Low-budget RPR accurizing

[sigstroker]

Cheap ways to fix up the RPR. Some things may help Ruger Americans too, since they basically use the same action.

[mmlook]

Well that was useless

Steps to make a $1000 rifle accurate for cheap
1. Buy a $1000 suppressor
2. Buy a bunch of useless other stuff
3. Buy match ammo
4. Only shoot one group, and call it good

I think this dude is running out of things to do

[LynnJr]

Well that was useless

Steps to make a $1000 rifle accurate for cheap
1. Buy a $1000 suppressor
2. Buy a bunch of useless other stuff
3. Buy match ammo
4. Only shoot one group, and call it good

I think this dude is running out of things to do

He seems like a decent guy but it's obvious he is trying to make a living out of making YouTube videos instead of working.
If you watch what he says about the suppressor he agrees with Harold Vaughn from 40 years ago that anytime you add weight to the muzzle the gun shoots better.
He also says truing up an action improves accuracy and we have engineer posters here today that say that isn't so but he is correct there as well.
You want the gun as smooth as possible until the bullet leaves the barrel which is around 1/8 inch of rearward movement. If the lugs are locking up at fraction of a second offsets from one another the muzzle moves and this phenomenon can be seen with high-speed photography but it can't be explained here without a huge debate.
Today's younger shooters make much better quality videos than us old timers they just don't know why the stuff that works actually works and his "Ultimate Reloader" name has nothing at all to do with reloading. He gave himself that title to explain how one of his guns cycles. I only know that because I asked him as he clearly isn't a top of the line Reloader.

[JackEllis]

In my very limited experience, it isn't necessary to spend $1k on a rifle that shoots 5/8" groups and then pour more money into "improvements". I have two factory rifles that will do as well or better than the rifle mentioned in the video, and one of them is a rimfire caliber. They're unmodified except for scopes and I spent a total of about $1100 for both of them, plus another $300-400 for the two scopes. Both have varmint barrels.

[etwinam]

My RPR shoots very accurately right out of thr box. I swapped the grip for a Softer Ergo grip and put a scope on it etc but no major changes and it shoots great. The only thing I've thought of doing was changing the stock out but I don't really see the need.

[sigstroker]

Yeah, all he did was cut the group sizes in half for very little money. Nothing to see there.

[LynnJr]

SigStroker
Which one of his fixes cut the group size?
Those Rugers shoot real good out of the box in my experience.

[mtenenhaus]

hope i'm not derailing the discussion but do most advocate lapping rifle bolt lugs in an effort to ultimately improve accuracy

[Surf & Turf]

In my personal experience, the ONLY way I have been able to get better grouping was get someone else behind my trigger! Lol!

[mmlook]

Yeah, all he did was cut the group sizes in half for very little money. Nothing to see there.

got it

so, $1000 is expensive for a scope,
but $1000 for a suppressor is "very little money"

[LynnJr]

hope i'm not derailing the discussion but do most advocate lapping rifle bolt lugs in an effort to ultimately improve accuracy

I'm gonna get hate mail but here goes.
If your running a typical 2 lug action the lugs are at 6 and 12 o'clock when your ready to fire. The trigger spring runs 18-28 pounds of pressure and the top lever on the trigger hits the cocking piece at an angle.
In a nutshell this forces the back of the bolt upwards and upon firing the 60,000 psi slams the bolt hard rearward.
If the lugs are making full contact the bolt doesn't slam around.
If the lugs are barely making contact the bolt gets slammed around which throws the muzzle of the barrel off.

Some gunsmiths will sleeve the bolt or fit an oversized bolt to the action which limits the amount of upward travel.
Other gunsmiths will put in a 90 degree cocking piece and a 90 degree top lever so the firing pin spring pressure doesn't force the bolt body upward.
Most gunsmiths will lap the lugs.

The only gunsmith I know of who does all three us the world's greatest rimfire gunsmith Bill Calfee.
Does it help? He says it does!!!

[JackEllis]

If your running a typical 2 lug action the lugs are at 6 and 12 o'clock when your ready to fire.

[snip]

Most gunsmiths will lap the lugs.

So if I understand correctly you're suggesting that lapping the lugs might improve the consistency of any 2 lug action.

Hmmmm.

[diver160651]

I'm gonna get hate mail but here goes.

If your running a typical 2 lug action the lugs are at 6 and 12 o'clock when your ready to fire. The trigger spring runs 18-28 pounds of pressure and the top lever on the trigger hits the cocking piece at an angle.

In a nutshell this forces the back of the bolt upwards and upon firing the 60,000 psi slams the bolt hard rearward.

If the lugs are making full contact the bolt doesn't slam around.

If the lugs are barely making contact the bolt gets slammed around which throws the muzzle of the barrel off.



Some gunsmiths will sleeve the bolt or fit an oversized bolt to the action which limits the amount of upward travel.

Other gunsmiths will put in a 90 degree cocking piece and a 90 degree top lever so the firing pin spring pressure doesn't force the bolt body upward.

Most gunsmiths will lap the lugs.



The only gunsmith I know of who does all three us the world's greatest rimfire gunsmith Bill Calfee.

Does it help? He says it does!!!

Great information-


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[mtenenhaus]

thank you

would a 60 degree bolt pattern presumably be less prone to such reactive forces....and perhaps be a more favorable configuration?

[LynnJr]

thank you

would a 60 degree bolt pattern presumably be less prone to such reactive forces....and perhaps be a more favorable configuration?

Naturally it's harder to get three lugs in perfect contact than two lugs but in theory three lugs should be better.
In my first post I should have said the bolt body is tilted upwards from the firing spring pressure and the cocking piece trying to override the top lever of the trigger.
When you touch the trigger all that force slams the boltface.
If the bolt is perfectly squared up you get the least amount of waves running down the barrel.
If one lug is barely making contact and the other lug is as well all that force slams the bolt body downward against the action sending unwanted vibrations into the barrel.
If you hit something square on with a hammer it works much better than a glancing blow kind of thing.

For the math minded viewers a typical Remington short action bolt is 4.5 inches from the back of the recoil lug to the rear of the bolt sitting inside the action. With 0.006 - 0.007 worth of slop you have around 0.005 worth of travel due to the bolt body being round so figure the area of you boltface the pressure of your load and how much force is applied downwards to the action.
Do the same math with a fitted bolt and 0.001 clearance.

https://youtu.be/EiVv_vO9MI8

The video is of poor quality because I had sat on my phone and cracked the camera lense at the time of filming.
The fitted bolt gets thinned down until it is as the name suggests a fitted bolt with basically no upwards clearance at all.
This keeps the bolt from moving upwards and allowing the lugs to come off of the abutments during firing.
Today we can buy an oversized bolt body from Pacific Tool or buy an action from engineer Jim Borden that has what he calls Borden Bumps. When the action is cycled closed the bumps being Elliptical take up the clearance and not allowing the bolt to fly around in the receiver.
Another option is the Savage floating bolthead.
If you run your brass snug in the chamber or you seat the bullets long this keeps the lugs planted against the abutments during ignition.