Ruger M77 tang safety: glass bed it or not?

[Singleshotneeded]

I've got a 1981 Ruger M77 tang safety rifle in .270 that dad gave me when I started hunting. It shoots pretty decently, one moa with Nosler Accubond bullets, in a 3 shot group.
My question is should I bother glass bedding the action and free floating the barrel on this old classic, or is one moa about the best I'll be able to get out of the old girl? I've a friend that has an old tang safety rifle as well, and his shoots about 1.5 moa, so should I call myself lucky and leave well enough alone? I appreciate any feedback you folks can give me...thanks.

 

[bnewberry]

Leave it be. Why mess with it if it already shoots so well?

 

[Rick Taylor]

Any hunting rifle that shoots into 1 moa with hunting bullets is a rifle to treasure and keep as is! Just enjoy it!!!

 

[wwb]

You ever heard the old advice "If it works, don't fix it" ?

 

[buckeyeshooter]

leave it alone!

 

[PAShooter]

Leave it alone. Only if you plan to hunt under extreme conditions like a two week hunt in wet conditions in Alaska with no real way of drying the gun out. Then I would go to a synthetic stock. I have a tang safety that shot 1 MOA with the factory bedding, glass bedded it with no real improvement. I put on a synthetic stock because of Alaska conditions mentioned above. Now I have a black looking rifle, but it has an extra nice looking stock in storage. I think I'm going to put the wooden stock back on.

 

[Kudu m77]

My 82/83 m77 in 30-06 shot around 1moa 3 shot groups at 100m before bedding, but the problem I had was it sometimes chaged point of impact in hot vs cold weather. Groups would also open up slightly in hot weather. If I were you I would shoot it in different conditions and see if it performs the same each time out. If not, bedding and free floating might be a good idea. Mine shoots 1/2" groups regularly with sierra 165s after I bedded and free floated the barrel.

Pieter

 

[Kudu m77]

This first 5 shot group was before it was bedded.


After bedding I am getting groups like these at 100.



I have read that not everybody got great results after free floating but I cannot see how good bedding can do it any harm. It also depends on the use of the rifle. I enjoy shooting most of my rifles from the bench and enjoy developing loads that shoots small groups. I guess a part of the fun for me is tinkering with the rifle to get the most out of it. I do however agree with the guys that for regular hunting the rifle would be more that accurate enough. 1" is very good for a stock rifle.

Pieter

 

[Beruisis]

I always free floated the barrels & glass bedded the actions (except one). Not much to it.
Always great results. The one I didn't mess with was a 22-250 varmit barrelled tang safety & it would shoot one hole groups with my reloads. That one did get a Canjar single set trigger though.
Beruisis

 

[Lloyd Smale]

got to agree with the others. If i had a tang safety ruger that shot moa with any load I dont think id even pull the stock off to clean it.

 

[Black Fly]

I'm a long time fan of the tang safety models. I have quite a few and have owned a lot more over the years. Some of mine are glassed, some are not. These guns came from the factory with a little pressure from the front of the forend. To get an idea of what it might do without that pressure, you can cut a piece of a credit card to fit in the barrel channel right in front of the front action screw. This should lift the barrel away from the forend. Snug up the screws, farmer tight in front, a little less so in the back and just snug in the middle. You can shoot it and see what happens. If groups get smaller and don't string one way or the other, I would glass it, if not, I wouldn't make any changes. Just for the record, I would use five shots to determine groups. I find three shot groups are usually smaller than five shot groups and you can often see impacts from the gun set more in the five shot groups, but that's just my opinion.
But any across the counter rifle that shoots MOA is a keeper.
Bfly

 

[wwb]

If it's strictly a hunting rifle, stringing of several shots is not really that much of a concern. If the first two shots can be fired in rapid succession and hold a reasonable group, you're good to go. If you need 5 shots on a hunting rifle, you need to sharpen your marksmanship skills. My tang-safety '06 will put the first two within 3/4" of each other, and a third shot will be up and left about 2". Concerned? In almost 40 years with that rifle, I have yet to need a third shot..... and only a handful of times have I needed a second shot.

A target rifle or a prairie dog shooter is a different story..... they should hold poi cold, warm, or hot.

 

[Black Fly]

I'm not saying that anyone would likely get more than three shots at game. I expect we all try to plan on one shot, and on a bad day two.
My intent with larger numbers of shots is to try to find rifle related issues, or in load development to find ammo related issues. My thinking is that with five shot groups you would be more likely to see any rifle related inconsistency. I shoot ten shot groups with rimfires and cast bullet guns as part of my evaluation of loads and guns. It may not make any difference, it's just my way of doing things, others should do what they feel gives them what they want.
Bfly