SmallCaliberCentral

Hey all. I was looking over some rifles at the local gun and shooting emporium yesterday. Then I realized I never owned one of the Target Grey 77s yet. So, I handled one for oh, almost too long. I didn't make the purchase yet, but it was hard to put it back on the rack. How many of you fellers are using the TG? Thinking about one in 220Swift, another version I never had yet. I have owned a few Rugers in the past, and have liked them all. In the 77 I have owned 2 standard, and one varmint. .243, 338, and the varmint was a 280. These were all tang safty models, and sweet rigs. Is the MKII the equal to the older 77? The Ruger I regret selling the most was the #1 6mm Remington. I miss that old girl. Anyhow, just looking for some honest input on the TG. If anyone has any target pics of their pet TG 220 loads, post em up! I love a good pic. It is going to be a long week before I can get back to the gun shop.

i have a 223 in tg i like it shoots fine i haven't reloaded for it but the finish is great never had any problems with it

I have a .204 TG and my buddy has the same, they ride the bags nicely, have a good trigger, and are good looking. The accuracy is good enough for PD out to 500-600 yards.

If you are looking at the Swift, try and run the Swift against the .204 Ruger on a ballistic program. The .204 shoots just as flat and is alot cheaper to run. My 2 cents.

Good luck

I concur with dogkiller about riding bags nice. That is the only time the clunky laminated beavertail vt stock shines. It absolutely sucks for using shooting sticks and is uncomfortable to carry. Replace the stock with a sporter and it will match the feel of the tang models that you had before. I answered you on PM, but will reitterate here, The hammer forged barrels on the newer rugers are great, and I feel that the 2-stage trigger is the finest trigger ruger makes. My .204 shot an 11 round group of 3 1/2 inches at 500 yds at the Kifaru rondyvoo this summer. This is the second VT in 204 that I have owned and it is not the shooter that the one that blew up was. I painted mine to camo it as a calling rifle. Here she is. Her name is Miss Karo-line. Sweet as karo syrup and shoots on a tight string.........Don
before paint....


finished.......

Holy smoke! I love that paint job buddy. Cool rig all the way around. The clamp on spotter, the husky yet portable bench, and the scissor jack rest. Super job of engineering. Makes me want to go prarrie rattin. I need to go do that some day. You did a super job on the Ruger. I was entertaining thoughts of slabbing off the factory stock. Being a call maker, I have the occasional piece of wood working machinery lying around. Thought I would narrow up the forearm a couple layers of laminate, and round it up. Could be easier to restock with a sporter though. Again you did a fine job buddy, thanks for posting,R.J.

The reason I went with the walnut sporter instead of slimming down the laminate was this......

I think the solid wood is stronger in a recoil situation. The laminations seem to split...... I do some woodwork my own self. Don

I had a TG in 220 Swift. It shot ok. I traded a #1v Swift for it. I am thinking that I loaded 36grns of IMR 4064 for 50grn BT's. I only had it a little while, then traded it on a sav. 204. I may go back to that dealer soon and see if he still has that gun.

Ouch! I see what you mean. Nasty split there.

I owned a TG 204 for a few months. It shot well but was just too heavy for my needs not only for varmint shooting and bench shooting off bags. The CZ fits my needs perfectly as a good compromise on the bags and calling rifle/varmint shooting. It is also shoots a bit more accurately imo. Funny the mention of split stocks. I bought the ruger new, took it out to the parking lot and the sun hit it just right as I went to put it in my truck. I noticed a very slight crack in the corner of the forend near the barrel channel. Took it back inside and asked for another. It was the only in stock so I took a $50 discount. The two stage trigger was very nice for a ruger but took some getting use to (very similar to the target pistol trigger with the take up). The tg rings are medium height, so if you are gonna use a 44mm or larger bell scope you will need to get a set of highs.

In summary for a bench or bag shooting rifle this is very nice. If you want hunt with it in the woods I would look for a lighter sporter stocked gun with decent steel....CZ hint, hint.

Which CZ do you have?

527 Varmint

I have the TG in .204 and really like it. I have killed 10 or so coyotes with it in the last year and a half. Just recently did a little paper punching with it and was very pleasantly surprised with accuracy.

I have a 77VT in 204 and it is very accurate. my best group at 100yds. is 5 shot .168 center to center. This is with my hand loads and on a windless day. The stock is really good for what it is designed for, it wasn't made to carry around in the hunting woods, I wouldn't want to do that either.