Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger M_77 Tanger

How many have you owned, any favorites?

41

A few. 30/06 ultralite shot the best. Enjoyed the 250 Savage the most but could never get it to shoot worth a darn.

I have had several. My favorites are my fathers Bent Bolt 220 Swift and a lightweight .257 Roberts I traded off for my first Tikka.

77V 220 Swift, 77R 7x57, 77RS 35 Whelen all shoot fine...mb

four

I own 5 and have never sold one.
Two in 257 Bob, one 308, one 270 and one 284 Win

I've had two. Wish I'd kept a 25/06 that was a fine shooter. I still have a 338 WinMag that shoots so so. The 338 was my go to rifle for many years.

I have two, a walnut 338 from a pawnshop and a 7mmRM that wears a Lilja tube and a McMillan copy of the old R-model stock. Both will barely clear a 1” tube 40mm Leupold scope with low rings. The fit is very natural for me.

Have three only thing original on all three is the bolt, action and floorplate/trigger guard. All in McMillan stocks two have the long discontinued ultralight stock.

A grand total of 1. It's a 1984-85 model 7x57. The little gun shop that we frequented at that time had 3 of them all in 7x57 gathering dust on an upper rack. Being a kid who grew up reading Jack O'Conner articles, I had to have one. I looked at all 3 and picked the one with the prettiest wood. Probably one of the last rifles I'll ever part with.

Ron

Even though I've owned 5 model 77's I've never owned a Tanger. I've hunted with my late FIL's 7 RM tanger though

I've had many. Most have shot well. I'm down to four: 77Vs in .220 Swift, .25-06, and .308. All three are very accurate. Wore out the barrel on the Swift and had it rebarreled. A 77 Ultralight in .250 Savage was a mediocre shooter. I had it rebarreled with a Douglas and it shoots very well now.

I've owned a couple dozen, still have a baker's dozen in 22-250, 243, 6mm, 250(x3), 257, 257AI, 25 Souper, 260, 7x57, 308, and 358. I particularly like the RSI style, but wish that they had made the barrels longer than 18.5" so that they would balance more like a Husqvarna with a Mannlicher-style stock than a butt-heavy Remington 7.

I lived about 30 miles from Pinetree Casting from 1986 thru 1990 and spent more than a few friday evenings at Rody's Gun Shop shooting the breeze with the Rody brothers, Bill and Henry, and with the gun guys who worked for Ruger. It was always interesting to hear about the latest project that WBR, Sr. had them working on.

270
270 flat bolt
308
6mm rem
7x57 (3)
358
7mm Rm
30/06 (3)
Still have 270,30/06,6mm
All have shot decent, 7x57 required the most work. The 270 is very accurate. .75 groups at 200 with both factory and reloads. IMR 4831 and a older Hornady 130 gr. Flat base bullet. This was made at the end of the mk1 run.
I like them, especially early and late runs both had thinner forends.

4

Back in the day, heavy varmint 220 Swift, extremely accurate with iirc 55gr Sierras and RL-15, 400 yard plastic pop bottle buster it was, only shot one animal with it, some kind of burrowing fat varmint down on the Arkansas river levee, damn thing must have weighed 35lbs, flattened it from the truck window at 200 yards LOL!

The most accurate 338 WM i've ever owned sold to Proud Dad right here on this site.

458 WM, also much more accurate than it needed to be, current owner told me he'll die owning that rifle ; ]

Just last year bought Wife an unfired [except for factory test] 7x57, what a sweet piece, it fires the old style 175gr Hornady round nose bullets at 2376 fps into around an inch and a half, not bad for a load not worked up for that rifle, all stock except adding an Ernie the Gunsmith spring to lighten the trigger a bit, i loaded those things more than 25 years ago, it wears an old gloss 2-7 leupold and isn't going anywhere.

I have a 1976 “liberty” model 77 in .257 Roberts that shoots cloverleaf groups. It’s not going anywhere except deer hunting.

1 308 lightweight, still have and use it.

I have my little brothers 270. A nice rifle thats retained it's zero for over 40 years. It doesn't appeal to me as theres to much wood along the barrel but it was his gun so I haven't messed with it. I took it deer hunting on opening day.

Off the top of my head can recall two .220 Swift sporter-weights, a 6mm Remington sporter, a .250 Savage UL, a 7x57, a 7mm Remington Magnum, and a .30-06.

The .30-06 was my only big game rifle for several years when young and relatively poor, though kept it for a while after I could afford more rifles, fitted with a light synthetic stock. It was pretty accurate, and I used two different loads, one with 165 cup-and-cores for deer-sized game, and one with 200-grain Partitions for bigger game--both of which shot to the same point of impact.

Both Swifts shot accurately, but I grew weary of the 1-14 twists.

The 6mm Remington shot well, but I wanted it less than something else it got traded it for.

Could not get the .250 UL to shoot consistently below about 1.5 inches at 100 yards for 3-shot groups, no matter what I tried in handloads and bedding, so it went down the road pretty quickly.

The 7x57 had one of the rare terrible barrels, and would generally group 2-3 at 100. This was because the "tight" spots in the barrel measured .287". Had it rebarreled to .358 Winchester, and it shot OK, but went down the road too.

Bought the 7mm RM in very used condition for the action, with the barrel already toast, because I really like the tang safety. Had it turned into a very accurate .300 Winchester Magnum by Charlie Sisk, and used it for several years, among other animals taking big mule deer and elk.

My most recent started out as an UL in some unknown chambering. Somebody had it fitted with a 22" No. 1 contour Douglas barrel in 7mm-08, which with the UL stock made it noticeably lighter than the standard 77 sporter. It shot very well, and I hunted with it some before recently having it rechambered to .284 Winchester, partly because Ruger offered the .284 briefly in the 1970s, and I'd wanted one then but couldn't find one. It still shoots very well, and will probably go hunting soon.

There are probably a few others I've forgotten.

I've had 3, mid-70's 77V's in .25-06 and .220 Swift and a mid-80's 77 in 7mmRM. Sadly, the .25-06 went down the road. It was a fine shooter and with hot loads of 3031 or 4064 would put 75 grain Sierra HP's in tight little 3/4" clusters. It was the complete and utter destruction of a number of woodchucks. The Swift I still have and, after a hiatus of a number of years, I have broken it out to play with some more. It wears a fixed 16X Leupold and I am hoping to get it to show the same accuracy it used to. I won't say how well it shot back in the day, with 55 grain Nosler Solid Base bullets for fear of being thought a liar. The 7mmRM, wearing its original 2 1/2 - 8 VariX III is still in the family, my having given it to one of my sons during one of my "Here, I need to get rid of some of these things, why don't you take this" exercises. It always shot well enough for what it was, hanging around an inch for five with appropriate Sierra and Nosler bullets. I could never get it to shoot the original X bullets well, but has killed several deer with them. It has killed more deer, I'm sure, than any other rifle I own.

7mm Rem Mag Bicentennial Liberty I bought new in 1976 for $175. Took at least 20 elk with it, maybe 40 or 50 deer, and a mountain goat. It's been on dozens of horseback pack trips. The rifle will be the last I ever get rid of.

.243 Win. Good shooter, lots of good kills with it, including my best mule deer buck.

Have had a bunch. I regret parting with a Bicentennial Liberty 7x57, also a 280 and a 35 Whelen.

I have two.
A M77V from the mid ‘70’s in .220 swift. It has a Canjar single set trigger and is very accurate with 50 to 55 gr bullets. Likes 52 gr Sierra bullets the best. It is a heavy bugger and is not a walk around rifle. Like JB said it would be better with a faster twist barrel.
Also a M77 round top in .30-06 that I bought just for the wood. A very nice rife that is very accurate with 180 gr Nosler BT bullets like most 06 rifles. It has taken several deer and I enjoy just shooting it.
Here is a couple of pictures, the .30-06 has shot bigger deer but this shows the the wood off the best. It’s quite nice in person.

Just one, a plain jain old 25-06. It was the first factory built sporting rifle I bought after getting a decent full time job. I still have that rifle and job. The former will be going away in a bit less than 3 years.

Probably a dozen or so over the past 45yrs. Down to just 3 now - all round tops with sights - 7x57, 30-06 and 358 Win.

Still have one in the safe needs rings and stock shortened. Will be rebored to 358 Winchester. Be Well, RZ.

Just 2 and I still have them but they don't get hunted anymore. 30-06 and a 338 Win .
I've taken elk with both of them.

I did not keep track of the number of M77s I have owned, there have been a lot. When all the trash talk about the 77s started and continued they came up for sale frequently and I took advantage of it. My buddies called my buy and selling 77s a "cottage industry". Of all the so called maladies I dealt with, I only sent two rifles into Ruger. .358 Winchester and .243 Winchester.

A lot of the rifles I bought from people I knew, such as friends, relatives, deer camp and gun club members. I would rank the problems:

1) Improper bench procedures

2) Not satisfied with groups, take the rifle apart, put back together without knowing how to torque screws

3) Take out of the box shoot a few good groups and accuracy goes to heck. What happens on occasion is the angle screw begins to touch the hole in the stock.

4) Lousy scope mounting

5) Did not shoot enough ammo to see if groups improve.

I own 5 77s that I won't be selling, all R's. (2) .257 Roberts, one red pad the other black pad, 7x57mm, 35 Whelen. One 77V 22-250.

I've had 10 tangers.
2) 22-250's
220 Swift
2) 257 Roberts
25-06
270
2) 7mm RM
35 Whelen

The 270, a bicentennial, was the most accurate of the 10.

1. My first bolt action. A .30-06.

Kept it around forever, even as I acquired other .30-06's. Finally became the donor action for my .257 Roberts. A real sweet heart of a rifle. Consequently got nicknamed "Sweet Thang".

I own or have owned in the past the following.

M77V .220 Swift Flatbolt
M77V .243 Win. Flatbolt
M77R .243 Win
M77RL .257 Roberts
M77RSI .270 Win
M77RS 7x57 Mauser Hollowbolt
M77R 7mm RM. Hollowbolt
M77RS .338WM

Nice. Good to hear about so many experiences with the old M_77.

I've personally only owned one I bought it way back in 1982 it was my first high-powered rifle. With me being a fan of Jack O'Connor writings I went with the 270 Winchester, remember my Dad was disappointed in me that I didn't get a 30-06....lol

Still have it & still use it, put thousands of rounds down the Ruger 22" tube so I'm on barrel #2 now.

Mine is I guess a "round top"? Has the integrated Ruger rings & no open sights. It came with a slender 22" barrel and the forearm is quite petite. I've seen others of the same era where the stocks were quite different and a acquaintance of mine had a .280 Remington M_77 that had quite a blocky walnut stock with much more wood around the barrel than mine. My example always seemed to have a bit of an ultralight look to me in its original configuration.

I've had a 338 Win, 3006, 7x57, 270 (3) 2506, 257 Roberts and 6mm
one 270 is all that's left....wished I still had the 6mm

Depends. If you count the individual rifles I have owned twice, or that passed through briefly, about 9 or 10.

Aside from a Brazilian Mauser, a memento of an old friend, all my rifles are old tang safety M77s from 70s-early 80s. Each has the identical stock profile from before they changed it. I cut them all down to my smaller size and replaced each pencil eraser butt pad with a grindable Limbsaver (much nicer on the magnums). For me, these just fit right. None of them are pristine collectors’ items, far from it.

Only 1 Tanger here. A "79 7x57 new in box. I just put the scope on and have some loads ready to go. Need some warmer weather for this old man. I'm very anxious to see how it will shoot. Where I will hunt with it anything 1 1/2 " or better will work fine.
Have a great day.
Jim

I have two. Both manufactured around 1980/1981 if I recall)

The first is a .250 Savage Ultralight that groups three 100gn bullets (Hornady and Ballistic Tips) under an inch at 100m. It has been bedded and had the trigger worked by a gunsmith. It wears the same 2-7x33 Luepold for the past 20 years.

The second is a .257 Roberts standard rifle in very good condition for it's age (probably 95% like new). However, it wouldn't group better than 1 3/4 inches at 100m. 115gn Ballistics Tips might of squeezed into 1 1/2 inch. I tried five or six different 100gn and the same number of 115 - 120gn bullets but it must of been one of those Wilson barrels that we all know about. However, it was too nice a rifle to sell, and as I have two other Bobs that both group under an inch, I rebarreled it to 7x64. Now it is a tack driver. It wears a Luepold 6x36.

Strange how two rifles from the same era with the same barrels shoot so differently.

Two 6mm flatbolts… very accurate
One 338
One 270 UL which I am trying to buy back

I bought a NIB 77RS in 358 WIN when I was in FT Hood, TX in 1991 for $450, kept a couple of years and sold it. Now they are on GB for 2K plus......

Ive owned somewhere north of 36. Calibers ranged from 22 250's and Swifts to 416 Taylor, with times where I had several in the same caliber. Never had one in 458, yet. Most were RS models, a number of RLS's and RL's, a few R's, and ST's but never any RSI's. At one point I had a safe full of about 14 all at the same time, as I recall. There is a hazard to working the gun counter and being a gun accumulater.
My favorites are my 30/06 RS that I switched the stock to an RL stock, my old 'rode hard and put up wet 257Roberts ST, and my long gone 416T. The 06 has taken more game than the rest. The 257 more groundhogs and a pickup load of venison. My 7750 muzzleloader, not a Tanger, is probably 3rd on the list of gamegetters.
Surprisingly, contrary to what I read on this and other sites, i had no difficulties finding an accurate factory load or reload for any of them.
Bfly

Tangers are held in high regard. I wonder if anybody will ever feel that strongly about Mark II's?

I've got just the one. Kilt my first deer with it. Haven't used it in years but it's the last I'd part with, still love it. It's a .300wm. Carried it since I was 13 years old. Still fits like a glove.
.

I inherited one in .338 Win mag - fully tuned - trigger, Magnaport, glass bedded, and very accurate. Six one shot kills in Africa, trophy elk, miscellaneous others. I have already passed it on to my son to keep him from buying another similar rifle - he loves it! So it stays in the family for my grandson to inherit one day.

41rem;
Good evening to you, I hope the first week of the year was decent to you and this finds you and all who matter to you well.

Thanks for the thread, it's interesting to read the responses.

While I can only think of two that I've owned personally, I've fooled with a few more and have had a couple shooting and hunting partners run a heavy barrel .220 Swift and a 7mm Rem Mag that both shot very well.

The two that I can think of was a .308 that I sold without shooting as I bought it to move and a Liberty Model that started life in .338 Win Mag.

Somehow it became a bit of a "lucky" rifle for me and even though I built it for shooting mulies across canyons, it's taken more whitetail for me I think, as well as a bull moose.

It's now a .308 Norma and is on it's 3rd stock, the second being a Ramline with the wood grain they offered for awhile and the present one I did up from a Richards semi-inletted blank.



Thanks again to all who've responded, thank you again for the thread and all the best to all.

Dwayne

My first center-fire purchase, in 1978, and still my sentimental favorite. Current one is a short action in 257 Roberts with a McMillan Ultralight stock and Douglas #1 contour barrel.

While I'm very fond of my tanger, the absolute last rifle I'd sell would be my "go-to" .308 boat paddle.

I've got 2 of them. A 220 swift and a 250 Sav. The 250 is a tack driver with 87gr Hornady.

I own 2 a 30-06 that my dad shot only recently tried a load that shot well. My favorite is a “Made in the 200th year of American Liberty” 7mm RM I bought new as a teenager & have killed many truck loads of deer & elk with over the years. It was glass bedded, free floated. Trigger job & a custom muzzle brake added years ago. Sighting in 4 times it’s shot groups you could cover with a dime - it’s the most accurate hunting rifle I’ve ever seen. Zeiss conquests now a Leupold 4.5-14x50 on it now.

Good point. The Mark II has the beloved Boat Paddle. I saw a Boat Paddle .280 at the LGS about ten years ago for $450 with Leupold 3-9. I went home to think about it and went back the next morning for it and it was gone. That still pisses me off

My 257 Roberts is an excellent rifle.

My 7x57 was Purchased new in 84-85 for $275. It will put 139 grain Hornady Interlocks pushed by IMR 4350 into a half inch at 100yds. It puts 140 grain Ballistic Tips pushed by RL-19 into an inch.

Ron

Is that a Pall Mall? That's what I smoked at 13

Still own the one I bought new in 84 or 85 a light weight 308win RSI small in every way except stopping power. The stock look like it has been through more woods than any rifle I own. Probably because it has. Harvested my biggest whitetail and bear to date back in 06 and 09 with it. It doesn't get used near as much as it used to before I had a safe full of more expensive rifles. Of all the game I have harvested I can think of 3 that were out of its range. So I probably could have gotten by with just it all this time I guess that makes me loony. It still shoots great only modification is the trigger spring.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

My wife won hers with a five dollar raffle ticket. 243 win.bedded, and trigger. Put together by the OIT gun club and gunsmith class. I only used it once and killed an Antelope, in the Juniper unit! Nice rifle that I have to borrow😏, she keeps a close eye on it!

I bought my first one in 1972 after I returned from RVN the second time,. It was a Christmas present to myself. It was/is an M77RS Flatbolt in .350RemMag. I bought it from Sears in Fayetteville, NC for $165. It's taken bunch of game. Since then I've probably owned close to a hundred. I had a big Flatbolt collection of all the calibers and configurations, plus a bunch more. In 2012 I started selling them off, keeping the ones dear to me. I only have a few left. All shot well except an M77RL in .257R that on its best day was a 3MOA rifle. Rough inside the barrel from the factory, and an M77RSI in 7mm-08 that was almost as bad. I still buy one now and then. I usually deer hunt with an M77R flatbolt in .270Win and elk hunt with a re-barreled 7Mag flatbolt that is now a .300WinMag (Ruger stainless barrel). Both are easy MOA with handloads and 1.5 with factory fodder. But, this year I broke out the KM77RS Zytel in .30-06 to take a spike elk.

My first rifle was a M77 Ruger 270 Win with a tanger safety. When I went to buy my second rifle Ruger moved on to the M77 MK II. I really liked that gun.

Yep mine was a 6mm, still got it.

Dad bought me a .243 when I was 12. He traded it in for a 7x57 when I took up with his .30-06. I have shot deer with a 7mm rem mag , antelope with a .338 win mag. All are gone save the 7x57. My dad made numerous good shots on driven deer with it and I have shot two shells at game with that have resulted in two dead elk..........It will probably be last of the guns to leave my hands....and as a side note ,it shoots ok but never great.

2 Tangers - a 77R with a Douglas 338-06 & a RL 308 that has been my go-to tracking rifle for a few years now. Both are great. Have several more MkII - I like the true crf if the mkIi but miss the nostalgia of the tanger. All are solid workhorses.

Oh and this lil 270 I just bought..

Yeah if I saw that in the LGS I would snap it up

I bought my first one in about 83 it was a 370 Winchester, I bought a 243 not long after and a 30-06 followed. When they went to the bolt safety, I switched to Remington 700's and sold all of them. My brother still has the 30-06.

Bought a Tanger in 257 Roberts AI from a guy here on the fire a few years back. Bedding and 120 Partitions worked really well. Sorry I sold it off.

I was on a decent flatbolt kick for a while and bought/sold/traded several. I still have two of them - a .243RS and a .270.

I'm 44, and tang safety Rugers were about all my dad used when I was a kid. So my first deer rifle was a tang safety .30-06 and I killed a ton of deer and coyotes with it.

My dad's .338WM is legendary in our family and will be the one gun of his I'll never let get away.

I've probably shot 10-15 different ones over the years (mine or his). The only one that wasn't plenty accurate with factory ammo was a Liberty .257 Roberts that I wanted to love, but couldn't.

SR

Bought a 338 WM tanger with iron sights in 1992 from a friend who wanted something smaller. It weights 9 1/4 lbs with a Leupold 2.5 x 8 and shoots under an inch with all factory loads I have shot in it, and under 1/2 inch with NP 225 reloads at 2850. I've taken several elk with it over the years, from 40 to 400 yards, but lately have gone to smaller and lighter guns in 30-06 to save a couple of pounds carrying. Still consider it my go to gun for bull elk or anything bigger. I may not use it much anymore, but I'll never sell it. Kids get dibs.

Bought a Tanger in 7 mag back in 93 when working at LGS. It was straight out Jekyll and Hyde. One day it would shoot like gangbusters next day you couldn’t hit a paper plate with it. Tried scopes, rings, bedding, trigger job,increased striker spring, you name it , it had been done to it.
I had a list of 19 different loads I had tried with it. Sent it in to Ruger and it came back with a target and a note 5 shots 7/8 of an inch @ 50 yes 50 yards saying accuracy ok. Traded it that day on a Winchester Model 70 Stainless/Synthetic that would shoot lights out with damn near anything.
Still own some Rugers and like them too. But that one was a dog. I guess it was a hit or miss brand barrel on it .
I would buy another one if the right deal came along though.

That prompts me to tell this story about my M77 .338 Win mag. I purchased the rifle used, at a time when we were talking about some day hunting Sitka blacktails in Alaska, but without any definite plan. The rifle was in pristine condition, but could not be made to shoot a group less than about 8 inches, regardless of who shot it. Life moved on, and since I was at the time living in Houston, both elk hunting and Alaska were far away. A move to Colorado changed the opportunities, and although by then I was using my very accurate Ruger M77 in 7mm Rem. mag on elk to good effect, the .338 remained a big question mark.

At the conclusion of a successful Colorado elk hunt, the four of us were having dinner and drinks before Finn would return to Texas and the rest of us would return to work. The post-hunt discussion turned into a gun swap, with Finn taking possession of my .338 to experiment with it to see what was the problem. At home he set it into his long, open gunrack next to his computer desk. As was his habit, the .338 alongside all his family rifles, sat in the rack with a .338 bullet set point-first into the muzzle of the barrel. He always put a bullet of the caliber of each rifle into its muzzle to keep mud dauber wasps from filling the barrels with mud nests. The loose bullet would simply fall out if the rifle was grabbed in sudden need.

One day Finn was idly fiddling with that .338 bullet, lifting it and plunking it into the muzzle, but then once flipped the bullet base down and to his amazement, the base of the bullet dropped neatly into the barrel! Upon inspection he discovered that the rifling stopped well short of the muzzle! In his typical pragmatic African bush way, Finn hacksawed off 2 inches of barrel, re-crowned it using a bolt in a drill, and voila, the rifle shot around a 2 inch group when tested. Mystery solved.

I ultimately ended up with the rifle back, and later had Rich Reiley of High Tech Customs re-barrel the rifle with a Lilja barrel and true the action. This turned the old tang safety Ruger, still in .338 Win mag, into a 1-inch rifle with 250 gr. Swift A frames (when I do my part). It did eventually take a Sitka blacktail, and many elk.

Jaguar,

Interesting story!

But it fits some other experience with tang-safety Rugers. In general the barrels were pretty good--but once in a while there was a real dog. Mentioned in my earlier post on this thread that a friend who had a 7x57 that he could NOT get to shoot asked me to try it. I couldn't get it to shoot either, and eventually slugged the bore. Turned out the TIGHT spots in the rifling were .287" in diameter--and there were far more loose spots.

This is why this forum is still great! An awesome story!

This shows what the problem with the .338 looked like. Still have the 2 inches he cut off. You can see in the muzzle, no rifling. The tape around the bullet indicates how far the bullet will drop into the muzzle base first. Pretty extreme. My other M77s have been good to excellent.







Another Finn the pragmatist story from a different annual elk hunting trip. On that trip, after a lot of miles on his 4X4 Ford, Finn's U-joint was giving out. From our place to Llano, TX was around 900 miles. He needed to get home, and didn't want to spend the time and money on a mechanic in the Denver area. His pragmatic solution was to borrow a few tools, disconnect the rear drive line, and lock in his front hubs (those were the days). He drove home in front-wheel drive and fixed it once he arrived home.

I've been trying to get my neighbor's 280 tanger to shoot. He was getting 3-4 in groups at best. I took it and after floating the barrel, recrowning the barrel, relieving the magazine, and retorquing the action screws, I got it to about 2 in. I haven't worked on it in awhile. Was going to try some heavier bullets. I have not bedded it yet. I need to check the screw hole as roundoak pointed out, thanks.

Mine have benefited from free floating and bedding. Seems like most M77 stocks have uneven fore-end pressure after many years of drying and settling in. You can easily see the pressure points when you pull the stock off. Even a paper test will tell a tale. Also, mine have moved around the country, and been very wet and very dry at times, so I'm sure the free floating has been a help with that.

My first was a 77V in 25-06, with fiddleback from end to end. I never should have sold it. I have one in 30-06 now, and one in .338WM. Neither will get sold any time soon, tho I haven't hunted with the .338 in 15 years or so.

I've had no trouble getting any of them to go 1.5 MOA or less. The 77V, totally unmodified, did 5 MOA with factory, 1 MOA with neck-sized only reloads. The .338 goes MOA with some "junk loads" I threw together without work-up, using Hornady 250 RN, and 1 inch groups (3 shot), at 200 yards with some Sierra 250 - also not worked up. I have 3 of the Sierras left, and about 30 of the Hornady loads.

Glass bedded receivers, free floated barrels, and factory triggers worked on. The 338 has also been Mag-Na-Ported.

I've never had a Mk II.

I’ve owned dozens of tang safety M77’s and found virtually all of them shot great but as previously mentioned they did benefit from bedding and free floating usually. I sold one in 7mag to a friend that got many miles out of it. He brought me a target with 5 holes in under 3/4” that he’d shot at a 100 yards. The coolest thing about the tiny groups that he shot was they were (all 5 shots) a different bullet as well as 3 different bullet weights. The 140gr, 150gr and 160gr Speer, Nosler, Federal, Winchester and Remington bullets printed 5 shots in less than 3/4” dead center at 100 yards. That rifle impressed me as much as any other rifle I’ve ever owned and I’ve literally owned thousands (benefits of owning your own shop 😉).

I’ve always liked Ruger rifles because in my opinion they are the blue collar working man’s rifle. They’re strong, accurate, affordable and available…..attributes that not all rifle manufacturers can boast about.

The only accuracy issues that I can recall were in relation to the stock/forend and was quickly remedied by relieving the forend and/or bedding. I know several guys that for whatever reason didn’t want to go to the trouble of bedding the rifle so they used the ugly rubber barrel vibration dampener with great success.

It’s crazy how the prices on those rifles have gone up astronomically. I’d sell the used Ruger tang rifles for $250-$350 but even at those prices they didn’t “fly out” of the shop. Hell…the half dozen Stainless Colt light rifles took us 8 years to sell and we were asking $495 each. I wish I’d have kept a few of them. 😫…..woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Used to have a 250 savage with the full length stock. I miss that rifle, but I am only 25 so plenty of time to get more tangers.

I'd like to get one in 243 with the ultra lite stock, if that was a configuration they offered.

I have owned 5 tangers over the years. Most accurate is a 257 Roberts I still have. I sold a 30.06 which was also very accurate to buy a better rifle (haha). Should have kept it. I would buy it back, but the current owner is smarter than I am.

I’ve owned just two. A .243 and a .270. Both got shooters. Both are gone now.

As I said in an earlier post I collected Ruger rifles for several years. Their biggest issue was barrels. Ruger used Douglas barrels until about 1973, then switched to Wilson barrels. Ruger installed Douglas Premium barrels on the No.1 single shot. Every Douglas barreled rifle I've owned was accurate, some exceptionally accurate for hunting rifles. The Wilson barrels, in my experience were a 'hit or miss' proposition. Lack of quality control. Many of the Wilson barreled rifles I owned were "easy MOA' accurate. But some were not and nothing I did would get them under 2". I pulled a new ultralight .30-06 (M77RL) off the shelf at Bob Ward's in Boseman in about 1986. Upon looking at it I noticed the hole in the end of the barrel was off center. Didn't need any caliper to tell; you could see it with the naked eye! I handed it back an asked to see another one which I bought. That rifle would shoot almost any load into MOA or better. Yep, both Wilson barrels. Sometime in the 90's Ruger switched to in-house hammer forged barrels. All of the MKIIs I've owned have been consistently accurate.

No. 1s below serial number 130-05000 should have a Douglas premium barrel. Any M77 that dates to 1972 and earlier would also have a Douglas barrel.

Douglas barrels on all No. 1s??? Never Wilson?

Douglas before serial number 130-05000. Wilson after that, but with some overlap depending on caliber and stock on hand.

I have three. Two in .308 Win, and one in .243 Win. But, I get to be more friendly with mine.308 Win.

4 at least, and maybe 5. Two stand out. One was an RL model in .257 Roberts. Second was a varmint in .22-250. One, not favorite but memorable, was a .300 win mag .. killed my first elk with it. One was a real lemon, a .25-'06. Not sure that chamber had a throat. It was a laser with 75 grain Sierras but it was a primer blowing SOB with anything heavier. I'm a little fuzzy .. I think there was another one but I don't remember what it was.

One more .. I suppose was technically mine but not really .. dad and I split the cost of a "green meanie" tanger in '06 for my mom.

have a 257 AI and just a few days ago picked up a 300 Win in a B&C carbalite with a timney trigger

Sold my 7Mag as I don't travel west anymore. My baby is a .308 Flatbolt, my first centerfire, and it has traveled with me to many states hunting. Not the most accurate rifle I own, but always brings me luck.

Naive question but ......why doesn't Ruger bring back the tanger? Seems to be a lot of interest and I bet they would sell a bunch if they used decent wood , a 22" non threaded blued barrel and round top receiver.

My first rifle was a roundtop .270 ca. 1976 and I've had nothing I liked better or shot better since.

Not a gun writer, but that I can remember, I've had four. 1.) A 22-250 flat bolt that had some family history. It was supposedly a tack driver new, but when I got it, it had no rifling for the first half of the barrel. 2.) A flat bolt 22-250 I bought at a local gunshop with a 7.5x Leupold. It shot acceptably but not spectacularly. 3.) A .30-06 that my dad bought for me in 1985. It never shot well at all. We messed with it for a few years. Not sure what finally happened to it. 4.) a like new 1974 .30-06 with a K4 Weaver that I picked up for $300 at a combination shooting range / gunshop. After a lot of fiddling with it, it remained a 2.5" rifle. 5.) A .270 round top that shot everything into an inch or slightly better.

I also had a .243. I can't remember if it was a tang safety or Mark II. It shot spectacularly but into two groups spaced about 5" apart. After messing with bedding, I realized the dovetails for the rings were badly out of alignment. Even after lapping the rings, if you tightened down the rear ring, the scope would stick up about 1/2-3/4" above the front ring and thereby putting the action in a severe bind. I've seen that a time or two since on Rugers but that one was the worst.

I still have it along with several other 77 tangers. Haven't headed to the mountains with that .338 yet, but it is ready to make the trip. Enjoy shooting it at the range.

My dream (affordable) rifle would be a Ruger 77 tanger round top with nice wood ( no Ruger rings ) and 24" ( no open sights) 280 AI otherwise I'd "settle" for a 22" 280 or 270 Maybe Lipsey will commission a run.

My first was a .280 in 1977. Good shooter but hard trigger. Tried a couple more through the years; .2 338WM,(both shot poor) my last one was a an older one in 7x57. It shot pretty good, but I upgraded my 7x57 itch ( an older mod 70 fwt 7mm Mauser) rather than spend tweaking money on the Ruger. Haven't got it back from being set up by my smith. He and his wife, me and a older fiend, all got Covid from different places, but about the same time. Rough..it killed my older friend. I'm just happy its over! ha

That's awesome. That tanger must have an exceptional barrel. I've had many m77 mk2 338WM's and they were all exceptional shooters. Not as good as my current pre 64 338wm, but exceptional nonetheless... Now to answer the op's quetion:

1. 270 round top:

Do I miss it? NO. It was a great shooter, but was a tank compared to my 270 pre 64 FWT. It went down the road

2. 300wm that I bought about 5 years ago. Funny story: This old indian fisherman came into the gunshop and asked how much the owner would give him for it. Owner said $150. Indian guy left and I asked the shop owner if he wanted to make $50. He said yes. Took rifle home glass bedded it shot it:

Shot well enough, even though it was missing some rifling. I put another $175 into it with a nice cerakote job and the guy also jeweled the bolt. The rifling kind of irritated me, so I sold it to a friend. That kept asking about it. He really wanted a good shooting 300wm.

3. 270 winchester. Found this rifle for a damn good deal. It was in a synthetic stock and it felt great when packing around in the woods. I only paid $250 for the rifle and it was a damn good shooter. But nonetheless I don't like the 270 winchester so I sent it down the road.

4. One of my favorites was a 30-06 in a green and red laminated wood stock. I miss that old rifle. I killed many a coyote with it and it shot very well. A solid rifle that I should have never sold. I think about that one from time to time.

5. Tanger in 243 win. Shot so well, I have no idea why I sold it. Except back in the 90's I was reading Boddington and he said that if you are a left handed shooter, you need to sell all your right handed bolt actions because they are the devil. I sold all of my good rifles and bought 1 left handed Ruger m77 mk2 300wm. Later found out Boddington was so full of chidt his eyes were brown.. Now I have right handed rifles again. FU the douchebag that says they are the devil...

41rem: A bunch!
My favorites are/were a "Liberty" Model 77-V in 220 Swift - this Ruger "tanger" shoots pretty well and has been a loyal friend since 1976.
I wish I had kept another "favorite", a Model 77-V in caliber 7m/m Express - I harvested a lot of long distance Antelope and Mule Deer with that Rifle.
Another "favorite" I wish I had never traded off was an early dog-leg bolt "tanger" in 6m/m Remington.
Also foolishly sold off a Ruger 77 "tanger" with medium heavy barrel in caliber 257 Roberts - yeah I wish I had that one back!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Varmintguy, you reminded me of the one that I wish I would never have let go, my 416 Taylor! It started as either a 300 or 7mm mag, can't remember which. I sold it once, a few years later bought it back. A few years later when I needed to pay a bunch of medical bills, I sold it again. Sometimes I amaze myself at how stupid I can be, should have sold something that I could replace. You can't fix stupid.
Bfly

My 416 Taylor is built on a tang safety M77. It's a great shooter and has been to Africa but sees a lot of use in the deer woods. I wouldn't part with it.

I have some.

1- .243 Flat Bolt
1- .257 Roberts UL
1- .308 Flat Bolt
1- .30-06 Flat Bolt Round Top
1- .30-06 Flat Bolt w/ Iron Sights

All very nice rifles in beautiful condition.

I have a tanger in 250 sav

I added a like new #73 prefix, 1978 era M77ST roundtop in .25/06 to the collection. I mounted a Leupold M8-8x36mm scope in Buehler Code #6 vertical split rings & bases.

Old thread resurrection time!

I'd like an old Tanger in a sporter weight .22-250 that shoots decent if anybody knows of one?

41

When I was young and had lost my small rifle collection due to a divorce, bought a tang-safety Ruger 77 .30-06 to get started again. It was one of those pre-hunting season deals at a local that included a scope, in that instance a Bushnell 4x, which worked fine. Used it for several years to take the standard variety of Montana big game--pronghorns, whitetails, mule deer, black bear and elk--and Eileen used it to take a bighorn ewe.

It was pretty darn accurate, grouping three shots of its "favorite" handloads into 1 to 1-1/2" at 200 yards. Can't imagine anything that would have done better on most of the big game animals I've taken in various places since, but hindsight isn't foresight....

I have 2 77 tang safety Ruger, first is a 1974 .30-06 and the other is a 1982 77V .22-250, both have been very good shooters.

I've got a tanger in 270 that I bought new over twenty years ago. Been hunting with it at least once but never dropped anything with it.

Now it sits quietly in the corner of the safe.

Factory stock except for free floated Wilson barrel ?1979 30-06 which shoots 1.5 inches at best but is fine for Michigan deer hunting.

Gun show purchased ( along with dies and a bunch of handloads) tanger in slim laminated stock and 338-06 Lilja barrel which shoots better than I do...most of the time. Found out later that it belonged to a family friend of a work colleague who wasn't happy with the way it shot with heavily crimped loads. I load 180 grain bullets and don't use a heavy crimp.

And a 7 x 57 which I got in a three way horse trade which I have not shot yet. Need to check and see how it is throated before committing scarce/expensive components.

I have not been inclined to fiddle with the 30-06 since it was a gift from my wife shortly after we were married. But after a few decades of loading for and shooting other rifles I'm thinking about a barrel swap. I have a stainless Ruger 30-06 barrel that ought to be an improvement but I'm not convinced the chamber meets SAAMI spec or would drop in headspace after DIY barrel removal and installation. Unfired factory loads wiggle a little when dropped in the chamber. Or perhaps a JES rebore to 338-06 or 35 Whelen.

Factory stock except for free floated Wilson barrel ?1979 30-06 which shoots 1.5 inches at best but is fine for Michigan deer hunting.

Gun show purchased ( along with dies and a bunch of handloads) tanger in slim laminated stock and 338-06 Lilja barrel which shoots better than I do...most of the time. Found out later that it belonged to a family friend of a work colleague who wasn't happy with the way it shot with heavily crimped loads. I load 180 grain bullets and don't use a heavy crimp. Blooded it with a 50 yd shoulder crease hold on a nice doe. Could not find anything that looked like a heart in the gut pile.

And a 7 x 57 which I got in a three way horse trade which I have not shot yet. Need to check and see how it is throated before committing scarce/expensive components.

I have not been inclined to fiddle with the 30-06 since it was a gift from my wife shortly after we were married. But after a few decades of loading for and shooting other rifles I'm thinking about a barrel swap. I have a stainless Ruger 30-06 barrel that ought to be an improvement but I'm not convinced the chamber meets SAAMI spec or would drop in headspace after DIY barrel removal and installation. Unfired factory loads wiggle a little when dropped in the chamber. Or perhaps a JES rebore of the original barrel to 338-06 or 35 Whelen.

My .220 Swift is a 1976 Tanger. It got a new barrel as its previous owner had shot out the first. I love it!