The Ruger Model 77/357

When WBR, William Battenfield Ruger to most of the world, decided to develop, produce and market a bolt action hunting rifle he was well aware of the established competition he’d be facing. Both had been performing magnificently in the field for decades. One was the Winchester Model 70, the other was the Remington 700. The Winchester would eventually suffer seriously in quality under the offshore ownership of U. S.

Repeating Arms, a little exercise in MBA stupidity could not be predicted and has since been overcome. The Remington 700 became the base platform for a complete line of hunting rifles. From all reports, The Freedom Group has vowed no goofs resembling those made with the Model 70 will befall Remington 700 rifles. Seven, then, seemed to be the lucky digit shared by the main competition of the oncoming Ruger rifle. WBR, not being exactly the shy type, decided to meet them head-on. In 1968, he announced the Model 77.

Some of the features setting it apart from its primary competitors are apparent. Others are not. Among the latter, bolts of the Models 70 and 700 are machined from bar stock. The Model 77 bolt is investment cast and lacking the lengthwise grain structure that can fracture under severe stress. The same lack is true of its receiver.

In tests conducted using a Tinnius-Olsen dynamometer linked to a hydraulic ram, Ruger engineers wrung out Model 77 bolts against those for the Mauser, Model 70 and Model 700 in a deliberate attempt to shear off the lugs. Ruger’s bolts outlasted all the others. Very likely, this was due in no small way to the use of heat treated, chrome-moly steel in their investment casting. Among more obvious differences is the flange reaching completely across the left hand end of the receiver.

With it, any gas that might travel back via the left lugway due to a defective cartridge, including one having been double charged in error during reloading, never gets to smack the shooter in the face. The gas is instead deflected to the side by that flange. No small amount of attention was devoted to the receiver-integrated scope base, either. Without exception, a scope rides higher on a bolt action rifle with iron sights.

A scope secured in high rings forces the shooter to strain his or her neck upward in the process of bringing scope crosshairs or dot onto the target. This factor caused WBR to insist the Model 77 scope mount provide the lowest possible sighting line. When first introduced the M77 scope mount was the lowest of any leaving any factory. How has the M77 made out?

Since its introduction, sales have reached over a million and the platform has been extended to include an everenlarging assortment of calibers including the .22 LR, .17 HMR and .44 Magnum.. It was merely a matter of receiving a sizeable volume of requests to have the.357 Magnum join them. Thus, we are brought face to face, you and I, with the primary subject of this fountain of useful information: The Ruger Model 77/357.

Field Stripping I’m assuming you’ll meet up with the same problem I did in field stripping the rifle, and I can assure you there’s a large one lurking in the form of a monster screw. I’ll get to beating that bad boy into submission in the section on Detailed Disassembly but, to spare you trouble and considerable frustration, I recommend you skip forward to the paragraph with beginning with the words, "Before detaching the stock…" therein. Remove the sling, scope and rings if they are present.

In case it is not, press the rear sight blade to its down (flat) position. Place the safety "ON," open the bolt, check the chamber and remove the magazine by pushing upward on the magazine latch. Pivot the bolt handle up, depress the bolt stop and withdraw the bolt from the receiver. It may be impossible for you to separate the stock from the action at this time and would be well

served by first reading the text on detaching the stock to which I just referred. I pause. You have probably noticed I have departed from my usual format by not including numbers for the parts mentioned so far. It’s only temporary. The names and numbers exist alright but they’re all crammed together in a list that includes the 77/22, 77/HMR and 77/44 Magnum plus their variants.

Not only do I find that alone presents the probability of confusion, it is combined with the Ruger penchant for identifying parts with as few as one letter plus two digits and as many as three letters and five digits. After so many years have passed since the practice began, I doubt any arm wrestling outside corporate headquarters could change it.

I figured there must be a simplified method and since the five digit base part number for the 77/357 are The action cannot be separated from the stock with the screw in place. identical with those parts of the other Ruger models, that’s the way I’m presenting them here. Please note the data from Ruger has all this data appearing on a single page in the owner’s manual but the base number is the same.

For example, the Bolt Lock Plunger for the 77/22 is J02600 and is KJ02600 for the 77/44, but the based ID of 02600 is common to all. For this article, I prepared the schematic and parts list showing the specific parts mentioned sans the additional rifle-specific identifying letters. Note, when ordering Areplacement parts from Ruger or anyone else, have the serial number of the rifle on hand and always mention the specific model and caliber before placing the order.

To continue, the 77/357 is a boltaction, rotary magazine fed hunting rifle. Magazine capacity is five, stainless barrel length is 18.5 inches, twist is 1:16 RH with 8 grooves and weight is 5.50 pounds. Scope ring seats are machined into the receiver and rings with screws, an $80.00 value, are provided with the rifle. The front sight contains a gold A

bead and the rear sight is adjustable. Once the bolt and lesser accoutrements mentioned previously have been removed, you can consider the gun field stripped for basic cleaning. That could include an immersion of the bolt in a good cleaning fluid for a soaking and multiple flushings. I’ve found hardware store paint thinner or mineral spirits very good for this. The time devoted to soaking and flushing would depend on how badly the bolt is fouled, but avoid sloshing any wooden stock with the liquid.

Detailed Disassembly To disassemble the bolt, refer to the four drawings taken from the owner’s manual and reproduced here. Hold on to the bolt handle (01001) and rotate the bolt sleeve clockwise to the position shown in Fig. 7. Rotate the breech block (20906) until you see the head of its retaining pin (00800) precisely aligned with the large hole in the sleeve. There will be a slightly smaller hole opposite the large hole.

Insert a proper size A A pin, nail or punch is inserted to act as a T-handle and remains in place until after the bolt is reassembled. (A) is the trigger pin and (B) is the combination sear/bolt stop/stop spring pin. Note how the spring is installed before completely drifting out the pin right to left. drift in the smaller hole and push out the pin. Slide the breech block forward and out of the bolt. Locate the disassembly hole in the striker/ cocking piece assembly (01800).

Insert a small drift punch or suitably sized nail two inches long into the hole to retain the cocking piece to the rear. Leave the nail or punch in place to assist in reassembly. For the present, the punch or nail can serve as a T-handle to unscrew the striker/cocking piece assembly from the bolt (Fig. 9). On your bench and not to be lost are the breech block retaining pin, breech block, bolt handle and a striker/cocking piece assembly composed of parts 01104, 01300, 04900, 01200A, 04500, 02600, 04600 and 01706.

All these B Abits and pieces just mentioned remain as is. No further disassembly is advised. At lease one member of the group is on the restricted list. Before detaching the stock, the bolt and magazine must be out of the rifle. Turn the rifle upside down. Back out the rear mounting screw (04800) at the rear of the trigger guard (20203). The guard is lifted upward, then pivoted forward and clear of the trigger.

Attached to the front end of the trigger guard is the magazine latch lever (03400) and the balance of the magazine release components. Guard, lever and components are lifted out as a unit. Take a deep breath. The front mounting screw (04703) should have been called Frankenstein. It’s been tightened to 60 inch-pounds

of torque. Breaking it loose without damaging its head slot can be a royal pain but you can’t free up the stock while that screw remains installed. I think I know why Ruger turns some of their mounting screws in as tightly as they do. As long as the barreled action and stock remain together there’s no access to the trigger and safety assemblies on a M77. I recall one such screw on another rifle that had been tightened to 90 inch-pounds! My wrench was only a 60 inch-pounder.

I say "was" because it got wrecked when I loaned it out once (NEVER again.) I had to buy anew one when screw 04703 came along after trying several alternatives. One of those alternatives was to take a square-shafted driver with a blade fitting solidly in the screw slot. I clamped on to the shaft with a six inch long crescent wrench, bore down heavily on the driver handle and used the shaft of the wrench to gain leverage in getting the screw started out. No movement.

On my next attempt, vise grips were locked on the driver shaft. Still not enough leverage. Bottom line, use a torque wrench. Remembering all too well that 90 pounder I ran into on that other rifle I decided to spare myself a lot of angst by sending off for anew torque wrench. Better still, anew adjustable one. They’re not nearly as economical as a wrench limited to a single number of inch-pounds but are far more versatile in the long run.

The ¼ inch drive wrench I secured to conquer Frankenstein came from Brownells catalog #64, page 444, lower left-hand corner. Saying it is merely "adjustable" would be a terrible understatement. This California Torque Wrench has a 12-inch handle and adjusts from 30 to 200 inch-pounds! Along with it I ordered in a small but indispensable item appearing directly above the wrench description: A ¼-inch square-to-hex converter. It snaps on the drive shaft, has a magnetic insert, a snap ring and accepts all ¼" hex bits.

The bit I selected from my Magna- Tip set fit the screw slot perfectly. It was a #430-5. Frankenstein caved instantly and undamaged. I can hardly wait for the next 90-pound torqued-in screw to come in. The California will always be standing by, locked securely inside my tool drawer. A loaner it is not. With the monster exiled, carefully separate the barreled action from the stock. Turn the receiver upside down and examine how the bolt stop plunger spring (05401) has been installed.

Refer to the small schematic (A) within the main schematic. Place the safety selector (03800) in the "fire" position (fully forward). Back to the main schematic. You would be well advised to slip a plastic bag over the receiver from here on in. Hold the trigger (02000) in place while you push out the trigger pin (D-19). The trigger is under tension from the trigger/sear spring (02400). The plastic bag will prevent the spring from escaping completely. Return to drawing (A) of the safety assembly for a minute.

From the safety side of the receiver, push the combination sear/bolt stop/bolt stop spring pin (04201) inward about ¼ inch to free the selector retaining plate (02100). Do not allow the combination pin to exit the receiver. Move the selector to its center position. Hold it there, slide the retaining plate downward and out. The lever itself is lifted free but I warn you, there’s a spring (D-32) and detent (04300) exerting some pressure on the lower section of the selector lever.

Once the lever is out they are likely to fly free. The bag will catch them if they do. If they don’t, you can tweeze them from the receiver. Take a close look at that combination pin (04201). It has many responsibilities besides helping with the selector retaining plate. It retains the sear, the bolt stop spring and the bolt stop pretty much in that order. You have to go about removing it—slowly—from the right hand side of the receiver. Place a finger on the bolt stop but don’t cover the head of the pin.

Push out the combination pin just far enough to free up the sear. Turn the receiver upside down. Slide the sear (02302) forward and it will fall from the receiver top slot. It’s OK now to uncover the pin head and push the pin all the way out to the left but keep your finger on the bolt stop itself. Carefully detach the stop from the receiver by lifting it away from the stop spring hook at the front end of the stop and the spring coil at the rear.

Hopefully, the spring will either remain hooked to the receiver or enter the plastic bag. If it stays put, you can push it downward and off the receiver. Wherever the spring ends up, transfer it right quickly into a magnetic parts tray. That about does it except for the extractor (01421). The pin retaining it (05800) is located at the forward end of the breech block (20906). It is a roll pin. A very small roll pin requiring a very small roll pin punch.

By the same token, a very small tool is required for insertion between the rear end of the extractor and the extractor spring (05700) without damaging the spring and pushing it to the rear. This allows downward drifting of the pin and removal of the extractor to the front of the breech block. I suspect the spring will need no coaxing to exit the block on its own. Take care not to lose it. I suspect my oft-repeated suggestion regarding the drifting of roll pins is worth repeating.

It isn’t necessary to move them any farther than required to free the part they retain despite their partially remaining within the work piece. Doing so makes reinstalling a roll pin, small or large, back where it was without loss in alignment between pin and part while avoiding damage far more likely. There, I’ve said it again. AG

Safety Selector 03800 Trigger 02000 Trigger Pin D-19 Trigger/Seat Spring 02400 Bolt Stop/Stop Spring Pin 04201 Selector Retaining Plate 02100 Spring D-32 Detent 04300 Bolt Handle 01001 Breech Block 20906 Breech Block Retaining Pin 00800 Rear Mounting Screw 04800 Trigger Guard 20203 Magazine Latch Lever 03400 Front Mounting Screw 04703 Bolt Stop Spring 05401 Ruger Model 77/357 (Speci ications subject to change without notice) Sear 02302 Extractor 01421 Extractor Pin 05800 Extractor Spring 05700 Striker/Cocking Piece Parts Cocking Piece 01800 Firing Pin 01104 Striker 01300 Striker Cross Pin 04900 Striker Spring 01200A Bolt Lock Plunger Spring 04500 Bolt Lock Plunger 02600 Bolt Lock Plunger Retain 04600 Bolt Sleeve 01706