Ruger 7x57

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Brodie posted this 24 April 2022

I bought a used Ruger M77 with tang safety roughly forty years ago, it shoots into about 11/2 to 11/4 inches with about any jacketed bullet I put in it and is my designated elk rifle. It has never failed me, is lightweight, and easy on my shoulder. Since the elk here in Arizona have not become armored yet she works just great in her assigned role.

B.E.Brickey

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Wineman posted this 24 April 2022

My mid 70's M77 tang safety in 7x57 would shoot long and heavy bullets fine but was inconsistent with anything lighter than 140 grains jacketed.

Dave

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Little Debbie posted this 23 April 2022

Ruger center fire rifles regardless of whether they are bolt action or single shot have always been a crap shoot. The only model that I’ve found to be an exception is the Precision rifle, though I’ve only fired three enough to form an opinion, it would not suprise me if the next one I have is a real dog. The two worst were both 77 tang models in 7mm. One a 7x57 that broke my heart and a 77V in .280 Remington that was merely disappointing. The two best; a 77V .220 Swift that is the second most accurate rifle I’ve ever fired and a standard No. 1 in 6mm Remington that is in the top 5. I’ve been lucky with my 77 Hornets. Both shot well with jacketed, so so with cast.

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lotech posted this 23 April 2022

I had a Ruger 77 in 7x57, purchased new more than thirty years ago. I used it mostly with jacketed bullets, but it did shoot an RCBS cast design very well according to my old notes. I don't remember the RCBS number, but the bullet was about 165 grs. when cast of a mix that was about 16 BHN. The rifle had a very long leade and I doubt a short bullet would have been very accurate in comparison with the RCBS design.

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Shopdog posted this 21 April 2022

There's a few tang safety 77's here....

Including a 7X57. It's bone stock except for adj trigger down to 2 3/4#. Problem with it is the highly figured factory stock puts a lot of stress on the side of the barrel. Have the resources(huge shop) to easily mill out the forend but just am not going to do it. The forend will yield to the weaker side and just make a complete mess.

The good(enough) news is it likes the RCBS 140SIL..... body as cast,GC sized only,nose gets taper sized to set jam where the bullet base is right at the neck/shoulder on the loaded round.

First 3 shots(no foulers,cold bore) with these 140's backed by 20g H4198 more often than not,go into one hole @100. After that,the barrel heats up and the forend "push" starts to act up.

Makes for a decent small game rifle. Good luck with your project.

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RicinYakima posted this 21 April 2022

I fell your pain! I had a 1976 vintage .250/3000 on a tang M77 that was made with a .243 barrel. It would blow primers with factory 250 Savage loads.

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Bud Hyett posted this 21 April 2022

Ken - I had a friend who bought one of those, cute little hornet gismo's and like you said it looked more like a full choke shotgun pattern than a rifle. He called Ruger and they told him that the .22 Hornet was an inherently inaccurate round. - Mashburn

Kimber when they made a .22 Hornet rifle measured the factory round in comparison to the factory cartridge drawing. They found a huge discrepancy and ordered chambering reamers dimensioned to the cartridge's measurements and drawings. These rifles shoot well.

Perhaps that is why the K-Hornet shoots well; new cases blown out to fit the chamber. Then a sizing die that is coordinated to the chamber drawing. The die manufacturers use the .22 Hornet chamber drawing as a basis for building their resizing die. Garbage in, garbage out.

Praise to Kimber for taking the research step and then building a rifle that shoots well. I was greatly tempted to rechamber my .22 Hornet to .22 K-Hornet at one time.

I was only able to get my Ruger #1 .22 Hornet to shoot sub-minute after full cases of W-W 680 ironed the cases to the chamber walls, neck-sizing, and buying a Bonanza Benchrest seating die. A .22 Hornet Benchrest seating die seems like overkill, but that is what works.

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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mashburn posted this 21 April 2022

Ken,

I had a friend who bought one of those, cute little hornet gismo's and like you said it looked more like a full choke shotgun pattern than a rifle. He called Ruger and they told him that the .22 Hornet was an inherintly inaccurate round.

He wouldn't send it back and brought it to me and said "I don't care what the cost is, I want you to make this thing shoot, you can do anything you want to it and even if you ruin it, I don't care. I worked on it and shot it for quite a long time. It seems like I fired well over 200 rounds through it. The best I ever got out of it was just over inch groups. He picked it up and paid his bill and left. I ran into him a year or so later and asked how the little hornet was doing. He said " i've never shot it, I just took your word for the groups." He also said, I couldn't stand to have something like that, and Ruger wouldn't do anything about it and now I know it will shoot, I feel better."

Mashburn

David a. Cogburn

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David Reiss posted this 21 April 2022

I have several Ruger M77s, one in .22-250, another in .257 Roberts and the last a .30-06. All good rifles with no issues. I would love to have one in 7mm Mauser, I say jump on it if the price is right.

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
-Services: Wars Fought, Uprisings Quelled, Bars Emptied, Revolutions Started, Tigers Tamed, Assassinations Plotted, Women Seduced, Governments Run, Gun Appraisals, Lost Treasure Found.
- Also deal in: Land, Banjos, Nails, Firearms, Manure, Fly Swatters, Used Cars, Whisky, Racing Forms, Rare Antiquities, Lead, Used Keyboard Keys, Good Dogs, Pith Helmets & Zulu Headdresses. .

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 21 April 2022

Bud .. you think that's bad ... about 1992 i had to have one of those really cute R77 Hornet rigs ... oh oh, how about 3 to 6 moa .. ?? ...

so i hopped on Compuserve and found out that was about normal ... and that some had complained to Ruger and received the reply that that was within Ruger spec.

so some of us Compuserve posters formed the * Ruger 77Hornet Victims Club * . had a few good laughs out of it anyway, and some new friends.

**************

eventually i measured the chamber and barrel and geepers they looked ok ... so i crutched up a recoil structure and Devcon bedded it in several guessed-at areas and got 1 inch moa groups. with 50 gr Hornady SX ... the factory bedding resembles the 30 carbine ... reminds me of the game * hopscotch * ...

bedded, that little R77H suddenly got even more cuter. fwiw, i experimented with the original chambering and screwed it up ... got another take-off barrel from a member here and still got the little beauty.

***************

I have had several R77 in varmint calibers and they all shot well ( pillared and bedded all before even testing ) ... and they are very popular here for the coyote hunters ... price, reliabilty and accurate. funny, those early econo tang models are nearing collector status now ...

just ramblin ken

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Bud Hyett posted this 21 April 2022

I have six Ruger #1 rifles, these I will buy. After the raw deal Ruger gave four members of the Rivoli Rifle Club four decades ago who bought Ruger 77V's in 280 Remington to build 600 and 1,000 yard rifles, I'll not buy any Model 77.

Sequence of events:

Looking for a lighter recoil cartridge than the 7mm Remington Magnum.
Found Ruger 77V in .280 Remington.
Decided to purchase these rifles on sale at J&G Sales in Arizona.
Drilled and tapped for Redfield Palma iron sight for long range competition.
Glass-bedded.
Installed custom trigger.
Load testing showed all four rifles would only shoot flat-based bullets well. (This indicates oversized bore.)
Cast soft lead bullet, put through bore for size.
The smallest bore was .2849, the largest bore was .2878.
Shot representative targets with plain-base and boattail bullets.
Contacted Ruger about this problem and sent in targets.
Ruger responded and said to send in the rifles.
Ruger test-fired the rifles and reported back they met their standard for accuracy was five shots under three inches at fifty yards.
After long discussion, Ruger decided to rebarrel at their cost.
The returned rifles bores were .2835 - .2837.
The returned rifles were sent back postage collect with new stocks.
The reason was any Ruger rifle cannot be sent out of the factory unless in factory original condition.
They would not even send back the glass-bedded stocks separately.
The Ruger Legal Department prevailed in this decision.
The new barrels shot well with boattail bullets.
However, by this time the members were done with Ruger and the 77V.
They sold the rifles.
You have a tough time selling a Ruger bolt action in Mercer County, Illinois, the word spread fast.

I love the Ruger #1 and their revolvers, but that is all.

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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John Alexander posted this 20 April 2022

The late Mike Mohler won the 2007 CBA nationals with a production class M-77 243 varmint rifle. He also set several production class records that still stand with the same rifle.

John

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 20 April 2022

one of my favorite cast rifles was my R77V in 7mm Rem Express ( 280 Rem ) ... worked great so i traded it off... heh ...

mine liked the RCBS 140 Silhouette bullet.

it didn't like the Lee 130 gr ... nose too small out of the mold.

the 7mm offers a nice long bullet without much kick... i have a shilen barrel in 7mm that i plan to use to put that RCBS 140 back to work. thinking 7-08 is pretty cute. ( 7x57 cousin ) .

ken

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Ruger 7x57

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