Something that could get just about any gunsmith in trouble is taking a firearm apart that they cannot put back together. When this happens, extra time must be afforded to research and learn how to fix the mistakes. Time is money and this delay will surely cost, but hopefully there isn’t the cost of replacement parts. In this weeks assigned article Chick Blood attempts to give us as gunsmiths a “heads up” about the Ruger scout rifle. For those that are unfamiliar with the Scout Rifle this article teaches some tips and tricks to be able to properly break down the rifles action and how it differs from other Model 77 style guns. Blood also explains what to do and what not to do when detail striping the Ruger Scout Rifle. For me this was an eye-opening …show more content…
This is accomplished by first removing the forward mounting screw from the lug. Sounds easy enough, right? Well Chick Blood had to purchase a large torque wrench to perform this task because the screw is mounted at 80-90 ft. lbs. Without this wrench, Blood would have inevitably striped the head of the screw broke off his bits or a combination of both. After the forward mounting screw was removed Blood removed the rear mounting screw, the cross-bolt nut, and the cross-bolt so that he could wiggle the barreled action from the stock. The bolt is now removed from the action by pulling the handle up and back, then swinging the bolt stop outward at the same time. To remove the firing pin assembly Chick Blood tells us to place a punch or piece of drill rod in the hole in the bolt body to act as a handle when working on the firing pin assembly. This punch is not to be removed until after reassembly. From here the differences in the Ruger Scout Rifle and other Model 77 variants should be obvious. The extractor is now a separate piece and not built into the bolt. The ejector is also not part of the bolt, but is part of the receiver on the Scout. Blood explains how to remove these parts as well. He also recommends that we obtain a copy of the factory manual for this rifle as it is well written and outlines all he wrote in his article. I’m sure that I will download one if a Ruger Scout Rifle ever comes into