How well do ruger centerfire rifles group?

I have 2 Ruger centerfires. A Stainless Model 77 in .30-06, and a #1 Tropical in .416. Of the 2 the .416 is more accurate, but not by much. From what I've seen personally, heard and read, Rugers aren't the most accurate rifles out there. Yes, you might get lucky, but your chances won't be that good. If your in the market for a Mini 14, just forget about accuracy. They are terrible! 4" at 100 yards is the norm. I've seen several that won't even achieve that. I don't understand why Ruger doesn't try and improve the accuracy of their rifles. They would certainly sell a lot more of them. There is zero reason a Savage for example, shoots so well from the box, and a Ruger so poorly. I doubt I'd buy another Ruger rifle. Handguns you bet! They make some of the best. But until they start delivering better accuracy in their rifles, I'll take a pass. Bill T.

My experience with Rugers is pretty much the same as those above and what is expected of Ruger; very serviceable but nothing to get excited over. I have a 77 in 30/06 which I'm in the process of shooting up ammo prior to selling. Depending on the brand, groups can be decent at about 3 inches at 200 yards to loose Improved cylinder patterns at 100. this particular gun seems to like 180 gr bullets, the cheap Sellier & Bellot FMJs where grouping inside 4" at 200 yards with Federal silver box soft points running an inch or so smaller. I ran a box of Olympic 150 gr FMJs through it at 100 yards and thought the scope fell off the groups were that poor. At $6 for the box I wasn't expecting much but this was not expected. A box of Winchester Power Points in 150 gr ran close to 2" at the same range.
I would do as suggested above and check scope mounts and action screws but would suspect the problem is likely the shooter unless it was a .223, 30/06, or .308 and he was using military surplus ammo. If that was the case, try some decent commercially made rounds. Groups will likely shrink. If not, it is the shooter.

583 said:

hi im wondering how well centerfire rifle group. I watched my cousin shoot his friends and the group was horible it was model 77 and at 100 yds the groups were like 4 inches. how do your rugers group?

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About the same. This is the best my brand new Ruger Stainless Model 77 will do in .30-06 with handloads. Thats a 4" orange bull. I'm sick and tired of screwing with it. I put good money into this rifle and it's been a generally poor performer from an accuracy standpoint. I have 3 other .30-06 bolt actions, (Remington, Weatherby, and Browning), and all will shoot rings around this Ruger. From what I've seen, this is commonplace for a lot of Ruger rifles. I know some will shoot, but for every one you show me that will, I'll show you a boatload that won't. I have a Ruger #1 Tropical in .416 Rigby that isn't much better. Ruger #1's have forend tension issues that destroy accuracy. I won't be buying anymore Ruger centerfire rifles. It's simply not worth the gamble when I know other brands shoot so much better. They make great .22's and handguns, but I'll let others support their rifle market. Bill T.

I bought, my first and only Ruger, a M77 (pre M77 MkII) in 7mm Remington Magnum back in 1982. In short, it patterned like a shotgun - to say it shot anything like a "group" was too generous. As a 20-something earning little more than minimum wage, it had taken me a long time to save up the money for what was my first big game rifle. I was bitterly disappointed.

I sent it back to the factory and they replaced the stock. Upon return, I had a gunsmith hone the trigger, glass bed the action, and free float the barrel. After all that, I would get 2" groups at 100 yds - with the right hand load. The wrong load would open up to 4" groups. In short, servicable, but not good enough to satisfy me, especially considering all the work I put into it.

Bill Ruger made numerous important contributions to the American gun industry. The M77 MkII looks like a good action, and the Ruger built-in scope mount system is great and should be the industry standard. Ruger also has some great rifle ideas like the 77/22 and the No.1. As others have noted some Ruger rifles shoot great out-of-the-box.

However, Ruger accuracy is too much of a crap shoot for me. After being burned on my first purchase, I'd pretty much never buy another Ruger firearm.

I just won't accept poor accuracy from a rifle and keep it,I've had good luck with older rugers but poor accuracy from a few winchesters and 1 remington.I sent the remington back to the factory and it came back as one of the best guns I ever owned.The winchesters required a little work,one required a new barrel,all bought new except 1 that was slightly used,I was friends with the guy that bought it new and was with him when he bought it,that one required a new barrel,less than the cost of a new gun.It shot well after that.Sometimes just lapping the locking lugs can give equal force to hold the cartridge in place and can help accuracy,on a couple of winchesters I bedded the action and that helped bigtime,I've not tackled a newer ruger yet but like the new ruger hawkeye models and may give them a try but if I get one that I can't get to shoot any better than Billt's after all I can do it will go down the road.Drop-Shot

TempestV another thing to try is in the latest edition of Guns and Ammo magazine.The article is "The Crowning Touch"and has good information to try.It says to take white-out and coat the crown of the barrel,let it dry and shoot at least 3 times and look for equal blast marks around the crown,if its off even a little it will cause the groups to grow.I bought a crowning tool from Brownells and have helped almost every rifle I recrowned.Only 1 still shot 2 inch groups and I didn't want to go too far as he had a scout rifle with an 18 inch barrel and I expected other problems anyway,he just wanted to recrown the rifle to the 11 degree target style crown.I might add that just anybody shouldn't lapp the locking lugs as it can cause headspace problems,I won't lapp mine unless its close to start,then I use Flitz,very fine grade polisher and keep a field headspace guage in use inbetween lapping.Read the article,its a gooden.Drop-Shot