How hard would this be?

Superbrad

Superbrad

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Glengarry Ontario
So..... After a recent purchase I am down to missing only one rifle to round out my caliber selection..... A .358 win......

Based on the .358 being an excellent do all thick woods caliber, I want something lightweight, easy to carry and in he Ruger M77 mkII platform......

I have an m77 in the compact version in .243 that I really enjoy carrying, but it's a timberwolf only rifle.....

What I was thinking about is taking a .308 based compact (not my .243), and rebarreling to .358.......

How hard would it be to find a .358 barrel to fit the compact? Would I have to buy a longer barrel and cut and crown?...... And just to make life more complicated, I am thinking of adding irons..... Lol
 
Why the M77 Compact, Brad? I would go with a Standard rifle M77 Hawkeye or MKII in .243/.308 etc... and have a new barrel fitted. With the Compact you will have more stock work, a short LOP, and a too short forend without an equally short barrel... If I was going to build another .358, it would be a MKII .308 rebarreled and bobbed to 20", in the standard walnut stock... nice gun... or find an RS .308 and rebore it.
 
I'm ok with my 358 Frontier, it probably gets carried more than any of my other rifles.
It's just a really handy rifle and the first test load shot so well I didn't have to look any further..
 
hoytcanon said:
Why the M77 Compact, Brad? I would go with a Standard rifle M77 Hawkeye or MKII in .243/.308 etc... and have a new barrel fitted. With the Compact you will have more stock work, a short LOP, and a too short forend without an equally short barrel... If I was going to build another .358, it would be a MKII .308 rebarreled and bobbed to 20", in the standard walnut stock... nice gun... or find an RS .308 and rebore it.
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I really like my compact....... It's just so handy and I barely notice that it's there....... Stock work is a consideration as well, wasn't aware the compact would require more to be honest..... Whatever platform, walnut is a requirement as I don't have enough of it in the collection..... I like rough ready for purpose rifles, but also have an affinity for wood and blued steel...... And the .358 being as "traditional" as it is, it certainly suits......

I could go with a regular m77...... I also don't own an ultralight, what are your thoughts on that?......

If they only made the damn things in a #1, it would be so easy...... Didn't they make the .358 in the m77?...... I thought they had, but even if they did, it seems like unobtanium.....

This was the one I was talking of importing btw......
 
GMC403 said:
What would the value of a M77 in 358 be these days?

Blued/wood
Stainless/syn
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It depends on the model, a Ruger 77. Compact Frontier 358 like mine should at least $ 900ish or more depending on condition.
I think mine was just over a grand new when the dust settled.
The longer rifle versions maybe a couple hundred less ?
 
The frontier and the compact share essentially the same dimensions.... And weight is practically the same..... I like the looks of the frontier but not overly keen on scout mounted scopes......
 
Superbrad said:
The frontier and the compact share essentially the same dimensions.... And weight is practically the same..... I like the looks of the frontier but not overly keen on scout mounted scopes......
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I mounted the 1.5-5 Leupold over the receiver on my 358, cannot get into the scout mount either..
 
I have owned 7 or 8 Ruger .358's, including AW Hawkeye, three tang saftey M77, an M77 MKII, two M77 Frontier's (one SS and one blued)... and have an '89 run M77 Carbine on the way... the Frontier rifles are heavier than the Compact rifles and were shipped in laminate stocks. Ruger actually did make the Ultralight M77 in .358, but immediately had problems with stocks splitting under recoil and cancelled that chambering in the RL... when the carbines were introduced they were made with hand selected "dense" walnut and tend to be on the heavy side for such a compact unit.

These days in mint condition you can expect to pay North of $900 for the Frontier .358, North of $850 for a tang .358 and about that for a MKII... but in mint condition a $1000 is not unreasonable for either party.
I won't even put in "black & white" what I am paying for the M77 Carbine... but they are big bucks... when found you jump on them and ask questions later. I think that you would love the Ultralight platform, Brad... and properly bedded, it would be a really nice .358.
 
Thanks man..... I don't care to see it in black and white right now either..... Lol.....

I am in no rush on this one and can take my time and wait for one to pop up... I have plenty of work to do getting a bunch of others sighted in, working up loads etc......

Agree with your price assessment as well.... A plain Jane compact is around $1200 now at most places.....
 
Superbrad said:
Is yours wood or laminate Kevan?..... That's what I would do as well (regular mount).... I tried the full forward mount on my scout and found the handling was awful......
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Mine was laminate, but I lucked out and found a factory Ruger synthetic stock which it wears now.
I use it and carry more than any other rifle, it's just so handy..
 
I have a fairly recent production standard version M77 Hawkeye SS in 358 win that is a great little rifle. I have owned it now two years but have not killed anything with it yet, my time seems to be going to archery and muzzleloaders instead. I will not part with it though, when the time is right it will be there and I will use it. I got a sweet deal on this one, I got the rifle, a set of RCBS dies, 150 pcs new winchester brass, 5 boxes factory 200 grain soft points, and over 150 handholds from a trusted source for a lot less than I should have paid.

It shoots well and the rifle handles well so i look forward to using it in the bush sometime soon.
 
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