Back in the late 70's and early 80's there were some issues with Ruger barrels. Saw several come into the shop with loose/tight spots. Two simple solutions. Send the gun back to Ruger for a new barrel, which they changed no charge or rebarrel in my shop. I actually had a couple of guys pay to have the barrel changed. (That's how I got introduced to the .338/06)

I sent one barrel back from a barrel change and Ruger paid for the new Donnelly barrel I put on for the Customer. The customer thought that was pretty nice of Ruger and it took the bad taste away.

The other Ruger issue is those integral mount scope rings. The clamp nuts and screws are (were) dead soft. These show up as a rifle that won't hold zero. People cuss their scope and start scope swapping. Doesn’t help! Ruger disavowed the issue. But every single rifle that came into the shop had flared nuts or stretched screws. Back then I solved the problem by drilling and tapping the receiver for Leupold/Redfield Scope base and rings. My own .22-250 had the problem. Sight the gun in at the range, put in the gun case and carry it to the field and the zero shifted. Lay the gun on the seat and not put it in the case and everything was just fine.

In 2001 I built a 338/308 AI on an old Ruger 77 action with the tang safety. I used aftermarket rings (Millet?) for the Ruger integral bases and had no problem. I took that gun to South Africa for my once in a lifetime hunt. Had no problem with the gun. (I won’t comment on the problems I had with the shooter.) I did take a Martini for back up.