Good day.

I can pick up a 7 RM tang safety for a very good price and would like to know from past or present owners what their experience were/are with these?

I like the tang safety rifles but have never owned one in magnum cal. Do they have sufficient mag space to seat bullets long? Barrel length? Overall impressions?

Would appreciate any info.

Thanks

Pieter

My first 7 Rem Mag was a tang safety Ruger. This was a long time ago but IIRC it shot pretty well,functioned fine and had a nice barrel contour for a carry weight 7 mag (unlike some other makers which turn 7 mags into clubs with heavy, clunky barrel contours).Ruger made a heavier contour barrel, too. I was happy I avoided those.

It's pretty hard to find a tougher rifle than a Ruger.They don't break easily.

Then we entered the phase when Ruger barrels were made by Wilson and in those days the tubes were uniformly crap.

Don't know which one you have.

One guy I knew dropped one in a Brown Precision stock and did a good deal of western hunting with it. He was not the brightest bulb and shot an elk with it at about 400 yards, but the elk kept standing back up,so he kept shooting....got over there and found three dead elk.

I think of that whenever the topic turns to tang safety 7 Rem Mags.

As far as mag box restraints: I had one chambered in 300 win mag and I just loaded to .015" shorter than the magazine box length. It shot very well that way, but the bullets (180 and 200 gr. partitions) were about .075"-.100" off the lands. I've never had a bad shooting tang safety Ruger. However, I may have just gotten extremely lucky. I've also had some tang safety models that I wished I would have kept. They are fine guns that function very well too. Robust Push feed actions, but with a huge claw extractor, safety lever in a great location and adjustable trigger. What more could a guy want in a rifle?

Oh yeah......forgot.

The mag boxes are for 30/06 OAL and you have to stick with that.

I bought one for my college graduation present in 1988 after working my way through college. Buddy owned it for a few years and then I got it back. Mine shoots 168 grain Berger Hybrids and 150 grain ballistic tips/partitions very well. Sub 3" at 330 yards last time I shot it with the 168s. That unbedded and completely factory.

I got one in 1976 and it was my only big game (deer/black bear) rifle for years. What all the others have said and maine was also extremely accurate - with 160 grain Nosler partitions. Still have it but have not used it for years....may just have to get it out this year

PennDog

BobinNH - "Ruger barrels were made by Wilson and in those days the tubes were uniformly crap. " I've seen remarks like this before...how can one tell if Wilson made their barrel? I've
a M77 .22/250 tang sporter circa 1978. Accuracy is just 'so/so' compared to my modern RAR but it is still a classy looking piece. Homesteader

Homesteader I wish I knew how to tell them from the others but really don't know how to tell.Mostly I am pretty distrustful of tang safety Rugers in general....I do recall that I got so sick of struggling with them that I simply quit buying Rugers.

But we "knew" back then....lots of guys here ran into it so we all swapped experiences.The 7x57's were really terrible owing to the barrel and maybe a throat long as the Holland Tunnel. I recall one that shot pretty poorly and I tried everything, that I sent it back to the factory.....got a letter back saying the rifle "met their accuracy standards" which were pretty low.

Not all shot bad, and I had a couple that did OK but I found you really had to sift through a lot of bullet/powder combo's to get anything to shoot well. We were doing a lot of varmint hunting back then so it was important to get them to shoot.After awhile, it gets old messing around.

Another anomaly was that any 220 Swift I owned or saw shoot was very accurate.

Anyway all this was the beginning of my education that load juggling to find loads that shoot in a lousy rifle is like building a house on a crooked foundation....a complete waste of time and components. I learned from this to be sure the rifle/barrel is "right" and you won't have to chase your tail chasing groups and loads. Live and learn.

When I first reviewed the Mark 11's, they shot really well and I was told by the distributor that Ruger had started making their own barrels.

Before that, Ruger's were called the disposable rifle, especially for overseas hunting as it wasn't worth bringing back but made a great gift for your guide.

AGW: That does not surprise me.

I think it was with the intro of the Mark II that they started making their own barrels with hammer forge machinery from the same German manufacturer that Remington and Winchester used....this per an article I read in Precision Shooter.

I hear that very early M77's used Douglas barrels when the rifle was introduced...when they switched to the Wilsons I really don't know exactly.

Pieter, I owned one that was accurate, friends owned two more.

Keep the barrel free of copper, use good bronze bristle brushes, and throw them away frequently.

Tips on getting the rifle more accurate, the center screw, loosen it till you can only tighten it with your finger nail.

Freefloat the magazine box. You will have to use a small file to deepen the notch on the front and the back.

Adjust the trigger. With the rifle out of the stock, look in the back of the trigger housing, screw it in to lighten up the trigger pull.

If you can bed the action, it will do wonders for your accuracy, and bed about 1 1/2" of the barrel, freefloat the rest of the barrel.

After doing the above steps, your rifle should be very accurate, with 3/4" being the worst that I have seen with all this having been done.

Warning: some barrels copper foul more than others. Look in the end of the muzzle with a flash light in a darkened room, if you see Copper in the barrel, you know accuracy will suffer.

I looked up the data for my rifle, and it was 61.0g of IMR 4350 with a Rem 9 1/2 primer in Rem cases with a 160g Nosler partition, which I deemed was a safe working max load in my rifle in cold weather. This load may be too hot for your rifle, so work up with caution. Copper fouling in all the rifles of this model copper fouled quickly and needed de coppering every 20 rounds, Max.

Good luck

I musta got lucky. Have a M77 7Mag that my dad bought in the early 70s. It is surprisingly accurate, but I have never used it much because a 7Mag is just more than you need for Texas deer.

Took it on an elk hunt last month and it performed admirably with some old Speer Grand Slams that my BIL gave me. And it was fun to hunt with Dad's old rifle.

She's kinda heavy, but she puts 'em where you point!

I've been hunting with 2 RU77 tangs for over 20 years, using both factory ammo and reloads to book-listed max length. One is an '06, the other is a .338WM.

Never had a problem with either, both shoot (after tweaking bedding and factory triggers) to 1.25 MOA or sometimes less/much less.

The '06 has a 17 inch barrel (had to saw off the previous owners barrel bulge), while the .338 has factory standard bbl. I've killed to 360 yards with the '06, about 200 with the .338.

I really have no idea why you are worried about seating the bullets long.... stick with the book values.

Pretty much huh las. I sold a very nice 270 tanger last year after I bought my pre 64 270 fwt. I didn't sell it because I didn't like it or because it wasn't accurate enough, but merely because it wasn't a pre 64 fwt. Here's how it shoots with factory ammo and the new owner loves it:



The 300 win mag tanger I had was also a shooter, but I had to seat the bullets to work in the mag box. They were around .100" off the lands, but still shot well:

Guess I got all the good tang safety Ruger M77's.

1982 7mm RM, best group .262", 3 shots
1984 .30-06 - no 3-shot targets but see scope check target below
1989 .257 Roberts, .232" group, 3 shots

Here's a 7mm RM 10-shot group shot in 40+mph crosswinds:
\


.30-06 scope check



.257 Roberts


A tang safey Ruger wouldn't bother me if the price was right. Worst case I'd send it back to Ruger for a new barrel. I have a Hawkeye in .223 that will probably go back for a faster twist barrel.

Bout time you showed up. This thread had your name written all over it..

My brother inherited one that threw patterns. Developed a rough spot about halfway down the barrel. Ruger rebarreled and reblued the rifle for, like, $125 about 12 years ago. New barrel really shoots.

I wouldn't hesitate. Mine is factory stock and very accurate with 160gr Sierra handloads or 160gr Remington Factory UltraCorlokts out to 300yds. All up it weighs 8.25 lbs.

IMO the best features are the tang safety and adjustable trigger which can be taken apart and polished to make it a crisp letoff.

The worst feature is the clubby stock which eventually I will replace or re-shape to match my M77 .308.

I also bought a tang safety 7 mag for a college graduation present to myself in 1979. It seems to be a good one, but I owned a 280 that was junk. Buying any used rifle is a crap-shoot. Good luck.

My first big game rifle was a tang 270 - super accurate with factory ammo. Bought another 270R , 270RL, 7mm-08, 338, 6mm Rem, 7 Rem Mag and a 243 - all used and all tangs - and ALL are super accurate. Of all of my rifles, about 25 or so, the 270 and the 7mm-08 are probably the most accurate, both shooting well under an inch at 100 yards. With factory 140 grain ammo, the 7mm-08 put 10 shots into an inch with it's classic Redfield 2X7 widefield scope.
My one son also has the tang "habit" having 5 of his own. It is a close call bwtween his standard 22-250R and his 22-250 Varmint gun as to which one is more accurate.
I have heard of some tangs being inaccurate, but that has not been my experience or that of my son.

To date I've owned 2-220 Swift heavy barrels,2-6mm Remington heavy barrels,1-257 Bob light sporter,1-257 Bob round top, 1-25-06, 1-300 Win Mag and a pair of .338 Win Mags.
I never had a problem with any of them and they shot/still shoot right along with any Remington or Winchester I've ever owned.
I like em.

I bought a used 7 RM tang model and it shot crappy, I had it rebarreled and it shot good!

I suspect some calibers were made by different barrel makers,I have know a few guys that loved their 25-06 tang models and bragged about their accuracy.

But generally have always heard there were good and bad Rugers, I just think it was sub contracting different barrel makers.

BSA - that's about what my first RU77 in .25-06 did (sub MOA- factory standard), but only with neck-sized only reloads. Remington factory ammo went about 5 inches. Rifle had a varmit (77V) barrel on it, with fiddle-back in the stock from fore-end to butt plate.

Prettiest Ruger stock I ever saw!

I never should have sold that thing!

I bought a dog leg bolt 7MM RM in the late 60's or early 70's. It had an out-of-round chamber.I shot a niece Alaskan Moose with it in 71 or 72 with a 160 grain partition and old H4831 while stationed at Eielson AFB.

I later re-barreled it with a new Shilen stainless barrel in the same caliber. It shoot very well in its new Brown Precision stock. I had the action elecroles nickled, and a new Len Brownell bolt handle tigged onto it. I made the bolt handle a little longer for gloves and winter. It still wears the same Leupold 2 x 7 scope I had Premier Reticles convert to click adjustments. Great old rifle. I will always keep it. If I were to live in Alaska it would be redone into a 338Win. Once you look at a full sized Alaskan moose up close that .284 bullet seems very small.

They had the safety in the CORRECT place! Screw control round feed! It locked the bolt, and was hard to knock-off by mistake.

I have had a 1976 manufacture Tang Safety model in 7 mag since 1977 and it has knocked over many deer, elk and a boar - shortest kill 11 yards on a cow elk longest 513 yards on the 270 lb. boar.

It was a good shooting rifle to begin with and my wife surprised me one year for Christmas she had a gunsmith free float the barrel, glass bed the action and re-do the trigger as well as add a custom muzzle brake. Since then it has shot several 3 shot 100 yard groups you could cover with a dime. It is the most accurate hunting rifle I have ever shot and with the 3-9 conquest it is very good on deer vital size plates to 6oo yards on a not too windy day.

It shoots near maximum loads of IMR4350 with 150 grain ballistic tips best but 150 Barnes TTSX is almost as accurate and the same point of impact. When my hunting partners hear that darn loud report they know it is time for the work to start.

I've heard about the mixed bag on barrels but mine is a good one and with the light crisp trigger is a joy to shoot. It is reliable and rugged and has been dragged all over.

I have one in 30-06 that will shoot everything you run through it from 150-200 grains into about a baseball sized group. If it wasn't my Dad's old rifle it would be gone - I've thought a 35 Whelan conversion might be a good idea with it.

My buddy had a 25-06 tang safety and it was very accurate. If I remember right, it had a magnum contour barrel on it. Surprisingly it wasn't too finicky with factory loads and that's what he used in it..

The 270 I had was a real nice round top with factory irons and it was a real sweet heart of a rifle. If I had any sense, I would have kept it, but instead sold it to a great guy here. He PM's me every once in a while to let me know it's still shooting good and that his family members have taken deer with it . I love the fact that some of these rifles we let go, really go to good people here.




Of course, I gave it the usual glass bedding treatment

Nice looking rifle. Too bad it can't shoot!

Thanks for the input everyone, I appreciate it.

I went ahead and bought the rifle, expanding my Ruger collection Now to wait for the license to be approved and then I will load up some combinations and see how it does. I am going to bed and free float right off the start and see how it goes.

I got a Japanese made Bushnell Banner with it but it will be replaced with a Sightron, Zeiss or Minox.

Thanks again.

Pieter

You might be shooting yourself in the foot by freefloating it right off the bat. I'd bed it and then shoot it to see what kind of accuracy it's capable of. I've bedded many a ruger 77 and never touched the barrel channel and they have shot sub moa 3 shot groups. I know CH doesn't glass bed his and he freefloats the barrels and gets good results too, so it's up to you as to which direction you go with it.