Ruger Guide Gun thoughts and reviews

[NorthernNomad]

Hello everyone. I’m looking at getting a Ruger guide gun in 30-06 as a general purpose rifle while the army ships me across the US for the next few years and would like to hear your opinions or experiences with the rifle. I know I’ve seen a few on here before and would just like to compile some thoughts. I’ve also thought about getting it rebored to 35 Whelen if I ever end up in Alaska and would like to know if anyone has done that as well. Lastly, the short barrel seems primed for a suppressor, but I’m not sure if the irons would still be useable with a suppressor, so any experience with that would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

[mdwest]

I havent owned a guide gun variant of the Ruger 77.. but Ive owned a handful of 77's in different configurations over the years.. to include the M77 FTW which is similar in many ways to the Guide Gun (laminate stock, same finish, etc).. For a general purpose hunting rifle, I think you have a fine choice.. its versatile enough to hunt pretty much anywhere in the US, to include AK and a 30-06 is a great all around caliber capable of using light for caliber bullets and taking longer(ish) shots on medium sized game and equally capable of loading heavy for caliber bullets and taking down the biggest, meanest animals on our side of the planet (big brown bears, etc)..

While possible to bore it out to 35 Whelen, I dont know that I would take that route.. I have a 35 Whelen, and I absolutely love it.. HOWEVER.. unless you plan on only going after larger species I dont know that it really gives you a huge advantage over the -06 shooting 200 or 220 gr projectiles.. probably not enough to warrant the loss of the much wider range of versatility of the 06 and the MUCH greater access to affordable factory ammo and reloading components..

Were you thinking about adding a 35 Whelen to your battery as opposed to replacing the 30-06 with a Whelen in your battery, my advice/counsel would probably be very different (I'd tell you to go for it.. I love my Whelen)..

I think youre probably right about using the irons with a suppressor.. unless you got a REALLY low profile suppressor (Im not a low profile enough one exists for a 30 cal), I dont think the factory front sight is tall enough to be able to view the bead over where the top of the can would be... I think you'd be limited to using an optic only if mounting a can to the rifle..

 

[Buck0317]

I've never owned the "guide gun", but I've owned a slew of M77's over the years and never an issue with any of them. The 30-06 will serve you well for almost anything but the largest bears. If you do get stationed in AK look at buying a second rifle in 338 Win Mag or something comperable. I think you will be pleased with those options. I started my Marine Corps career with a 280 Remington, 338 Win Mag, 12ga and a 22lr and there wasn't much I didn't kill in the lower 48 (minus sheep and rams, to expensive) with that combination.

 

[Ptero]

I have had a Guide Gun in 30-06 for over ten years now. Its a great rifle overall, although she is a little heavy for a 20" barrel. It helps soak up recoil, but it does get heavy packing her around all day. With Federal 150 grain Powershoks I usually get .75" groups at 100 yards. Topped with a Leupold 2-7×40 with ballistic Firedot reticle and fully dressed, she weighs about 10 pounds. The included muzzle break and muzzle weight are a nice extra. The idea being you can shoot from the bench with the break and then swap it for the weight when you hunt so your POI stays the same and you won't blow out everyones' eardrums when your hunting ...or just use the thread protector and skip the muzzle break, which is what I did. Its a 30-06 not a big bore, and like I said, the weight of the rifle soaks up recoil nicely.

Overall, one of my favorite rifles. Oh and the shorter barrel is nice for spot and stalk in the woods. I use mine to hunt hogs in Texas and I can get good hits on the run because of the short barrel and great balance.

While you could have it rebored to .35, I would suggest getting a new rifle, if you really feel the need. After all, there isn't anything in N. America that the 30-06 can't handle and life is too short to only own 1 gun!

Can't speak to suppressing a guide gun as I have never tried, but I suspect the sights would be blocked, so you either need to have a scope or a red dot mounted to clear the can.

Hope that helps.Good luck with your decision and PCS!

 

[hseII]

Hello everyone. I’m looking at getting a Ruger guide gun in 30-06 as a general purpose rifle while the army ships me across the US for the next few years and would like to hear your opinions or experiences with the rifle. I know I’ve seen a few on here before and would just like to compile some thoughts. I’ve also thought about getting it rebored to 35 Whelen if I ever end up in Alaska and would like to know if anyone has done that as well. Lastly, the short barrel seems primed for a suppressor, but I’m not sure if the irons would still be useable with a suppressor, so any experience with that would be greatly appreciated as well.

308 Guide Gun.
Scope required but we’ve gotten to where we shoot suppressed 99% of the time.

Leave as as 30-06 & buy a 338 or 375 guide gun if you need more than a 30-06.

 

[NorthernNomad]

Thank you for all the responses so far. I feel I should elaborate a little bit on the 35 Whelen aspect of it. I’ve become quite enamored with the ole Whelen and one of the main reasons behind choosing the guide gun is because it fits the qualities I would like in a Whelen so my idea is to get a solid gun in the 30-06 version of the guide gun and run it stock until I find the need arises for the Whelen, at which point I’ll get it rebored and probably replace the 30-06 use case with either another 30-06 or more likely something a bit smaller that pairs nicely with the Whelen ( current front runner is a 6.5-06 or Swede or maybe a 7x57). So it’s a rather drawn out pipe dream at the moment but i wanted to know if it was even one worth chasing, or if there were better ideas already out there.

 

[freefall]

I have 0 experience with the Ruger Guide gun, but I DO have a .30-06 that I had rebored to ..35 Whelan. I would NOT do this again. For a Few Dollars More (get the movie reference?) just get a new barrel.

 

[NorthernNomad]

I have 0 experience with the Ruger Guide gun, but I DO have a .30-06 that I had rebored to ..35 Whelan. I would NOT do this again. For a Few Dollars More (get the movie reference?) just get a new barrel.

Can you elaborate a little? I’ve read about numerous people who have rebored 06 to 35 Whelen and apparently had good results. I’m not particularly tied to one way or the other but would like to hear your experience with the process.

 

[ActionBob]

The Ruger Guide gun is a very stout little piece. O have one in 375 i used on my Alaska Grizzly hunt.

Get three, two in the venerable 30-06, one to be rebored or remarried to a 35 Whelen, and the 3rd in 375 Ruger

 

[ActionBob]

The Ruger Guide gun is a very stout little piece. O have one in 375 i used on my Alaska Grizzly hunt.

Get three, two in the venerable 30-06, one to be rebored or remarried to a 35 Whelen, and the 3rd in 375 Ruger

And yes the 20" threaded barrel is just tempting you to put a suppressor on it. I'm not sure either if the irons will still work?

 

[freefall]

Can you elaborate a little? I’ve read about numerous people who have rebored 06 to 35 Whelen and apparently had good results. I’m not particularly tied to one way or the other but would like to hear your experience with the process.

Mine is not as accurate as I could wish. For not a lot more I could have had a Douglas Premium barrel fitted and have groups of 3/4" instead of 1 1/2-2". WITH developed handloads.

 

[1dirthawker]

Mine is the alaskan model, 375 ruger. love the gun. If you want a whelen, i think the advice of buying 2 and having one rebored or re-barreled is the right idea. but if you get a 375 ruger, why bother?

 

[NorthernNomad]

The Ruger Guide gun is a very stout little piece. O have one in 375 i used on my Alaska Grizzly hunt.

Get three, two in the venerable 30-06, one to be rebored or remarried to a 35 Whelen, and the 3rd in 375 Ruger

Well now that’s an idea isn’t it. I’m not sure what the wife would think of it but I’m on board.

 

[Aussie_Hunter]

I've had one for around 6 years now, bought it new and I have worked the hell out of it, by 2021 I'd put around 1100 rounds through it and shot around 400 pigs with it. It's work has slowed down a bit since then but still racked up probably another 100 pigs or so and another couple of hundred rounds or so.

Review- Ruger Guide Gun Chambered In 30-06

I thought I would take some time to share my thoughts on the Ruger Guide Gun chambered in 30-06 as I have used this rifle in the field for around 4 years now. I bought one of these rifles new in mid 2017 and as of yesterday I have put around 1100 rounds through it (give or take 50 rounds) and...

www.africahunting.com

 

[WI-2021]

Hello everyone. I’m looking at getting a Ruger guide gun in 30-06 as a general purpose rifle while the army ships me across the US for the next few years and would like to hear your opinions or experiences with the rifle. I know I’ve seen a few on here before and would just like to compile some thoughts. I’ve also thought about getting it rebored to 35 Whelen if I ever end up in Alaska and would like to know if anyone has done that as well. Lastly, the short barrel seems primed for a suppressor, but I’m not sure if the irons would still be useable with a suppressor, so any experience with that would be greatly appreciated as well.

I don't have a Guide gun, but I used to have a Scout in .308 and still have an Alaskan in .375 Ruger which I had threaded for a suppressor.

The good news: On my .375, I can just barely see the irons over my Rex Silentium MG7. The sights on the Alaskan and the Guide Gun appear to be the same, so you may be in luck there. The MG7 is about 1.75" diameter, so if you stick with a 1.5" diameter can you will probably have some margin.

My Scout was also suppressed, but I never used it without a scope, so no idea if the irons cleared the can. It uses different sights anyway, so not really relevant.

Now the bad news: Ruger seems to be in love with using nonstandard thread pitches on the Guide Gun, Alaskan, and African. I just checked and sure enough, they advertise the 30-06 Guide Gun as having a 1/2-24 thread. I'm sure you could get a thread adapter to a normal thread type, but a 1/2-24 doesn't leave a whole lot of meat between the bore and the root of the threads. Personally, I won't use any 1/2" thread on the .30 or larger rifle due to the thin barrel wall.

If you do want to suppress, the Scout might be a better option since it comes threaded 5/8-24, but it isn't available in anything more powerful than .308 to my knowledge.

I was somewhat lucky with my .375 Alaskan in that mine is an older one made before Ruger was threading them, so I could choose my thread form. Current models are 5/8-18, but I chose 5/8-24 for mine.

 

[NorthernNomad]

I've had one for around 6 years now, bought it new and I have worked the hell out of it, by 2021 I'd put around 1100 rounds through it and shot around 400 pigs with it. It's work has slowed down a bit since then but still racked up probably another 100 pigs or so and another couple of hundred rounds or so.

Review- Ruger Guide Gun Chambered In 30-06

I thought I would take some time to share my thoughts on the Ruger Guide Gun chambered in 30-06 as I have used this rifle in the field for around 4 years now. I bought one of these rifles new in mid 2017 and as of yesterday I have put around 1100 rounds through it (give or take 50 rounds) and...

www.africahunting.com

I appreciate you linking the long term review, I found that very interesting. My primary concern is having a ruggedly dependable rifle and the guide gun certainly seems to fit that bill. That on top of the accuracy you stated in your review is very promising.

 

[NorthernNomad]

I don't have a Guide gun, but I used to have a Scout in .308 and still have an Alaskan in .375 Ruger which I had threaded for a suppressor.

The good news: On my .375, I can just barely see the irons over my Rex Silentium MG7. The sights on the Alaskan and the Guide Gun appear to be the same, so you may be in luck there. The MG7 is about 1.75" diameter, so if you stick with a 1.5" diameter can you will probably have some margin.

My Scout was also suppressed, but I never used it without a scope, so no idea if the irons cleared the can. It uses different sights anyway, so not really relevant.

Now the bad news: Ruger seems to be in love with using nonstandard thread pitches on the Guide Gun, Alaskan, and African. I just checked and sure enough, they advertise the 30-06 Guide Gun as having a 1/2-24 thread. I'm sure you could get a thread adapter to a normal thread type, but a 1/2-24 doesn't leave a whole lot of meat between the bore and the root of the threads. Personally, I won't use any 1/2" thread on the .30 or larger rifle due to the thin barrel wall.

If you do want to suppress, the Scout might be a better option since it comes threaded 5/8-24, but it isn't available in anything more powerful than .308 to my knowledge.

I was somewhat lucky with my .375 Alaskan in that mine is an older one made before Ruger was threading them, so I could choose my thread form. Current models are 5/8-18, but I chose 5/8-24 for mine.

Thank you for your input, I was hoping to get a reference point of some type in regards to the suppressor. Once I get one I’ll have to do some measuring to be sure but I’ll definitely look at some of the slimmer cans. In poking around the internet I had come across some comments saying that Ruger had some funny thread pitches, but it also seems at least some suppressors come with adapters and there are several aftermarket ones as well that seem like they would work. It would be nice if they would just give them standard threads from the factory though.

 

[Northern Shooter]

I've been on the hunt for one for months now in .416 Ruger but Ruger has apparently stopped producing that model. Might pick one up n 338 WinMag if they ever restock.

 

[Art Lambart II]

I love the 35 Whelen it's my go-to caliber for everything I hunt, my second favorite caliber is the 30-06 with 180-grain bullets. The only issue with the 35 Whelen is the availability of factory ammo. Until your life settles down I would stick with the 06.

Good luck with your hunting and thank you for your service.

 

[Alaska Luke]

I have a heavily modified 375 Ruger. It's a solid gun. For your purposes a Guide Gun in 30-06 might be a bit heavy. Outside of Alaska you could do everything with a 308 or 6.5 Creedmoor that was lighter and easier to get ammo for.

I like suppressors but I've been liking electronic ear protection too. If you might end up in California you might consider that.