Rebarrel or rechamber?

sigpros

New member
I have a ruger in 250 savage that wasn't ejecting the empties. So I send it to ruger and they said it started life as a 2506. I bought the gun used and sad to say in the excitement of finally finding a ruger in 250 savage I grabed it up and was gone. Let it set in the safe for a few months scoped it up and went to shoot it and it shot just fine but wouldn't eject. I call ruger and they say send it in. So I did. That's when the drama started. They could either rebarrel it to 25-06 for $371.00 or for $418.00 they would send me a new 25-06. I had to fight to get my gun back they wanted to scrap it. So it is on the way home. So now do I rebarrel to 35 whelen or rechamber to 257 roberts,25-06, or 25-06Ai? Any suggestions on which smith to send it to?
 
I think that a .257 Roberts Improved would be the way to go myself. It was PO Ackley's favorite and it a great quarter bore cartridge. Has been used on everything in North America (not best for big bears) over the last half century. If it were mine, that is the way that I would go. Sorry that I cannot help on the gunsmith in your neck of the woods though.
 
Originally Posted By: sigprosI have a ruger in 250 savage that wasn't ejecting the empties. So I send it to ruger and they said it started life as a 2506. I bought the gun used and sad to say in the excitement of finally finding a ruger in 250 savage I grabed it up and was gone. Let it set in the safe for a few months scoped it up and went to shoot it and it shot just fine but wouldn't eject. I call ruger and they say send it in. So I did. That's when the drama started. They could either rebarrel it to 25-06 for $371.00 or for $418.00 they would send me a new 25-06. I had to fight to get my gun back they wanted to scrap it. So it is on the way home. So now do I rebarrel to 35 whelen or rechamber to 257 roberts,25-06, or 25-06Ai? Any suggestions on which smith to send it to?

It sounds to me like something more than an extractor (or ejector) is wrong with this rifle, and Ruger does not want to bear the costs. Think about it. Do the math. I would be on them like white on rice.

Some here find me "unpleasant", or a smaratazz. You have NO idea what I can be like when my hard earned money is on the line and I know smoke is being blown up my azz......

 
Ruger said since the rifle was not in the original configuration they couldn't work on it. I am really bummed because I have been looking for one of these for a few years. I just got too excited and didn't look it over good. I have thought about trying to take it back to Cabelas and see what they say. I bought it back in April so I don't know if it has been to long on that. 257 roberts regular or AI sonuds good too. I have some regular dies a box of shells and some brass.
 
You bought it at Cabelas! I would take it back and let them know what Ruger told you about it beng modified and they wouldn't work on it. Bet they refund you your money.
 
Why would you want a .257 Roberts when you can have a .25-06?

If it were me I'd go .25-06 and never look back. I bet you won't regret it either.

I doubt Cabelas will refund your money after waiting this long. You should have shot it sooner.
 
I already have a 25-06 so a 257 roberts would be another one in the stable. I like my handguns in the same caliber but I like to switch it up on rifles and to be different
 
I have never had a Ruger rifle and don't know this... But does Ruger not make a short action? A 250 Savage in a long action would be a red flag...
 
Rebarreling or rechambering doesn't solve your ejection problems. (There's probably a silly, bad pun in there somewhere that I'll choose to ignore) No matter what you do, you need to find a good gunsmith to fix that.

Since you have a 25-06 (everyone should), I'd say your best option is to have it rebarreled into another caliber. If it's long enough to be a 25-06, it ought to be big enough for a 35 Whelen, and that's where I'd go with it.

But I don't know your shooting habits. The Whelen is good for any game on the North America. But often a guy wants a mid-range rifle for plinking, truck gun, or sporting rifle events at the local club. A gun that doesn't beat you up shooting a bunch of rounds---a fun gun. Or if your a target shooter, maybe a 6.5x284 or some hot target round to shoot down a new heavy barrel.

Or maybe you should trade it in, unfixed, and buy something that fits your needs better.

Good Luck
 
I have a coupe of comments and a couple of questions.

Comments first:

Since the rifle was smithed by someone unknown to all parties involved, its not surprising that Ruger is reluctant to work on it as is. If they can't fix it as is, you as the customer still remember Ruger could not fix it. With the internet especially, the details get lost and Ruger customer service becomes crappy to all who read your comments, intended or not to cast them in the light they become seen as.

Its like the old sign: Repair work - $50/hour. If you already paid someone else to fixed it - $75 per hour. If you tried to fix it yourself - $100 per hour.

And from their point of view, an improperly barreled rifle (based on action size) is not something they want in the market place representing them. Hence their offer to re-barrel or replace completely at a cost since they did not build the rifle in its current condition. For me that seems reasonable. Someone is going to charge for the work if you get it re-barreled. If they do it they want to be reimbursed or get paid for a new rifle if they send that to you. The current problem is not of their making.

I'm not saying you should do either and in fact I probably would just ask for the gun to be returned to me like you did. I agree that they should send the rifle back with no questions asked if that is what you want so long as the rifle is safe to fire. You stated that it fired fine. It is yours at this point in time and not theirs.

I would think that Cabelas would still stand behind the rifle and help you out unless they have an explicit limited guarantee on used guns like 90 days, etc. I've never bought one there so I have no idea.

As for questions:

1. Is the barrel a Ruger factory barrel or an aftermarket barrel?

2. Do 250 savage rounds feed from the internal magazine OK and does the bolt capture the round under the extractor from the magazine and feed the round properly into the rifle chamber?

3. When you say extract, does the bolt pull the case from the chamber and keep it retained under the extractor, or is the cartridge dropping off the extractor as the bolt is pulled back before it hits the ejector?

4. Can you see the ejector? Does it appear to be normal and will the bolt/extractor allow the case head to contact the ejector? (Same question again, I guess, but I'll leave it)

5. Have you tried cycling the bolt a bit faster on extraction since the action is longer? Does it make a difference?

I'm only asking these questions as the Ruger 77 is a controlled round feed action for the most part. IIRC, years ago they went away from that with a bolt design change for awhile, but I believe the current rifles, MK II and Hawkeye, are controlled round actions as are most of the old tang safety actions. During the change period, IIRC the bolt face contained a spring loaded ejector like the Remington ejector, for example. If the action is a true controlled round style action, and if the bolt cartridge extractor is in good condition, it should hold the cartridge intact until it strikes the ejector which is not a part of the bolt itself.

The reason I posed the questions is that hopefully the answers to them should pin point which is at fault, the extractor or the ejector. Or could something else be in play? And can the problem actually be fixed in the current way the rifle is configured or is the action length contributing in some way where re-barreling to a long action cartridge is possibly the only solution?

Anyway, just my thoughts and I hope you get the problem resolved to your liking.
 
Originally Posted By: Winny FanSince the rifle was smithed by someone unknown to all parties involved, its not surprising that Ruger is reluctant to work on it.

I believe the current rifles, MK II and Hawkeye, are controlled round actions as are most of the old tang safety actions.

The reason I posed the questions is that hopefully the answers to them should pin point which is at fault, the extractor or the ejector.


Why should Ruger be reluctant to work on a RUGER rifle? What problem could possibly exist that they could not fix? Why would they be reluctant to send it back, or want to "scrap it"? I still say something more is wrong with this rifle than what we are being told, either by the OP or by Ruger.

Tang safety Ruger's are PUSH FEED actions. More current models are CRF.

I too was wondering if it was an extractor or ejector problem, because from the info given, one can not tell....

 
I understand what you are saying and I am not saying ruger should have to warranty the gun. What PO'd me was that they didn't want to send the rifle back. Said they had to keep it and "scrap" it. And when I asked if I could buy an extractor or ejector and they said no. Then the ladies I talked to were quite miffed that I didn't want a new rifle. I said I preferred the tang safety version. It's my fault I didn't notice the long action. I am just $430 bucks into an action I guess. The ladies were really rude that's what upset me. And Ruger didn't seem to care when I told them that and I just wanted my gun back. As for the question's I will try my best since I don't have the rifle back.

1. Not sure on the barrel
2. Fed and fired just fine
3. The bolt would pull the empty out just fine and when the bolt got almost all the way back the case fell off into the magazine and didn't flip out.
4. not looking at the gun so not sure
5. same as four.

When I get my rifle back I will try to give you more info.
 
What more do you want me to tell you 2muchgun? I haven't got the rifle back yet so hard to answer question's with out looking at the gun. But I had just moved bought the gun and put it in the safe because I had some stuff to do on my house to get it around. I scored it up went to the range and shot the gun. That's when I found the problem. It did shoot a nice 50 yard group that I posted earlier on. Didn't see any reason to keep shooting it when it wouldn't eject. That's when I called ruger to send it in. I asked them if they could fix it not warranty it? I wanted it fixed. I also told them when they called about the barrel issue if they could fix it and I would pay. They said "no" unless they put it back to 25-06 then they could work on it.
 
I would get the rifle back and find a "good" gunsmith. He can fix the problem.At the expense Ruger wanted to charge, you can get a custom barrel with a little bit more $$. Either way, the answer is get a good gunsmith to work for you. JMO
 
Sounds to me like Ruger simply isn't interested in conducting simple repairs in which no real money is to be made.

Just because the barrel has been altered from factory original is no reason they can not fix an ejection problem. Quite simply put, they just don't want to, and are using the fact that the firearm has been altered from it's factory original form as their excuse.

I have heard this same kinda crap about Ruger MANY times in the past. I just don't get it. They are a HUGE company, in a very competitive market. A company in which a lot of idiots would love to see cease to exist.

I'm sorry, but poor customer service based on "technicalities" just does not cut it with me. They could easily fix your gun, if they truly gave a schit. Problem is, there just isn't enough money in it for them........
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogI would get the rifle back and find a "good" gunsmith. He can fix the problem.At the expense Ruger wanted to charge, you can get a custom barrel with a little bit more $$. Either way, the answer is get a good gunsmith to work for you. JMO

That's about it......
 
No problem with not having the answers. I didn't think about you not having the rifle in hand. I was just trying to help.

"in fact I probably would just ask for the gun to be returned to me like you did"

As I stated in my earlier post and like others have said, getting it back and having it worked on by a good gunsmith is probably the only thing you can do.

I'm sure that the ladies you talked with were just following instructions from the corporate lawyers. Reality isn't always right when lawyers are involved, but it is reality. Ruger has always been very conservative in that way with available parts for rifles and handguns.

I probably have the sequence of things off and very likely most tang safety Rugers are push feed rifles. I'm not a big Ruger fan and currently only own three. Two of them are tang safety rifles. One is push feed and one is full controlled round. I just checked the safe where they are and both bolts are factory original except for custom barrels. The only reason I own them is they are both factory opened up for the 284 Win cartridge. One was bought long ago as a 284 Win and one was bought at the tail end of the tang series rifle in a non-cataloged rifle in 284 Win received from a distributor. Maybe that is an explanation for the difference?

The third Ruger is a non-cataloged (at the time I bought it) Model 77 African rifle chambered in 223 Remington that I bought on a pure whim awhile back. The same rifle is now cataloged by Ruger in their 2011 catalog. I just looked.

Anyway, good luck when you get the rifle back. The problem can't be too difficult unless it is a tang safety model with the spring loaded ejector. Ejection timing will be off with a short cartridge like the 250 Savage because the right bolt race holds the round in place until the magazine opening allows it to fall off the extractor. Again, good luck and I hope you get it all resolved.
 


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