Ruger Safari Magnum Project

[Rafiki]

I purchased a RSM .375 H&H about 5-mos ago sight unseen. I needed this thing like the preverbal hole-in-the-head, never intended to get it. This all started quite by accident via a guy I met on my way to Tanzania for a buffalo hunt. It’s long story but the extremely short version is that we ended up un the same bush camp hunting buffalo completely by coincidence and became good friends.

After returning he called and said that he was fixated on getting a pre-64 M70 in .375 H&H and suggested that I get .375 H&H also and go back to Africa. Sounded good to me so I did. I really wanted a CZ 550 to work with but I happened on an RSM. I liked to profile of it but the hooker was that barrel with the integral ¼ rib so I bought it and had it shipped to my gunsmith. The first I laid eyes on it was only a few days ago.

I had read quite a lot about the RSM, the general opinion is that it is a fine, accurate rifle with a too heavy barrel for caliber and a club of a stock; which is the point of this project. I laid out the project with my gunsmith who has dubbed the rifle a Sows Ear; sounded like a challenge to me.

My objective is too chronical and share the steps and pitfalls in the transformation of the Sows Ear into something special if that is possible at all. I fully expect and welcome comments and opinions; some I’m sure will say that it is a fine rifle that should be left as-is; that’s fine but I’m afraid it is a little late for that.

To anticipate and answer another obvious question; why go to all the expense when you could just go buy a higher end rifle for around the same amount? I guess the answer is that I just enjoy the challenge (shrug).

 

[Rafiki]

As I said, it’s a little late to be changing my mind about the modifications. While it was sitting around for that last 5-mons I had some initial work done.

First thing was to get rid of what I consider the ugly Ruger front sight. I had a NECG “Masterpiece” banded sight installed. Of course that means that the rifle has to be re-regulated and re-blued. Rust bluing is on the list anyway.

I also had him replace the ebony forend tip with one that is a little longer and with a widows peak, plus pillar bed the stock. Eventually the stock will be reshaped because it is truly a monster.

 

[Lourenço Fontes]

I have one in .458 lott and i just love it , we tested same reload in a blaser , mauser and my rifle , the bullets run on mine almost 100fps more than the two others , same quality of group

 

[Lourenço Fontes]

 

[Rafiki]

I have one in .458 lott and i just love it , we tested same reload in a blaser , mauser and my rifle , the bullets run on mine almost 100fps more than the two others , same quality of group

Although I haven't yet tried my rifle everything I hear is that they are accurate. Very untraditional recoil system. Just guessing the accuracy is due to the massive stiff barrel.

 

[flatwater bill]

Fun project. There is a fine article on the net about upgrading this rifle (Rathcoombe, I think). The contour of the bbl and the weight of the stock are perhaps more suitable to the 416 and 458L that were offered. I find the broad fore-end makes my 416 Rigby easy to handle and control in recoil. My only real complaint is the bolt handle, which is difficult to fix without restocking the gun, and mine already has a great piece of lumber on it. (Needs the long, straight Rigby style bolt IMO) Please show us more fotos as you progress. ..........FWB

 

[Rafiki]

The contour of the bbl and the weight of the stock are perhaps more suitable to the 416 and 458L that were offered. I find the broad fore-end makes my 416 Rigby easy to handle and control in recoil. My only real complaint is the bolt handle, which is difficult to fix without restocking the gun, and mine already has a great piece of lumber on it. (Needs the long, straight Rigby style bolt IMO) Please show us more fotos as you progress. ..........FWB

That barrel is a brute for sure but nothing I can do about that; the stock however is another story, This one has some long, straight, well defined grain, nothing fancy but I like it for it's intended use. The 'smith I use is a "stock maker" and a member of the guild; his suggestion was to restock it of course. I discussed it at length with him. What I see is one heck of a lot of unnecessary wood on that piece of lumber, plenty to carve away to shape the stock. He had to agree.

My intent is to leave the fore-end as full as possible and keep the profile, not make it skinny as you see on some rifles of this caliber. Primarily this means sculpting the underside around the bottom metal and in the wrist area. The rails on each side of the barrel need to be trimmed back but that doesn't necessitate making the fore-end narrower.

No matter what I do with the wood the rifle will still have excessive weight for the caliber and be muzzle heavy. A 375 H&H has around 34ft/lbs of recoil. With a rifle that's in the 10lb range it should be a pussycat.

 

[Velo Dog]

Fellow Rifle Grumps,

The Ruger RSM was (was) underpriced IMO, wonderful rifle in many ways.
I agree with flatwater bill that, the bolt handle needs some tending to.
It should be larger and of the straight down, Pre-War Oberndorf / Rigby style.

Not sure if one could cut out a chunk of wood, where the too small of a bolt handle rests in its swept back angled notch and then replace it with perhaps ebony, to match the forend tip ?
I don’t know if that would be an appropriate remedy for installing the correct handle or not.
As much as I like some of Ruger’s rifles, I’ve never cared for their swept back angled bolt handles.
Same goes for the also otherwise excellent Winchester Model 70 swept back bolt handle.

Just a serving suggestion.
Your results may vary.

I look forward to seeing how your rifle turns out.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[Rafiki]

Not sure if one could cut out a chunk of wood, where the too small of a bolt handle rests in its swept back angled notch and then replace it with perhaps ebony, to match the forend tip ?
I don’t know if that would be an appropriate remedy for installing the correct handle or not.
As much as I like some of Ruger’s rifles, I’ve never cared for their swept back angled bolt handles.
Same goes for the also otherwise excellent Winchester Model 70 swept back bolt handle.

Interesting that you would mention inserting a piece of ebony in that deep bolt handle trough as I had the same idea but for a different reason. That oversized stock really buries the bolt handle and its not very well done. I was thinking that if I could put a chunk of ebony in there I could shape it nicely with closer tolerances.

I did see an article from a guy that did as you say, changed the bolt handle to an Oberndorf style but he restock it also; I could dig it up if you're interested. I'm not going to go that far. Just eyeballing it I'm guessing that in reshaping the stock much of the bolt handle issue will be solved as there is a huge amount of wood on the sides of the action.

 

[Velo Dog]

Hi again Rafiki,

Sounds like your rifle will be a joy to look at as well as to carry and shoot.
Regarding the article you mentioned about the bolt handle, only dig it up if you get around to it.
I would enjoy seeing a photo of that guy’s RSM bolt handle replacement but again, only if you have time and get around to it.

Thanks,
Velo Dog.

 

[Rafiki]

Regarding the article you mentioned about the bolt handle, only dig it up if you get around to it.

Ruger Model 77 Mk II Magnum Express Rifle - .416 Rigby

 

[Velo Dog]

Thanks for that and Zowie!
Satterlee Arms did that bolt handle plus all the rest, true and proper.
“That bolt handle really tied the room together, did it not.”

 

[Rafiki]

Yeah, very nice.

 

[Rafiki]

One rather pleasant surprise is the trigger on my RSM. Other than some pretty obvious things like creep and overtravel, the feel of a trigger off the sear and pull weight are pretty subjective. I don't have a way of measuring pull weight at hand so I don't know what that measurement will be but this trigger seems very nice contrary to what I've read. There is no detectable creep or overtravel, very clean off the sear and not overly light or heavy. I was all prepared for an aftermarket replacement. I have some experience with Jard triggers in my No 1's and I like them quite a lot but for me I can't justify it, there just isn't anything wrong with the one on the rifle. My only real nit is that shape of the trigger. It has a pretty flat face with sharp edges but that can and will be made to my liking.

 

[Dhutson]

From the guy that told him he should get the rifle we have had a blast talking about this project. Sure he could have have purchased another rifle that would have had all the features he wants. But what you cannot buy is the experiences (yes plural) of putting it together and creating something better. And, from my point of view I enjoy the conversations we have almost daily. And at my age that is a very important part of fine living. Money can't buy that.

Just wait until he starts talking about the reloading part of the journey. Get really fun then.

 

[flatwater bill]

@Rafiki Ya, that is the article to which I referred. I think @Velo Dog 's idea of carving out the area of the bolt and replacing it with ebony, and making a correctly positioned bolt channel thru the ebony insert would allow use of original stock. I may try that. Had gunsmith do a little touch up on the trigger, and it is all anyone could want now. Still seems strange to me that if you want something done right on a bolt gun, go look at a 100 year old Rigby.....it will probably be what you want..................FWB

 

[Rafiki]

I shot the "Sows Ear" for the first time yesterday and happy to report that it shoots well off the bench. I took a 5 step ladder of Ramshot Big Game (66gr to 70gr) pushing 300gr Hawk RTs (hardly barn burners).

The purpose of this session was to regulate the sights for the new NECG front sight. I had gotten a tall blade to have enough to work with and ended up filing about half off; and impatiently filing just a tad too much off tough so its shooting a bit high at 50-yards.

The stock is a definite issue. Not bad off the bench but shooting offhand it's obvious why there are so many negative comments about it; the thing is a club. I guess my biggest complaints are the uncomfortable flat bottomed fore-end, the overly thick wrist and the excessive wood along the receiver that literally buries the bolt handle .... pretty much the entire thing.

Also barrowed a trigger gage and confirmed that it is about 3-1/2lbs average, right where I like it.

 

[Bonk]

Best wishes with your project. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished rifle.

I had my RSM 375H&H rebored to 404J and the gunsmith did whatever magic they do so that it functions smoothly and without any feeding issues. I'm thrilled with the way it turned out.

One good thing about the RSM is the barrel contour is the same across the calibers so the 375H&H has plenty of meat on the barrel for reboring to a larger caliber.

I agree with @flatwater bill and @Velo Dog regarding the bolt handle. I, too, wish it was easily straightened like on a CZ550 but the way the notch is cut in the stock would require some woodworking to make it right. It's not that big of a deal for me but I would prefer a straight bolt handle.

Personally I like the beefy stock. It inspires confidence and makes it a relative pussycat to shoot. The grain on mine is really nice but not too nice to hunt with. Perfect.

I also agree with the comments about the RSM being undervalued. With the integral quarter rib, better than average wood and excellent build quality it's a real bargain IMO. I have three CZ550's that have either been upgraded or built from scratch by AHR and Matrix. My RSM 404J does not in any way play second fiddle to any of those rifles.

 

[Rafiki]

Best wishes with your project. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished rifle.

I had my RSM 375H&H rebored to 404J and the gunsmith did whatever magic they do so that it functions smoothly and without any feeding issues. I'm thrilled with the way it turned out.

One good thing about the RSM is the barrel contour is the same across the calibers so the 375H&H has plenty of meat on the barrel for reboring to a larger caliber.

I agree with @flatwater bill and @Velo Dog regarding the bolt handle. I, too, wish it was easily straightened like on a CZ550 but the way the notch is cut in the stock would require some woodworking to make it right. It's not that big of a deal for me but I would prefer a straight bolt handle.

Personally I like the beefy stock. It inspires confidence and makes it a relative pussycat to shoot. The grain on mine is really nice but not too nice to hunt with. Perfect.

I also agree with the comments about the RSM being undervalued. With the integral quarter rib, better than average wood and excellent build quality it's a real bargain IMO. I have three CZ550's that have either been upgraded or built from scratch by AHR and Matrix. My RSM 404J does not in any way play second fiddle to any of those rifles.

How about sharing a picture of your 404J, sounds really nice.

 

[Bonk]