New (to me) M77 tang safety .243

[lik2hunt]

I'm gonna be picking this up in about a week. It's a very clean gun and comes with a nice scope in the factory rings. Any comments about ammo selection, I can reload for it but would rather not at first, or about the rings would be appreciated. I have a 220 Swift heavy barrel in this same gun and put the scope in a set of Leupold rings, have never actually used the factory style.
Any idea as to what the twist rate of the bore might be on this .243 standard sporter weight barrel?

[deltecs]

Ruger tang safety or Mark I's, as they are referred to now, have a 1"10" twist in .234 Winchester bore.  I have a RSI tang safety in .243 with the 18 1/2" barrel full stock.  I consistently shoot 3 shots at 100 meter measured range where a quarter (1") will completely cover the holes and in almost all weather conditions.  This is with hand loaded ammo using R-P brass, CCI 200 primers, 42 grains of IMR-4350 powder, and 100 grain Sierra BT or 100 grain Speer flat base bullets.  The groups by either of these are identical. Those older tang safety Rugers did shoot good.  I much prefer them over the newer models. 

[Coyote Hunter]

No idea about a .243, but Ruger tang safety rifles are pure crap.

Here's a group I shot with my .30-06 today. Picked it up used at a gun show in Houston last November.  Made in 1984.

Only two shots and I stopped because I couldn't deal with the disappointment...



I own 3 tang safety Rugers and they all shoot about this badly...

[lik2hunt]

The owner has told me that 100 gr. bullets have shot well for him. He also said that a 85 gr. put right behind a deer's shoulder will make the DRT.

[Val]

I have a Ruger Tang Safety in .243. I dropped a dear with it last season. It took one step and toppled over. It's a nice light carry rifle and one of my favorites. I use 100 grain Nosler partitions for my deer loads and I also developed a 70 grain varmint load for this rifle.