ALBERTA BOY
Regular
- Location
- Edmonton, AB
Ruger has an undeserved good reputation. They sell crap. Good luck to you, let us know when you're ready to upgrade to something better.
Brand new ruger american ranch bolt face damage !! need INPUT
- Thread starter CoverFire
- Start date
Ruger has been doing some good work betting some good rifles to market...and performing really well. It now depends on how they deal with this issue. Give them a chance to make it right.
Their new Marlins look to be top notch and well crafted.
This is a bolt face of my Ruger American Ranch purchased in October 2019. After shooting 530 steel case rounds either Chinese Norinco or Russian Barnaul. There is one small nick close to the ejector, most likely from the original machining, but otherwise the edge is clean. In general. I'm very happy with my RAR. It shoots 1-1.5MOA with Barnauls and 1.5-2.3MOA with Norincos. Never had any malfunction. On the other note the RAR's bolt is massive!
By comparing with the OP's bolt, it comes to my mind that the quality of bolt machining at Ruger went down precipitously in the past 3 years or so. It would be interesting to have a few more examples of bolts from the RARs produced in the past year or so (2021-2022) to confirm my hypothesis.
By comparing with the OP's bolt, it comes to my mind that the quality of bolt machining at Ruger went down precipitously in the past 3 years or so. It would be interesting to have a few more examples of bolts from the RARs produced in the past year or so (2021-2022) to confirm my hypothesis.
It's interesting that the bolt above has less visible wear on the extractor and ejector.
I would guess Ruger will work with the OP regardless of the fact that he has shot the gun as clearly firing the gun did not cause the damage.
Just looked at mine, the 7.62 looks clean and the .223 has a couple knicks..... looks pretty minimal under "normal magnification".....
I would guess Ruger will work with the OP regardless of the fact that he has shot the gun as clearly firing the gun did not cause the damage.
Just looked at mine, the 7.62 looks clean and the .223 has a couple knicks..... looks pretty minimal under "normal magnification".....
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mudgunner49
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I have a Ruger American Ranch in .223/5.56 that I purchased new in 2018 (about Sept IIRC) and it looks nothing like the one shown in the OP's pics. It definitely had the zipper sound/feel on cycling the bolt but has never failed and a consistent MOA gun when I do my part, and has smoothed out considerably over the past 600 rounds or so, all Federal 55gr M193-spec, 5-56-spec 62gr and Federal 55gr SP.
I had it on the rifle range on National Range Day for folks to try out and there were numerous first-timers who went 5/5 on clays on the 100m berm. I know that isn't MOA at all but illustrates good base level accuracy and shootibility. I'm more than happy with it so far, but I'd be a lot less happy if my bolt looked like the OP's.
Send it to the warranty center...
I had it on the rifle range on National Range Day for folks to try out and there were numerous first-timers who went 5/5 on clays on the 100m berm. I know that isn't MOA at all but illustrates good base level accuracy and shootibility. I'm more than happy with it so far, but I'd be a lot less happy if my bolt looked like the OP's.
Send it to the warranty center...
I've got 3 Ranch models in .223 and one Predator model in .223. Had the Ranch models apart for cleaning today and looked at the bolts after reading this thread. Two have sort of similar crappy tool marks and the other one looks fine. The two with the marks are consecutive number rifles so I'm guessing their tooling was getting worn when they were made.
As these are more range blasting guns rather than rifles I use for precision shooting or hunting, it never occurred to me to look closely at the bolts- they only get cleaned every 1000 rounds or so, after all- and they always work. If I was the OP I would probably be annoyed too. For me and the purpose I use these rifles for, it's just not an issue. They go bang and are accurate enough after thousands of rounds to still do what I want them to do.
Last week one of my friends and I were hitting 8x10" targets at 625 yards with the Predator model I have. It's got a little longer barrel and is much newer and we were using 75 gr BTHP rather than the 55gr bulk ammo I use in the Ranch rifles but I'm sure the manufacturing process for the rifles is the same and both should be capable of the same accuracy. She isn't a super experienced shooter but we were just using a bipod from prone and the only misses were due to wind gusts which happen frequently in the mountains here. To be honest the accuracy from my Tikka CTR with the McMillan stock isn't all that much better using the same ammunition, and the Tikka is over 3X the price. Although the Tikka looks way cooler and that's a thing.
As these are more range blasting guns rather than rifles I use for precision shooting or hunting, it never occurred to me to look closely at the bolts- they only get cleaned every 1000 rounds or so, after all- and they always work. If I was the OP I would probably be annoyed too. For me and the purpose I use these rifles for, it's just not an issue. They go bang and are accurate enough after thousands of rounds to still do what I want them to do.
Last week one of my friends and I were hitting 8x10" targets at 625 yards with the Predator model I have. It's got a little longer barrel and is much newer and we were using 75 gr BTHP rather than the 55gr bulk ammo I use in the Ranch rifles but I'm sure the manufacturing process for the rifles is the same and both should be capable of the same accuracy. She isn't a super experienced shooter but we were just using a bipod from prone and the only misses were due to wind gusts which happen frequently in the mountains here. To be honest the accuracy from my Tikka CTR with the McMillan stock isn't all that much better using the same ammunition, and the Tikka is over 3X the price. Although the Tikka looks way cooler and that's a thing.
Holy cow that is one gnarly bolt face, OP!
The new one I just pulled out of a box here has a few small dings and tool marks, and some primer etching on the bolt face, but not as bad as that one there at all!
The barrel finish is definitely not high polish either, but its okay. And the bolt travel is smooth, without much zipper sound. Would equate it to a Vanguard 2.
Seems QC is quite variable but for a $700 rifle that takes AI mags I don't feel too bad off. Sure not as durable as a Mauser 98, but then...if it shoots as nicely as some I've seen, worth it IMO. My biggest gripe with the APs is one of the action screws being under the mag catch for the AI mag models. PITA.
The new one I just pulled out of a box here has a few small dings and tool marks, and some primer etching on the bolt face, but not as bad as that one there at all!
The barrel finish is definitely not high polish either, but its okay. And the bolt travel is smooth, without much zipper sound. Would equate it to a Vanguard 2.
Seems QC is quite variable but for a $700 rifle that takes AI mags I don't feel too bad off. Sure not as durable as a Mauser 98, but then...if it shoots as nicely as some I've seen, worth it IMO. My biggest gripe with the APs is one of the action screws being under the mag catch for the AI mag models. PITA.
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
The only Ruger centerfires I have are 77 MkIIs, but this thread had me checking my Ruger American Rimfire Ranch for any similar marks and the machining - especially the bolt - is absolutely flawless.
So this seems to be unique to their centerfire offerings.
The OP's bolt is a mess, I am very curious to see how Ruger reacts to a warranty claim (and how it plays out) before considering buying a recent Ruger American.. at least in centerfire.
So this seems to be unique to their centerfire offerings.
The OP's bolt is a mess, I am very curious to see how Ruger reacts to a warranty claim (and how it plays out) before considering buying a recent Ruger American.. at least in centerfire.
Post a pic of the chamber, the only reasonable way for that to happen from use is some metal bits getting jammed between the bolt and barrel. I think I can see some embedded metal near the ejector and extractor but it could be more dents. The firing pin hole should be round. The face of the bolt lugs should be flat, someone did some wonky machining. Either they chamfered the exterior of the bolt twice or the tool was broken, would have been the same tool/op as the interior chamfer that looks good so my guess would be it was reworked.
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
Holy cow that is one gnarly bolt face, OP!
The new one I just pulled out of a box here has a few small dings and tool marks, and some primer etching on the bolt face, but not as bad as that one there at all!
The barrel finish is definitely not high polish either, but its okay. And the bolt travel is smooth, without much zipper sound. Would equate it to a Vanguard 2.
Seems QC is quite variable but for a $700 rifle that takes AI mags I don't feel too bad off. Sure not as durable as a Mauser 98, but then...if it shoots as nicely as some I've seen, worth it IMO. My biggest gripe with the APs is one of the action screws being under the mag catch for the AI mag models. PITA.
The drill marks on the lug faces of yer bolt ain't supposed to be there. Must have been made on a Monday.
My new RAR 350 Legend has no such marks , but the machining ,fitting & inspection quality needs to step up proper. My 2 other RAR's are fine as well .
On a side note, the bolt on me 350 L runs smooth with no zipper sound, so Ruger at least addressed that bit.
That's the luck of the draw these days with the corporate minded companies. They are only concerned with profits for shareholders and pay little attention
to selection of employees properly qualified to maintain tooling, tolerances & finish work in their operations. Ruger management really needs to get their act
together and focus on worker value and consistency of product quality. Look at the absolute junk pushed out by the major automakers in recent years and
ye will know what I mean.
Attachments
This is a bolt face of my Ruger American Ranch purchased in October 2019. After shooting 530 steel case rounds either Chinese Norinco or Russian Barnaul. There is one small nick close to the ejector, most likely from the original machining, but otherwise the edge is clean. In general. I'm very happy with my RAR. It shoots 1-1.5MOA with Barnauls and 1.5-2.3MOA with Norincos. Never had any malfunction. On the other note the RAR's bolt is massive!
By comparing with the OP's bolt, it comes to my mind that the quality of bolt machining at Ruger went down precipitously in the past 3 years or so. It would be interesting to have a few more examples of bolts from the RARs produced in the past year or so (2021-2022) to confirm my hypothesis.
Here is mine from .223rem Ruger American Predator purchased earlier this year. I wish I coulda got the Ranch model instead, but went to buy in a rush before mid-May 2022, so beggars can’t be choosers lol.
It looks to just have the one “ding” on the chamfered edge similar to yours, the machining/polishing could be better elsewhere and looks bad in the light reflection. This pic is ootb, I haven’t done an initial cleaning and taken it out to test yet.
