Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Boat Paddle to Boyd, Ruger 77 Mk II

Are you going to keep the shine or knock it down with rottenstone?

Not sure.

May leave it as is. Will have to see how it looks after last coat.

DF

Not running for neatest shop award, but here is a picture of how I situate the stock to apply finish and wipe with a single sheet of a blue shop towel. I don't rub the finish, I let the towel do the work, holding it with both hands, the suspended single layer gently stroking the stock as I pull it along.

The punch is in the rear action hole, the dowel reaches up in the mag well. This way, I can wipe the side of the stock without it pivoting.

It's easy to flip the stock, as described earlier. Holding it, I sight thru the rear action hole, finding the tip of the punch and align it that way without bumping the punch against the green finish, blindly tyring to "thread the needle".

DF

And the Ruger African would work well with these 1" Alaska Arms QD rings..

Good price on good rings.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...aska-arms-qd-ruger-77-rings#Post16081311

DF

Well, I put it back together. As shown, it weighs 8 #'s, 3 oz. on the postal scale. Stock with pad, 31 oz., down from 40 oz.

Trigger is a tad less than 3 #'s, very clean breaking with no perceived overtravel.

I cut the comb to fit the rings, didn't change out rings to fit the comb. I already had these rings and like them. LOP is 13 1/2", which is about perfect for me. BTW, I did rub it with Brownells stock rubbing compound, which decreased the shine somewhat.

When time permits, I will do some shooting. Life and the weather have been in the way. One of these days.

This weight rifle seems about right for shooting heavier bullets in an '06, which is what I'm loading, using JB's loads and some I've picked up here on the Fire.

If it shoots as good as the barrel looks thru the Hawkeye, it should be OK. I did the DBC treatment.

DF

Looks great DF.

Thanks,

It handles and balances very well.

It will be interesting to see what it likes.

Loads currently include 150 NPT, 150 NAB, 155 Scenar, 165 NBT over BG, 180 NBT, 185 VLDH over Hunter, 200 NPT over H-4831, all with Fed 215 primers.

DF

Very nice DF. Looks very similar to a JRS now. Im sure its going to be a good shooter too, as long as you glass bedded it properly.

Yeah, it’s well glassed, top and bottom, and free floated.

DF

Guess I just about did turn it into a JRS, although the grip shape may be a bit different. Here's a real JRS to compare with. That one had the Fiebings Dark Brown leather dye treatment added to the finish, (not the wood). I left the Ruger lighter, didn't want to darken it. As Fiebings is applied to the finish, I could always do that later, then apply a few more coats of Pro Oil. Think I'll leave it as is.

JRS forearm is round. Boyd offers a Classic with round forearm, called the Platinum. But I went with the finger groove version, which is growing on me. I don't intent to checker it. Comparing the two, I think I like the JRS grip profile better, although the Classic grip is pretty comfortable after I got through reshaping it.

DF

Pretty slick, Slick.

My son has the Boat Paddle stock listed on eBay for $399.

Now, that's way too high, IMO. But I've seen him pull off some unbelievable deals, and demand for those is thru the roof.

It just takes one to pull the trigger. He also has a "best offer" option.

I'll report what he gets. I'm expecting it to be a good bit more than what the Boyd Classic cost.

DF