Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Where to find a Ruger M77 takeoff barrel?

I have a tang safety Ruger M77 Ultralight in .308.

I'd like to rebarrel to a smaller caliber (.257 Roberts would be ideal, but most calibers between 6mm and 7mm would be considered), but I can buy a new rifle for what most rebarreling jobs go for these days.

If a takeoff barrel is possible I'd give that a try, but I don't know where to look.

Would any other maker's barrel (Remington, Winchester) work with this beautiful little .308?

The best deal I've found in rebarreling is Shaw, wwwshawcustombarrels.com.

Ruger will rebarrel factory rifles for a lower price, but only to the original chambering. Their barrels have been excellent since the early 1990s, when they started hammer-forging their own barrels rather than using after-market barrels.

Not sure if the tang safety threading is the same as the newer safety M77s, but I have a 257 Roberts barrel, 22 incher, from a M77 that i un-screwed and replaced with a new Douglas barrel. I'll give it to ya and you can do what ever you like with the barrel if you pay shipping. PM me.

I got the impression the last time I was on their website that they would not rebarrel any of the tang-safety models. Do you know if I'm right about that?

Yaddio - thank you! PM incoming.

That is what they told me. Tang safety 77’s are no longer serviced.
GreggH

Great deal, it will fit but may need headspacing

Could not find anything like that on their website.

https://ruger.com/service/partsService.html

There are no parts and no service available for the below discontinued products that were produced in Newport, NH.
Red Label Shotguns (serial # beginning with "400-" or "410-") 10/22 Magnum Rifles New Model Single-Six SSM
Trap Shotgun Single Six .17 Hunter Convertible Mach 2 Cylinders .44 Magnum Carbine Rifles (original model)
Red Label Wood Side M77 Mark II Rifles in Short Ultra-Mag Calibers 96 Series Lever Action
Gold Label Shotgun M77 Mark II Express Rifles Old Army
AC-556 77/50 Blackpowder Rifles Deerfield
.357 Maximum Revolvers Security Six Revolvers Hawkeye Pistols
180 Series Mini-14 rifles (serial # beginning with "180-") No. 3 Rifles Tang Safety Model 77 Rifles
PC Carbines (PC4 and PC9)

I just thought of a potential problem - will the Roberts work with a short action?

It should work, ruger short actions have a bit longer magazine than most

I will have a 10 twist .243 shortly off a tang safety 77

Remington built the 257 using the short action 722 (same length as a short action 700) so I think it would work just fine.
I had a factory Ruger 77 chambered in 257 years ago but I don't remember if it was on a short or long action. The thing I do remember is that even with the longest bullet available at that time I still could not seat it out far enough to reach the lands, it shot ok - about 1-1/2 to 2 inch 5 shot groups but not good enough for me to keep it around very long.

drover

I know Ruger 77 mk 2s, have the same barrel thread pattern as a Model 70 push feed...

would have to be chambered by a gun smith.... I had a Win Take off barrel on a Ruger action 10 to 12 years ago...

the Win barrel came off one of my Winchester rifles...

Had a fast twist Win 223 barrel put on a Ruger Action also... I bought that barrel used for a real decent price...

don't know about the Tang safety models or the Hawkeyes....just the Ruger 77 mk2...

My first rifle was a Tang Safety chambered in 6mm Rem so the 257 Roberts will fit.

Remington takeoffs make an inexpensive way to rebarrel a Ruger tanger. There is minor machining required as the Remington's threads are 1.050" while the Ruger's is 1". After the recess is faced off, the diameter is reduced to 1", shoulder moved forward a bit, and it is threaded for 16 TPI.

If one chooses a the correct size reamer it can clean up the existing chamber. It may require some setback. When my 6mm Rem wore out, I went to a local gunsmith, the late Harry Lawson. He suggested the 284 Win. He had quite a few Remington takeoff's in 7 Rem mag. That rifle is on its third 284 barrel. Since that time around 40 years ago, I do my own lathe work and own the 284 win reamer. The latest barrel is a 24" Rem takeoff that was a 7-08. Finished barrel is 23.5"

I mention this because the SA Ruger Tang Safety will fit and feed the 284 win fast or slow with no modifications what so ever. I liked how this package worked so well that I ended up with a second SA tanger and set that up for the 6mm-284. FYI the 6mm-284 cleans up a 243 Remington takeoff chamber very nicely after removing the bolt recess and moving the shoulder forward.

As a final note: Many years later I had Joe at Lawson's lengthen that 284's mag box so it will fit and feed a cartridge with an OAL of 3.050". Just letting you know that is possible.

Good luck on what ever barrel you put on your SA Ruger rifle.

Czech the 77rl's can be a sob on recoil. I had one in 30-06 . They carry nice but recoil and muzzle blast make them less than pleasant to shoot. Have you tried loading down to 300 Savage performance levels? With 130 and 125 gr bullets might make it a whole lot more enjoyable to shoot. Just a thought . Mb

Magnum - that's exactly why I was thinking of a . 257 Rob.

Besides which, I already have a .308 and as soon as I find some lightweight bullets, I'll be trying that download plan!

For the others: thank you! It's a pleasure to tap into so much experience all on one place!

That's what they told me as well when I asked about rebarrelling my tang safety .284.

Well, all I gotta say about this that in my experience is that the R77 tangers are just excellent. Finally ( I realized, perhaps 30 years ago) a rifle that comes up very naturally, like an english shotgun and everything somes together. Mind you, my experiences back in the day were molded on New England woodlots, but whats sauce for the grouse is sauce for lots of other stuff. They just fit. And the CRF feature is a bonus.

Stay the course,my cyber friend, it is worthy!

77 tangers are not CRF.