Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger M_77 Tanger

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!

One of the tanger 77s I've owned was a 7mm Remington Magnum with a shot-out barrel picked up for around $250 in a local store. Had Charlie Sisk turn it into a custom .300 Winchester Magnum, which shot very accurately of course, and was used on various hunts from Mexico to Canada--including on this Sonora mule deer:



When I first asked Charlie about the project, he said it was just as easy to get a 77 to shoot well as a Remington 700.
The load used on this buck was a 168 TSX with RL-19, which usually put three in 1/2" or so at 100 yards....

Let's see, all are M77R type, no sights:
.300 Win Mag
.250-3000 UL
.280 Rem

And a 7x57 someone put in a UL stock. I had to sell it in a divorce.

The .300 and the .280 are two of the most accurate rifles I've ever owned. The .250...ehhhh... not so much.

Read this again. Saw that I posted on it like ,years ago. Great rifle.

Im down to two .270 and 6mm. 270 was my first rifle I purchased in the early 90’s. Shot .75 in groups with factory Remington 130 gr.
I have also had a 270 flat bolt. Should have never sold that one. 3 7x57’s. 4-5 30/06’s both with and sights and round tops. 22-250V, 220 Swift V. 7mm Rem mag, 243, 308,and .358 Winchester someone barreled with a heavy 18” barrel.
One light weight 30/06 was sent from the factory with a short chamber. I had it fixed and never fired it before trading it off.
I like Tangers but prefer the Flatbolt stocks and last ones before they went to the Mark ii. They had thinner forends.

I've had 5. They were all really good shooters. I think my favorites were the 270 that was in the B&C stock, and the 30-06 that was in a factory laminate. It was a very nice rifle and extremely accurate. I remember the 300wm tanger I had was very accurate too, but was missing a small section of rifling about 3/4 of the way down the barrel. It still shot well though.

The one 270 in the wood stock was the round top, and it shot very well:


The 300wm that was missing some of the rifling:


My gripes were the weight. I preferred my model 70 featherweight over the 270 tanger, so sent that one down the road. The only one I wish I still had was the first 30-06 tanger I owned. The bluing was deep and dark and perfect. That is one thing Ruger really specialized in back then.

I have a Brown on the 6mm and not sure who made the one below. Its on the .270. It seems to narrow to be a Brown.

I have two R77s one in 270 Win and one rebarreled in 284 Win and two
RLs one in 308 Win and one in 257 Bob.
Also a Hawkeye in 257 Bob.
All shooters.

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the rifle used on the Mex mule deer the same Sisk custom 300WM Ruger 77 that's currently for sale here on the 'fire? Posted here: Custom RugerM77 with Banser Stock

I've had 3. Never should have sold the 77V 25-06 with fiddle back (end to end!) stock. Reloaded for it with a $19 Lee Loader kit. MOA, no other work.

Bought used, in bad shape, a 30-06 with end of muzzle bulge- chopped it to 17", bedded /free-floated, 1.25 MOA. Never reloaded for it, killed mutchly meat! Recently replaced that bbl for a take-off 270. Might put the Stub back on if I can't get it as accurate. (You pays yur money and takes yur chances with e-bay take-offs!)

Bought - not hard used - .338 WM. Bedding and free-floating dropped it from 2.5 MOA to 1.5, and reduced the light to heavy bullet weight POI from 16" verticle to about 3 or less at 100. Certain 250 gr. reloads give me an inch at 200. Oh yeah - the latter two did get original trigger jobs, and Decelerator pads.

Looks like a Bansner to me.

My one and only tanger is a 30-06 Bicentennial model 77 that I bought from a good friend more than 35 years ago. He shot benchrest competition with it and had it in a huge, blocky wood stock.

Over the years I've had the trigger worked on (to make the pull heavier!), swapped the heavy wood stock for a B&C Carbelite, added a Limbsaver recoil pad and had the metal DuraCoated flat black. It's worn a variety of scopes, but ended up with a Leupold M8 6x that just seems perfect for a go-anywhere, do-anything rifle.

Several years ago I lent it to a father and son who were going on their first elk hunt. They were experienced with firearms but new to hunting. Fortunately, they would be guided by a cousin who was an experienced elk hunter. I told them it was sighted in about 2" high at 100 yards using Federal 165gr ammo, and not to worry about holdover - if they were farther away than 250 yards, get closer - otherwise, just aim dead on.

The rifle was perfect for them - rugged, simple and powerful enough without getting into magnum recoil. As it turned out, the son carried it first and got his elk with one shot. After dressing the animal and carrying it out, the father carried it the second day - and got his elk with one shot!

6.5mm Rem Mag




.250 Savage




.358 Win

Only have one. First rifle I ever purchased. A 22-250 that has killed plenty of critters of all flavors, but has never been as accurate as I'd think it should be. Have had it bedded, timney trigger installed. Several different scopes. Lots of different handloads. At end of the day runs about an inch at hundred. Guess last option be a new barrel. But who knows.

Very nice, especially with the sights

I’ve had a bunch. Many I never shot as they were collectible hollow bolts / flat bolts that I have since sold. Still have a hunting grade 7x57 hollow bolt, a 308 flat bolt, a 280 MKII, and a 6MM Remington varmint flat bolt. Of the ones I have shot haven’t had a lemon yet.

Still need to shoot the 280 and the 6MM Remington. I bet the 6MM Remington will be a good one.

Might mention that while I've had several tangers that shot very well, whether from the box or after some bedding, have also experienced the occasional one with a really had barrel.

One was a 7x57 that former editor of Rifle and Handloader Dave Scovill sent to me, after never being able to get to to shoot better than 2-3" groups at 100 yards. I tried it with the same results--then use my bore-scope and noticed a lot of machining marks. So slugged the barrel, and the "tight" spots were around .287", and there were plenty of loose spots.

This happened occasionally with the brand of barrels Ruger used in the 70s and 80s. The good ones shot well, but some didn't. Bill Ruger eventually decided the company needed to make their own barrels, and bought a hammer-forging machine in the early 1990s. Which is why so many Ruger rifles group very well these days, including the American Rifles.

If you want it done right....

I think that e-bay $60 take-off bbl I bought might be one of those "others". There is a "loose spot' midway down the bbl when I was Dyna-bore- teking it.

Gotta play with it tho- like I said, I can hang that 17" "Stub" that has worked so well over the years back on it before season if I have to.

I'm re-conditiuoning a lathe I put into grease-balls about 35 years ago. Life happens .. it ain't like I'm out anything, if I can remember how to run the thing... . Almost there- just chipping the 50 year old grease out of the worm drive...

Always have a fall-back when dinking.... Besides, I liked that "carbine" configuration even if bit noisy. My wife knocked a yearling caribou bull kicking at 200 yards with it 3 years ago, using reduced recoil 30-06 ammo. Can't knock it.

I have an RSI tanger in .250 Savage. Shoots Barnes LRX bullets pretty well. I’m taking it out tomorrow morning for probably my last deer hunt of the season.