What I have to work with......? And a new Question

pittboomer

pittboomer

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This is what i have to work with plus about 500$ ... its a Ruger M77 VT in 22-250 im looking to make a good shooter out of her, not so much for competition, i like to shoot target too but more for critter shootin it has a 24" heavy barrel 1in14 twist i think? wood stock plane jane sooo where should i start i can add more cash to her later on but this is the buget for now .thanks any help from you gurus would be well received
Thanks
Trav
now i have the 3200 elite but have mounting issues will over the counter hawkye /markII high base work on this m77v????????

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Bed it, float the barrel, timney trigger, Bushnell 3200 fixed 10X tactical. That should eat up your $500.00. Replace the glass down the road. Reload to find what it likes and go shooting!
 
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I've got exactly the same rifle which I bought new in the 70's and never used much after I moved from southern Ontario. I decided a year ago to upgrade it and did most of what fatboyz said - glass bedded the receiver on aluminum pillars, free floated the barrel, installed a timney trigger, replaced the old 4-12 imported scope with a Leupold 6.5-20X40, installed allen head mounting screws and refinished the wood. From the testing I was able to do so far this has made a significant improvement in groups with factory loads and I'm now testing reloaded ammo to see what it lkikes best. I did everything myself - the piller bedding being the most difficult part. Total cost was about $200.00 not counting the scope.
 
Since its a tang safety M77 the trigger is fully adjustable so don't replace it!
Bed the action and free float the barrel. As long as the barrel isn't too badly worn, it might benefit from a touch up of the crown. Decent load development using 55gr bullets or lighter.
So far what I've suggested hasn't come to $50 dollars worth provided you do your own work. That leaves a good chunk of change left over to buy half decent optics.
RC
 
RockChucker said:
Since its a tang safety M77 the trigger is fully adjustable so don't replace it!
Bed the action and free float the barrel. As long as the barrel isn't too badly worn, it might benefit from a touch up of the crown. Decent load development using 55gr bullets or lighter.
So far what I've suggested hasn't come to $50 dollars worth provided you do your own work. That leaves a good chunk of change left over to buy half decent optics.
RC
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thank you i was wondering about the trigger, the barrel is near new i would say less than 100 rounds of factory loads max, it was my fathers and he didnt use it, im not sure im brave enough to try and bed it myself ...im pretty good at sh*t like that but ive never done it and isnt it a one shot deal / lol thanks going to look over the bedding sticky ... :D
 
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You have a great rifle there!!

You should be able to free float the barrel your self. Bedding it might be a bit difficult if you haven't done it before, but certainly do able. You can tune the trigger yourself if need be, but it should be pretty good for gopher/target shooting.

The best thing you could do, would be to get a decent optic and some ammo to practice. You could look on the EE for a Bushnell Elite 4200 4-16x40 for around 400. A bipod and some range fees will let you sort out any problems.
 
Bandits said:
You have a great rifle there!!

You should be able to free float the barrel your self. Bedding it might be a bit difficult if you haven't done it before, but certainly do able. You can tune the trigger yourself if need be, but it should be pretty good for gopher/target shooting.

The best thing you could do, would be to get a decent optic and some ammo to practice. You could look on the EE for a Bushnell Elite 4200 4-16x40 for around 400. A bipod and some range fees will let you sort out any problems.
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well thankyou and i went with a bushnell elite 3200 4-12x40 to start with and free float the barrel and a set of 22-250 dies
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The first time I shot over 1000 was with the same rifle chamberd in a 6 remington. I was able to get two 3 round groups in 5.5 inches. Still have the target, famed it for the moment. There is nothing wrong with those older guns. I read once that they were possibly Douglas pipes on them. This was dependant on the year it was made. Parently Douglas made a run for Ruger on there varmit guns. The only issue I had with mine was a very long throat and too many years of hot light bullets!
 
"...was wondering about the trigger..." All new rifles require a trigger job. Frivolous U.S. laws suits have caused the makers to sell their rifles with poor triggers. Just changing the springs will help the trigger. $10US will buy a Wolff M77 MK II Rifle Perfomance Pak.
Not all rifles like a floated barrel. Rugers tend not to. The only way to find out if your's does is to try it. If your rifle doesn't like it, putting the pressure point back in isn't difficult. A dab of bedding material 1 or 2 inches in from the end of the forestock will do it.
Bedding the action isn't difficult either. Buy an Acraglas kit(about $30) and follow the directions on the box. Mind you, bedding doesn't always improve accuracy, but it will improve consistency.
Don't think I'd change that stock. Refinish it with a tung oil finish, maybe.
Work up a load using light bullets for it. Not much point in doing anything if you're using factory ammo.
 
sunray said:
"...was wondering about the trigger..." All new rifles require a trigger job. Frivolous U.S. laws suits have caused the makers to sell their rifles with poor triggers. Just changing the springs will help the trigger. $10US will buy a Wolff M77 MK II Rifle Perfomance Pak.
Not all rifles like a floated barrel. Rugers tend not to. The only way to find out if your's does is to try it. If your rifle doesn't like it, putting the pressure point back in isn't difficult. A dab of bedding material 1 or 2 inches in from the end of the forestock will do it.
Bedding the action isn't difficult either. Buy an Acraglas kit(about $30) and follow the directions on the box. Mind you, bedding doesn't always improve accuracy, but it will improve consistency.
Don't think I'd change that stock. Refinish it with a tung oil finish, maybe.
Work up a load using light bullets for it. Not much point in doing anything if you're using factory ammo.
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the trigger is fully adjustable so ill play with that first ... i gotta get higher mounts for it now but then its off to the range:D
 
I too think you have a fine rifle. If you don't already have one, my first priority would be a scope, and that will pretty much eat up your $500. Don't cheap out on the scope, get the best you can afford, that is practical for the type of shooting you intend to do.

The next step should be the purchase of some handloading gear. Shooting factory ammo will limit your opportunities to shoot and limit your rifle's versatility. The more you can shoot, the faster you will progress. Start to play with the bedding and truing the action, only once you have determined the rifle isn't shooting up to your expectations. Again, to get the best accuracy out of your rifle, you must handload, but an accurate rifle will usually shoot any reasonable load pretty well. If it does shoot, the money you considered spending on improving your rifle's accuracy is better spent in another direction. Enjoy your rifle.
 
:redface: Now... i have the 3200 elite but im having mounting issues the scope just touches the barrel , will over the counter hawkye /markII high base rings work on this m77v tang saftey model.???????? and if you have rings that will fit lemme know:D
 
Not sure about the hawkeye but the older rugers had one mount that was higher than the other. You may need to go with a higher mount. I used weaver bases with mine and windage adjustable rings to zero my windage turret. I had this problem too.
 
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