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Ruger SFAR small frame 308, 6.8 pounds

Has anyone got word on people making barrels for this?

Id love to throw a 6GT barrel on the Sfar. Like a 6arc on steroids
The only one I’m aware of so far is Suppressed Weapons Systems with one of their integrally suppressed barrel options.

ruger-sfar-1024x268.jpg


  • Built on Ruger SFAR
  • $1850 Barrel/handguard conversion only (customer provides rifle for conversion)
  • Rifle and conversion come with SWS 15″ Mloc handguard
  • Chambered in all 308 family of calibers
  • weighs under 7lbs
 
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Yeah... unfortunately with the proprietary alloy of the extensions, that probably won't happen :(
Has anyone got word on people making barrels for this?

Id love to throw a 6GT barrel on the Sfar. Like a 6arc on steroids

Absolutely not readily available from a manufacturer but maybe an exercise in what's required.

Ruger SFAR in 27 RPR

 
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So i'm now having blown primer issues - bad. And the dang thing is clean as a whistle. 147 factory ammo blowing primers after about 5 rounds.

It wasn't doing this and just started - I wonder whats going on. I have an H3 in it right now.
 
So i'm now having blown primer issues - bad. And the dang thing is clean as a whistle. 147 factory ammo blowing primers after about 5 rounds.

It wasn't doing this and just started - I wonder whats going on. I have an H3 in it right now.
Igman 147gr M80 factory ammo?

My SFAR will not tolerate that ammo.
 
What were you shooting before this started? With finicky setups, going from one ammo to another can often necessitate a gas adjustment. Those 147s, being heavy, are likely releasing the bolt before it should.
 
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So i'm now having blown primer issues - bad. And the dang thing is clean as a whistle. 147 factory ammo blowing primers after about 5 rounds.

It wasn't doing this and just started - I wonder whats going on. I have an H3 in it right now.

If different ammo doesn't blow primers then there you go.

If ALL ammo is blowing primers then it's pita time.
 
It’s only ever been Hornady 147s. This is pretty odd.

I have adjustable gas and an h3. And a Huxwrx flow. It’s blowing primers every 4th or 5th round.

Bore is squeaky clean, no carbon ring or anything. Gonna check headspace right now.
 
Headspace is fine. Baffling. Factory spring, h3, Superlative gas, low back pressure can. Factory ammo.

As for buying ammo other than the pretty tame Hornady 147s that I have 35,000 rounds of…i’ll toss this gun in a trash can at the range before I do that lol.
 
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the dang thing is clean as a whistle

Not even a bit of carbon ring around the neck or anywhere in the chamber?

One completely random thought ...

Can you measure the case stretch from some of the rounds with blown primers and compare it to the stretch from other ammo that isn't blowing primers?

The completely random and unsupported thought here being that maybe the brass on this particular ammo is momentarily welding itself to the inside of the chamber and not properly moving/stretching to keep up with the unlock leaving the base/primer momentarily unsupported.

The only ammo I ran through mine which ended up unseating some primers was some hot Rem hunting rounds.
 
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Headspace is fine. Baffling. Factory spring, h3, Superlative gas, low back pressure can. Factory ammo.

As for buying ammo other than the pretty tame Hornady 147s that I have 35,000 rounds of…i’ll toss this gun in a trash can at the range before I do that lol.
35,000 rounds? 👀
 
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Headspace is fine. Baffling. Factory spring, h3, Superlative gas, low back pressure can. Factory ammo.

As for buying ammo other than the pretty tame Hornady 147s that I have 35,000 rounds of…i’ll toss this gun in a trash can at the range before I do that lol.
a new car's worth of ammo, hot damn. all ELD-M? or a mix of that and ELD-X?
 
Had a similar issue with an LM308MWS. Went from 16” barrel chrome lined to SS 18” and started having primer issues with 168 gr A-MAX. Notified LMT and they said Hornady was not quality ammunition. I replied with no issues in 16 “ barrel. They replaced the 18” barrel with one that was .003“ longer in the throat and the issue went away.
 
a new car's worth of ammo, hot damn. all ELD-M? or a mix of that and ELD-X?
I suspect it’s mixed with something…

Regardless, if the gun “just started doing it,” go back the whatever config wasn’t doing it and start there…
 
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I suspect it’s mixed with something…

Regardless, if the gun “just started doing it,” go back the whatever config wasn’t doing it and start there…

Mine did it in the factory configuration that was "tested and validated" when I sent the gun back for inspection and did it in the factory config when I got the gun back stamped with Ruger "gunsmith" approval ... but only with some factory ammo.

Hasn't happened since I swapped our parts but I haven't (yet) tried that ammo again.
 
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Now that I've found what my SFAR is happy with - I'll just keep using what works - and relegate the stuff that doesn't to run in guns that don't care.
 
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Igman 147gr M80 factory ammo?

My SFAR will not tolerate that ammo.

That definitely checks out. I have a few of these at work that we use for dealer/distributor events. Winchester commercial M80 ball shoots 12-14 MOA. Hornady Black 168 shoot .75-ish. Lots of reports of these not slinging M80 equivalent very well.
 
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a new car's worth of ammo, hot damn. all ELD-M? or a mix of that and ELD-X?
ELD-X. All from the same cases that I was using. Factory white box Hornady Match ammo.

I don’t reload anymore at all.

I returned it to its factory config this morning - gay gas block, standard buffer. Blown primers.

I’m going to turn the gas off when I go back to the range and see if it’s dwell.

Looking in the chamber with a bore scope, I suspect the issue is that I managed to get through Rugers “break in” period and now the gun runs smooth and low friction….which allows the bolt to unlock too early now that it isn’t fighting Rugers bargain basement surface finishes.
 
Alright. So i’ll post pics tomorrow.

I don’t seem to be seeing signs of pressure if the gun has the gas turned off. Primers have mild flatness, no marks of any kind on the brass. Etc.

As I turn the gas up towards “it cycles” I get the beginning of issues.

I may move to a lighter spring and buffer and see if turning the gas down a bunch with a lighter opsys helps this issue. It’s not been my experience in the past, but who knows? I for sure went heavier on everything already.
 
Alright. So i’ll post pics tomorrow.

I don’t seem to be seeing signs of pressure if the gun has the gas turned off. Primers have mild flatness, no marks of any kind on the brass. Etc.

As I turn the gas up towards “it cycles” I get the beginning of issues.

I may move to a lighter spring and buffer and see if turning the gas down a bunch with a lighter opsys helps this issue. It’s not been my experience in the past, but who knows? I for sure went heavier on everything already.

Yeah, that might make sense considering they recommend Setting 3 on their gas block for the break in period then turning down to Setting 2 after. It'll be interesting to see what putting the carbine weight buffer back in with the factory spring and turning down the gas does...
 
With a thoroughly clean chamber and bore…and all original everything but the gas block in the op system - I get this outcome as i turn the gas up.

Primers look great till they go on vacation.

gas off - fine.

mid gas but doesn’t run, fine.

works? blown primers.

IMG_2077.jpeg

IMG_2078.jpeg
IMG_2079.jpeg
 
I may attempt to move the gas port to +1 and see if it quits.

I am not a gunsmith by any stretch of the imagination no matter how much my Fudd friends who only shoot shotguns and bolt guns are "amazed" that I can "build" an AR.

That said, this is where I'm headed on my journey to eliminate blown primers and ripped rims from the SFAR.

I am currently on the path of polishing the chamber to reduce case sticktion. This, in my mind, raises the risk of early unlock. This will also maybe put more pressure on the bolt while it's locked having less grabtracktion between the brass and the chamber wall.

To counter the early unlock after polishing the only tool I have, that I know about, is reducing gas down the tube and, maybe, a heavier buffer

Reducing gas down the tube to mitigate the early unlock due to polishing means, I'm guessing, increasing the potential for cycling problems due to not enough energy potential to compress the SFAR spring enough to lock back the bolt and/or pick up the next round so it seems a lighter spring is required. Since the SFAR bolt is about the same weight as a AR-15 bolt this seems, in my imagination, to be a rational line of thinking so I don't see why I can't switch to a standard rifle spring ... I *think* a standard carbine spring will be too short and weak.

My goal is a standard rifle spring with a carbine or H1 buffer. I've already tried the SFAR spring and a DPMS spring (slightly lighter) with both a H2 and a H3-ish buffer but the results were less than impressive.

The question that pops up after that is whether or not a lighter spring will be strong enough or fast enough to properly drive the next round into the chamber. Again, in my limited capacity of gunsmithing, I don't see why not although it may also reduce the top potential for rate of cycling that I might experience some issues with mag dumps, which I don't care about as long as it cycles for reasonably quick follow up shots.

Feel free to tell me where I'm wrong.
 
Did you try installing a RifleSpeed AGB?
I have a Superlative blow-off AGB. The issue with the blow off agb is it can't blow off enough gas from the .25 inch ruger gas port to mean anything. The thing is huge. Like Taylor Swift's blown-out gooch huge.

I'm fairly sure this issue is timing. In previous 6.5CM builds moving to +1/+2 gas fixed everything.

My plan right now is to a) thread the ruger factory gas port for a set screw and install a short one. b) move the gas port forward 1" for a +1 gas tube and use .025 shim stock on the .700 barrel diameter and loctite green to install .750 gas block there. I will then drill a .09x gas port there on my milling machine and dimple the barrel at the right spot for set screws.

I wouldn't fuck with it and would just toss the barrel...but my factory ruger barrel shoots 3/8" groups regularly.
 
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Has anybody tried a brt restricted gas tube on one of these yet ? They're relatively cheap. Being that the port in the barrel is reportedly rather large on these rifles maybe combining the two would fix the over gassed issue that some seem to be having.

I've wanted one of these rifles since they came out but I came across a screaming deal on an LMT 308 for less than the ruger so that's the route I went.

I did put the brt tube on the LMT and it works well with my og SiCo omega.
 
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Has anybody tried a brt restricted gas tube on one of these yet ? They're relatively cheap. Being that the port in the barrel is reportedly rather large on these rifles maybe combining the two would fix the over gassed issue that some seem to be having.

I've wanted one of these rifles since they came out but I came across a screaming deal on an LMT 308 for less than the ruger so that's the route I went.

I did put the brt tube on the LMT and it works well with my og SiCo omega.
The brt and the gas block I have now do the same thing - make the hole going to the gas tube smaller.

20" rifle gas .308 is usually fine. My issue is related to 6.5 creedmoor which is way more finicky. Almost every manufacturer out there now does 20" creedmoors as +1 these days.
 
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Does anyone know, roughly, how much pressure goes through the gas tube? (assuming an unrestricted port)
 
Does anyone know, roughly, how much pressure goes through the gas tube? (assuming an unrestricted port)

For an AR-15 IIRC it's roughly 15kpsi rifle, 20kpsi mid and 25kpsi carbine ... at the PORT ... NOT the key ... depending on the load etc. etc. ... a heavier freedom seed and hotter loads will raise all the pressures

Quickload or GRT is good for estimates.

I'd have to dig around again to see if I could find AR-10 numbers but I think you're looking for 6.5 numbers?
 
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For an AR-15 it's roughly 15kpsi rifle, 20kpsi mid and 25kpsi carbine ... at the PORT ... NOT the key

I'd have to dig around again to see if I could find AR-10 numbers but I think you're looking for 6.5 numbers?
Thanks. I’m just curious as to what the pressure is inside the tube. I doubt there’s info on that?
 
Thanks. I’m just curious as to what the pressure is inside the tube. I doubt there’s info on that?

Somewhere out there I'm sure somebody has all that info.

I *think* the pressure at the key is going to be a combination of instantaneous port pressure (based on load) and "sustained" port pressure based on dwell time or how long it takes the bullet to uncork the barrel after it passes the port.

Initial instantaneous pressure at the port may start around, let's say, 20kpsi but it drops as the bullet travels down the barrel and it takes some time for the gas to travel from the port to the key so you have to get out your slide rule (or QL or GRT) to do some bougie math to guesstimate it.

A mid length system on a 20" barrel is probably going to deliver more pressure down the tube longer than a rifle length system on a 18" barrel ... depending on the gas block and the cartridge load and solar flares ... it's all a complicated little dance.

I seem to recall once someone somewhere out there threw out some numbers as the amount of pressure required at the key to cycle the bolt but even then that varies based on bolt, spring, buffer, cunt hairs and gnome balls. It was kind of interesting to talk about but I didn't find any practical application for my particular subset of problems.
 
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Somewhere out there I'm sure somebody has all that info.

I *think* the pressure at the key is going to be a combination of instantaneous port pressure (based on load) and "sustained" port pressure based on dwell time or how long it takes the bullet to uncork the barrel after it passes the port.

Initial instantaneous pressure at the port may start around, let's say, 20kpsi but it drops as the bullet travels down the barrel and it takes some time for the gas to travel from the port to the key so you have to get out your slide rule (or QL or GRT) to do some bougie math to guesstimate it.

A mid length system on a 20" barrel is probably going to deliver more pressure down the tube longer than a rifle length system on a 18" barrel ... depending on the gas block and the cartridge load and solar flares ... it's all a complicated little dance.

I seem to recall once someone somewhere out there threw out some numbers as the amount of pressure required at the key to cycle the bolt but even then that varies based on bolt, spring, buffer, cunt hairs and gnome balls. It was kind of interesting to talk about but I didn't find any practical application for my particular subset of problems.
I'm kind of surprised it's so high. Gas tubes aren't outrageously thick, held in with a light pin. I guess it's more of a 'shock wave' than 'pressure' that I'm thinking of. I know barrel pressure is super high (I had a bolt explode on me) but for some reason thought the gas diverted through the bleed hole would be less.
Maybe I should stop thinking so much!!
 
I'm kind of surprised it's so high.

To be clear, I don't know the pressure at the key.

QL and GRT will both calculate gas pressures inside the barrel at the port, technically along every point inside the barrel, within a reasonable tolerance for predicting ballistics.

The port and the block severely restrict gas flow but I have no idea down to what pressure ... could be only 50psi for all I know.

Take your bolt and set it on a bench then stick the nozzle of from a compressor in the key and set the outlet side of the compressor to 50psi and see what happens. Try it at 80psi or 100psi. I'm thinking it's going to jump pretty good at one of those pressures.
 
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Still blowing primers at random. Main test this week we as to use the blow off part of the gas block to try blowing off pressure instead of restricting. Its a SA block. It told me to F off.

Moving the gas hole to +2 location. seeing what that does. Loctite green and .025 stainless shim stock gluing up right now.
IMG_2095.jpeg
 
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To bad you couldn't keep the hole in the groove. Not that you couldn't help it.
 
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