Update on LRI RPR bolt Shrouds.
Posted by BOLD APP on
The latest production run of RPR bolt shrouds is complete. 300 were sent to plating last Friday. The typical door to door turn around on this has been 12-14 days. We ran almost 1000 shrouds in all. Based off present numbers, this will carry us to May.
We still have plenty of black ano units on the shelf so were in good shape in that regard.
We also put a pile of RPR bolt knobs in inventory. 600+ more pieces.
The Sniper's Hide signature series will be delayed however. There has also been a slight change. We are no longer fluting the bolt knobs after they come back from anodize. The issue is deburring the parts. A clean, burr free edge between the flutes and the anodized body presents a challenge. So, the new knobs will be fluted prior to plating. We'll still engrave the knobs afterward.
On another note:
We've had a few complaints that the bolt shroud fits loose on a bolt. Recently, I added additional metrology (inspection) equipment to our shop. Doing so has allowed me to inspect features on our shroud that were difficult to access with conventional micrometers/calipers.
I pulled a large sample from our inventory and ran them through a 100% post op inspection. Our numbers are right guys. The biggest variance I found was a slight taper on a few of the shroud bodies. From end to end some have a .0002" to .0004" taper.
This bothered me so I went to my tooling vendor for a solution.
The latest batch just completed are taper free. Take all of this with a grain of salt. The values I'm quoting are the equivalent of taking a human hair and splitting it 10-12 times. It's also on the OD of the part. -Nobody has complained about this to us ever.
The internal features are spot on. However the Ruger bolts do have a degree of variation. All parts exist inside a tolerance allowance. I have no doubt that Ruger is maintaining the standard they have set for themselves. I've had a handful of bolts roll through here now. The back side OD that the shroud locates off can vary in diameter by +/- .002".
.002" isn't very much at all, but its enough to make a difference in how a replacement shroud fits.
One should really must consider the overall design of all the aftermarket shrouds. The OEM piece is plastic. Very lightweight with a majority of it hollowed out. The replacements (ours, the TI pieces being made, and anyone else's for that matter) are solid bar stock directly behind the features machined where the shroud mounts to the bolt.
Because the bulk of the mass is located out on the end of the shroud, shaking it amplifies the "wiggle effect" and leads one to believe the fit is poor. There is nothing that can be done about this. Shake it back and forth and it's going to rattle because there must be clearance for the part to function properly.
If this was how the bolt shroud was used in normal service it would indeed create a problem and would be a serious design flaw. However in use that is simply not the case. When cycling the bolt all the forces at play act along the bore axis, not at a right angle to it.
In short, it doesn't affect how the bolt functions in the least. It would take a crystal ball to know exactly what the dimension is on ever single bolt Ruger makes for the RPR. We have experiemented to some degree by putting our shrouds in a collet and literally squeezed the opening slightly so that it fits a few thousandths tighter around the back end of the bolt.
This does work and might draw one to conclude that we should reduce our diameter in the counterbore. However experience has taught us that this won't work for everyone. Some bolts are slightly larger in diameter. The two surfaces should not load against one another heavily as this will cause the shroud to wear. We've sold over 1200 bolt shrouds to date. The number of complaints we've had are very, very small in comparison. Less than 20.
In summary, your buying a quality part from us fitted to a standard meant to reach the broadest audience possible.
Thanks,
C.
LRI
Share this post
0 comment