We fixed the Ruger/Marlin carbine!

[Scott Tschirhart]

As you may recall we were shooting patterns, not groups, with various loads in the Shootists 40th Anniversary carbine. It seemed like everyone who owned one was having the same problem. They just would not shoot.

I saw a number of bore scope photos that indicated that in the transition between the chamber and the lands, the lands were squished out to the right and to the left. Here are some examples.

[AmBraCol]

Y'all have me curious about my own example that's sitting up north waiting. Looking forward to seeing how y'all overcame the issues.

[Scott Tschirhart]

John Killabrew came up with the idea of hand reaming that portion out so that there would be a smoother transition into the lands.

John sent me the reamer after he reamed his rifle.

Here are some photos taken during the process.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Here is the result at 50 yards:

[AmBraCol]

Definitely encouraging results!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I had a little leading in the throat after the cutting.

Following up on Mic’s suggestion, I polished everything up with 000 steel wool followed by 0000 steel wool wrapped around an old cleaning brush.

Fired 80 rounds on Sunday and fine tuned the sights and locked them down. No leading issues.

I’m very happy with the result and thank you to John Killabrew, Jim Taylor and Mic McPhearson for working through these issues with me.

[JimT]

I was happy to see it's not difficult to cure. And it is pleasing that as nice looking as the gun is, it can be accurate also.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Only accurate rifles are interesting.

[samsi]

Are manufacturers skipping the last step of a throating or finishing reamer because most folks shoot jacketed bullets these days? Wouldn't surprise me, had a similar issue with an Ed Brown 1911 barrel purchased last year.

Glad to hear everyone's getting the carbines sorted out.

[Scott Tschirhart]

It would not shoot jacketed bullets any better than cast. So I don’t think it was intentional. These bore scope photos are of my own rifle but I’ve seen several others that look the same. I don’t know how they even got this way.

[Bill in Oregon]

How embarrassing for Ruger to produce a special run of carbines for one of America’s most illustrious shooter groups only to have overlooked a significant flaw in their manufacture. Someone at Ruger surely has a red face over this incident.

[fordwannabe]

Much more gooder!

[JimT]

At the Range with the Shootists Anniversary .45 levergun today. I wanted to get the scope adjusted to the loads we were gonna use later. Using the Keith #454424 260 gr. SWC and 18.5 gr. 2400, I shot 3 to see where it was hitting at 50 yards. The 3 looked good so I fired two more. And you know I would pull one out!

IMG_8397.JPG

I then fired a shot (marked 1 in the photo) adjusted the scope and shot number 2 ... adjusted it a bit more and fired the third.

IMG_8399.JPG

I shot some offhand - standing - at 50 yards. I was pretty wobbly.
My best 3 shot group of the day. I was using the V point as my aiming point, pulling the trigger as I wobbled past.

IMG_8402.JPG

[GunnyMack]

Well I'm very glad to see you have it figured out Scott!
Jim, did you chase the throat on yours as well?

Has any of the people that have done the throat contacted Ruger and explained what was going on and what the fix is? I sure as heck would.

Are these barrels hammer forged or are they drilled and rifles? I wonder if they are hammer forged and the mandrel has some wear at that part...

[JimT]

Well I'm very glad to see you have it figured out Scott!
Jim, did you chase the throat on yours as well?

No I didn't. The throat on mine is just fine. I have seen photos of others including Scott's. It's crazy that they made out of the plant in that condition. They should not have even been put on the guns. A real lack of inspection.

[GunnyMack]

Just one more reason why Ruger needs to know about this. Is it just this batch or every one since?

[Griff]

My best 3 shot group of the day. I was using the V point as my aiming point, pulling the trigger as I wobbled past.
IMG_8402.JPG

Wait! Wait! Wait! Ain't that what you're supposed to do? I readily admit I'm a mediocre off-hand shot... but have always just tried to keep the sight moving in a circle to pass by the aim point and break the shot when aligned... albeit, only momentarily. Are you telling me I've gone about this all wrong for the last 55 years?

Edited to add... Congrats on fixing the carbine Scott. That's a marked improvement!

[JimT]

I wish the sights would move in a circle. It would make things easier. I seem to get shaky as well as wobble around. But I am encouraged by a memory of a friend I had in Korea in 1966. He drank a lot. We all did. But he had been at it more years than I .. I had just turned 20 and he was an old man in his 40's. And his hands were shaking! Shooting the old 1911 you could hear the slide rattling when he was shooting. But he did really well! I asked how he hit anything and he said he just "timed the shakes" and pulled the trigger at the right place.

[Steve in MO]

Are manufacturers skipping the last step of a throating or finishing reamer because most folks shoot jacketed bullets these days? Wouldn't surprise me, had a similar issue with an Ed Brown 1911 barrel purchased last year.

Glad to hear everyone's getting the carbines sorted out.

I was told by a major rep at an event at Bass Pro in Springfield, MO after I mentioned several things they should improve on that "man, we don't make guns for people like you."

[Scott Tschirhart]

Much more gooder!

This is a great way to say it!

I can’t find any other fault with this gun. It’s smooth and feeds everything without any sort of problems.

Trigger slicked up really nicely.

The action slicked up with simply working the lever a bunch.

Now that it shoots I think it might become a trusted companion.

[wvfarrier]

Talk about poor quality control. Nice fix!