# Ruger M77 Mark II won't shoot



## Kevinitis

Hi I recently bought a like new Ruger M77 Mark II, stainless in a synthetic stock in 30-06. Problem is I took it to the range a week ago and could not get it to hold a group. The group was trailing horizontally about a 4 inches. I don't expect a thousand yard gun out of this but I think it ought to shoot somewhere in the 1-1.5 inch range from the factory. Any suggestions to get this gun to shoot better without breaking the bank?


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## DallanC

Horizontal stringing in my guns always indicated a pressure issue with the stock contacting the barrel. Free floating the barrel, glass bedding the action fixed those issues right up.

-DallanC


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## Gee LeDouche

Also, Check your scope mounts. Make sure they are nice and snug.. (Check the easy stuff first) But I think DallanC is correct. Check the stock and see if the barrel is being pushed on by the stock or a pillar or something. With a synthetic stock, it would be fairly easy to take the barrel and action out of it and sand away enough of the stock where the barrel sits to remove whatever is adding pressure to the barrel.


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## torowy

It was getting worse with each shot? Makes sense that is tension on the barrel, as it heats after each shot the effect is intensified.

edit: I shoot a model 77 mk2 synthetic stock, and it has always been very accurate for me. I've made shots up to 600 yards with it.


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## Kevinitis

I have never done a glass bed job. Is that difficult or is it something that someone with no experience can do? Rugers use a pressure point at the fore end of the stock instead of free floating. Has anyone tried to free float the barrel on a ruger without glass bedding? Or do those two need to be done together? 

The shots did tend to get farther to the right with each shot, but the vertical spread was only about an inch apart lowest to highest. So seems logical that the pressure is coming from the left side. I did check the scope and it was tight, but the scope that came on the gun is a lower end 3x9.


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## Bax*

I think there has been some good suggestions made here. If this were me, here is what I would do:

1- Check scope mounts. Make sure they are tight and nothing is wobbling around.
2- Free float the barrel. Use the dollar bill method to see how far you can slide the bill under the barrel toward the action. Where the bill binds up, you will need to do some work with a barrel channel rasp (barrel bedding tool) which is a fairly simple fix and Youtube has some great videos on how to properly do this.
3- Bed the action. This is probably the most time intensive process and can have some great results. There are great how-to videos on Youtube for this, but it can take a fair amount of time to do this correctly.
4- Trigger job. Rifle Basix makes a pretty easy drop-in trigger to help with creep and over travel (and yes, pull weight).

If you are uncomfortable doing any of these things, there are some great gunsmiths around that could help you accomplish the last three suggestions I have.


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## Bax*

I free floated one of my Ruger rifles without bedding the action and accuracy improved dramatically. So this may be a big piece of the solution for you.

You did mention a cheap scope being mounted on the rifle. Optics as a general rule of thumb should cost at least half of the value of the rifle. So I think that you could definitely benefit from a quality scope. Nikon makes some great glass that doesnt cost a small fortune to buy.


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## Critter

Before you start playing around with bedding the stock and removing material take the rifle out and shoot it again. But this time just a single shot then wait 10 or 15 minutes until the barrel is cool again and take another shot. Do this with a 5 shot group and see what it is doing with the cold barrel.

I'm not sure on how the Ruger Mark II's are set up but the old tang safety model 77's were a bugger to get to shoot right if there was a problem. Most of it was due to the front mounting screw being at a angle pulling the action into the stock.


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## DallanC

And after you try what critter said, pull the action off the stock and cut some temporary shims out of thick paper or milk jug plastic and shim the action up off the stock just enough the barrel floats free. Test shoot that a *few* rounds and see if it improves things... if it does, THEN you work on floating the barrel by rasping the channel like Bax mentioned. If accuracy doesn't improve well you got bigger issues. After a few test shots remove the shims.

What twist is your barrel and what bullets are you shooting out of it? I had a RemM700 in .270 that was unreal how bad it shot. In the end all it took was removing the pressure bump Remington puts in the tip of the stock with a dremel. The gun immediately went to MOA groups with cheap rem corelock ammo.

-DallanC


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## Kevinitis

Great tips! So does the angled front lug of ruger rifles complicate glass bedding? Upgrading the scope is on the to do list but I don't want to put expensive glass on a gun that doesn't shoot. If I can get it to shoot then I would definitely put a nicer scope on it. I am definitely going to give some of the suggestions a try. But I'm gonna call it like it is, ruger rifles are meant to be rugged hunting guns, and are not the type of gun most guys would build a long range rifle on. Rem. 700's or Savages are preferred for that. So I don't want to pour a bunch of money into this one, but I want it to at least be capable to get down to minute of deer.


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## Wind In His Hair

I'll play devil's advocate a little bit. You can always move a nicer scope to another rifle should this one not work out.


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## Gee LeDouche

I doubt this is the case, but take a good look at the rifling in the barrel. It could be pitted or simply warn out. Have you ever seen this gun shoot better than it currently does? May be worth a peek.


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## Kevinitis

Wind In His Hair said:


> I'll play devil's advocate a little bit. You can always move a nicer scope to another rifle should this one not work out.


Great Point, I am sure I could find another gun to put a nice scope on. More likely, I should buy a new scope for my browning 270 wsm, which shoots 3/4 inch groups at 100 yrds. The 270 short mag is my primary rifle for big game.

I bought this Ruger from my uncle on a fire sale who bought it new about 6 years ago. He said he only sighted it in and never used it again. So while it is possible there could be pitting in the barrel, Its not likely. The gun basically looks new, without a scratch on it, stock looks new, outside metal looks perfect. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look down the barrel. He bought it because when he married my aunt, my grandfather wanted him to start hunting. He had never hunted before marrying into the family and never did go hunting after. So when he came up short on cash due to a job situation, I picked it up on a steal. And I figure its always useful to have an 30-06.


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## greenducks

If it were my gun I would pull a scope off another gun I know works and try it on the problem gun before buying or modifying anything. But that's just my opinion.


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## Kevinitis

I called Ruger and they suggested that I try some other bullets and if they don't work then I can send them the gun and they can work on it. But yeah the scope would be something to check.


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## Bax*

Glad to hear Ruger was willing to help out


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## ram2h2o

I have same model Ruger in .308 had the same problem of shots walking up and to the right. I finally called Ruger and they had me send it back. Got the gun back with a new stock and it shot great, no problems since. Ruger does back up their products. Had a Nikon stock and good mounts.


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## Kevinitis

Well maybe that is the problem then. Not sure what they are going to do but if it gets it to about 1-1.5 moa it will be worth it. Now if they would only work on the trigger too!


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## Springville Shooter

They will adjust the fit between the stock and action making sure that there is nothing in a bind. Unfortunately they will not help with the trigger. In my experience, MKII rifles are very sensitive to the tension of the screw at the front of the magazine well. I have found that if this screw is over tightened that the rifle will shoot erratically. Try loosening this screw then just tighten to barely hand snug. Worth a shot.--------SS


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## Kevinitis

Great tip


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## mtnrunner260

If you end up floating the barrel let me know and we can take it into the shop and dremel it out. Also if you glass bed I'd like to help out. Never done one but we could learn together.


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## Kevinitis

Sounds good, I will let you know.


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## DallanC

mtnrunner260 said:


> If you end up floating the barrel let me know and we can take it into the shop and dremel it out. Also if you glass bed I'd like to help out. Never done one but we could learn together.


Just dont forget the releasing agent hehe.

-DallanC


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