[Hick Industries]

I own a couple bolt action rifle that need work. Winter is a good time, for this since my lathe is in the shop, and the shop has a wood stove.

Project one is a Ruger 77 mk2 action. I bought it with a broken wood stock, and a heavy contour 25-06 barrel. I purchased a Ruger brand zytel stock and I plan to build a very light wt carbine in 308 win. Since Ruger uses integral scope mounts,and rings. I plan to fit it with a replaceable rear aperature sight, or a low power scope.

Project two is Brno VZ-24 that I sporterized, and used to experiment shooting 458 win mag. Now that I have dealt with the local elephant population, I plan to rebuild it into something more usefull. I replaced the extractor with a spare, so it will function a 8mm Mauser (or 30-06) case again. I have several rifled barrel blanks, so I could litteraly build another 308, 270, or 257 Rbts at no cost. I am considering building a nice sporter in 250 Savage. Perhaps a 6.5 Creedmore would be more stylish these days, but I used to own a 250, and I liked it.

 

[AK103K]

With the Ruger, are you going to make the aperture sight, or go with one of the few they make for them?

If the 77 is anything like my 77/357, the NECG sight I got for it, wanted to be in the rear most mouting point to be useable, but would not work there, due to it interfering with the bolt throw.

Mounted in the more forward point, it was to far away to be proplely used.

If thats also a problem with your gun, something small, like the old XS type ghost ring would be a better choice.

I always liked the styling of the older Rugers, especially with irons, just wasnt ever really happy with thier accuracy.

 

[Hick Industries]

With the Ruger, are you going to make the aperture sight, or go with one of the few they make for them?

If the 77 is anything like my 77/357, the NECG sight I got for it, wanted to be in the rear most mouting point to be useable, but would not work there, due to it interfering with the bolt throw.

Mounted in the more forward point, it was to far away to be proplely used.

If thats also a problem with your gun, something small, like the old XS type ghost ring would be a better choice.

I always liked the styling of the older Rugers, especially with irons, just wasnt ever really happy with thier accuracy.

Thank you for the timely observation.
I purchased my NECG aperature in the mid 1980s, and used it on a different Ruger rifle. I had not installed it on my M77 mk2 untill your post. I can report that it clears my bolt and functions, even with the threaded aperature installed. I guess you could remove that if you needed to.
I am at the planning stages of these rifle projects, and now is the best time to discover anything that does not fit.

 

[trubulator]

I have a different project in mind. I found a good price on a Ruger American Ranch in 350 Legend. I am going to set it up with a fixed 4X scope and develop one or more lower powered loads that will be good for target and whacking intermediate sized critters (beaver, coyote, raccoon) that a re a bit too big for 22LR at moderate distances. I ordered a plain based bullet mold in 180 grain flavor and plan to powder coat and size the pills. I will likely start with Trail Boss for load workup since it is forgiving in the absence of other data for this sort of thing. I would like to find a 1200 to 1600 FPS load that is 1 inch or better groups at 50 yards. Should make a light, handy, bumming around rifle. Will have to make a sling for it as well.

 

[AK103K]

I guess the spacing on the mounting points is different on the different models. It's good it works on yours. I ended up selling mine.

Unless they have changed them, you can't remove the aperture, as it holds your elevation zero. They aren't like the Lyman or Williams type sights where you can screw them out for a ghost ring. That, and the sight being fiddly to get zeroed and not being on the gun where I wanted it, pretty much killed it for me.

 

[Hick Industries]

I am still planning rifle projects for the winter, and I atarted thinking of a good application for the Brno action. My thoughts are to build a rugged back country pack rifle, suited for an extended bug out, supported only by my cache of gear and supplies. Since I believe living long term in the woods, and streams in my area would suck greatly due to the heat, humidity, and bugs, I am calling this new weapon my Go To Hell Rifle.

Composite stock. Light wt, Compact length. Low power scope or perhaps red dot optic. Backup aperature sights. Chambered in 308 Win. A number of gun companies now offer something similar, usually named "Hog Hunter" or such. But they do not feature backup sights.

The caliber selection is based on availability to black tip bullets to ensure it can penetrate vehicles and common building materials. This would be the perfect gun to be fitted with a legal suppressor.

 

[LuniticFringeInc]

To the OP...

Have you considered a 260 Remington instead of the 6.5 CM? Granted commercially loaded ammo is a bit harder to find than 6.5 CM, but if your a reloader 308 brass is pretty cheap and easy to come by and you get about a 100 fps more velocity safely.

 

[Hick Industries]

So I have some progress to report.

I have all the necessary parts to build the GTHR (Go To Hell Rifle). More importantly these days, I have plenty of components to load 308 Win ammo. I even have a unused compensator with a hooded front sight, that closely matches the barrel dia. This gun will be built on my Ruger 77 mk2 action, with a factory Zytel stock, and I will mount a Leupold VX3 scope in Ruger rings, or a NECG receiver sight.

I also ordered some new 250 Sav brass, to support the second project. This gun wil be built on a Brno VZ 24 action, which also has a composite stock. I replaced the extractor (which I had previously modified for belted mag) and I have a .257 bore barrel blank, and a 250 Sav reamer. Once I get the new brass, I can load plenty of ammo, since I have dies, powder, primers, and a bunch of .257 rifle bullets. I even have a nice 65g FN bullet mold in .258 dia.

 

[steve marshall]

Black tip bullets are expensive. You have a lathe. Bronze solids might be a contender.