Did that with a few Americans a month after they hit the market. Both rifles literally fell apart from extensive shooting. Ruger replaced one and I sold the other. Ruger makes them with to soft of alloys. The bolt stop and trigger pins that attached it to the actions hogged out. The mags fell out when firing. Scopes kept coming loose and shifting till I figured out the scope bases were loose and improperly machined. The bases only came in contact withe with edges of the action! Cheap junk.
Most of those reviews probably were from people that didn't put ALOT of rounds through them. My first 2 sessions with the 450bm I shot almost 500 rounds through it. It just couldn't handle it. Ruger told me the American line wasn't designed as a plinking target rifle and made to shoot 4 kxes of ammo though it in the owner's lifetime. They are accurate. I'll give them that credit it's just the alloys used are WAY to soft. My guess is it's for less recoiling calibers from 6.5 on down I'm sure. Do some photo googling and you'll probably see mine along with other Americans.
My American Ranch bolt was slick as snot out of the box. Either ruger Made changes or there is an employee not doing their job. Love my American Ranch so much. I'm looking to get a predator model.
Good process. I like to also do one extra step at the end, before applying the oil. I put my bolt in my little toaster oven at 190 degrees for 20 minutes and then turn it off. After 10 more minutes, I take it out and go over it with that very same oil you use and let it sit on a piece of foil until it cools down completely, then wipe it down with a lint-free cloth. This extra step is good for those stubborn bolts. Hope this helps someone.
Thanks for the info. I am a Gunsmithing student and as my final project I am using a Ruger American in 308 to make a custom Scout Rifle with a lament stock.
great vid. that sound almost reminds me of the running your fingernail across one of those old holographic notebook covers. just curios, what made you choose 600 grit vs a higher grit?
while I appreciate the work and effort why bother when it's not hindering performance and it's going to go away sooner or later with use.. I mean it's not like it's a high-end rifle though I believe the little Ruger Americans are the Best buy for the buck out there..
I am type A and I cant stand that crappy noise and apparently neither can 50k other people. Just curious why you watched if it doesn't bug you? Thanks for watching and commenting
Thank you for taking the time to make this vid. I wouldn’t think that would change accuracy. Did it seem to make any diff good or bad? Sounds and looks much “slicker”. Appreciate you. Subscribed.
Hey brother, forgive me if you have already addressed this ( a lot of comments on here to sift through-did my best), how far do you take it down with the sandpaper? Are the ridges still visible or did you go until they were completely smoothed out? Never worked on a bolt gun before, and the internet is full of armchair "experts", so it can be an effort to get the right info, but you seem humble and experienced enough. I've read about bolt "slop" and figure this would be a good way to introduce that if you over did it. I understand that a nice fitting bolt is a mark of quality craftsmanship, but is slop a thing that could reasonably change the mechanics of the action, perhaps by not directing the bullet into the chamber? I doubt accuracy would be a factor considering that all happens in front of the bolt, but I'm here to learn if thats not the case. Thanks for any info
Only till it starts to shine ribs knock down pretty quick but less is more for sure. Rugers have great action they just skip the fine polish step to make the rifle cheaper
@@thepeyotecoyote5994 It helps gas relief and gives dirt/debris somewhere to go and helps the action of the bolt/ cartridge extraction ps the process to flute a bolt is way more expensive than a fine tumble for a smooth finish…..🫠 educate yourself stay safe
Very good ,you can actually see the difference in the bolts movement ,I'm from sun drenched Scotland and toying with the idea of getting a Ruger American Ranch in 5.56mm to use in Civilian Service Rifle competitions over here, firing a .308 lee Enfield no.4 yesterday and I'm afraid the recoils just to much for ma auld joints.all the best big chap
If you don't have a buffing wheel you can get the same results with Mothers Mag and Aluminun Polish. 2000 grit snadpaper will also work. Polish after using 400 or 600 grit sandpaper to knock off the rough spots. A popcicle stick with fine sandpaper will work on the inside of the receiver. I recently did it to a Ruger Hawkeye stainless. It is now smoother than a Tikka.
I wouldn’t have done that lol there’s the gritty cleaner u can use and just run your bolt few hundred times and smooths it out evenly I wouldn’t trust hand sanding a bolt like that because of uneven wear. But again it’s a cheap ass Ruger so who cares I guess 😂😂😂
Would this potentially cause the bolt to not hold oil as well? From my understanding the machining marks the same as bolt jeweling help the oil stick to the surface
You know for a off the shelf out of the box rifle. My 6.5 creedmore is very accurate. But that bolt sound does drive me insane. I’m most definitely going to try this I was looking at how to overcome this problem. And you sure do make it look easy. Thanks for the time and effort 👍
I would wrap everything I would not want to have abrasion leftovers in with painter's tape and spray liberally with CRC QD electric degreaser afterwards. My knee jerk reaction was to do the same, but then I looked at the bolt more closely and it was perhaps done so on purpose. These small ridges help with scraping field dirt out, while recessions between them retain oil and lubricate cleaned surface on every move. Pretty much like what crosshatch marks in engine cylinder bore do. Polished bolt would require more maintenance as it can't evacuate dirt as efficiently as unmodified bolt does. I personally value reliability over convenience (read: I'm lazy) and decided to leave it as is :)
not a bad method but I would imagine using some flitz metal polish compound apply it to the bolt install back into the action/rifle and cycle it 2 or 300x would smooth it out and wear it into the weapon itself making it more consistent and reliable in cycling and through the whole action process. would also polish the mating surfaces at same time and act as a rust prevention but I'd still apply some quality lubricant like the lucas you use which I also use
I smoothed by keeping a little lubrication on it and shooting the hell out of it LOL smooth as butter now.... I have a Ruger American 223 Remington that probably has 3000 rounds through it and still shoots pretty damn good.
I hope that Ruger is paying attention. This shouldn't have to be. I just bought one in 350 Legend & the action is horrible! This is by far the worst Ruger product that I have ever purchased and I see that I am not the only one. Poor quality control on their part. Ruger, you can do better
That’s awesome. I thought it was just my Ruger American that had this unique sound. Never thought about polishing the bolt. I know what I’m gonna do this weekend. Got a sub and a like on this one from me.
I have RAR LRT, and watched some YT vids and got right to work when I took it out of the box. First took a wet stone on all the sharp edges, just took the edge of, then I did some polishing with a polisher. Then I looked at the action, and the edges are also very sharp, so took Dremel and just did some smoothing on those edges too. Now it’s so smooth and am very happy with it, no scratches anywhere, no scratches on the bullets, job done.
That zipp sound was super annoying. I think I started with 400 grit sandpaper and ended with 1000 grit. Just rubbed it down by hand. Cleaned it off really good after.
Nice job! I basically did the same thing it’s really smooth. You can also polish the inside of receiver with 3/4” pvc pipe with scope lapping compound followed with JB bore paste.
I took a different route. I used red jewelers rouge with a felt barrel on my Dremel at low speed. Lightly went over the whole bolt a couple times. Cleaned off the red rouge and it was nice slick & shiny.
Mine kinda came out of the box and was making that zipping sound. After shooting it a bunch and oiling it up real good, I no longer have that issue. However, I love the polish job on that bolt. I may actually do that myself now for a smoother bolt
Another thing that works great is lapping past. It allows the bolt and receiver to smooth out equally. Just run the bolt a few dozen times and it's done. Though I will say that's a nice shine.
@@thepeyotecoyote5994 I was the same way at first so I completely understand. I will say though I'm four Ruger's in and hopefully about to be five. It hasn't given me to much of an issue as of yet. You just have to be careful not to get any on your lungs. Best of luck regardless my friend.
You need to polish the inside too. You can get little ball polishing discs that will fit inside. Use a metal polishing compound with them. Not discs i mean little spheres.
After checking a couple of new Americans I will accept a partial wrong but I stand by my assessment of the bolt release channel making the most noise when first unboxed. Ruger has many good firearms but like Christensen arms and the old Remington arms before them, quality drops after a product is established. My firs5 generation 270 had only the realease/guide trach noise and nothing else. My rimfire American and Ruger Precision Rimfire have only the track noise. My brothers Predator has all the noises listed and taking the edges off the reciever at the ejection port and rear tang fived it without working the bolt. My nephews Predator 6.5 creedmoor has even more issues due to the cut in the bolt to allow for the AI style magazine. Once we figure out how to get the bolt striker from dragging the trigger sear I will post an update.
Excellent advice ,thank you . I’ll try this out on a cheap budget bolt action rifle I have that is doing the same zipping sound . Later on a hunting rifle I have. Hello from Texas
Very accurate gun just needs a little tlc like that. Definitely not a European level action out of the box but several hundred less a little elbow grease and pretty good. I know we all like to tinker with our stuff anyway. Get a cup of coffee and a bench a little music in the background and start a project.
They hire Elves year round to cycle those bolts about 500 times to make it butter smooth. Don't worry, they don't use chemicals. They only use their spits so it's environment friendly. 😊
@@DaysSpentWell that’s funny because I sat at watched a football game and just kept cycling the bolt. It was raining and I was all by myself. It got a lot smoother🤪.
That there sir is exactly why I went with the Savage axis instead of the Ruger American or otherwise I probably would of the went with the Ruger American instead. Seeing this video I can see this would be a good option. I instead did a Timiney trigger upgrade and a Boyds stock upgrade which are the two main issues with the Axis as the trigger is wonky and the bedding is poor in the axis compared to the American.
i used a lil bit of Vaseline and some uchigo powder..uchigumori is a Japanese natural wet stone used by sword polishers and in powder form it has many uses, i used it to lap the bolt and action for a silky smooth finish that greatly improved cycling the bolt. its a rem mod of 1917. and i picked it over a budget option as it was only tagged at 199$ and was the cheapest 30-06 in the shop because it was not original anymore. it has an old weaver k4 that has a custom reticle on it and turned out to be a full house custom build from the action up with a med heavy 25 inch barrel..im still surprised how good a deal i got that day..the stock is worth more than that lol.and it shoots tiny groups!
I covered mine in JB paste & a smidge of oil. Ran it back & forth a few hundred times in the gun, cleaned and oiled. It didn't 100% remove that annoying zip sound, but most of it. And the bolt worked much smoother in and out afterwards.
