Ruger m77 mkll

[backstrap]

I was wondering how easy it is the float a barrel on a m77 mkll 30-06 is it just as easy as takeing the wood under the barrel out from where the stock meets the clip to the end of the forearm or  is there more to it than that??? thanks John

[Hairtrigger]

Many of the Rugers with the light barrel shoot better with a pressure piont on the forearm

[Coyote Hunter]

I was wondering how easy it is the float a barrel on a m77 mkll 30-06 is it just as easy as takeing the wood under the barrel out from where the stock meets the clip to the end of the forearm or  is there more to it than that??? thanks John

That's all there is to it.  I float all mine.

Right now I'm temporarily away from home for several months and bought a used Ruger M77 .30-06.  Bought some sandpaper and a yellow Sharpie highlighter to loop it around, plus some polyurethane to reseal the wood.  Sanded the bump off, widened the channel where it touched, used a folded paper towel to apply the polyurethane, job done.  30 minutes tops, probably more like 20.

[Jerry Lester]

If I'm going to free float a 77 MK-II(and I have many times), I prefer to first bed the recoil lug, and tang. It's a lot better to do this first. After the bedding dries, like Coyote Hunter said, it's pretty easy to float the barrel.

If you don't bed first, Ruger 77's tend to just let the barrel keep sinking lower in the barrel channel till at times, you can go so deep you'll get into the sling swivel stud. Most times if you bed the action first, it's only a simple matter of sanding out the pressure point at the end of the forearm, and lightly widening the channel a few thousandths to achieve a very nice job. When I'm done with one, it's hard to tell that it's even floated untill you slip a few bills under the barrel, and slide them back to the action.

I'm not quite sure where all the stuff about sporter barrels shooting better with a pressure point comes from. Maybe the big magnums? All I know is that when it comes to the 77's, every one I've ever seen shot considerably better with a fully floated barrel. This is of course with a proper bedding job too. I have a 77 MK-II 223 that out of the box would consistantly put two shots very tight, and then procede to walk the next three high, and to the left every single time no matter what the load was. If I let 10 minutes or more pass between the shots, it'd group 50g Nosler Balistic Tips(5+ shots) at 3300 fps into 5/8" at 100 yards. After I bedded the action, and floated the barrel, I sat down, and put 20 shots into less than 3/4" at 100 yards as fast as I could shoot, and reload.

[safetysheriff]

my opinion on this subject is simply this:   see how the rifle shoots from the factory before doing any kind of work to float the barrel.    if it shoots well......and many factory rifles do when given a load that they like.....then leave it alone.

pressure bedding is a trick that Remington has made to greatly pay off with their Model 700's in a number of their variants.   it is true that there are bedded actions and floated barrels among some of the Model 700's.   but i've seen some very inexpensive Model 700 ADL Syn's that were Very Hard to beat for accuracy with standard, factory, pressure-bedded setups.   

i'd try load development and trigger tuning before thinking about bedding any rifle.

just my opinion,

ss' 

[backstrap]

where talking about rugers not remington

[3DTESTIFY]

Hairtrigger is correct. My 20" ultra light contour barrel shoots very well with the factory tip bedding. The standard sporter weight contour barrel usually does shoot better when free floated. Like others have advised, shoot it first to see what the accuracy is and then make a determination.