Bolt cuts on Ruger Precision Rifle

adamsgt

adamsgt

Jerry Adams
Bought a Ruger Precision Rifle on Wednesday with the intention of using it for F Class shooting. When I unpacked it and looked at the bolt closely I discovered excessive material remove from the bolt body. It looks like they wanted to cut a small chamfer on the rear corner of the locking lugs and overran into the bolt body. Looks they used about a 3/8 end mill and went too deep. Went back to the store and inspected a bolt from the same model and found the same condition. Probably doesn't affect the operation of the bolt but looks shoddy. Called Ruger customer service and the response was basically Ok, so what? I told them the so what is that it looks like crappy craftsmanship. The guy had one of the bolts in his hand and really had a "no big deal" attitude.

So, here's a picture, what do you guys think?

DSCF0009_zpsmrnb5twy.jpg
 
adamsgt said:
Bought a Ruger Precision Rifle on Wednesday with the intention of using it for F Class shooting. When I unpacked it and looked at the bolt closely I discovered excessive material remove from the bolt body. It looks like they wanted to cut a small chamfer on the rear corner of the locking lugs and overran into the bolt body. Looks they used about a 3/8 end mill and went too deep. Went back to the store and inspected a bolt from the same model and found the same condition. Probably doesn't affect the operation of the bolt but looks shoddy. Called Ruger customer service and the response was basically Ok, so what? I told them the so what is that it looks like crappy craftsmanship. The guy had one of the bolts in his hand and really had a "no big deal" attitude.

So, here's a picture, what do you guys think?

View attachment 17984
Click to expand...

Wonder how long it will take them to change their coding.
 
adamsgt said:
Bought a Ruger Precision Rifle on Wednesday with the intention of using it for F Class shooting. When I unpacked it and looked at the bolt closely I discovered excessive material remove from the bolt body. It looks like they wanted to cut a small chamfer on the rear corner of the locking lugs and overran into the bolt body. Looks they used about a 3/8 end mill and went too deep. Went back to the store and inspected a bolt from the same model and found the same condition. Probably doesn't affect the operation of the bolt but looks shoddy. Called Ruger customer service and the response was basically Ok, so what? I told them the so what is that it looks like crappy craftsmanship. The guy had one of the bolts in his hand and really had a "no big deal" attitude.

So, here's a picture, what do you guys think?

View attachment 17984
Click to expand...

Beauty costs more. If mainstream rifle manufacturers come up with new designs that are more accurate and cheaper to manufacture, more power to them. I would not expect that sort of shortcut on a $1500 custom action. A $1400 complete rifle is a different story.
 
Two thoughts. First is that "Ruger" and "Precision" don't belong in the same sentence. Second, I would'nt expect better from any of the mass manufacturers. Just because the label infers that it's different from their run of the mill stuff, don't make it so.
 
adamsgt said:
Bought a Ruger Precision Rifle on Wednesday with the intention of using it for F Class shooting. When I unpacked it and looked at the bolt closely I discovered excessive material remove from the bolt body. It looks like they wanted to cut a small chamfer on the rear corner of the locking lugs and overran into the bolt body. Looks they used about a 3/8 end mill and went too deep. Went back to the store and inspected a bolt from the same model and found the same condition. Probably doesn't affect the operation of the bolt but looks shoddy. Called Ruger customer service and the response was basically Ok, so what? I told them the so what is that it looks like crappy craftsmanship. The guy had one of the bolts in his hand and really had a "no big deal" attitude.

So, here's a picture, what do you guys think?

View attachment 17984
Click to expand...

Does the other side look the same?
 
The answer to the question is "How does it shoot?" If the rifle still shoots well it dosent matter. It was built as an entry into the US Army PSR competition. The cuts may be for dirt clearance.
 
jackie schmidt said:
Does the other side look the same?
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It's a three lug bolt and all three lugs look the same. I emailed this picture to Ruger customer service and here is their response:

"The milling marks you are showing on the bolt appear to be within our manufacturing standards."

I replied, "A disappointing but not unexpected response."

Well, I haven't shot the gun yet and this shouldn't affect the performance. but this kind of stuff doesn't give you a "warm fuzzy" about the company's standards. I attended the gunsmithing school in Trinidad in 1982-84. I remember one of my instructors showing our class the lock works from an English muzzleloader. He pointed out how the internal screws of the lock all had their slots aligned parallel to the stock. This was not necessary but was part of the pride of craftsmanship. The customer might never see this but another gunsmith would.

Oh well. time is money and as SGS said "beauty costs more"
 
I recently had the opportunity to spend 3 days shooting 2 Ruger precision rifles and 2 Ruger M77 Hunters, all 4 rifles were chambered in 6.5 creedmoor. I will say that the cut your referring to is intended to be there on the precision rifle bolt. That's just how Ruger dose it -- I didn't find it to be objectionable.
I will also say that I have never seen any 4 factory rifles that were as accurate, out of the box, as these 4 rifles. We were shooting factory Hornady 140 grain ELD rounds, all 4 rifles would easily hold under 1/2 MOA in fact 1/4 MOA was very common.
Ruger has come a long way with these rifles, they are incredibly accurate. I also own a Ruger M77Scout rifle in 308, and a Ruger M77 Target rifle that is also a 6.5 creedmoor, both of these rifles are crazy accurate for factory rifles.

Shoot your Precision Rifle and I think you will learn to love those bolt cuts and the entire rifle

Gene Bukys
 
TSI243 said:
I recently had the opportunity to spend 3 days shooting 2 Ruger precision rifles and 2 Ruger M77 Hunters, all 4 rifles were chambered in 6.5 creedmoor. I will say that the cut your referring to is intended to be there on the precision rifle bolt. That's just how Ruger dose it -- I didn't find it to be objectionable.
I will also say that I have never seen any 4 factory rifles that were as accurate, out of the box, as these 4 rifles. We were shooting factory Hornady 140 grain ELD rounds, all 4 rifles would easily hold under 1/2 MOA in fact 1/4 MOA was very common.
Ruger has come a long way with these rifles, they are incredibly accurate. I also own a Ruger M77Scout rifle in 308, and a Ruger M77 Target rifle that is also a 6.5 creedmoor, both of these rifles are crazy accurate for factory rifles.

Shoot your Precision Rifle and I think you will learn to love those bolt cuts and the entire rifle

Gene Bukys
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OK Gene, you're the second person who referenced the 6.5 Creedmore to me. I got the gun at a Gander Mountain. They had just got in three of these rifles in .243 .308 and the 6.5. I went for the .308 because I've shot a lot of Palma and Fullbore with that caliber and I have a lot of Lapua .308 brass as well as dies and bullet seaters. I hope I don't have any regrets by going with the .308 instead of the 6.5. My intent was to use this rifle for F Class out to 600 yds. I think I'll be OK with .308 out to that.

I understand the barrels mount with a barrel extension ALA AR-15 so it shouldn't be too hard to mount a 6.5 barrel if it turns out that I need it.

I've got near a fulll case of Fed 168gn .308 Match ammo, so I'll test it on that first. Hopefully I'll get results like you saw.
 
adamsgt said:
I understand the barrels mount with a barrel extension ALA AR-15 so it shouldn't be too hard to mount a 6.5 barrel if it turns out that I need it.
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Not really anything like an AR barrel extension other than a section in front of the shoulder is a reduced diameter.

Ruger%20RPR%20Barrel%20Shank.PNG
 
Just curious , how viable would the prospects of installing a true Custom Barrel on this platform be. And, would a Custom Barrel render the Rifle ineligible for use in the Discipline it is marketed for?

It looks to me like this Rifle would make a great FTR platform with a ByPod.

The print seems to show a fairly simple tenon.
 
Aftermarket barrels are available. Doing a little online research, it appears that notches on the nuts have to line up with other parts which may require that the tenon threat start be indexed.
 
adamsgt said:
OK Gene, you're the second person who referenced the 6.5 Creedmore to me. I got the gun at a Gander Mountain. They had just got in three of these rifles in .243 .308 and the 6.5. I went for the .308 because I've shot a lot of Palma and Fullbore with that caliber and I have a lot of Lapua .308 brass as well as dies and bullet seaters. I hope I don't have any regrets by going with the .308 instead of the 6.5. My intent was to use this rifle for F Class out to 600 yds. I think I'll be OK with .308 out to that.

I understand the barrels mount with a barrel extension ALA AR-15 so it shouldn't be too hard to mount a 6.5 barrel if it turns out that I need it.

I've got near a fulll case of Fed 168gn .308 Match ammo, so I'll test it on that first. Hopefully I'll get results like you saw.
Click to expand...

I don't know how the barrel mounts -- we did clean the rifles so I did get a chance to examine the bolts but we didn't take one apart and because of how well they shoot there would be no need to take one apart till the barrel burned out.
I'm sure that you won't regret your purchase of the 308 --- the 308 is a damn good caliber and they do shoot!! -- we took the creedmoore's out to 1800 yards on 18" steel --- really cool stuff --

Shoot the rifle and let us know how it dose ???

I'll bet that you don't feel the need to re-barrel till the factory barrel is wore out, The Factory barrel will give you all the accuracy your looking for-- then when that barrel is wore out you can make a decision on what caliber to re-barrel to

Gene Bukys
 
The bolt

OH -- and BTW we did take a bolt apart -- and that is an experience --- before you pull the firing pin out of your bolt make sure you understand how it all goes together -- it's quite an assembly-- and easy to get wrong --

to me it's like a savage bolt --I never understand why they shoot either ???

Good luck

Gene
 
Interesting

It has been a few years since I messed with anything Ruger, I guess things have changed. Good for them.
 
Boyd Allen said:
Aftermarket barrels are available. Doing a little online research, it appears that notches on the nuts have to line up with other parts which may require that the tenon threat start be indexed.
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I don't think so, Boyd. The notched barrel nut is a jam nut and it's how headspace is "set".
 
TSI243 said:
I don't know how the barrel mounts -- we did clean the rifles so I did get a chance to examine the bolts but we didn't take one apart and because of how well they shoot there would be no need to take one apart till the barrel burned out.
I'm sure that you won't regret your purchase of the 308 --- the 308 is a damn good caliber and they do shoot!! -- we took the creedmoore's out to 1800 yards on 18" steel --- really cool stuff --

Shoot the rifle and let us know how it dose ???

I'll bet that you don't feel the need to re-barrel till the factory barrel is wore out, The Factory barrel will give you all the accuracy your looking for-- then when that barrel is wore out you can make a decision on what caliber to re-barrel to

Gene Bukys
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Thank you Gene for your advice. Having shared a bench with you at the Cactus a few years ago, I value your comments and advice. I remember watching your flags and finding out that you shot when I wouldn't have and you didn't shoot when I would have. And you were always right.
 
Boyd Allen said:
Mike,
There is a bar extending from the under side of the reciever that has to line up with one of the notches in the nut that contacts the receiver face. I am aware of how other barrel nut systems work, having changed barrels on Savage rifles.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...77NAhVQ7mMKHXbrAD8QMwghKAMwAw&iact=mrc&uact=8


Z
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Boyd, I think that is some type of positive lock for the nut, perhaps to help it from moving when screwing on the attachment that is threaded onto the other side of the nut.I suppose you have to torque the nut so one of the spanner wrench notches aligns with that.
 
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