1974 Ryger M77 trigger group photos wanted

[Gunner Asch]

I swapped a 1974 Ruger M77 (7 mag) for some machining. The rifle had
been partially damaged in a fire, but had been restocked, Duracoated
but never reassembled. Im missing a few bits and pieces...but nothing
disturbing. Im trying to assemble the trigger group so I can take it
out and test fire it to make sure there isnt any metal issues. (Tie
the action to a tire, load a hot round and pull the trigger with a
long string) Nothing leads me to believe that the heat treats were
damaged...springs are all ok, but I need to check it out nonetheless.

Anyone have a pre 1985 M77 that they can take a couple decent close up
photos of the trigger mechanism? Ive got the Ruger exploded
diagrams..but they made one minor revision and 2 major ones in the
70s/80s and mine isnt shown..and some details dont match up.

If you have a M77 with a serial number starting with 70-85.....that
would be the proper age range. That "70" indicates 1973/1974 and
would be a close match

My other Rugers are of a lot later vintage.

Ill be needing a trigger guard AND a magazine box. The previous owner
lost them...sigh. And a set of scope mounts if anybody has such
critters...trading is open..once I fire the rifle and it doesnt
explode.....

I may at a later date..have it rebarreled to 300 Win Mag...shrug.
Maybe.

With luck..this is going to be a rough duty long range
rifle....assuming it doesnt explode. Shrug.

Thanks!

Gunner


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[Bob Holtzman]

On 2013-05-04, Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com> wrote:
# I swapped a 1974 Ruger M77 (7 mag) for some machining. The rifle had
# been partially damaged in a fire, but had been restocked, Duracoated
# but never reassembled. Im missing a few bits and pieces...but nothing
# disturbing. Im trying to assemble the trigger group so I can take it
# out and test fire it to make sure there isnt any metal issues. (Tie
# the action to a tire, load a hot round and pull the trigger with a
# long string) Nothing leads me to believe that the heat treats were
# damaged...springs are all ok, but I need to check it out nonetheless.

Firing "one hot round" probably won't tell you much about the metal.
Best to have th Rockwell hardness of at least the front receiver ring
checked.

--
Bob Holtzman

[Gunner Asch]

On Sat, 4 May 2013 21:28:42 +0000 (UTC), Bob Holtzman <hol...@cox.net>
wrote:

#On 2013-05-04, Gunner Asch <gunne...@gmail.com> wrote:
## I swapped a 1974 Ruger M77 (7 mag) for some machining. The rifle had
## been partially damaged in a fire, but had been restocked, Duracoated
## but never reassembled. Im missing a few bits and pieces...but nothing
## disturbing. Im trying to assemble the trigger group so I can take it
## out and test fire it to make sure there isnt any metal issues. (Tie
## the action to a tire, load a hot round and pull the trigger with a
## long string) Nothing leads me to believe that the heat treats were
## damaged...springs are all ok, but I need to check it out nonetheless.
#
#Firing "one hot round" probably won't tell you much about the metal.
#Best to have th Rockwell hardness of at least the front receiver ring
#checked.


Generally its accepted proceedure to fire a HOT round..visa vis any
and all the Proof houses...and as I stated..the springs were not
harmed and the aluminum trigger guard was only cracked..not melted.

I never saw the arm immediately after the fire..only a number of
years later. No pitting is noted on any of the parts ..which is very
common after fire/water. All the springs appear to be of normal
tension/compression. Including the magazine follower spring which
tends to go soft first, being of a very thin material. In fact..I held
in my fingers and flexed/unflexed a couple hundred times while
watching a movie on TV..and no issues were noted.

I have a 97 Winchester and Mod 12 Winchester which are dead soft as
the result of being in a different fire. All the springs are dead and
on the Mod 12. the barrel .has an obvious bend in it. I consider these
suitable for Some Parts/Hanger Queen. Both were badly pitted as well.


But having it Rockwell checked is very doable. Any idea of what the RC
of a Ruger of this age range is supposed to be?

I service machines in machine shops and hardness testers are quite
common in the QA departments

Gunner

[Bob Holtzman]

# Generally its accepted proceedure to fire a HOT round..visa vis any

# and all the Proof houses...and as I stated..the springs were not
# harmed and the aluminum trigger guard was only cracked..not melted.

Good sign. Speaking from memory, The melting point is well below the
heat treating range.

# But having it Rockwell checked is very doable. Any idea of what the RC
# of a Ruger of this age range is supposed to be?

Ruger would be the best source for this info. You probably ran the same
search I did and got the same results....nothing.

The reason I recommended having the hardness checked is that someone far
smarter than I once said "if you can't express it in numbers, you don't
know anything about it".

Remember, it's more fun when they go in the middle.

--
Bob Holtzman