Ruger M77 Tang Safety 308win barrel life

[98s1lightning]

How many rounds is a Tang M77 expected to get from a factory barrel in 308win if you shot 150gr and 168gr at factory velocities??

They must run bout 2800 and 2650 respectively???

Idk never run or paid too much attention to 308,

I like 284win and read a lot of references to where 2800fps was a "magic" number for decent barrel life expectancy. (150gr @ 2800 from this cartridge is what I get.)
Also 284win was on my threshold of tolerable recoil, 308wins always beat me up. I think its due to bore diameter, and maybe the rifles were too big for me and didn't fit me well.

 

[Buckleman]

I'd say 5-8K

 

[VinceMule]

Powder types have a LOT to do with barrel life, check the Heat Index chart to see how hot your particular powder burns.

8208 and R#15 are among the worst offenders

One thing for sure, if you don't keep the carbon out of the barrel, life will be shortened significantly, use good bronze bristle brushes.

Also, how long the throat was when the barrel was new also comes into play.

The Tang safety Rugers do not have the high-quality barrels of the 77 Mark II, Bill Ruger had to die for that to happen.

Accuracy sure means different things to different people. OP, you should consider putting on a Gel Tec recoil pad from Limbsaver, they are wonderful, to say the least on heavy kickers. If you want a real tack driver on your 77 Tang safety, have a 6.5x47 Lapua installed on that short action...you will be in hog heaven!

I never thought there was much if any difference in recoil between a 284 and 308,

 

[baldhunter]

Bore size,powder capacity,powder type,high velocity and pressure,shooting too many rounds down a hot barrel without letting it cool down all have an effect on barrel life.If you have ever used a cutting torch you will understand heat and metal better.The 308 Win is not a cartridge that is known to be a barrel burner,so you can expect several thousand rounds before the barrel is gone.So put that aside,change out the hard red pad on your Ruger 77 Tanger,put a Limbsaver pad on it and you will think you are shooting a much smaller caliber.I have a 338 Win Mag 77 Tanger.With the red pad,it was all the recoil I cared for.In other words,it was not fun to shoot.I put a Limbsaver on it and it was a pleasure to shoot.I ended up re-barreling that rifle because it did have a bad barrel.The early 77 Tangers had Douglas barrels and had very good accuracy.The barrel on my rifle fell into the years Ruger switched to Wilson barrels.The problem with my rifle barrel was,the barrel was full of deep pits,even in the chamber.I can't say it was bad maching on Wilson's part,it was the metal the barrel was made from had voids in it.

 

[Rflshootr]

Easily 4K if the barrel is taken care of.

 

[VinceMule]

Op's barrel is typical of many of those rifles, I owned a flock of them, and the Ruger #1's were some of the worst of that time. Ruger barrels made today are light years ahead of those older barrels as a rule, but there were exceptions. I had Douglas re-barrel quite few ending up with real tack drivers after removing the center screw and floating the magazine box, of course, bedded action and free floated barrels.

The Limbsaver Air Tec recoil pad is a game changer in absorbing recoil from 25/06 on up.

 

[APDDSN0864]

Ruger will spin a new hammer forged barrel on your receiver for a reasonable price.
I had an old M77 RL tang safety in .308 Win that would shoot no better than 2" groups @100 yards. I had the barrel spun off the receiver and mailed it to Ruger. Three weeks later the barreled action was sent back to me with the receiver refinished and sights installed.
That barrel would shoot!

Ed

 

[VinceMule]

Ruger will re barrel a rifle of theirs as long as it it still in production. So, a simple call will verify on your 77 Tang safety. I called last year, $280 was what they were charging for a Stainless replacement.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I'm running a Broughton 5c barrel on my .308win. It has 1,800 rounds down the bore and still shoots under 1/2"moa @ 400yds. All of my loads are at book max but I never shoot the gun hot and clean the bore regularly.

Of all the rifles I've owned, only the .308 could exceed 1,000 rounds without a decline in accuracy. Most of my rifles are rebarreled at or near 1,000 rounds.

 

[cvixx]

How many rounds is a Tang M77 expected to get from a factory barrel in 308win if you shot 150gr and 168gr at factory velocities??

They must run bout 2800 and 2650 respectively???

Idk never run or paid too much attention to 308,

I like 284win and read a lot of references to where 2800fps was a "magic" number for decent barrel life expectancy. (150gr @ 2800 from this cartridge is what I get.)
Also 284win was on my threshold of tolerable recoil, 308wins always beat me up. I think its due to bore diameter, and maybe the rifles were too big for me and didn't fit me well.

Are you the original owner? If, not, the round count may be off. My 77 tang model is in .338.

 

[Alibiiv]

How many rounds is a Tang M77 expected to get from a factory barrel in 308win if you shot 150gr and 168gr at factory velocities??

They must run bout 2800 and 2650 respectively???

Idk never run or paid too much attention to 308,

I like 284win and read a lot of references to where 2800fps was a "magic" number for decent barrel life expectancy. (150gr @ 2800 from this cartridge is what I get.)
Also 284win was on my threshold of tolerable recoil, 308wins always beat me up. I think its due to bore diameter, and maybe the rifles were too big for me and didn't fit me well.

I have a safe full of Ruger 77 tang safety rifles as do many family members. Some of them have the original factory barrels some have Lilja barrels, and they all shoot well. I do not know the round counts on my rifles, however I can tell you that they are shot regularly and no issues whatsoever. I am curious about how well the bore has been cleaned on this particular rifle. I have found that paying attention to cleaning the bores well can help. For me it seems that the copper manages to build up if I do not pay attention to the cleaning process. I have 35 Whelens, 06s, .358 Winchester and a couple of .308 Winchesters. As for recoil I have installed KickEez or Pachmyer Decelerator pads to tame down the Whelens and the 06s.

 

[baldhunter]

Ruger will re barrel a rifle of theirs as long as it it still in production. So, a simple call will verify on your 77 Tang safety. I called last year, $280 was what they were charging for a Stainless replacement.

I looked into that when I re-barrel my tang safety 77,Ruger's website said they no longer did re-barreling on the tang safety models.I sent mine to Shaw and they did a really good job on the crome moly barrel.I had it blued by them and they may have blued the receiver as well because it was a perfect match.It easily shoots 3/4" groups now,before the factory barrel was 3"-4".The cost for everything was right at $600.

 

[Taj]

Ruger will spin a new hammer forged barrel on your receiver for a reasonable price.
I had an old M77 RL tang safety in .308 Win that would shoot no better than 2" groups @100 yards. I had the barrel spun off the receiver and mailed it to Ruger. Three weeks later the barreled action was sent back to me with the receiver refinished and sights installed.
That barrel would shoot!

Ed

Before Ruger started making their own barrels, it was not uncommon to get one that wouldn't hold 3 inches at 100yrds. When I had the shop, I had many customers bring in those old flat bolt guns and beg us to make them shoot. We were able to improve some, but others were hopeless. I remember pouring a hand lap for one after trying everything else, and about broke my neck when the lap got about half way down the barrel and "jumped" about 3 inches. Ruger was buying barrel blanks from a couple of different makers, one of which was Wilson Barrels( not the pistol builder). It was my understanding that Ruger never rejected a barrel and quality was wide ranging. Things are much better since they started making their own.