Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Stock mods for new Ruger African

I just got a new Ruger M77 African in 9.3x62mm. I have a good bit of experience with Rugers, bedding stocks etc. I plan to do a few mods before I ever fire it. I will install a 1" Pachmayr Delellerator recoil pad, (have had cervical surgery), lighten the trigger, check mag clearance and I am debating free-floating and bedding the action and even pillar bedding the stock. I would like to hear from any of you with M77 experience, especially Karnis, because of your expreience with your African in 9.3 I plan to hunt bears in Romania in 2015 or 2016. I am concerned with POI shift if I don't free-float the barrel, Also I would like some opinions whether you think the pillar bedding is really worth the effort. I do plan to glass bed the action, for sure, to hopefully prevent stock splitting issues. I love this rife so far. It feels great to handle. Your input is appreciated. Thanks, RJ

As to whether or not the POI will shift without free floating I would say that there are two parts to this. The first is to make sure that all wood under the barrelled action and butt pad is sealed with spar varnish. At that point it won't shift due to moisture. If spar varnish is good enough for boats it will certainly keep your stock waterproof.

POI shift due to pressure from position, sling use, bipod use etc is best determined by asking the rifle. Shoot it as it is and see what happens. If you aren't happy then free float at that point.

As an aside, I've love your choice of rifle. I'd like to own one of those myself.

Fraser, thanks for your comments. I always seal the wood under the barreled action, but I do not trust that to keep the fore end, especially a fairly long one as on the African Hawkeye, from warping. The humidity is very high where I live here in Florida. It is very low in Romania where I plan to hunt with this rifle.

I would do what you have stated. Bed the front of the action and float, which is what Karnis did on his African. He does not have pillars and has had no issues. I have several Rugers with pillars in none, with no ill affect.

I typically go straight to bedding and free floating. One interesting exception is the Ruger 77 Ultralight .30-06 I bought last summer. It is a 1987 production model with a skinny 18.5" barrel. The action was bedded when I bought it and the factory tip pressure was still there. I tried shooting it as is. The darn thing shoots 3/4" groups, handles heating fairly well and holds POI from any variety of shooting positions including a tight sling. That exceeded all of my expectation and pre-conceived notions!

Mine is coming back from the gunsmith next week. Sealing the barrel channel, bedding it and adding some extra bedding compound at the tang to make sure that it doesn't split (gunsmith's suggestion based on his experience). Forgot to add, 3/4" Decelerator pad and a trigger job...

I would seal the checkering as well as the barrel channel. It is a great place for the fore end to absorb moisture.

A fiberglass pad for the tang to sit on is not a bad idea, but the back of the tang should not serve as a recoil lug and neither should the rear screw. In my experience, the stock won't split at the tang unless the action moves backwards and this won't happen if the recoil lug is properly bedded. At least recoil won't split it. If you fall on it, I don't think anything you do will help.

My brother's (ex gunsmith) 416 Taylor on a Ruger 77 knocked a chunk out of the stock behind the recoil lug. It still didn't split the stock at the tang. The next shot might have. On the replacement stock he glassed the action and put a through bolt behind the recoil lug. He leaves a small clearance cut behind the tang and makes sure the rear action bolt is clear.

I have only pillar bedded one Ruger and it was a PIA. Made the pillars out of stainless tubing and will never do that again. With the Mark II it needs a lip or bevel on it that makes it difficult to get full contact. Easy way would be to make steel bedding pillars around taped up action screws. If you do this and bed the floor plate you almost take the wood out of the equation.

Brownells had pre-milled pillars for the Mark II but don't know if they would work for the African, they probably could be adapted if still available.

My only complaint with the Rugers are the angled screw and small recoil lug. I am always tempted to mill these flat or even add a recoil lug on the action or barrel. Might be worthwhile on anything .375 and above recoil wise.

While your at it you could put carbon fiber tape in the barrel channel for additional stiffness. Usually not necessary but could reduce the effect of different rests and sling tension on the point of impact.

Okay, here goes, FWIW-
I own a Hawkeye Ruger African, only mine is in 375 Ruger, a big brother to the 9.3, with a bit more recoil.

Consider the possibility that your stock, as was the case with mine, may split or crack, even if you have had it bedded. The thin red pad on my stock did little to reduce recoil.

I eventually ordered a McMillan stock, McWoody pattern, pillar bedded, 1" Pachmayr Decellerator pad, for mine. Not only did it make the rifle very accurate and stable, with no POI shift whatsoever, but weatherproof as well. If you ever hunt anywhere but Africa in the dry season, this may become an issue.
The rifle shoots so accurately, and is so repeatable, that bedding just doesn't seem necessary at all.
Just got back from an Asian Water Buffalo hunt in Argentina. After 3 days of hunting in the rain, a 140 yard shot presented itself, and I was able to deliver the perfect shot with this rifle.
I also coated the barrel and action with Dyna Shield, and created a very nice, weatherproof rifle.

Thanks for all of the replies so far. I am now leaning towards, barrel free-float, bedding recoil lug, bedding tang with space behind tang and no pillars. Yesterday, I fitted and ground the Pachmayr 1" red Decellerator pad and sealed the checkering.

My new 9.3x62 is one of two rifles that I own that is bedded with a free floating barrel and it is my most accurate rifle, and it is not yet fully broken in. As a result, I'm considering these changes for my Ruger M77 358 win. My 358 is a fairly accurate for hunting purposes but, I'm not getting consistency (repeatability) at the range. Wish I had your skills so I could make these changes myself.

The Ruger African is one fine looking rifle and I bet it is a good shooter (or will be). Good luck with the enhancements.