Ruger M77 into a 9.3x62?

[cam1936]

I've been thinking lately on what to do with my Ruger M77 in .280. It sits in an aftermarket B&C stock and wears a 3-9 Zeiss Conquest.

It currently serves as a do everything in Alberta hunting rifle, it fills this role very well, but with the addition of a .300 H&H I have that base covered. The rifle is fairly heavy so I've been thinking of getting an ultralight in the 7mm caliber which would make my Ruger redundant. My thought is to rebarrel into a 20" 9.3x62 and rescope to something low mag with an illuminated reticle and make the rifle a compact, quick pointing, heavy hitting rifle.

Reason for 9.3x62 is that to my knowledge it would be the largest (both capacity and bore) that a .280 could easily be converted too and still have a large amount of components for reloading avaliable. Am I correct in thinking it would just be a rebarrel, or would there need to be serious work done to the feed ramps? The rifle cycles perfectly in .280 and I would not want to convert unless it also performed flawlessly with the larger cartridge.

Any scope recommendations? Any thoughts on this idea?

 

[Ardent]

It should cycle perfectly as a 9.3x62, and would make a potent compact package.

 

[WhelanLad]

Would love a .280 Hawkeye!!

instead i have a .35Whelen in a Hawkeye....

not sure id wreck a 280 for a 9.3 though.

wl

 

[burnt_servo]

you wouldn't be wrecking the rifle it should be just a simple barrel swap .

if this helps , I took a Husqvarna in 270 , screwed out the barrel , set the 9.3x62 barrel back , head spaced it and finally screwed it back onto the action and it functions very well with no mods to the action .

I do have to bed the action properly yet when I get some time , as the 270 barrel was a touch smaller in diameter .

 

[Gatehouse]

It should work fine. If you want something bigger you could look at the various 375-06 type cartridges too. But that's getting into wildcat territory for questionable performance benefits over a 9.3x62.

 

[cam1936]

It should work fine. If you want something bigger you could look at the various 375-06 type cartridges too. But that's getting into wildcat territory for questionable performance benefits over a 9.3x62.

That was my thinking as well, go with an avaliable cartidge instead of paying a arm and a leg for dies , as well as fireform brass.

 

[bcsteve]

Did the same thing with a stainless Ruger MKII a few years ago but went with the .35 Whelen. Simple barrel swap, no other modification.

 

[Ardent]

I'm becoming boring myself these days, if it isn't available readily off the shelf I can't be bothered anymore, I blame having kids, no time. Well, sort of. Still handload all my "big trip" ammunition and still have a couple odd balls, but gravitating to .308 Win, .375 H&H for 90% or so of my centerfire shooting. It's just easy. 9.3x62 seems the biggest you could "easily" go to my thinking on your Ruger as well. Make sure she has iron sights! Every handy thumper deserves them.

 

[jaycee]

A 9.3x62 would be an excellent candidate for your M77. I'd go that route vs. some hard to find wildcat chambering, not to mention the 9.3 would appeal to more should you ever decide to sell it.

 

[cam1936]

Well I priced it all out and thought long and hard. For the price of doing this I could just get a seperate rifle in 9.3x62, so I did just that.

Bought a M98 off tradeex, planning on putting it into a boyds laminate stock. Maybe eventually getting the barrel cut and crowned depending on if I feel the longer barrel is cumbersome or not.