Picked up my M77 280 Rem

[Quattroclick]

I picked this up for a price too good to pass on. Other than some marks on the stock which look like the gun was jammed back and forth against the bolts on other guns in a closet or safe, it is really clean! Most of the metal looks new. The scope is a Bausch and Lomb Balvar made in Japan. I think this scope was the forerunner of the Bushnell Elite 4200.

The only thing I don't like so far is the trigger pull. I reached to disengage the safety when the fish scale hit 8 pounds. The safety was off. The trigger breaks right at 10 pounds! :shock: Ruger must have been holding a factory tour for plaintiffs attorneys the day they made this trigger. I think I will work on smoothing up everything first with some fine stones before I take it out to shoot. A box of ammo would probably make my trigger finger sore for a week.

 

[3DTESTIFY]

Nice rifle & cartridge. Wish I had this combo. What year was it made & does the barrel have the ".280 Rem or 7mm express" rollmark?

 

[Quattroclick]

The gun dates to 1989, the year that I decided that I'd had enough of college. It is marked 280 Rem. I have my fingers crossed that I found a good shooter, not one of the M77's that are "directionally challenged".

 

[3DTESTIFY]

Well, 1989 would make it near the end of the Wilson barrel contract. Ruger started hammer forging their own barrels in the 1990-1991 time frame. It's more than likely a good barrel & shooter.

 

[Quattroclick]

I am putting together 3 or 4 loads tonight and will give them a try tomorrow.

I took the trigger apart and did a half hour of work with fine stones, and the trigger now cleanly breaks at about 3 pounds. I can live with that.

 

[3DTESTIFY]

Keep us updated once you send a few rounds down the tube.

 

[Rocdoc]

Been watching a new Hawkeye at a local FFL, great price, might get better, we'll see. No experience with the 280, but seems like a cool round with a lot of potential.

 

[LarryH]

Best shooting M77 I have ever had was a .280. It was marked 7mm Remington Express. Bought it from a guy in San Diego for 150 bucks and he was in such a hurry to get to the bar across the street that he threw in 10 boxes of ammo!! Stock was beat to hell and a very poor glass bedding job had been attempted. I shot it anyways to see what it could do and it was a laser! A guy at the range there saw what a shooter it was and offered me 400 bucks on the spot! Young, dumb and poor Navy E-4 that I was I couldn't pass that up. It had a Leupold M8-4x on it and he didn't even want the scope so we took it off at the bench, shook hands and I took a check for 400 bucks! Have always regretted that sale!

 

[Quattroclick]

I posted some targets in another thread.

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=96267

The gun has a pretty short throat, and I will need to go back to do some more load development. The plummy colored receiver of this gun and the really nice polish looks great in the sun!

It seems that most of the comments about 280 rem M77s seem to be pretty positive. Maybe 7mm barrels during the Wilson era were somewhat better? Who knows...... I

Larry, $150 for the gun with ammo must have been a deal! I can't believe he didn't want the M8! My favorite scopes.

 

[LarryH]

Like I said, He was in a pretty big hurry to get to the bar across the street.
I still have the scope. May even have a few boxes of the ammo still!