My New Ruger

[Lloyd Smale]

hate to say i told you so, but

Out again today with two more brands of ammo. 2-3 MOA is the best it would do.  Pretty disgusted....

[Lloyd Smale]

sounds like a post from someone thats owned may 2 or 3 rifles in his life. Ive owned MANY and handload probably more then anyone here and have for as long as anyone here and would put my loading setup up against anyones for quality and ive ran into MANY rifles that wouldnt shoot under 2 moa with any load put in it. Most of them still wouldnt after bedding and trigger work too. Funny thing is that a good percentage of those were ruger 77s. Probably more bad rugers then all the other brands combined. yes im a dumbass and keep buying them. They make a good looking rifle and I allways see one and want it, just hoping it will be a good one.

You have been  hand loading since you where like six, whats the issue ? A good hand loader should be able to make any rifle shoot.

[Swampman]

hate to say i told you so, but

Out again today with two more brands of ammo. 2-3 MOA is the best it would do.  Pretty disgusted....

We both know better but it's like the Jerry Springer Show.  It's hard not to watch it if it's on.

[MZ5]

Sorry to hear it, Swampy.

You know, the marriage of Ruger and Savage is an interesting idea.  If the right things are taken from each, they'd be almost the perfect rifle!

[Swampman]

I pulled it apart and bedded the barrel stub, recoil lug, and rear tang today.  I may put a VX-2 2-7X33 Leupold on it.

[Harry Snippe]

I had a 35 R 336 Marlin that would not shoot a minute of barn. Tried every powder with the 200 RN .
Then I tried a 200 gr. lead bullet and varget powder and suddenly it shot 1 1/2 " groups . Went to the 180 gr. speer and Blc2 and we had our load . It had to be about 1gr. over Spec.
Some guns just want a different powder or bullet or maybeloaded a bit closer to the lands .
A Abolt had a rough bore and it would foul with copper . Worked JB bore compound and a mop and it started to shoot . Then by luck I found a powder it liked .
Had a tikka that just needed a hundred rounds through it . I was just about to throw that away as with the 35 Marlin .
 
Some days you just need to walk away 'til your in a better state of mind.
 
After that bore gets a polish that 308 just might turn on with a gr,. over max of R15 or varget . Had a Savage 308 that just did that .
I got gray hair from a daughter who suddenly found " boys". Then too I lost some of that gray hair trying to get a %^& gun to shoot .
Yeah !! Some found a new job as a wall hanger .
Swampy just shoot that thing 'til it gets over the copper fouling , Mob though some JB -then work on a load . Just walk away for a few days when your start to feel beaten.
BTW,Shot 3500 rounds of lead bullets throught that little 35 , then like a fool I sold it .

[Swampman]

Fixed the problem.  I traded it for an Ultimate Shadow stainless steel Model 70 in 7mm-08.

[muznut 54]

I knew that was coming.   M70 now your talking.

[TommyD]

Out again today with two more brands of ammo. 2-3 MOA is the best it would do.  Pretty disgusted....

I bought one in the spring.
Never shot factory ammo in it.
Winchester brass
CCI BR2 primers
Varget powder A few tenths under max on Hodgdon web site
150 gr Sierra GameKing (2125)
1 MOA

[Swampman]

You just never know what you're gonna get with a Ruger rifle.  That's why I've given up on them.

[bilmac]

Now never say never Swampy, the new American sounds pretty interesting doesn't it? I need a clip fed rifle in case I get attacked by more than a squad of zombies at a time. The Remington clip fed is way more money.
 
I think you ought to try out the American and give us a range report.

[Swampman]

A Model 700 ADL cost $399.00.  I wouldn't waste any money on the American.

[SHOOTALL]

I buy pipe racks from this guy who always ask what brand truck . It never fails he will say that's the best brand. Now over the years I have gotten maybe 50+ racks for Dodge , Chevy , Ford and Yota. He always say best brand.  They all break down at some point , they all have good ones . Same for rifles until you get to high end guns IMHO go with a good brand and the best price to get it up and shooting. When you buy a lower priced gun you reall should not expect one ragged hole at 500 yards 

[Swampman]

I expect 1 MOA accuracy from a boltgun.  If it won't do it with a little tinkering, it's gone.

[Zachary]

You know, the marriage of Ruger and Savage is an interesting idea.  If the right things are taken from each, they'd be almost the perfect rifle!

The marriage of Ruger and Savage...almost the "perfect" rifle?  Wow! Even in theory, I personally have to strongly disagree.   

[mannyrock]

 
   My experience of over 50 years of shooting have shown me that Ruger has a long history of making "almost great" rifles.  Sadly, they always seem to screw up at least one major factor or feature on every rifle they design.  Even those I like (such as the Ruger 10/22 and 77/22) come with horrendously hard trigger pulls.  When I buy a rifle, I am not interested in buying a "project" that I have to finish up.
 
Regards, Mannyrock

[FPH]

I expect 1 MOA accuracy from a boltgun.  If it won't do it with a little tinkering, it's gone.

Agree, if I can achieve it, the rifle better be able to also.

[Bugflipper]

   My experience of over 50 years of shooting have shown me that Ruger has a long history of making "almost great" rifles.  Sadly, they always seem to screw up at least one major factor or feature on every rifle they design.  Even those I like (such as the Ruger 10/22 and 77/22) come with horrendously hard trigger pulls.  When I buy a rifle, I am not interested in buying a "project" that I have to finish up.
 
Regards, Mannyrock

Folks argue back and forth about a particular brand just like they do with vehicles. I have worked on many ruger rifles but only owned 3 center fires myself. All had unacceptable accuracy. Foolishly I tried to bring them up to what they should have been from the factory. With quite a bit of time and a good deal of money all 3 came up to an acceptable level. I currently do not own any ruger center fire rifles and have no plans to ever again.  But I don't mind other fellows throwing money at them. It keeps food on my plate.  I am not loyal to any brand, so not trying to bash ruger because I like another one more. I do favor the 10-22. But just buy used anymore and get rid of a lot of the factory parts because they are dogs when it comes to accuracy in factory form. I also like their single action revolvers. They are good right out of the box.

[Graybeard]

Let's bring this one back up and see if folks might want to talk more about it.

[George Foster]

I will say this about Ruger rifles, I like the looks and feel of them over the Rem. 700.  I own two of the Ruger MKII's, one in 243 and one in 6mm, both have the actions glass bedded and barrels floated and I have Timney triggers in both.  I never shoot factory loads in any of my rifles, I hand load for everything I shoot.  I can honestly say both are quite accurate, with their pet loads each one will give 5 shot groups of 1/2", my best 5 shot group in the 6mm has been 3/8".  For both rifles normal 5 shot groups run 5/8" to 3/4".  Three shot groups I have gotten 3/16" out of them.

[Lloyd Smale]

well George I will agree with you that there a fine looking and handling gun. Only rem I think looks as good are the old classics and the cdls. But you know as well as anyone if your getting 5 shot 1/2 groups with ANY sporter weight gun it was blessed by God. To have two ruger sporter weight 77s that do it is about as likely as winning the lotto. Ive owned MANY 77s well over a dozen. Ive had two that shot moa out of the box. A 2506 hawkeye and a 250rl.

The rl was moa with its absolute best load and that was only one load. The 2506 would shoot a bit under an inch with a few loads. If you know me you know im a VERY AVID handloader and shooter and id don't put a box of factory ammo though a gun or a couple handloads I pick out of the air and if it doesn't shoot moa call it a dud. Ive spent whole summers trying to get rugers to shoot. Ive floated barrels glass bedded even lapped bores. Bottom line is its a rare 77 that will shoot moa or better no matter what you do with it. If you have one cherish it.

 That said I can take about any rem 700, 7o winchester, 110 savage or even a ruger American and for the most part have a out of the box moa gun or one that's easy to get to that level and with a bit of work usually get them below moa. Ive had 77s that with the same work, bedding floating, lapping, trigger work ect that still wouldn't shoot under 2moa. Had a hawkeye 264 that I really wanted to make shoot. It was a headache from the get go. I decided to bite the bullet and sent it off and had a Douglas barrel put on it and it went from a 2.5 inch gun to a 1.5 inch gun and that's with LOTS of load development.

I allways tell people that stupidest rifle thing I ever did was parting with that 2506 77. It was a keeper. But my brother in law had a bdl in 8mag and couldn't handle it and wanted that 2506 in the worse way. So I let it go. He lives out in montana and has killed LOTS with it and wouldn't sell it back for 2k. Sorry but I still chuckle at guys that think there buying some premium gun when they buy a ruger. Ive owned at least 50 rugers of all kinds through the years and ive had real good guns and guns that were junk! Want a quality gun that puts a ruger to shame buy a new model 70. Want a ruger that actually shoots? Buy an American. Even the #1s I own and have owned have hands down outshot the 77s ive owned. But there good looking and handle well  All that said if you ever want to part with that 6mm let me know. Its one of my favorite calibers and id love a 77 that shot like that to go with my #1, 700 classic and my 700 bdl varmint. It would be right at home in that group because all three are shooters.

[George Foster]

Lloyd, actually I have four rifles chambered for 243 and 6mm and they all will shoot five shot groups of 1/2" or less and they are all sporter barreled rifles.  Friends of mine that I shoot Rugers and they are all accurate, it seems to me that every since Ruger started producing their own barrels they have been accurate rifles.

[George Foster]

My other two rifles that I shoot all the time are Remington's, a 700CDL in 243 and a 6mm 788.  The 788 is the best of the four having shot more 1/2" or sub groups, it is presently on it's fourth barrel which is a ER Shaw barrel.  I had a custom 700 built with a Douglas 6mm and that was another rifle that shot five shot groups of 1/2".  I only shoot my hand loads, but I did shoot a Ruger 77 tang model in 2506 for awhile which did 1-1/4 groups with factory ammo.