Ruger m77 left hand issue / question
- Thread starter todbartell
- Start date
seems square and doesn't seem to be canted
Stupid question, but are all action bolts and floor plate bolt nice and snug? Almost look like mag follower sits tilted. Possible that the bolt for floorplate is too long? Even seem like piece that holds floorplate is not seated flush... Maybe just the pics or my glasses too.
front around 65 inch lbs, rear 30, mid just barely in the gun. If I don't do that the plate won't latch
Had a similar issue when doing final inletting with a Boyd's stock on a FN Mauser action. Had to use a different bottom than intended. When I tightened the action screws even bolt would bind.
As HC mentioned, It may throw off the geometry. If mid bolt cannot be tightened without preventing the bottom latching there is something wrong.
That doesn't make sense... something is up with the inletting, floorplate or latch... the middle bolt often has to be torqued down super tight in order for the floorplate catch to latch, but not left loose... check to see if the floorplate is bent, or the catch (button on floorplate) is deformed... but I most suspect that the inletting for the trigger guard is off, likely too deep at the rear. Try this; remove the rear TG screw completely and torque the front TG screw down as tight as you can and then back off the front floorplate screw so that it is snug but not torqued down hard, and then retorque the front TG screw... were you able to tighten it even more? Next, with all the screws in the same position, close and latch the floorplate and check the mag box for any wiggle... does the floorplate latch now and is there wiggle in the mag box?
I have experienced the same thing with my LH 77 (.375 Ruger) concerning the middle bolt. I contacted Ruger and they told me the rifle was designed so that the middle bolt was only to be made barely finger tight in order for the plate to latch correctly.
And yet I can tighten the middle bolt in my other LH 77 (.308) so who knows.
Usually if middle screw is fairly loose the floorplate is sloppy... I carry with my hand around the floorplate and like it to be snug... torquing down the rear TG screw mitigates the torque required for the front screw and the angle and depth of the latch... but above, I was trying to ascertain if there is a geometry issue with the floorplate and if the inletting is off.
It takes a bit of doing but by tightening those two screws slowly in intervals, I can get the latch to close firmly without any wiggle. If I overtighten the middle bolt the latch opens with recoil. Pretty finicky stuff but left handed shooters don't have a great many options.
I'm almost positive this isn't the follower or at least not its orientation. Something is binding. Either the box is too narrow, the spring is not compressing properly, the follower is tipping, or the cartridges are too long.
Switch boxes between the righty and lefty and try that.
Switch boxes between the righty and lefty and try that.
The middle guard screw should not be torqued tight.
On mine, I have to pull the trigger guard rearward while I tighten the rear screw, or the floor plate won't close, and tightening the middle screw makes it almost impossible to open the floor plate.
I like a lot of things about M77s, but that angled screw and two piece floor plate is cheese-####. It smacks of "different just to be different" which is basically never a good thing. Maybe it's cheaper to make, but I actually doubt that!
And your mag wells rattle and your floorplates are loose... 30+ years with Rugers, I can get them to shoot, "without" sloppy mag wells and floorplates... the trick is balancing the front and rear TG screws, not just torquing the crap out of the rear and finger tightening the front... you can torque the front floorplate bolt as much as you want, but if the inletting is off even a wee bit, the tab that retains the front of the magwell will bend... this necessitates shimming the bolt or bending the tab or replacing the unit. Almost a quarter to a third of used M77's have a bent tab... which will also affect the ability of the floorplate to latch properly.
Floorplate seems to close fine enough
That is odd...... Is it possible that the front of the floorplate is catching that bolt and when you slam the floorplate shut, it is sitting on an angle, which In turn would make the rear of the round sit higher than the ejector?
When you try to seat the third round and push down on the floor plate, does the floorplate bottom out at the rear and not the front?.....
floorplate latches, no wiggle in mag box
Did you try three rounds down in that configuration?
I think the inletting is off for the TG... can you fit a small washer between the rear TG hole and the wood and then torque down all the screws normally and try three rounds down.
I did yes, no go. I'll see if I can find a washer and try it. thx for the help
Still no email back from Snapshots, sent them one last week about the situation
tried washer. No luck
Switched floorplate from the RH rifle to my LH, holds 3 down and works 100% -- so basically it's down to a POS floorplate that must be out of spec a hair. Looks like it should work - but it doesn't
