How many of you have had or wanted a Gorgeous Vintage Rifle

[Wyoming270]

Nice rifle @Wyoming270. I've got a tang safety 77 that I just dropped a new timney in. The factory trigger is good, but I couldn't get it below 3 pounds after honing & changing sear springs. Factory trigger was crisp with zero over travel & very repeatable. Just a tad heavy for my tastes. The timney required a lot of fitting of the stock, but it did give me a very nice 2 pound trigger that matches my other big game rifles.

Those old rugers are tanks. Very undervalued for the strength of action & accuracy potential.

You can get them under 3 lbs, if you know which flat surface to gently shorten by about .001" with an arkansas transluscent whetstone. However, i would not recommend a trigger that light for a hunting rifle shot wearing gloves.


Aa far as strength, i think its impossible to destroy one. Somewhere online there is a thread by a guy who hand loaded 30 06 with alliant reloader 7 instead of 17 and then shot it in his m77. It blew the stock to splinters but the action was ok. Theres also a video on youtube where someone shows another m77 that had the wrong ammunition shot in it, cant remember the details but it was the wrong cartridge by a long ways and should have destroyed the gun but it didnt.

Cool thing with m77 is they have holes either side of the receiver that start from where the bolt face sits and angle forward away from the shooter.

Ans that investment cast receiver is a heavy solid chunk of cast iron that stays consistent with weather changes.

Cant ask for a better hunting rifle.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

Nice rifle @Wyoming270. I've got a tang safety 77 that I just dropped a new timney in. The factory trigger is good, but I couldn't get it below 3 pounds after honing & changing sear springs. Factory trigger was crisp with zero over travel & very repeatable. Just a tad heavy for my tastes. The timney required a lot of fitting of the stock, but it did give me a very nice 2 pound trigger that matches my other big game rifles.

Those old rugers are tanks. Very undervalued for the strength of action & accuracy potential.

glad you are happy with the new trigger. I have hunted a lot in real cold with gloves. Three pounds is my happy zone.

 

[Ben Lamb]

You can get them under 3 lbs, if you know which flat surface to gently shorten by about .001" with an arkansas transluscent whetstone. However, i would not recommend a trigger that light for a hunting rifle shot wearing gloves.


Aa far as strength, i think its impossible to destroy one. Somewhere online there is a thread by a guy who hand loaded 30 06 with alliant reloader 7 instead of 17 and then shot it in his m77. It blew the stock to splinters but the action was ok. Theres also a video on youtube where someone shows another m77 that had the wrong ammunition shot in it, cant remember the details but it was the wrong cartridge by a long ways and should have destroyed the gun but it didnt.

Cool thing with m77 is they have holes either side of the receiver that start from where the bolt face sits and angle forward away from the shooter.

Ans that investment cast receiver is a heavy solid chunk of cast iron that stays consistent with weather changes.

Cant ask for a better hunting rifle.

The pressure relief holes were built into the 1903 Springfield first, irrc, which adopted them as opposed to the Mauser gas vents in the bolt body, which redirects pressure into the magazine. Great safety feature on the 77's. I've taken mine up to the high end on pressure with little wear to show for it.

2 pounds is the correct trigger pull weight on a hunting rifle. Everything else is incorrect and worth fighting over.

My 98 mauser's set trigger is at 8 ounces & my set trigger on a drilling is about 6 oz. Those require a level of engagement & thought with your rifle that helps your focus stay on your game. Super light triggers are a time-tested method to achieve accuracy but they do have their downsides. Similarly, my Ruger #1 is about 6 pounds. While it's crisp, and it is on a hard recoiling chambering, I still prefer a 2 pound trigger. 6 pounds is too much unless the adrenaline is really flowing.

 

[Wyoming270]

The pressure relief holes were built into the 1903 Springfield first, irrc, which adopted them as opposed to the Mauser gas vents in the bolt body, which redirects pressure into the magazine. Great safety feature on the 77's. I've taken mine up to the high end on pressure with little wear to show for it.

2 pounds is the correct trigger pull weight on a hunting rifle. Everything else is incorrect and worth fighting over.

My 98 mauser's set trigger is at 8 ounces & my set trigger on a drilling is about 6 oz. Those require a level of engagement & thought with your rifle that helps your focus stay on your game. Super light triggers are a time-tested method to achieve accuracy but they do have their downsides. Similarly, my Ruger #1 is about 6 pounds. While it's crisp, and it is on a hard recoiling chambering, I still prefer a 2 pound trigger. 6 pounds is too much unless the adrenaline is really flowing.

I also like light triggers. i simply wanted to make sure i put that disclaimer in there since i described how to acheive it. The method also works on the second gen m77 that have that horrendous 6 lb pull just like the #1.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

The pressure relief holes were built into the 1903 Springfield first, irrc, which adopted them as opposed to the Mauser gas vents in the bolt body, which redirects pressure into the magazine. Great safety feature on the 77's. I've taken mine up to the high end on pressure with little wear to show for it.

2 pounds is the correct trigger pull weight on a hunting rifle. Everything else is incorrect and worth fighting over.

My 98 mauser's set trigger is at 8 ounces & my set trigger on a drilling is about 6 oz. Those require a level of engagement & thought with your rifle that helps your focus stay on your game. Super light triggers are a time-tested method to achieve accuracy but they do have their downsides. Similarly, my Ruger #1 is about 6 pounds. While it's crisp, and it is on a hard recoiling chambering, I still prefer a 2 pound trigger. 6 pounds is too much unless the adrenaline is really flowing.

Just over a year ago, my friend and one of my three shooting mentors, Alan passed away at 88. He had two shooting careers. first as an active duty, USMC Officer, and then decades later as a senior.

He won 36 national and international shooting competitions, mostly rifle, but some with handgun.

Going through his shooting trophy room was amazing. Me being the doubting Thomas I am, i checked the official records, and sure enough, every claim he made as a winner, every trophy he had, was really won by him.

He won all his handgun trophies with a 45 1911 Colt. He won all his Rifle trophies with a pre-64 Model 70 Winchester, 30-06, walnut stock with a 3-pound trigger. and a heavy barrel. Basically, one of the early Vietnam Sniper rifles.

He won most every one of the most prestigious long-range civilian and military shooting matches in America.

His Winchester rifle and Colt 1911 both had long "oil on ice slick" three-pound triggers. With these firearms he beat long lines of shooters with light triggers.

One day I showed him a rifle I had just bought. It was a near 100-year-old Winchester model 54 in 30-06. With a dry fire snap cap in the chamber, he tried the long slick 3-pound pull and smiled then he said:

" I could win tournaments with this rifle"!

Wi

 

[Ben Lamb]

I also like light triggers. i simply wanted to make sure i put that disclaimer in there since i described how to acheive it. The method also works on the second gen m77 that have that horrendous 6 lb pull just like the #1.

I didn't bother with stoning my Mkii trigger, just put a Timney in. I did have a smith turn that mkii stock into something that's far better than the original, though.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Just over a year ago, my friend and one of my three shooting mentors, Alan passed away at 88. He had two shooting careers. first as an active duty, USMC Officer, and then decades later as a senior.

He won 36 national and international shooting competitions, mostly rifle, but some with handgun.

Going through his shooting trophy room was amazing. Me being the doubting Thomas I am, i checked the official records, and sure enough, every claim he made as a winner, every trophy he had, was really won by him.

He won all his handgun trophies with a 45 1911 Colt. He won all his Rifle trophies with a pre-64 Model 70 Winchester, 30-06, walnut stock with a 3-pound trigger. and a heavy barrel. Basically, one of the early Vietnam Sniper rifles.

He won most every one of the most prestigious long-range civilian and military shooting matches in America.

His Winchester rifle and Colt 1911 both had long "oil on ice slick" three-pound triggers. With these firearms he beat long lines of shooters with light triggers.

One day I showed him a rifle I had just bought. It was a near 100-year-old Winchester model 54 in 30-06. With a dry fire snap cap in the chamber, he tried the long slick 3-pound pull and smiled then he said:

" I could win tournaments with this rifle"!

Wi

I mean, we quibble and josh about these things, but the most important aspect to accuracy is the shooter. The miniscule differences we get hung up don't matter if your skillset is correct.

 

[Wyoming270]

I mean, we quibble and josh about these things, but the most important aspect to accuracy is the shooter. The miniscule differences we get hung up don't matter if your skillset is correct.

It does make a difference if all of your rifles have a great trigger and then one is really bad. Ive found this to hang a shot.

 

[noharleyyet]

I find that my modern triggers are much more forgiving to my chronic lack of trigger discipline. It's not that I don't know the 'how' as much as it is that my brain controls the 'get it over with' button.

 

[Ben Lamb]

It does make a difference if all of your rifles have a great trigger and then one is really bad. Ive found this to hang a shot.

Agreed. Also from my experience, form, practise and repetition give the skillset to master any trigger regardless of how bad it is. focusing on the basics and shooting cheap old 22's, NEF's, etc really helps with your form!

 

[Mustangs Rule]

I mean, we quibble and josh about these things, but the most important aspect to accuracy is the shooter. The miniscule differences we get hung up don't matter if your skillset is correct.

Alan was convinced the secret to winning shooting tournaments was dealing with the micro-flinch. Further a long super smooth trigger pull was his solution,???