Originally Posted by crossfireoops
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Materials-Processes-Manufacturing-Paul-DeGarmo/dp/047136679X



A really worthwhile book to have, if you are interested in this sort of stuff. I bought mine 30-odd years ago and still occasionally get it out.

Without rehashing a lot of what has been said, there are a range of methods of casting. Investment casting, especially as is done today, is a method which can give rise to very good dimensional control, very good finish with minimal need to machine and, with attention to design, excellent soundness, toughness and strength.

That element of design's important too: you can't usually take a design intended to be produced by forging and machining and replicate it as an investment casting without giving it some thought. Considerations such as how the metal will flow into the investment play a part, for example. Having taken these sorts of factors into account though, investment casting is more than capable of making a good tough and safe receiver. It is used in a range of applications where strength and toughness and reliability are key factors, including components for aircraft as well as firearms and a myriad of others.

FWIW my own experience includes experience in production of such things as shear blades, rock-drill bits, handcuffs, track plates for armoured vehicles and some others, and I've made, analysed, and tested - sometimes to destruction - a fair few investment castings. I don't happen to own a Ruger 77, but I wouldn't have any reservations about their strength or safety based on them having investment cast receivers.