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Forum Index > Rifles general discussion > Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube

Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube

15 Mar 2017
@ 11:01 am (GMT)

Adam Kolesar

Hey all,
New to the forum. I've studied Nathan's treatise on bedding as well as viewing the video series and am reading the books. All eye openers.
I own a Ruger M77 Hawkeye (non-tang safety) in .338 Win Mag.
I'm aware of the need to bed this rifle front/back given the fixed trigger design.
I was wondering if any of you have seen the YouTube vid on accurizing a 30.06
M77 Tang safety.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ5i1MJefYk
Just wondering if the basic procedure that is depicted is sound, especially the rear portion of the receiver bedding.
I see where Nate's procedure is more precise and see opportunity for refining the process. Just want to make sure I have a general idea of how thing go before committing. BTW I'll be using the Match Grade bedding compound and now see why the compound needs to set up prior to settling the action.
Many Thanks.

Replies

1
16 Mar 2017
@ 09:15 pm (GMT)

Benn Harvey-Walker

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Hi Adam,

If it's the same video I've been looking at lately (presenter with a South African accent), there are three fundamental errors in his process.

1) He relieved the back (vertical) face of the recoil lug, as well as the sides, front and bottom. The back face should not be relieved.

2) He did not relieve the vertical sides of the action, nor did he relieve the vertical faces of the tang.

3) He did not remove stock material corresponding to the bottom of the action and under the tang such that the bedding compound between these two flat faces wound up essentially transparent it was so thin.

When the presenter test fired the rifle, to his befuddlement, he got double-grouping and proceeded to cast doubt on the scope.

More likely the rifle does not consistently return to battery because of the relieved recoil lug and possible pinching of the action in the stock.

I'd strongly recommend studying Nathan's videos very closely and take note of the methods used to ensure consistent return to battery.

Hope that helps?

Cheers,

Benn
17 Mar 2017
@ 01:57 am (GMT)

Adam Kolesar

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Thank you Benn,
The vid i cited is indeed the well intentioned South African fellow.
Your observations totally make sense to me.
All the points you mention confirm the basic bedding procedure as outlined by Nathan.
I thought the minimal amount of bedding, especially under the tang seemed inadequate in the absence of reliving the stock surface.
The lug tape reliving strategy also makes sense.
I appreciate your contextualizing the procedure's steps to the particular quirks of the M77.
The gentleman's grouping post-procedure verify the need to re-examine his process. That said, there is plenty to learn from as the results speak for themselves.
Appreciate the guidance!
Adam

17 Mar 2017
@ 09:30 am (GMT)

Martin Taylor

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Adam I don't bother watching you tube videos on how to bed a rifle as most totally cock it up. Starting with the fundamental's then getting worse as Benn has said or just muddle their way through with stupid quotes like "this is how l do any rifle and it works a treat"........

Stick with your book info, seek Nathan & Steph's guidance to clarify relief points etc. (if needed). Use the TBR kit as it is by far the easiest with complex action shapes/designs. l have found this out after experimenting with many types/brands, if you have to force the action down into the bedding material its not stress free hey!

l know Nathan is working towards some more bedding how to videos like the Remington Sendero one to offer people another form of guidance other than written and still pictures.
17 Mar 2017
@ 10:48 am (GMT)

Benn Harvey-Walker

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
No trouble Adam.

I'm about half way through bedding a Ruger M77 Mk2 as we speak - hence my interest in the same video.

Because of the small size and complex shape of the recoil lug, I decided to try out a tip I read recently - which is to use a couple of very thick layers of nail polish to 'paint' the areas to be relieved. (I packed the screw hole with plasticine beforehand and the nail polish stuck to that quite happily.)

I did the same on the vertical faces of the tang - the idea being that the polish can be dissolved with nail polish remover afterwards.

The sides of the action, stock etc. I did with masking tape as per normal.

I'll be breaking the rifle open this afternoon, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers,

Benn
17 Mar 2017
@ 01:10 pm (GMT)

mark whiteley

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Hi Adam
the guy is a bit agricultural in his methods but it is what he knows
it makes a lot of sense if you are using match grade bedding to use Nathans instructions,
what I would like to offer IMO is that with ruger's especially the tang models to pillar the rear no different than a mauser 98
it's not difficult to do and gives strength against crushing to the rear where you don't have a lot of area for bedding material
I wouldn't be going and buying pillars either just get some tubing or Nathan suggests an arrow for making pillar tubes
good luck with it anyway
regards Mark
17 Mar 2017
@ 01:49 pm (GMT)

Adam Kolesar

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Thank You gentlemen,
A sound strategy is emerging from good advice. The pillar bedding is a potentially interesting idea. Ready made M77 pillars are available from Brownell's for under $15.00 and include the front pillar with angle/cut out to accommodate the recoil lug. I would however be a bit apprehensive drilling a seemingly complex angle to fit the pillar.
The idea of nail polish would certainly insure adequate relief for the front and vertical surfaces of the recoil lug.
I appreciate the support and look forward to Benn's outcome on his own M77.
Now if the weather in the Northeast would improve....
-Adam
17 Mar 2017
@ 06:29 pm (GMT)

Paul Leverman

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Adam - Listen to what the good folks here have to offer. Before my acquaintance with the guru, I bought that same pillar kit from those guys. Don't. Don't buy it. Don't waste your money. They are so unusable, it's amazing that they don't have any bad reviews. The pillars diameters would require so much stock removal that you would probably never get the action to set true again. Just don't. Do it Nathan's way and you won't regret it. My Mkll turned out almost perfect, with only a dozen or so air pockets and voids, which of course, were my fault. But after shooting it, there was no need to rework it. One day I will rework it, but for now, it's a hunter.
17 Mar 2017
@ 10:51 pm (GMT)

mark whiteley

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Adam
I totally agree with Paul that the brownells ruger pillars are a waste,
I have tried them in a tang safety ruger, they are an odd size bigger than half inch, I did install the rear to stop the crushing over time and would show you a pic but Photobucket is playing up at the moment, I thinned the rear pillar down before fitting as I thought it was way to thick, if you can drill a straight hole and measure your rear action screw hole depth with your verniers its easy to make one out of a bit of tube and fit,
maybe it is more of a good idea with the tang safety models
I like to do it anyway
regards Mark
18 Mar 2017
@ 03:26 am (GMT)

Adam Kolesar

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Great advice. Always better to work from a consensus of folks who have been there before. Nathan advised that he was unaware of any smiths stateside with the requisite experience to optimally accruize the M77. The group's experience has given me the confidence to tackle this procedure myself while I await the arrival of the bedding kit. As they say, no one will care about the project more than you...
18 Mar 2017
@ 08:42 am (GMT)

Martin Taylor

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
It got the better of me so l had a look at that video...........and turned it of after a couple of minutes, if that.
Well intentioned, maybe, totally incorrect and flawed, definitely.
I feel for the poor sods that have copied that procedure/technique and now have rifles just shooting moa etc. Please stick with your plan Adam.

With regards to pillars, often they are needed due to compression, age, over oiling etc. & Nathan gives excellent advice on making and incorporating them into your bedding job.
Often you can get away with increasing the foot print of the tang (or trouble area) with the compound, think like with the footings of a building. The bricks although narrow are supported by a wider footed bed. Cutting into and/or under cutting the stock will achieve the same result. Spreading the load across a large area of compound, same as around the working face of the recoil lug.

Cheers Marty
19 Mar 2017
@ 08:52 am (GMT)

Nathan Foster

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Hi Adam, welcome aboard.

Thanks Marty and others for jumping on to this. My goodness, that is pretty bad workmanship.

As the others have said, please follow the advice given in the books and on the website. We should also have video footage ready at some stage in the near future.

19 Mar 2017
@ 02:52 pm (GMT)

mark whiteley

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
my photobucket issues have been fixed so here's the ruger pillar from brownells I fitted into a new walnut stock I have, I thinned it down though so there is still plenty of stock around it

and

I got the idea on why I would do it from Nathans books and knowledge base
pg 121 in the bolt action rifle accurizing & maintenance is only part of why I started to pillar rear action screws on some makes of rifle after getting an understanding on where weakness's may be and why

also here is a crappy photo of a pillar I have recently done on a mauser 98

that is done in steel tube that I got from this tyer pump connection because it was all I had at the time, this rifle shoots dots and is one of my hunting rig's
best regards Mark


19 Mar 2017
@ 02:58 pm (GMT)

mark whiteley

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
here is what is left of the steel tyer pump connection

as I said it was what I had at the time
regards Mark
21 Mar 2017
@ 12:00 pm (GMT)

Benn Harvey-Walker

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Hi again Adam,

A few days ago I separated the bedded action on my M77. It turned out well, but thought I'd take the rifle to the range first to check just how well it worked.

Pretty happy with the end result.

The following two pics were taken after some initial clean up. (Note, the stock needs restoration. The previous owner banged the rifle around a fair bit.)

<a href="http://s284.photobucket.com/user/bennhw/media/Ruger%20M77/image_2.jpeg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/bennhw/Ruger%20M77/image_2.jpeg" border="0" alt=" photo image_2.jpeg"/></a>

<a href="http://s284.photobucket.com/user/bennhw/media/Ruger%20M77/image.jpeg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/bennhw/Ruger%20M77/image.jpeg" border="0" alt=" photo image.jpeg"/></a>

As you can see, the fingernail polish tended to transfer to the bedding compound, despite using a releasing agent.

It cleaned off easily with nail polish remover, though you'll see some red staining remains.

<a href="http://s284.photobucket.com/user/bennhw/media/Ruger%20M77/image_3.jpeg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/bennhw/Ruger%20M77/image_3.jpeg" border="0" alt=" photo image_3.jpeg"/></a>

<a href="http://s284.photobucket.com/user/bennhw/media/Ruger%20M77/image_1.jpeg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/bennhw/Ruger%20M77/image_1.jpeg" border="0" alt=" photo image_1.jpeg"/></a>

The tang doesn't look as good as the front bedded section, but with under-cutting the stock etc., I managed to get 1.5-2mm of bedding material under the tang.

Most importantly though, did it work?

After reassembly and installing a new scope and then sighting in, the rifle shot this ... second load in first ladder test:

<a href="http://s284.photobucket.com/user/bennhw/media/Ruger%20M77/IMG_0167.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/bennhw/Ruger%20M77/IMG_0167.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_0167.jpg"/></a>

This is a 3-shot group at 100 yards ... 0.265MOA ... using 190gn Berger VLDs over 52gns of AR2209 and CCI large rifle primers. Seating depth was max. COAL for the cartridge 3.34".

Given the rifle only cost me about AUD$550, I'm pretty happy. Of course, this result will need to be repeated, but it's off to a good start!

Cheers,

Benn
21 Mar 2017
@ 11:54 pm (GMT)

Paul Leverman

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Great idea, Benn. I wish I had come across my tire gauge before I used what I found. In my case, it was the gas tubes from an oxy-acetylene torch head. They worked great, but they have very thick walls, so I had to drill them out. I had also tried other tubing that I had laying around, but found that much of it is too hard to work with, so to all that are going to make your own, do a file scratch test on your material first. If the file won't cut it, don't use it. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration.
22 Mar 2017
@ 05:56 am (GMT)

Adam Kolesar

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Gentlemen,
Thanks again for sage advice. My phone did not pick up Benn's photos, but I'll try again when I return home. In terms of my own journey, I encountered a unexpected issue upon removing the action for the first time. There is a crack in the section of wood between the trigger relief and mag box. I forwarded the pic to Nathan and he diagnosed the problem as an over tightened middle screw. He also suggested the crack would render groupings similar to my 12 guage.
So, after considering options including repair, I ordered a Boyd's laminate Stock. Price including shipping was too good to pass up. The other deciding factor was significantly more stock material to work with in bedding as cited by Nathan. Will keep you posted once the stock arrives.
22 Mar 2017
@ 05:56 am (GMT)

Adam Kolesar

Re: Ruger M77 Bedding Procedure on YouTube
Gentlemen,
Thanks again for sage advice. My phone did not pick up Benn's photos, but I'll try again when I return home. In terms of my own journey, I encountered a unexpected issue upon removing the action for the first time. There is a crack in the section of wood between the trigger relief and mag box. I forwarded the pic to Nathan and he diagnosed the problem as an over tightened middle screw. He also suggested the crack would render groupings similar to my 12 guage.
So, after considering options including repair, I ordered a Boyd's laminate Stock. Price including shipping was too good to pass up. The other deciding factor was significantly more stock material to work with in bedding as cited by Nathan. Will keep you posted once the stock arrives.
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