[Marshall Stanton]

Chuck,

Something that I've used in the past in just such an event (well, almost) was to counter-bore the muzzle-end of the barrel, and tap for a good, old-fashioned grease zerk (they come in many diameters and thread pitches). Install a zerk in the muzzle end of the bore, then pump the bejeebers out of your grease gun, and presto! The obstructions will be forced from the bore by the pressure of the grease. Then, after removing the obstructions, use solvent to get the rest of the grease out of the bore, then evaluate if you did any permanant damage to the bore beyond what Ruger had already botched. If usable, go ahead and cut out the threads by shortening the barrel the appropriate amount and recrown the muzzle.

Finally, if all goes well, firelap that barrel (almost mandatory with any Ruger barrel), and I'll bet that it'll give you many years of good performance you thought impossible!

Hope this helps!

God Bless

 

[csward]

Hi Axelnut,

Thanks for the tip on ershawbarrels. I'll check them out also.

Yep ! There are a host of calibers having the same head dimentions as the .223 that would be a "blast from the past" to play with. If I outlive my wife, the trustee of the family purse, I think I'll do exactly that. There is much in the Savage line to admire. I have some of their earlier stainless models and found them very accurate FOR THE MONEY and nice to look at !

In late 1954, I was in charge of security on Angel Island when many Nike sites were under construction. We rotated that responsibility every 24 hours with other M.P. non-coms at Presidio. I'd arrive on the Army's LCM at 3:30 P. M., relieve the old crew, put my new crew in the Police Bld, hop in a jeep, kill a deer before 5 P.M., arrive at the Contractor camp about 5:30 P.M., use their band saw to cut up the deer, and have their cook fix a nice feed for their crew, and mine , for dinner about 7 P.M.. What a life ! I killed deer with the .45 ACP, the .357 Mag, the .22 LR at ranges from a few feet to about 10 yards out----humanely !

Thanks for the tip, axelnut.

Chuck

 

[csward]

Hi Marshall,

Gee Whiz ! What an idea ! I'm gonna print this out and take it down to the gunsmith and see if I can get him to do that. If not, then I'll take it to a machine shop and have them to their machining, then I'll take it to a buddy at an auto lube shop and ask them to "blow the obstructions". Then back to the machine shop and have the barrel cut back some as there is no front , open sight anyway. What a plan ! What a guy !

Thanks again. Gotta get hot ! God bless you, Mr. Stanton. I'll let you know what happens.

Chuck

 

[csward]

Hi Marshall, kcih, Mike G and axelnut,

Just returned from the 'smith, who will explore the grease zerk idea and the USED barrel idea and decide which is cheapest. Then the replacement barrel will be firelapped by me, and some groups fired. The gun then will be either retained or sold.

The important thing is to thank you guys for providing me with the best direction to use in recovering as much of my original investment as possible. I was about to waste my whole $500 due to frustration and anger with myself and Ruger.

My 'smith says he will no longer work on Ruger or Winchester stainless guns of any kind if that work involves drilling or tapping or reboring. He says he sells fire-lapping materials to all people who buy such guns from him----if possible ! He says Ruger's barrels are the worst about having burrs in the barrles and/or chambers, but not ALL barrels are screwed up. Those that are, he says fire-lapping takes care of barrels and that he can polish the chambers to a mirror finish.

We can consider this matter closed for the next couple of months due to hunting season swamping him with work.

Thanks again and God bless you all.

Chuck

 

[MikeG]

Hi Chuck,

Any update on the Ruger? Just so you don't feel too bad about the whole thing, I found this picture posted on www.sixgunner.com, by JohnK, who I think is the same person who logs on here by that name. Here is his description:

The picture shows a milsurp rifle barrel (1911 Schmit-Rubin straight pull). The gun was given to me for straight-pull design study purposes, and was implicitly described as having a plugged bore. Couldn't stand not knowing, so after I discovered the obstruction was at least 8" long, I milled the barrel.

Picture isn't real clear, but far right material is a cleaning patch. Next up to the left, squiggly-looking stuff, is a bullet jacket. No sign of lead (?? more later). A wooden arrow was driven into the bore from the muzzle mangling and locking itself into the jacket -- this can be seen in the middle. Apparently it broke and only a portion was retrieved. Then, a HARD threaded jag or screw was driven/screwed in from the muzzle, splitting the wood and digging into the barrel. I say hard 'cause it smoked a TiN endmill. Finally, whoever it was tried to drill out the hard jag/screw from the muzzle with no success and gave up.

The lack of lead makes me surmise someone was shooting FMJ milsurp after grinding the nose off to produce an expanding bullet. Problem is, especially in a rough bore, sometimes the jacket stays behind, and usually the shooter is not aware and fires again...

All in all, interesting

 

[csward]

Hi MikeG,

I traded the P.O.S. Booger Ruger to a 'smith for his doing a porting job on my .454 Booger Ruger. Good riddance. I shall never again but another stainless Ruger gun of any type for any price.

I'll stick with my dozen pistols that I love and keep my .257 Roberts that shoots 1/2" m.o.a. and sometimes better when all goes well.

I've taken all but three shotguns to a dealer to have sold for me, so that is another area in which I'm getting out of.

I've been going over the records of the groups shot with the Booger Ruger .223 and my TC Contender did better in the same caliber. You wouldn't believe how poorly the Ruger did in comparison.

I've NEVER had the kind of troubles that my last three Ruger rifles had given me in my 50+ years of shooting and reloading.

Thank you for all your help and concern. And thanks goes to kcih and others who attempted to help me. Actually, all the input WAS very helpful and expanded my perspectives.

God bless you all at Beartooth.

Chuck

 

[loader]

CS Ward -

Long time no speak. Just though I'd mention that the Savage rifles are very close to falling into the switch bbl category, due to their use of the lock nut collar.

I have a Savage Scout in 7-08 and 358 Win that I can change bbls on in about 5 minutes, but you still need a vise and the lock nut wrench ($35).

Not many folks know it, but the remington 7600 pump is also quick change. The barrels are not threaded and are removed by loosening the slide guide with a drift punch. Bolt lock up is directly with the bbl, not the receiver, so headspace is not an issue.

 

[csward]

Hi Loader, How nice to get your always welcomed advice. Both issues are important to me, and I thank you VERY much for them .

Merry Christmas, Loader !