Bought a 200 year model Ruger M-77 in 7mag a while back and finally had time to shoot it. What a excellent rifle.Not the most accurate rifle I have ever shot but it ever bit as good as MkII and the Hawkeye IMO.Action is a lot smoother than the Hawkeye.I really like my Hawkeye's but I'm going to look twice the next time I see a tang saftey Ruger for sale.

I've owned several and have never had reason to complain.

They have a reported accuracy problem, but my experience, although limited, does not bear witness to that.

Randy

I did have one tang-safety Ruger 77 with a really bad barrel, but most shoot acceptably to very well. The very first one I owned was a .30-06 and it would shoot in the 1/2" range at 100 yards with the right loads, and 2" or so at 300.

the really old ones had hart and douglas barrels and they shoot dimes

My tang safety .30-06 puts Hornady 150 BTSP Interlock Light Mags in .75 inch groups and shoots other loads well, but not spectacularly. It is hard getting the barrel really clean. My brother bought me this rifle 26-27 years ago while I was in college. I toy with the idea of having the action tuned, a Krieger barrel and upgraded stock on it.

Expat

My pre-warning 250 Savage does under MOA with 75gr Sierra hp, just over an inch with 100 Hornadys. If I were to do some developement with other bullets I'm sure it would do well with several.
My cousin has a .270 Win that has to hurry to beat the run of the mill 94 Win for accuracy, but has killed several nice deer.
They are a little bulky, but very good rifles.

Mr. James,

Congratulations on finding a nice Ruger 77. I have an RS in .35 Whelen. There are a couple of things about these guns you should know. There was a recall several years ago that dealt with the overtravel adjustment set screw on these rifles. If you look on the bottom of the bolt handle there should be a T scribed there. This means that it was either sent back to the factory per recall and fixed, or it was produced after the problem was resolved. If it does not have the T where I indicated you might want to contact Ruger for repair.

The second thing I wanted to mention regards replacing the factory sear with a Basix sear www.riflebasix.com. It will make an OK trigger into a no creep, crisp, 2-3 lb break like glass trigger. You can also buy a lighter trigger spring, but I found this unnecessary. The Basix sear will come with easy to follow instructions. I bought one here on the Campfire from a fellow camper for $25. Investing in a Basix sear is money well spent.

Regards,
G2

Nothing wrong with the tang safety Ruger rifles I own or have shot.

1982 tang safety Ruger M77, 7mm Rem Mag. Acquired in summer/fall, 1982.
This group doesn�t look too good until you realize it was shot in gusty 40mph and higher crosswinds. This rifle has taken prairie dogs to elk. Was shooting clay pigeons at 600 yards with it a couple weeks ago. Winds weren�t cooperating, but I got a couple anyway.


1989 tang safety Ruger M77, .257 Roberts. Acquired in January, 2004.
My favorite rifle.


1984 tang safety Ruger M77, .30-06. Acquired in November, 2006.
Two-shot scope check.

I will step out on a limb and say that Ruger did not make an improvement when they made changes on the tang safety M77. For me they have been the smoothest rifles in the price range until the recent Tikka T3. Accuracy was not fantastic but with the advantages of the integral rings, easy to reach safety and a workable trigger I thought they were great.

Have one in 7mm Mag and it is one of my favorite rifles. Very accurate and smooth as butter.

I have to agree with Varmintsinc that the tang safety models were perfectly fine, no reason to create the Mark IIs. IMO the safety is a far better design for hunters than those MK IIs. Unfortunately the three position safety most likely had to be created for liability reasons.

I have three tang safety models, all rebarreled. 257 Roy, 338 RCM and 284 win all in McMillan stocks. Will never part with them.

I primarily hunt with tang safety Rugers, from 22-250 to 416 Taylor. I agree with Varmintsinc and Azshooter. This was a rifle built for hunting. As to accuracy, I've owned, shot and hunted with twenty couple of them. Only one was so so accuracy (11/4 to 1 1/2 inches at 100 with factory ammo). It was my first '77, a 257R, that I still have. Handloads will do less than 3/4". I've known of two 7x57's that belonged to acquaintences that didn't shoot well with lighter bullets. We figured out that they had long throats, and eventually figured out that they shot well with 175's.
All in all, great, well made, hunting rifles. Another of Bill Rugers great ideas.
Bfly

I have but two of the jewels. 25-06 and 35 Whelen. Both shoot very well and will remain in the lineup for the right hunts at the right time.

I have one of the old ones in 220 Swift. I haven't been able to find a load it won't shoot into a dime.

Never understood why Ruger didn't just go to a 3 position tang safety (Savage figured that one out) and modify the 77 bolt face for CRF and fixed ejector. Many like the MK II safety but I am not one. Recently sold the 6.5x55 I had simply because I could not adjust to the safety size and movement.

I have one each of the MkII and tang safety. I prefer the tang safety. It just works well for me. The tang safety is an RL 257R with a lot of carry wear. For a reason - it shoots well. Consistently 1' - 1 1/2" at 100 yards with everything from 87s to 117s, all loaded over 4350. As noted, the action is very smooth.

I've owned 3 (worked on lots more) tang safety Rugers- still have 2, sold the .25-06 V (bought new on sale at Penneys-I was looking for a .264 Win Mag- in Fairbanks about 1975 for $165, plus tax.) in a moment of extreme stupidity- it was the best of the lot. Killed over 2 dozen caribou with that one- factory standard, with fiddle-back stock stem to stern. DAAAMN! Did need fire-formed neck sized reloads to shoot MOA. Factory loads clocked about 5 inch groups..... 26 of 27 caribou were bang-flops once I got the hand-loads worked up (with a $19 Lee Loader kit).

The '06 was purchased for $80 @ 1985. Once I bobbed the barrel bulge out, it ended up with a 17" bbl. which clover-leafed 3 rounds at 100, then went to 5" for 5 rnds. Glass-bedding the rcvr and free-floated bbl settled it into about 1.25 " all day long, most any good load, factory or hand... POIs vary.... Too good for the "boat gun" I bought it for (it was ROUGH!- having apparently been stored in wet conditions , or put up wet- after the bbl-bulge incident, whatever that was. I actually bought it figuring the receiver only was salvagable. Required bead-and-blue - which largely camos the fine outside barrel pitting -and stock work-down and refinish.) So I bobbed the fore-end and butt, and slimming down both - it's smooth- no checkering left - making it into a carbine style to fit the wife and to make the proportions look right, and anticipating Ruger by about 10 years! . With a 1" slip-on pad, "Stub" fits me- and I carry it a lot! The first critter I killed with it was a ram at @ 330 yards, the last two were caribou at @ 356 paced, and 180 yards, ranged. It's taken moose and black bear as well, all at less than 100 yards. No flies on that piece.

The .338 also shoots 1.25 groups or better with most anything- picked handloads gain me just a little, for the most part. It too has been glass bedded and free-floated. And Mag-Na-Ported. (Recoil pad replacement on Rugar 77's goes without saying!) The RIGHT handloads do a little better....
A certain Sierra GK 250 grain hand-load shoots right at 1 inch groups at 200 yards (or 100 yards- I haven't quite figured that one out yet- but who cares????!!!)- but my average moose kill is about 70- never had one over 160 (of 19), to date- so I don't use those loads (but I do carry my last 4 rounds of them- just in case), preferring bullets designed for the shorter ranges. Currently I'm carrying Hornady .250 gr. RN in the thing- MOA groups at 100. These too (as with the Sierras) were some "junk loads" thrown together without any work up just to get rid of them- but they are just too good not to use hunting. Dang - I hate when that happens!! The Sierras print 3 inches higher than the Hornady RN at 100 yards, making them ideal for a 400 or so yard shot, with no Kentucky windage... vvertically, at least. Should I ever need it. I am undecided yet what I'm taking north to Kotzebue when we move this fall- but if it is the .338, I've got some Sierra 250 GK bullets to buy and load up - yes - I DID write that one down. Somewhere.....!

While gunsmithing, and with the '06 and .338 -I found that Ruger tang-models (and the rest as well!) benefitted from glass bedding the receiver and several inches of barrel, free-floating the rest, and doing a trigger job - honing surfaces, and lightening the springs, making screw adjustments etc. The after-market (non-Ruger) triggers are even better.

Factory accuracyon most Rugers without tweaking is nothing much to write home about, but adequate for most hunting purposes. But with a little tweaking.... bedding, free-floating, a trigger job... they clean right up!

Few, including mine, ever lost all their creep on the original trigger, or could safely get much below 4 lbs trigger pull. Both mine (original factory triggers, tweaked) are down to 3.5 - 4.0 lbs pull weight, with only a little creep (I prefer 2.5lbs and no creep - which I have on Mausers with Timney triggers, and my Remington 700's, factory triggers. None of which came that way!

I've killed more game with the Rugers, than the rest combined.....

las -

My first Ruger M77, a 9182 7mm Rem Mag, walked up and to the left as the barrel warmed. Free floating the barrel cured that. After minor trigger adjustments, the results are seen in the target shown in my post above. Somewhere in my target drawer there is another target where it put three shots (160 North Fork SS) into a group measuring .262" center-to-center.

I was so happy twith the results of free floating the barrel that it became standard practice for me to free float all my rifle barrels before taking them to the range - Ruger, Remington, Savage, makes no difference - they all get free floated.

Trigger work didn't come until much later, but once I got started every Ruger rifle, Ruger revolver and several other types got some kind of treatment. Makes a nice diffference.

Still haven't bedded anything myself, although my custom Interarms Mark X in 6.5-06AI was bedded by Krieger when they barrelled the action.

Also like you, I've killed more game with Ruger rifles than all others combined. Not hard to understand when you look in my safe - mostly M77's MKII's.

I have a mkII in 257robt that is a nice rifle, but my 338 m77 tang is a work of art. It shot three into .5" off the sticks when sighting in in Africa after the trip over. The PH was really impressed...with my wife who shot it.

Randy

There has been a few added since this photo was taken...

There is nice wood on some of the the tang safety 77s. After the beautiful #1 it appears you placed the best wood and then on down in order. Viewing your collection makes me thankful I purchased some of the early TS 77s.

Here is a pair of 257 Roberts - black pad and red pad out of my Ruger safe. Any black pads in your collection?

I have had a 1976 M77 in 300 win mag for almost 25 years and it is my favorite gun.

Love the .257 Roberts, mine is a Hawkeye. Alas, I have no black pad Rugers, but give me time!

This old thread seems to be the place to ask a question about these fine rifles...

I have a line on a mint specimen with nice wood for a rediculously low price.

What I need to know is -

Does the safety lock the bolt at all?

Thx.

Research finally yielded the answer. Liking the rifle even more - safety appears to lock the bolt. Nice.

cmg, On some of the tang safety M77's the safety locks the bolt on others it doesn't. IIRC, it's on the older tangers that the safety locks the bolt and the newer ones it doesn't.

I've got a .300 Win Mag built in 1975 that the bolt locks on safe and a .280 built in around 1982 or '83 and the bolt does NOT lock on safe.

You'll have to check it to see what it does or not.

Thx. I saw on Rugers site they had two manuals. I will just have to make sure by asking the guy.

Thanks again. Good looking dog, there.

I ve currently got two and have had several others in the past. All shot from avg. to very good. By average I mean as good as the model 70's, 700's etc I have owned as a group. Of course there have been standouts in each but as a group I expect most out of the box bolts to do about 1.5"-2" with factory ammo. If you get 1" which is fairly common it is very good. andthing less is excellent.

mine is a late 80's vintage. safety does not lock the bolt. also, it shoots like chit

What headstamp and how much do you want for it?

Mine shoots like chit too.....Don't all tangers??????

I've heard, but usually not credible when one considers the source.

The safety locked the bolt up to serial #79-50000(1984). A modification was then implimented to allow the bolt to be opened with the safety on.

I've got five tangers all shoot 1 1/4" groups or better with factory ammo. 220 swift, 257 bob, 30-06, 270, 243.

My father in law has a black pad tanger in 264 win mag I've been begging for for years! He won't sell it to me, he doesn't shoot it, and I think it's all to spite me! oh well I got a 257R bob he wants that I wont sell to him

Thats funny as hell butler.....Atleast he should like you for having good taste....

I have a late 70's 338 win mag that shoots very well.

The bore on mine looks pretty bad....I'm thinking it came that way from the factory too....

Mine's still in pieces.... waiting for my McWoody to arrive. been 20 weeks and still hasnt been despatched....Oh well, will be worth the wait....

My hunting buddy and Winchester featherweight slut has bought one of the new Ruger Mk2 hawkeyes with the gloss finish and walnut stock. heck for the coin its a super looking rifle and I was going to get one too (in 243) - but went for a Sako 85 Hunter instead.!!!!

Gus

1 Moa. but I'm working on it........ ;):

I have a custom Ruger tang safety rifle in 260 and it's my most accurate rifle. My best group so far is a .188 five shot group with a 30 mph crosswind. It shoots half inch even with premium factory loads. If it had a better trigger the rifle would be scary sick accurate.

I have a 250s serial 70-49xxx that locks the bolt.
& a 7mm converted to 280 serial 71-34xxx that doesn't lock the bolt.

How does one date these 77s?

You can look up the date the action was manufactured on the Ruger web site.

7x57. i aint ready to give up on it yet, haven't tried the 175 hornady roundnose (although i've tried everything else). it's a very sexy gun in theory, just hasn't been that way in practice ...

I have a pair, but both aftermarket tubes now. One was my first rifle and I wore out the barrel on it.

The very first tang safety Ruger I owned, shot about 5"-6" groups at 100 yards.

I like the way they look and feel.

Have you floated the barrel and tightened the action properly (per recommended procedure)?

My Ruger tang safty is in .270 Ultralight. It has always been a consistant 1 1/2" moa shooter, still wears the Redfield 2-7 Wideview scope. I shot my first mule deer with it plus a lot of white tails and a few coyotes, a great rifle with the smoothest action. It's hard not to buy one when they come up for sale.

In 1971 I bought a 284 Winchester which was a nice rifle and shot well. I traded it off thouygh and didn't get another until last year. I got a 7x57 which looked OK, at a glance. The chamber was a little big and eccentric so I set it back a half inch and re-chambered. I glass bedded it then decided the stock was too clunky so I slimmed it down and re-checkered it in the same Ruger pattern. The rifle shot well enough but the barrel was kind of homely inside so I rebarreled it with a Lothar Walther barrel I picked up at a gunshow. Didn't feed well from the start but is OK now. By now, I figure I have about 1200 dollars sunk into a 500 dollar rifle! It shoots well though and maybe it will get me a sheep this fall. GD

The most accurate rifle I ever fired was a 243 tanger. Three holes at 100 yards could be completely covered with a dime every time. Hit empty 16ga hulls laid on end every shot. Wish I still had it.

Can I just add my 2 cents, the tang safety'ed 1980 or so had the barels from out/sorce company. After the bad shootin of them I think they went in house and they shot good again. Ruger forum has alot of history on the bad ones. I've got a 1973 Tang in .270 I bought new and it will shoot. I've also got a MK.II target in .220 swift fron 2005 and it is a shooter too. Anyone who likes Rugers should go to Ruger forum tons of info. Rugers and Remingtons are jammed into my safe and 1 great Marlin336......later

yes. it has one of the purdiest free float jobs ive seen, and the trigger breaks like glass. cant get it to shoot even 2" consistently at 100. its got a loooong throat, but seating the bullets to the lands doesnt help any.

I have one of those 7mms, got mine to shoot by reaming to 280, went from a 2-3" gun with any bullet except VERY long nosed heavy pills to a easy better than 1" gun if I do my part with most any bullet weight.
In my opinion the reason most 7mms won't shoot is very obvious when you look at cartridge dimensions. 1st thing you will see is a VERY loose neck dia, .321 compared to the neck dia of the 280 at .315. Thats a loose neck!!!
My smith had to turn a thread off the barrel of my rifle to clean up most of this slack. Now my fired cases show a short pronounced bulge at the base of the neck. Since I mostly neck size it's not an issue.
I personally like the 7mm mauser but any rifle I purchased that had the old oversized chamber would quickly be sent down the road or 280ized

Will the Ruger Mark II boatpaddle stocks fit the M77 tang safety rifles?

As always - research provides the answer...

It appears our very own Coyotehunter has made the exact same switch I am contemplating - .300 Win. Mag. M77 in a Boatpaddle.

cmg -

My .300 is a M77 MKII, not a tang safety M77.

That said, I'd be surprised if it didn't fit with minor modifications if any.

[Edited to add following]
Here's a pic of my .300WM (top) and .30-06 MKIIs. Unfortunately you can't see the 3-position safety which is the most visible distinguishing mark.

It won't be a drop in fit by any means. I'm not going to say its impossible, but I bet with a little work if could be done. Open up the tang To accept that of a tanger ruger, and as long as all the holes line up you will be golden. Unless they don't then it might get a little trickier To get the trigger guard and floor plate to line up. They should have the same action as far as I know but I've never did a side by side comparison to see, so that is where you should start.

Coyote Hunter,

thamk you for the clarification and I hope you do not mind me linking the picture of you and your daughter out hunting. It is worth a repost in itself - all apart from some loon wondering about the rifle...

Butler247, thank you, too.

So, scratch the boat paddle.

What is that I hear from the AK guys about heating wood stocks and curing them with epoxy to fill the grains?

now that's an interesting take. It has been suggested that I could get the barrel set back to shorten the throat. guess that wouldn't solve the loose neck problem, though. I'm thinking about just getting it rebarreled in the same caliber or .... gasp .... .257 bob.

There are folks who have swapped stocks between tangers and MKII's but its fairly complex. The two rifles have a different depth between the bottom of the action and the floorplate. On most rifles this wouldn't be an issue, but the rugers have an angled front screw, That means to use the original floor plate you will need to alter the depth of the inletting in the action area.

The difference between the two isn't tremendously large, but unless you correct for the difference your likely to impart stress on the floorplate and hence the action, not the best recipe for good accuracy.

I have a Ruger m77 in .257R that I picked up at a pawn shop for $450, that included the Leupold VXII it was wearing. It is my most accurate rifle, and will shoot 117grn Hornady btsp interlocks or 115grn Ballistic tips into ridiculously small groups with RL19.

No but if you set the barrel back & run a 280 reamer in it it will fix both problems, long throat & loose neck.
My opinion is a finer more versitile cartridge than a 280 is hard to find

Buying a Tang 77 Ultra Lite in .257Roberts from a member.
Whats the twist rate?
I've Got approx 200, 110grain Accubonds, 2 boxes of 100grain Interlocks. I'll be working up some loads for deer.

Nice deal!