

Like GD did, he made his M77 what he wanted.
Wish there were factory rifles that just wow'd me.

Really don't like to tinker. Just want stuff a certain way,.

My buddy loves tang safety M77. Must admit the little RSI are pretty cool looking. One of those in .250 Sav would be hard to pass up

Now you can sell everything else with a 7x57 in the house.

One of my coworkers has a 7x57 Ruger #1 RSI..........it aint for sale LOL

I once had a Ruger tanger in 7x57. I forget the load but it was a.75" average with 140 gr. Sierras. I figured I just happened to luck out and hit the sweet spot right off the bat.

Currently I have a Ruger #1A andWinchester M70 in u7x57 and both are tack drivers with the 140 gr. Nosler Ballistic tip. I also have a custom Mauser in 7x57 but it's a bit uncooperative, not with accuracy but has weird pressure problems, even with weak factory level loads.
Paul B.

In my pre-warning Model 77R 7x57 with 140 or 150 gr Noslers... Partition, Solid Base, or Ballistic Tip... the best tested & retested loads were with IMR4350. The 140s were happiest around 2800-2850 & the 150s liked to be around 2650fps. Most 4 shot groups were 3/4 to 1" with sub .500" from time to time. RL19 worked almost as well, W760 showed promise but I moved away from ball powders if possible back then. WW brass & WLRs. The OAL is a tad over 3" on all.

The big metal can of 4350 is now gone, the new jug is waaaaaay slower & is being treated as a completely different powder with mediocre results so far. I've also been using IMR4451 & RL17 with decent accuracy while still sneaking up on optimal velocity. In my 300 H&H RL23 is grain for grain the same... within 15 fps... as my old lot of 4350 velocity wise with equal or better accuracy, so it may also work in the 7x57. It's on the list when I get a round tuit. Also... Prvi Partisan brass is cheap & was still available in 7x57 last month. Nice stuff so far. It's about like what WW was 30 years ago except a bit more uniform on neck thickness.

Thanks for all the good info folks.

Man, wash your mouth out with soap. A gunwhore like me can't do that.

My Ruger 77 tang safety has been a joy to reload. It shoots the spectrum of bullet weights 115 gr to 175 gr with respectable accuracy. The real surprise was sub MOA with the Speer 115 grain hollow point. 48.5 grs IMR 4320 @ 3100 fps. After shooting big game with 140 gr to 160 gr bullets, I quit fooling around and settled on 160 gr Nosler Partition. With 48 grs H4350 I would get 2650-2660 fps. A new batch of H4350 went 2700 fps but accuracy was not as good, backed the load off to 47.5 grs @2670 fps accuracy returned.

Here is the old work horse.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...-ingwe-and-others-7x57-loads#Post6984981

I have used Seafire’s load of 40g IMR 3031 for best accuracy in my M77 (circa 1976). He’s shared the story of finding the load in an old Hornady manual and trying it when other loads were unproductive. It’s sure done the job for me with 150 & 175g bullets.