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Fabricating obsolete gun parts

Richard6218

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Jun 4, 2008
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649
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LaConner, Washington, USA
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Last week at the range I dropped the breech block detent and its spring from my Ruger Hawkeye, a single-shot .256 Winchester Magnum pistol. I picked up the parts and put them in the case with the gun and went to my local gun shop for help with removing a wedged case. When I opened the case the spring and detent were gone! I have absolutely no idea what happened to them, but after re-tracing my steps I have concluded that they are lost.

This gun is long out of production, having been built only in 1963 and 1964. Parts are not available from Ruger. Searches of suppliers who stock "thousands and thousands of gun parts" have never heard of a Ruger Hawkeye, much less stocked its parts. It appears my only option is to find someone who can fabricate these parts --- the spring may not be too much of a problem, if it can match the specs of the original. The detent is going to be a big problem, though. And it doesn't help that it's a tiny hunk of metal that has to meet precise specs, which I don't have.

The utter absurdity of this is that Ruger's original price listshows a total of $1.00 for both parts in 1964 dollars: $0.25 for the spring and $.75 for the detent. But without them, the gun won't function.

So here is my question: Who does this kind of specialized fabricating? I will be calling Ruger to try to get the engineering specs for them, but I need to find someone who can do the machining. I'll appreciate any leads.
 

Task Force 16

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Richard6218 wrote:
C'mon, folks! 44 views and no one has a clue about how to fabricate gun parts? Must be someone out there who does :(
Fabricating parts that are likely of copyrighted design, for pay, can be troublesom, without first acquiring a license to reproduce the partsfrom the original company.
 

Richard6218

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LaConner, Washington, USA
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Task Force 16 wrote:
Richard6218 wrote:
C'mon, folks! 44 views and no one has a clue about how to fabricate gun parts? Must be someone out there who does :(
Fabricating parts that are likely of copyrighted design, for pay, can be troublesom, without first acquiring a license to reproduce the partsfrom the original company.
I would think an adequate defense to any claim by the original manufacturer would be that they loudly announce in all their literature that parts are no longer available from them. I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me this kind of announcement would amount to a license. Further, its purpose is not commercial, i.e. it would be for personal use only and not for resale. As to the practical aspect of making the part I would think a good machinist would be able to create any part, given the dimensions and specifications. It's the specs that I'm still trying to track down from Ruger's Records Dept.
 

Task Force 16

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Richard6218 wrote:
Task Force 16 wrote:
Richard6218 wrote:
C'mon, folks! 44 views and no one has a clue about how to fabricate gun parts? Must be someone out there who does :(
Fabricating parts that are likely of copyrighted design, for pay, can be troublesom, without first acquiring a license to reproduce the partsfrom the original company.
I would think an adequate defense to any claim by the original manufacturer would be that they loudly announce in all their literature that parts are no longer available from them. I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me this kind of announcement would amount to a license. Further, its purpose is not commercial, i.e. it would be for personal use only and not for resale. As to the practical aspect of making the part I would think a good machinist would be able to create any part, given the dimensions and specifications. It's the specs that I'm still trying to track down from Ruger's Records Dept.
Yeah, you can do it as long as it's not done for commercial purposes.

Give you an example. Do you know why there aren't more of the old ventage WWII fighter aircraft still flying? No one makes replacement parts for them. However, private individuals can fabricate the parts they needfor their own aircraft if they can get the specs and make them exactly to those specs (including any heat treatments).

Hope you can get the specs from the company and find a machinist that can make the parts for you.
 

Richard6218

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Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
649
Location
LaConner, Washington, USA
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Task Force 16 wrote:
Richard6218 wrote:
Task Force 16 wrote:
Richard6218 wrote:
C'mon, folks! 44 views and no one has a clue about how to fabricate gun parts? Must be someone out there who does :(
Fabricating parts that are likely of copyrighted design, for pay, can be troublesom, without first acquiring a license to reproduce the partsfrom the original company.
I would think an adequate defense to any claim by the original manufacturer would be that they loudly announce in all their literature that parts are no longer available from them. I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me this kind of announcement would amount to a license. Further, its purpose is not commercial, i.e. it would be for personal use only and not for resale. As to the practical aspect of making the part I would think a good machinist would be able to create any part, given the dimensions and specifications. It's the specs that I'm still trying to track down from Ruger's Records Dept.
Yeah, you can do it as long as it's not done for commercial purposes.

Give you an example. Do you know why there aren't more of the old ventage WWII fighter aircraft still flying? No one makes replacement parts for them. However, private individuals can fabricate the parts they needfor their own aircraft if they can get the specs and make them exactly to those specs (including any heat treatments).

Hope you can get the specs from the company and find a machinist that can make the parts for you.
Same goes for old cars.
 

TheMrMitch

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Hodgenville, Kentucky, USA
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Several years ago.....a spring in my AR15 bit the dust. I used a spring from a ball point pen and never worried about it.

Think of things that look like what you lost and go from there.:)
 

Richard6218

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LaConner, Washington, USA
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TheMrMitch wrote:
Several years ago.....a spring in my AR15 bit the dust. I used a spring from a ball point pen and never worried about it.

Think of things that look like what you lost and go from there.:)
You have a point about the spring. They are pretty common and finding one the right size/tension ought to be fairly easy. It's the detent plunger that is going to be tough because it has to fit in a small space precisely and perform its function as the manufacturer intended. I've gotten a response from one of our members who does gun machining who seems confident he can duplicate the part. I still need to get the specs from Ruger and I think he will be able to take it from there.
 

Alexcabbie

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Jul 21, 2008
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Alexandria, Virginia, United States
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You might try someone who repairs fishing tackle, as some oldd fly and spincasting reels are hard to find parts for and these folks have the skill and small machinery to make them. I know people who can bore me to death talking about thier beloved fishing reel and rod and their entire history almost down to the screws and bearings, so I would guess they could make a part for a pistol.
 

Richard6218

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
649
Location
LaConner, Washington, USA
imported post

Alexcabbie wrote:
You might try someone who repairs fishing tackle, as some oldd fly and spincasting reels are hard to find parts for and these folks have the skill and small machinery to make them. I know people who can bore me to death talking about thier beloved fishing reel and rod and their entire history almost down to the screws and bearings, so I would guess they could make a part for a pistol.
This sounds promising. However, I do have a guy who has responded to my post and I think I'm going to let him have a go at it. The biggest problem is going to be the specs for the parts. I just talked to Ruger this AM and learned the drawings are no longer available :(
 
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