M77 MkII VT, not happy

[2000Z-71]

I finally made it out to the range today with my 77 MKII VT in .308 Win and I'm not a happy camper. I had picked this rifle up at Sportsman's Warehouse on a clearance sale a few months back for $469. Since then I've added a Nikon Monarch UCC 6.5-20x illuminated scope on it in Warne rings.

I'm not happy with my range results with it. The action acts more like a puShfeed than a controlled round feed. The extractor does not grab a hold of the case rim. The second round continuously jammed up in the magazine and wouldn't feed. The nose would make contact with the breech face and the base of the case would become stuck underneath the bolt.

Accuracy was not what I was expecting at all from a target rifle. 3 round groups at 200 yards were measuing 4-5". Ammo used was Federal 150gr FMJ and Blackhills 168gr Match. Believe it or not it actually prefered the Federal loading. For comparison I was shooting my Winchester 70 in .270 as well. 3 round groups with it at 200 yards were coming in right around 2-1/2"-3".

Needless to say, I'm not happy. I'll be calling Ruger on Monday morning to see about sending it in for warranty work. This was a rifle that I was planning on getting into siluohette shooting with, definately not going to be able to use it for that if I can't get the feeding problems resolved.

 

[gunman42782]

Wow. I had the exact gun as you, and had excellent results with it. I got less than 1 inch groups routinely at 100 yards with my handloads. I would still own that gun if I had not got really (and I mean really) hard up and had to sell it.

 

[collectormzornes]

I have a question did you clean the factory packing grease from the gun and then reoil the before going to the range. if not you may want to disassemble and try it it may help not sure though.

 

[2000Z-71]

I did give it a thorough cleaning and re-oiled it before going out to the range. As a matter of fact it was one of my dumber moments in gun cleaning. I put the first patch doen the barrel and I couldn't figure out why the patch hadn't come out the muzzle when I had the cleaning rod in up to the handle against the bore guide.

The combination of the long barrel with the bore guide was longer than my cleaning rod. Fortunately the tip of the cleaning rod was sticking just past the end of the muzzle. I was able to grab it and unscrew it from the rod, I don't think I wouldv'e been able to reverse it and pull the patch back out through the action.

Maybe that was an omen...

 

[gunman42782]

Something else you might check is if the scope rings are good and tight.

 

[Hairtrigger]

It sure won't hurt tto make sure the stock screws are properly tightened

 

[Leucoandro]

It sure won't hurt tto make sure the stock screws are properly tightened

You make a very good point. I own a M77 MKII in .223 with a boat paddle stock. I was getting half inch groups at 100 yards. I thought the trigger w as a little heavy, so I took it into a gun shop for a trigger job. When I got the rifle back, the trigger was 2.5lbs, but my groups grew to 3" @ 100 yards.

It turns out that when the Gunsmith put the action back into the stock, after stoning the trigger, he did not tighten the mounting screws in the correct order to the correct torque.

When I took the rifle out of the stock, put it back in and tightened the mounting screws in the correct order to the correct torque, groups shrunk back down.

Also, Does your scope have an Adjustable Objective? If so, are you sure that you have it adjusted correctly? An scope with an incorrectly adjusted adjustable objective can give you horrible accuracy.

http://www.larrywillis.com/tip015.html
http://www.eabco.com/Reports/report01.html


Charlie

 

[mcknight77]

I also recommend that you screw out the striker and clean the factory grease off of it. Then relube with a light oil.

Are you working the action slowly or briskly. Makes a difference. Lots of rifles won't cycle properly if the bolt is worked slowly.

 

[woods22250]

I own several KM77VT's and they all shoot excellent. I had one that the groups opened with each consecutive group. The fix was torque the screws to 95 inch pounds. Got that measurement from Ruger tech support.

 

[Leucoandro]

Woods,

Yup, an inch/lb torque driver is an invaluble tool for any serious shooter.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.e ... mid=718023

______________________________________________________________________________________

Here is some information that I got from someone around a year ago. I can not remember who gave it to me right now, but it is good information

The sequence and torques are:
1. The diagonal screw, torque to 50-90 inch-pounds.
2. The aft trigger guard screw, 30-50 inch pounds.
3. The forward trigger guard screw, also to 30-50 inch pounds.
The torque values will have an effect on barrel harmonics. Ruger uses the upper limits when assembling. But some experimenting may be helpful if you want to tweek the lst little bit of accuracy out of the rifle

**Sometimes just adjusting the torque on the diagonal screw will make all the difference as far as group size. I usually do it in 5 in-lb increments. Just remember it's 35 in-lbs minimum and 90 in-lbs maximum on the diagonal screw; 30-50 on the trigger guard screws.

 

[63November]

I'm sure you will find that Ruger (Remington, Winchester, etc) would regard that accuracy in any sporting rifle to be "acceptable." It does sound like there may be other issues they may be willing to correct in function however.

Improving accuracy might be a do-it-yourself deal though. There are a number of things you can do including some of the aforementioned, as well developing your own precision handloads, perhaps truing the action and barrel etc. I have found that it is pretty unusual not to be able to get things improved simply by trying some rather basic things. It is also surprising how economically a 'smith might do some minor tweaking to things which are basically already done. I have found folks who will clean up threads, chambers, and locking lugs for a relatively low price. On a bargain rifle, that can still be a very good deal and it often buys a lot.

I hope you get things sorted out to your satisfaction.

 

[jcn1945]

I had a Ruger .300 SAUM couple years ago that would shoot about 4"+ at 100 yards with my best loads. Even 168 gr. Match Sierras. Nosler BTs were no better.

It was a new "sale" gun at $395.. Makes me wonder if Ruger "specially prepared" this batch of sale guns with reject barrels. The dealer said he got a bunch of them at a good price. I glass bedded it, tried different action screw torque, various loads, even polished the bore with one of the bore polishing compounds for sale at Midway. Got the groups down to about 3" at a hundred yards. Not a happy camper.. My 100 year old Mausers shoot better than that.

Eventually got a Tikka, guaranteed to shoot an inch or less at 100. It shoots just about anything at 3/4" or less (3 shot groups at 100 yds.)

 

[langenc]

I heard about a month ago that Remington had some 700s in that caliber for that price. A friend (FFL) bought one. Later deided to set 'somemore' but they were ALL GONE at that price.

 

[JimHnSTL]

if after checking the above mentioned items everyone suggested and the rifle still does not shoot well, send it in to ruger. you've got nothing to loose. i have to say your ruger is one of the few new rugers in the last 4 yrs that i have heard about that had these kind of issues. in fact lately everyone that has been buying them have been pleasantly surprised.

 

[9638]

I have one of these chambered in .223. I picked it up used at a local shop. I took it apart and cleaned everything which is my normal routine when I get a new firearm.

I torked the action screws much as everyone has suggested. I don't have a wrench but I use the feel method which seems to work well for me. I get 1/4 to 3/8 inch groups at 100 yards with just about every load I put through it.

I would tinker with the setup a little more.

 

[Kanook]

"if after checking the above mentioned items everyone suggested and the rifle still does not shoot well, send it in to ruger. you've got nothing to loose."

Since this thread is 1 1/2 years old, I'll bet he had it fixed or sold by now :shock:

 

[chucknbach]

Yeah let us know. Though I probably know the answer.