Can a quarter rib blank be soldered on and look as nice as an integral one? The integral ones are expensive as hell...

Just curious and considering options...

thanks!

You might want to ask that question of Mr. Stratton in the event he does not see your post. He has a special jig set up on his mill to make quarter ribs that exactly follow the contours of a barrel. I am sure that he could provide you with photos of his work where he installed quarter ribs that looked like they "grew" on the barrel.

Others may differ in opinion, but I think the answer to your question depends on:

1. the quality of the fit of the quarter rib you are going to solder.

2. the manner in which you solder (e.g. a nice even thin coat of good quality high temp solder).

In case you hadn't noticed, Brownells sells some quarter ribs for certain barrels.

Blue

Cool Guy,



This is a picture of a soldered on quarter rib.







Here is a picture of an integral quarter rib.







You be the judge. If properly fitted I do not believe cosmetically you would ever know the difference, but that is JMHO.



Scott

ScottS

Did you do that solder work? If so, very very nice work.

Blue

Blue,

No I did not do that solder work.

Scott

That is lovely soldering work...

How much does that kind of metalwork cost??

Just adding up & stuff...

Thanks!

The cost of work like that varies, depending upon who is doing the work. Generally speaking you should pay between $300 on the cheap side to $800 on the higher side. Of course, the final price is that charged by whomever you contract the work with.

Scott

This quarter rib is soldered on my 416:

Cool Guy,

Same ribs as pictured above. Integral on the left and soldered on the right.







Again you be the judge.



Scott

If it's your rifle,integral is the way to go.

The Cool Guy,
Unless an integral rib is done on CNC and even then, the barrel is going to cost you a bundle. Butch Searcy makes them for $1600 and that was not fit the rifle. The barrel with the integral fixtures is a nice way to go, just get out your wallet. If you want an integral rib on a round barrel there will have to be a lot of hand work to get the contour of the barrel in a cylindrical shape in the limits of the rib, the mill won't do it, or at least not economically.

The set up that Mark Stratton has on his mill is the same one I have on mine and it just makes fitting the quarter rib to the barrel faster. They will still cost as much when done. A good metalsmith gets paid for what he knows and how he can deliver the product. The quarter rib can also be drilled and tapped and the screw hidden under the sight.

For what its worth, I have owned three Ruger #1 tropical rifles. They were all heavy recoiling rifles without scopes and thier screwed on quarter ribs never moved or loosened up at all. Thats after thousands of rounds thru them. Personally, I do not fully trust a soldered on piece. In my limited experience, intergal is far better than soldered on.


Joe

I'm starting to lean towards the integral rib now...

humm...

Intregal is the best by far, not even a question about it, but it is also bloody expensive...

I have mine soldered and screwed on fore and aft of the rib.....I have seen soldered ones come off, if they get just a bit of water under there and that moisture starts working sooner or later they may pop off..done right it is quite pleasing to the eye to have two big screw heads flush and slots indexed North and South, and rib and screws soldered to prevent any movement.