accuracy ? ruger m77 mk 2 243(compact)

[winchester]

what kind of accuracy should i be able to get? the rifle has a lam stock stainless barrell with leo. 3x9 var x II scope. I am shooting handloads and Im not impressed so far 3shot groups inside a 3 inch circle at 75 yards.  I have had the terrible trigger worked over by my gunsmith.  what loads should I try for the 243? any sugestions.  The rifle is for my wife, thinking about putting a break on it to help the recoil?

thanks

[ScoutMan]

Win,

Can' give you too much advice on accuracy. Do what you have to do to insure that the recoil lug is bearing firmly on the back of the stock. Also, try a shoot one, clean one when testing.

Three inch groups are not a disaster. Remember, that group measurement is the "worst case scenerio". It means that any shot will hit withing 1.5" inches of point of aim.

Myself, I would be more concerned with the "handiness" of the rifle. If you believe in the "scout concept", a rifle should come in at 7 lbs including scope. Why not put a Leupold 2.5 or 4X compact on the rifle to keep the weight down. In .243 your wife won't notice the recoil

As an aside, I have a Compact  in 308. It has the XO express ghost ring and post front sight. It weights in at 7 lbs even and is a joy to shoot   and carry. However, I have shot for a long time so I am almost impervious to recoil. Remember however that a rifle is: "carried much but shot little" in the field.


My $.02


SM

[Coyote Hunter]

winchester –

Every rifle is different, but I have had superb results with my Rugers.  The first thing I do is float the barrel.  Never have bedded one.  I also give each rifle a trigger job, but you have already done that.

One problem might well be your choice of ammo.  I find that some rifles don’t care for particular loads but shoot very well with others.

My Rugers with sporter-weight barrels all shoot MOA or better with the right ammo.  The 7mm Mag has done 3 shots into 0.266” and the .257 Roberts has done 0.232”, both at 100 yards.  The .300 seems to be a little under 1”.  My buddy’s 7mm Mag has done 0.4”.

Float your barrel and see if that helps.  At a minimum it should eliminate any tendency toward stringing.

You might also check the scope mounts to make sure they are tight, then make sure the action is snug in the stock.

Good luck!

[PeterB]

I have an MKII stainless in 7mm08 for my wife.  My brother in law bought the same gun for his two boys.  After a couple hundred rounds of hand loading I can get 5 shots in about the size of a nickle at 100 yrds with my brother in laws, and can get 5 shots in about a the size of a half dollar with my wifes rifle, sandbagged at the range.  I was very impressed with the results.  At 200 yrds both shoot around 4-5 inches for 5 shot groups, but then my eyes get worse each year and are probably a result of the shooter.   Once I got these results with my loads I stopped trying to improve since an improvement on one riffle usually resulted in a poor change in the other.  I did not want to have a different load for each riffle.  Try a few different loads.  You may find one your rifle likes.  By the way, neither rifle shot particularly well with the standard trigger.  Put a timney on both at about 2.5 lbs.  For practice for the wife and boys I load a lighter bullet in a reduced load.  They love it, and those loads also shoot real well, but I was not really striving for accuracy in the practice rounds.

Good Luck

[victorcharlie]

My wife's gun is a Ruger ultra light, old style in .243  it shoots consistantly right at an inch at 100 yards with factory 100 grain winchester silvertips.

I bedded the action, floated the barrel, and did a trigger job....don't know how the gun shot before this......

Are you sure you scope and scope mounting are ok?

I started handloading for this rifle, but never finished working up a good load as my wife just doesn't shoot that much.

I did try IMR4381 and a 85gr sierra BTHP with various powder charges but didn't get very good results.  This combination worked great in my .243 heavy barrel but not in the ultra light.

I bought some IMR3031 thinking that with the shorter barrel a faster powder might be a little better, but never tried it.....thinking about it now, the 3031 might be to fast and IMR4350 or varget might be a better choice.

You don't say what bullet your trying to load, but the ultra light seems to like the 100 grain bullets better than the lighter 85 grain.

I really like the ultra light but the barrel heats up fast......when you shoot for groups I'd let the barrel cool completely or at least 5 minutes....

Really, for deer hunting...the only one that really matters is the first one anyway.......put the first one where it needs to go and you don't have to worry about the second shot......So I put much more weight on my first shot from a cold barrel.