Older 358 caliber Ruger 77 questions

TWalker

I bought a Ruger model 77 in 358 Winchester caliber made about 1973.The caliber is stamped on the bottom of the barrel near where it screws into the receiver and no other place. Also, the front integral scope base is drilled and tapped, and has screws, but the rear base is not. Have any of you ever seen this before or can you share any information about if it is factory ? I called Ruger with the serial number and they promised to call me tomorrow with any information they might have on this rifle. Thanks for any replies.

TWalker

After looking the rifle over some more I noticed that the barrel appeared slightly shorter than usual. It measured only 21 1/2 inches. The Ruger name and address was partially covered by the stock. My guess is that it was rechambered or rebored or both. I'll find out what the original caliber was from Ruger's customer service and that should help solve the mystery. Bought it as a shooter at a very good price at an auction so if it shoots good I'll keep it. It came with a Leopold Varix III 3.5-10 AO. I will change the scope to something much smaller, maybe a 4x compact or 1 1/2-5, or a 2-7.

spirits

I would call it my custom Ruger 77 358W. I've had three: 1) one cobbled together from three different Ruger 77s and Ruger 77 IIs(i.e., a stock here, a receiver there, and a pulled barrel), 2) Ruger 77 II .223 Rem converted to 7.62mmX39mm (a stainless Shilen match select barrel and I believe a 220 Swift magazine and follower from Ruger to get it to feed satisfactorily), and 3) Ruger 77 II stainless 30'06 converted to 257 Roberts (that one was easy a stainless Shilen match select barrel). Learned that Ruger 77s and Ruger 77 IIs underwent more changes than one would expect.

JIM STARK

Probably an aftermarket barrel?????
JIM...........

TWalker

It's a Ruger Pre-Warning barrel. Ruger customer service said the rifle originally was a 22-250 shipped in May of 1974. Ammo will be here soon. Looking forward to trying it. I put a Leupold 2-7 scope on it with heavy crosshairs. It might make a good woods gun.

Ambrose

My .358 is an old 1948 Remington 722 that started out as a .300 Savage and had been rebored and rechambered. The barrel has been cut to 21". I set it up with another antique: a Weaver KV. As you probably know, the Remington 722 is as plain as an old tin pail but I kind of like it for that.

I don't know if you reload but I do and have worked up some loads with Hornady brass. (I was pleased to discover recently that Star Line now makes .358 brass.) I've found that Accurate Arms 2520 powder gives me about the best accuracy and velocity in my rifle. I've been using 51 gr. with the Hornady 200 gr. spire, and 46 gr. with the 250 gr. Speer spitzer. Good luck with your rifle; I'll bet it will be a good one.

BTW: I like Ruger 77's, too. I have one in .350 Remington Magnum.EDIT: In reading some of your old posts, I note that you DO reload, and for about the same number of cartridges as I do. And you also seem to favor the similar odd stuff that I collect. (Did you ever get that 8mm Remington Magnum? I bought one of those BDL's and was impressed by the recoil!)

EDIT: In reading some of your old posts, I note that you DO reload and for about the same number of cartridges that I do. And you also seem to favor the same odd stuff that I collect. (Did you ever get that 8mm Remington Magnum? I bought one of those BDL's and was impressed with the recoil!)

TWalker

Thank you for your nice reply. I do like vintage guns and scopes. I am partial to Remington's 721's and 722's. Right now I have a 300 H&H Magnum, a .244, and a fairly rare .243 Winchester. I like the old Weaver KV as well; just put one in pivot mounts on a Pre-64 featherweight M70 30-06. I did find an 8mm Remington Magnum and a Remington 700 350 Magnum as well. I was at a local auction and was high bidder on 10 boxes of Remington 8mm Magnum new unfired brass for all of $50 and I have the dies, but haven't started loading for it yet. The Hornady ammo for the Ruger .358 came in Monday. After 3 rounds to sight in, I was able to put 5 rounds under 2 inches with several touching. My range is only 80 yards but I am extremely pleased as I was shooting off a rolled up jacket.. Got a set of dies so I'm ready to reload. I have some 250 gr. round nose bullets I thought I'd try using .308 brass if the Ruger will stabilize this heavy a bullet. Thank you for the load data. I'll give it a try. Best regards from Virginia's Blue Ridge