Ruger M77 accuracy issues

[huntinkev]

I mentioned it in the post about going on an elk hunt.

My ruger M77 7mm mag has had accuracy issues over last several years. I put a new scope on it several years ago and that didn't fix it. I've just put it up and haven't even shot it in several years.

I got it out looking closely at it tonight and I noticed that the barrel is tight against one side of the foreend and has gap on the other.

Maybe this is contributing to my accuracy issues? What you think?

I've been reading on floating the barrel on some Ruger forums. A lot of what I've seen says to bed 1-1/2" of barrel and float the rest. I'm not sure, I may take it to gunsmith.

 

[TNRifleman]

If it is not free floated, that could affect accuracy. ANy chance you could try it in a different stock? How bad is the accuracy?

 

[huntinkev]

If it is not free floated, that could affect accuracy. ANy chance you could try it in a different stock? How bad is the accuracy?

I don't remember its been several years since I shot it. It was bad enough at 100 yards that I didn't hunt with it.

 

[Stu]

Yep i bet thats it. Barrel is shifting at each shot. Glass bed it and i bet it fixes it. Ive had same issue on a Remington model 7 in ,270 wsm. I sanded the stock out with a dremel and bedded it and now it drives tacks.

 

[TNRifleman]

DO a quick check of the crown as well to see if it may have a burr. Take a q tip, and rub it inside the top of the barrel. It should go around without pull any of the q tip off. Likely not an issue but worth a quick check. Here are some other things to double check.

1. Verify action screw torque to Ruger's specs. Try 55 inch lbs but don't assume it is correctly torqued for the best accuracy.
2. Thread lock the scope mount screws. Most common accuracy resolve.
3. Verify scope rings are torque to rail and are forward against pic slots.
4. Verify the scope is tracking correctly. Check in another rifle or try another scope on your rifle.
5. Check for barrel free float to the lug. Anywhere the barrel touches the stock could affect harmonics/accuracy. Sanding out channel and bedding will help
9. Ammo; try at least a few different manufacturers and bullet weights
10. Clean all copper fouling out of bore then shoot it dry.

 

[Bambi Buster]

DO a quick check of the crown as well to see if it may have a burr. Take a q tip, and rub it inside the top of the barrel. It should go around without pull any of the q tip off. Likely not an issue but worth a quick check. Here are some other things to double check.

1. Verify action screw torque to Ruger's specs. Try 55 inch lbs but don't assume it is correctly torqued for the best accuracy.
2. Thread lock the scope mount screws. Most common accuracy resolve.
3. Verify scope rings are torque to rail and are forward against pic slots.
4. Verify the scope is tracking correctly. Check in another rifle or try another scope on your rifle.
5. Check for barrel free float to the lug. Anywhere the barrel touches the stock could affect harmonics/accuracy. Sanding out channel and bedding will help
9. Ammo; try at least a few different manufacturers and bullet weights
10. Clean all copper fouling out of bore then shoot it dry.

Excellent advice all around.

 

[Jcalder]

If it has the v block on the front screw get that thing as tight was you can as well.

 

[brassmagnet]

Check to see if the magazine is in a bind, I have read it can be a problem with M77s

 

[DaveB]

If it has the v block on the front screw get that thing as tight was you can as well.

Yeah, I understand this to be true on many Ruger rifles.

 

[old guy]

Also make sure your scope is not in a bind when you tighten it down and it is aligned to the bore. Lapping the rings may help if it's in a bind.

 

[Snake]

You should be able to buy a composite stock pretty reasonable. Floating is not that hard but you can't go fast. Rule of thumb used to be where you slide a piece of paper under the barrel and it slide easily between the barrel and stock . I wouldn't think it would cost too much for a gunsmith to do it , cause all it requires is a little time . Check it out may can buy a stock with just a little more money and you'd always have it . Maybe some one on here has one to loan you to see if thats the problem , could be what your shooting ad well sometimes guns gets finicky with certain loads . The 7mm mag is a fast son of a gun .

 

[redblood]

Looks like a pressure point. Older rugers can have some accuracy issues but they usually can be reolved

 

[huntinkev]

You should be able to buy a composite stock pretty reasonable. Floating is not that hard but you can't go fast. Rule of thumb used to be where you slide a piece of paper under the barrel and it slide easily between the barrel and stock . I wouldn't think it would cost too much for a gunsmith to do it , cause all it requires is a little time . Check it out may can buy a stock with just a little more money and you'd always have it . Maybe some one on here has one to loan you to see if thats the problem , could be what your shooting ad well sometimes guns gets finicky with certain loads . The 7mm mag is a fast son of a gun .

Would I have to bed a new stock? I checked online and can get a Hogue piller bedded for $160 or full length aluminum block for $250. I'm thinking of putting new trigger in while working on it, Timney is $135. I don't have a clue about bedding but have read up on it this morning. If I need to do that I may have to take it to gunsmith for about $150-200. I don't know but I could be up to about $400, I might could get a new gun but then I'm buying a new scope too and this gun needs fixed anyway, so I don't know.

 

[Snake]

Would I have to bed a new stock? I checked online and can get a Hogue piller bedded for $160 or full length aluminum block for $250. I'm thinking of putting new trigger in while working on it, Timney is $135. I don't have a clue about bedding but have read up on it this morning. If I need to do that I may have to take it to gunsmith for about $150-200. I don't know but I could be up to about $400, I might could get a new gun but then I'm buying a new scope too and this gun needs fixed anyway, so I don't know.

Don't know about weather or not you'd have to bed the new stock . Have you asked to see how much to float it ? Wooden stocks tend to move with the weather creating this problem thinking if you buy a composite stock this would end that problem . I have a BAR Browning Automatic 270 with the original walnut stock plus a composite came stock because of that problem. I just keep the original stock but the composite is on it now . I wouldn't think it would cost that much to float it . Google it to see you probably can do it but if i wasn't positive I could then I wouldn't.

 

[Jcalder]

Would I have to bed a new stock? I checked online and can get a Hogue piller bedded for $160 or full length aluminum block for $250. I'm thinking of putting new trigger in while working on it, Timney is $135. I don't have a clue about bedding but have read up on it this morning. If I need to do that I may have to take it to gunsmith for about $150-200. I don't know but I could be up to about $400, I might could get a new gun but then I'm buying a new scope too and this gun needs fixed anyway, so I don't know.

Before you get a timney, check out some reviews. There's some stock removal that usual needs removed. You may like a rifle basics sear instead

 

[Hunter 257W]

No matter what brand or type stock you buy it will never fit as perfectly as the one you already have if it's bedded to it. I'd glass bed it if it was mine and sand out the area that is touching the barrel. A wooden dowel a bit larger in diameter than the barrel with sandpaper wrapped around it will let you remove small amounts of wood and keep it looking good. Glass bedding isn't hard but it is slow. You also have to be darned sure you get the release agent on everything METAL that might touch the epoxy so it can be taken apart once the epoxy dries. Also if there are any holes of features that will let epoxy flow into them locking the action to the stock, those features have to be filled with something like modeling clay, again to make sure you don't fasten it together forever. It is best to do your 1st one on a gun that you aren't very fussy about. I'll admit that I was a bit nervous when I did my new out of the box Remington CDL stainless about 11 years ago. The quick release blue masking tape applied along the outside surfaces of the stock near where you are removing wood gives some protection from a slipped Dremel tool.

 

[DaveB]

Ask MUP for details on bedding. He has done several and the very first one and all subsequent ones were done with no hitch.

 

[dpmiller613]

Been doing this for a long time. If you have one side of the barrel groove touching and the other clear you will have problems. Every wood stock rifle I own has been free floated. The reason for this is that if there is no chance of wood absorbing moisture and putting pressure on the barrel you shouldn't have any stock effect on the accuracy. I usually bed a couple of inches and the free float the rest of the groove. If you want to try to see if this is your issue. take a piece if sand paper with a piece of soft cloth and run it back and forth to open the groove and remove the any wood pressure. That should give you an idea if it is a stock issue or a barrel issue. I did this because of the weather conditions I've hunted in mostly. The other alternative is to completely bed the entire barrel channel but I've found that didn't work as well.

 

[MUP]

I've bedded the recoil lug on a couple of Remington Model 700s with good results. And I've also replaced a Winchester Model 70 stock with one of their factory all weather stocks and the fit was so tight, with the barrel channel having ample clearance, that I didn't have to bed it, and it shoots about .5 MOA out to 500 yds. I'd recommend the same as above first, relieve the pinch point by sanding it lightly until you can get a business card to slide down the barrel to the action wo any interference, and see how it shoots, then go from there.

 

[Cull Buck Hunter]

DO a quick check of the crown as well to see if it may have a burr. Take a q tip, and rub it inside the top of the barrel. It should go around without pull any of the q tip off. Likely not an issue but worth a quick check. Here are some other things to double check.

1. Verify action screw torque to Ruger's specs. Try 55 inch lbs but don't assume it is correctly torqued for the best accuracy.
2. Thread lock the scope mount screws. Most common accuracy resolve.
3. Verify scope rings are torque to rail and are forward against pic slots.
4. Verify the scope is tracking correctly. Check in another rifle or try another scope on your rifle.
5. Check for barrel free float to the lug. Anywhere the barrel touches the stock could affect harmonics/accuracy. Sanding out channel and bedding will help
9. Ammo; try at least a few different manufacturers and bullet weights
10. Clean all copper fouling out of bore then shoot it dry.

I had a crown issue on a new Rem 700 years ago.

 

[UPSman]

I'm not knocking your Ruger but if you're gonna drop $500 or more into it, to get it ready to go out west, go buy a Tikka in any flavor of calibers and be done with it. Put your scope on it and you'll have an accurate rifle that only needs ammo. You'll find out, that before you know it, it's time to get ready packing the truck to go hunting. Having confidence in your equipment is important out west especially if you're gonna be guided.

 

[MUP]

Cant argue with that either. The Tikka M595 I had in 7-08 was a pin driver.