Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Ruger Predator stock rubbing on barrel ???

I picked up a Ruger Predator in 6.5CM recently for Mrs. Redhill and took it out to sight it in.

I was impressed with the initial group size which ran from .75 to 1.2" with my reloads for it. However I noticed that on one side of the stock near the end of the forearm, the stock is almost touching the barrel. The barrel is supposed to be free floated, which it currently is, but not by much.

My fear is that if the rifle is fitted with a bipod or placed on a rock/tree limb to stabilize it the weight of doing that will cause the stock to touch the barrel and out goes the accuracy. I'm heading out to test out the theory after shooting it off a simple rest and will use shooting bags and a bipod this time to see if the fears are real.

I was surprised to find the accuracy that good from the start and hopefully it will continue when the stock has some pressure on it.

Possible solutions are (1) Heat the stock and try to bend it back by hand (2) Trim off the offending portion of the forearm to get the clearance needed

Any Suggestions are welcomed.

I'd trim it out a bit on the offending side. I tried the heat gun method on a RAR and it didn't go well. It wouldn't soften up and then it got there all of a sudden and those thin interior braces got all wilty. Lucky it was a spare handle.

JPro



Thanks for your post. Sounds like the heat approach is a wee bit dicey,..............so I am heading to trim.

Cut a length wise strip of sand paper about 1 1/4" wide. Slide it between the barrel and the stock with the grit side facing the stock of course. Pull it back and forth till you have the clearance you want. End of story
Mb

Magnum Bob

Thanks for the post. Another good approach.

Pull it out of the stock and use a dremel man. Some guys try to make this chidt harder than it has to be.

I’ve not had much luck with heat and RAR stocks, either. Sanding is the way to go.

I wonder if that last little bit of torque tightening it up, has caused it almost touching...'

try loosening it up a hair, then put a shim of some sort as you torque it down for that final last bit..

then pull out shim....

I did that to one RAR I had, and that worked...had same issue out of the box...

Seafire

I noticed that there was a potential of a barrel rub when I got the rifle home. I took the action out of the box to lighten the trigger pull ( the trigger still needs some work) and tighten the action back up with a Fat Wrench until reaching the suggested 60psi. I watched the stock/barrel distance as I cranked on the wrench and it stayed the same up to the end. I think this stock is just a wee bit bent but will be sanding the needed area to sweeten up the groups even more.

Thanks for the post

Contact Ruger... they just send you another stock.... worth a phone call.... or let them suggest the best solution for fixing that..

maybe they'll have you ship it back to them to correct...

I've got some tools long ago for cheap from Boyd's for hollowing out barrel channels..
it was for wood, but I wonder how'd they work on the fiberglass or whatever the stock is made out of...

I have Predator in 6.5 Grendel that is as accurate as hell....

Seafire - - After trying to get in touch with them on the phone over two days now, I decided that a wait time of over 30 minutes was my cut-off. Tried many times during both days and no luck so I emailed them today and explained the problem and gave them my two possible solutions. Heat and bend or sand and cut. Waiting for the quick response......which should happen within the next two weeks for sure.

UPDATE

Finally got through on the phone to a rep in North Carolina at Ruger and as Seafire, in his wisdom, stated ..."they just send you another stock" that is indeed the solution that gal came up with. When I asked if she would like me to return the defect stock to her, she said "not needed, keep it"

This is again an example of great CS from Ruger and lends itself to many return sales.

Twice I have wanted to order compact stocks to have as spare youth stocks. Both times they sent them without charge.

Can you change a lightbulb yourself?

I wonder what will happen if the new stock "rubs" the barrel? Funny guys can't even freefloat a damn barrel channel.

Tells you how cheap and crappy those stocks are if they are just willing to send you another one...

2nd generation RAR stocks forearms are more rigid but need relief, take stock off and use a round rasp a little at a time.

Well, lets see, after reading some of the wise ass "needed" responses on this page..

I have some rasps I got from Boyd's that I have used on their laminate stocks, that I suggested... just brain farted on what they call them..
welcome to getting old...and someone already mentioned a drimel...

no Ruger doesn't send you another stock because they are cheap and crappy... they do that because its just good customer service..
and secondly, Redhill now has two stocks... he can experiment on one, and once he figures it out on that stock... he's got the second one
to apply what he's learned, if it even needs the same modification...

can I change a light bulb myself? nope... I got friends in SE Alaska on speed dial... I call them and they talk me thru it..
my other option is to just throw the lamp away, and buy a new lamp with a new bulb in it..

I've actually have sanded out a lot of barrel channels... probably done 40 to 50 Boyd's stocks for myself and others...
Plastics not so much, as plastic stocks are what caused me to change the stocks to the laminate ones from Boyds....

but as always the campfire has critics who like to criticize others, so other campfire members will think they are smarter than everyone else...

and if the factory is willing to send another stock and don't need the old one back, its their money, so why do we need someone else to tell us what the manufacturer should do... its none of their Friggin business actually....got nothing to add constructively, then consider just STFU...

Yup, and when the new stock gets there and one side rubs. on the barrel.you gonna go whine to them again or just use a 10 cent strip of sandpaper and fix the sob? Mb

The sandpaper strip does work. I'll often put a thin layer of tape on the barrel and keep the action screws a bit loose. The tape protects the bluing from the grit that will find its way behind the sandpaper, and the loose screws allow room to work.

Dunno what RAR stocks are made of, but betting that sandpaper will get the better of it quickly. Plus, it's self-regulating. The paper side of a sheet of sandpaper shouldn't damage a rifle barrel, but if it does, it's an RAR. Just rattle-can it. If marking the barrel is really a concern, just remove the barreled action and substitute a wooden dowel of correct size and sand away.

The sandpaper method works but if you angle it at all leaves beveled edges on a stock which I do not like.

snicker......

Good info JPro......

simple solution...

If you remove the stock you can scrape away the excess with a box cutter blade, I like that better than sandpaper on the Tupperware stocks.

Just fill the cross hatch in the barrel channel with some epoxy and then sand to fit the barrel. Easy and works great to stiffen the front of the stock.

Don't angle it at all.

All you have to do is put it in there and pull the sandpaper back and forth. Keep the ends parallel 3/4" apart straight above the barrel. Mb

Thanks for the post. I've heard of guys using a product called Glaze Coat to fill in the webwork of some of those poly stocks to stiffen up the forearm portion.

If it shoots fine resting on sandbags or whatever the stock is sitting on why would bypods make a difference? Still has the same rifle sitting in the same stock resting on something that doesn’t really matter. 1MOA average is pretty good for factory rifle at that price which is what makes it appealing! If you have tinker with it and start bedding the stock and floating the barrel and trueing the action and lapping the lugs it’s not worth it

That is pretty much guaranteed to scratch the barrel finish.....ask me how I know.....Pulled sandpaper under Kreiger varmint weight barrel fitting it in a Remington factory stock. I did not have to remove much material and the barrel-stock space was pretty consistent when finished, but some grit got between the back of the sandpaper and the barrel which fixed the bead blasted SS barrel finish. Most of it was hidden by the stock, still..... Maybe some masking tape or electricians tape might save barrel finish.

Great idea coming from experience. thanks

deep socket a touch bigger than the barrel wrapped in course grit sandpaper and go to work. helped my raps groups out quite a bit.
Big Ed