Looking for a Gunsmith in the PNW

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  • Last Post 01 March 2018
MarkinEllensburg posted this 24 February 2018

I have two projects in the short term that I'm looking for a gunsmith to help with. I live in central Washington and am willing to drive to find one if needed but not more than 375 miles one way. So roughly as far east as Missoula and as far southwest as Sprinfield, OR.

The projects are both on Ruger No. 1 actions consisting of chambering and installing a barrel. I'm looking for a smith that has experience in match rifle work that is willing to work with the falling block action.

Project #1 is a .30BR

Project #2 is a .25-223 RKS

Both hopefully will be competitive in CBA matches.

Any leads would be appreciated.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 24 February 2018

there is a good ruger1 group in yahoo ... they hold an annual match with real targets ( g ) ... a lot of discussion is of the various tricks to get accuracy from the r1 ....some turn in 1/2 moa targets .

i believe there were recommendations for r1 smiths .

yahoo keeps back posts, if you can get through the yahoo barriers ...

ken

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Bud Hyett posted this 24 February 2018

The following is something you might want to discuss with your gunsmith as you are working this project. 

In his hardbound book on Single Shots, Frank DeHaas discusses hammer fall and the effect of the speed and force of the hammer strike on the primer. His hypothesis is the force and velocity along with the consistency of these factors impact the accuracy. 

He measures this by setting rifles perpendicular to the floor, inserting an aluminum rod, and measuring the height the rod rises when the hammer strikes the rod. The Winchester High Wall was strongest  (highest) and the Ruger #1 was weakest (lowest). The author admits this is a simple test with less than optimally structured test criteria. However, the results are interesting. 

Being bitten by the Ruger #1 bug, I have six of them, this topic intrigues me and hope the results are shared in the future. Now retired, I want to explore the DeHaas finding.  My thought is to deburr and dry lube each action. Deburring will be the hammer, the transfer pendulum and the firing pin to assure minimum friction. Dry lubing will be each pivot surface (pin) and the firing pin to again assure minimal friction.

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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dbarron posted this 25 February 2018

Don't know of anyone in E WA N ID right now, but if you find someone Mark, Let me know.  (Don in Spokane).

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 25 February 2018

one of the guys on the yahoo r1 group personally contracted for a batch of lightweight hammers ..... might still have some ....  i could believe a lighter hammer and a stronger mainspring might be interesting ... however it does seem that the clattering mainspring anchor assembly is the most often reported problem .

some have thought the short barrel tenon is a problem  ...  but then there are a lot of half-inch grouping  high-walls .. even the efficient little ballard seems to shoot well ... and they only have a short tenon .

kinda like cast bullet accuracy, i don't know that there has been a sure-fire 5-step menu for super-tuning the r1 ....

i remember our cba pres., john a. , shot his pretty well ... maybe he has a secret r1 accurizing trick .

ken

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MarkinEllensburg posted this 25 February 2018

Thanks ken. The Number 1 I'm currently shooting once held the 10 shot group record. For a good long time. Of course that was a previous barrel and chambering. I've submitted an article to TFS about the rifle and what my Dad did to make them shoot great. Short version is he cut off the MS hanger and attached it to the barrel. The two actions I have for builds have been so modified.

Thanks for all the other input as well.

Project #2 in .25-223 RKS is a wildcat of my Dad's design. He shot it in competition for several years. It seems he never perfected it but the reasons why are unknown.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 25 February 2018

re: the 25-223 ... funny, i have in my stash  an odd barrel that is some kind of 223-25 ... maybe a sako based barrel  ... or not ...    do you have any drawing or specs for your 223-25 ? ...  shoulder angle ?? ... mine is a blue sporter that seems to have good rifling ... i thought i would rechamber it to maybe 250 savage or even 25-06 IMP just to be louder .... but if there is more than one of these somewhere i might reconsider .

ken

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RicinYakima posted this 25 February 2018

" but if there is more than one of these somewhere i might reconsider ."

Ken, the .25//222 Rem (Wooter's "Copperhead") was pretty popular in Texas and Louisiana back in the 1960's. As was the .25 / .223 here in the PNW especially around Ft. Lewis. Several of the permanent party posted to the fort had these made up for the little black tail deer using 87 grain varmint bullets. Shots were less than 50 yards here in the rain forest and the old Weaver 2 1/2 with post were the "hot ticket". Thanks for the memories, hadn't thought about those times in years.

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MarkinEllensburg posted this 25 February 2018

23°

Interesting information Ric.

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RicinYakima posted this 25 February 2018

Your dad knew what he was doing. There are many . 25 cast bullet designs going back 125 years. There were about 3 for 6MM before the .243 came out. A long history of schutzen with the .25 bore and modern strong cases, what's not to like?

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MarkinEllensburg posted this 25 February 2018

He moved from 30 caliber to .25/20 Single Shot. He shot that for a number of years before moving to .25-223. What happened to the barrel is a mystery as I've not found it. I do know he spent a considerable sum of money on the cartridge with a custom RCBS die set. We've not found his reamer either, however I have found the JGS measured diagram along with some correspondence to rework it. I have a large amount of cases and a handful of molds. It will be a fun project. 

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frnkeore posted this 28 February 2018

Mark,

Call Steve Barber. He's in Eugene, Oregon. He's a single shot guy and has worked on Ruger's.

He may be able to do, if not, I think he can lead you to who can.

541-520-1540

Tell him Frank Elliott sent you.

Is the 25 RSK mean it was designed by Ron Smith?

Frank

 

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MarkinEllensburg posted this 01 March 2018

Frank,

Thanks for the contact. I called Steve and he seems to think he might be able to work it in as long as I'm not in too much of a hurry.

The "RKS" is my Dad's initials.

I still have another couple of leads to follow. Thanks to BHyett and RicinYakima.

Short term I'm going to get a 308 production rifle for my youngest son to shoot this year. Now I need to research what seems to be winning in that class.

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Bud Hyett posted this 01 March 2018

My experience shows Savage to be shot a little more than Remington in Production, but the numbers are close. The 2017 National Tournament for Production and Hunter classes were predominantly Savage for the .308.  

If you could find a slightly used earlier rifle, that may be good. The Savage 12BVSS Alice shot before the Accutrigger had an exceptionally tight chamber and barrel for a production rifle. The Remington 700 VLS which I shot in Production was built in the late 1990's and was also exceptionally tight for chamber and barrel. However, the new rifles still shoot well. 

 

 

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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RicinYakima posted this 01 March 2018

Be picky on the Remington 700's! I bought one that had the chamber crooked to the bore and they refused to fix it. Others have better luck with Remington than I did. It isn't the brand name, it is the individual rifle so you will buy several before you get a good one. It is jus the way it is in the modern low quality world.

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frnkeore posted this 01 March 2018

RKS (Ron Smith) is the predominate barrel maker for single shot shooters (ISSA & ASSRA) most are a choked, gain twist barrel and hold the majority of single shot records. He has a 25 cal chambering, based on a shorten 357 Max case. That's why I asked.

Steve is a long time (30+ years) single shot competitor and does very well in our sport.

Frank

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 01 March 2018

my opinion ::  don't forget the Tikka , Sako, and CZ rifles ... if you want a production class rifle; the probabilities are good for a decent one.  

and production classes are very much a probability adventure.  that is the fun part ...

did i mention those are my opinions ??

ken

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