Ruger 44 Carbine infamous broken tab on Trigger Guard

[huntrick64]

Trying to repair a 1971 Ruger 44 Carbine with the infamous broken front tab on the trigger guard. Does anyone have any recent experience with this fix? I have the broken tab. Everything looks cast aluminum to me. Replacement trigger guard is made out of unobtainium, so I have to come up with a fix. I have thought about loc-tite metal to hold it in place while I drill and pin it in two places. This part does take some energy during firing cycle and this is why they all break, and probably why Ruger redesigned the trigger guard in about 1974 or 95. I have even thought about drilling two holes into the base and then insert a wire bent like a horseshoe. Then using the loc-tite metal, form the tab about the wire then file it to fit.

I'm at a loss. Just bought this gun for a fairly low cost and don't want to pass the problem on to someone else. It is also to expensive to be a paper weight.

[1Hawkeye]

Last I knew ruger was still fixing them for people. Give them a call at the New Hampshire number.

[huntrick64]

I will try that, but everything I have read on the net says they are not and have no parts for those firearms.

Thanks

[akajun]

Cast aluminum? Find an outboard motor repair shop that does welding and have it tiged back. That's how they repair the skegs on the bottom of an outboard when you forget to put your transom saver on and back it into a parking curb.

[rosewood]

I do not know what it looks like, but could a machinist make one out of steel?

[huntrick64]

I will try to post pics when I get home. It would be complicated to machine that piece just one time and probably cost more than the gun is worth. I was hoping (since this is a known problem without a fix) that someone had already programmed a CNC machine to make these out of an aluminum alloy that would work better than what Ruger used. I don't think they would get rich, but they probably sold over 1/4 million of them and this problem is frequent, so surely there would be some market for them. I'm going to shoot for the "JB weld steel reinforced epoxy" and pins to see fi that works.

[pietro]

.

In over 45 years, I've yet to see the TG housing fixed effectively/permanently, but the suggestion to build up a new tab via heliarc welding & filing it to shape sounds promising.


AFAIK, the only other option would be to scrounge the TG housing from a badly-abused specimen that has an unbroken TG housing.

Ruger hasn't supported either parts or repair for the discontinued .44 Carbine for at least the past decade.

[knifemaker]

Try calling Numrich Gun parts Corporation at (845) 679-2417 and see if they have the part. Calling by phone is best as they will not list the part in their catalog if they only have one or two of them.

[fecmech]

You can solder aluminum with a propane torch and zinc rod available at you local welding supply. They would probably give you 1 rod which is all you need. My wife had a balloon decorating business, I made forms out of aluminum rod soldered together with zinc rod.

[square butte]

Sounds like a perfect candidate for 3D Printing - or DMLS ( Direct Metal Lase Sintering ). I'm no expert - just been reading about it lately.

[huntrick64]

Here are pics of the damage. You can see how rough the break is and how crappy the original casting was. That zinc/aluminum sounds cool, but is it strong?

[KCSO]

Welding won't work on these the aluminium will just break again. I doubt that glue will hold for long either. I will guarantee that solder won't cut the mustard. Try the glue and pins first and see what happens. I will scout around some friends and see if they might have a fix.

[huntrick64]

I hate to post links but look at the video on the front page of this link:

https://www.aluminumrepair.com/

The part starting about 1:45 into the video has me interested. I wonder if this is just hype. The rods are about $65 per pound, but that would be cheap if it was a permanent fix.

Any thoughts?

[fecmech]

I don't know if that is any different than the aluminum braze rod that I used manufactured by a company called Aladdin Welding products.
Melt point 732 deg F, Meets MIL R 4208 (whatever that is) 1 800 645-3413. Video looks like the instruction sheet that comes with my rod. If you want to try it I could probably put some in a small flat rate box for you.

Another video that may interest you:http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/aluminum-brazing-rods.html

[seaboltm]

I used some specialized muggy weld super alloy 1 to repair a pot metal part on a car. It worked as advertised, but its not cheap.

[Sur-shot]

If that rod works as pictured, it should work better than any form of glue or epoxy. Just check for stress cracks on both sides of the break and fix them at the same time. Ruger's aluminum is cast and they use a good bit of it in their gun parts, it usually does not grind or buff well to refinish as it has fine air pin holes just under the surface. You might need to repair, grind, then repair again if you want a smooth finish look.

Now, someone that has a laser duplicator for a CNC mill setup, even a bench top, could probably reproduce that part in steel, pretty easily. Trick is not to order 1 but say 25, 50, or 100 and sell them on the RCA site. You would just need one good part for a pattern. That laser duplicator is real trick. Take a look a the Youtube film on the Jay Leno garage laser duplicator for his CNC machine. They are using this laser machine to also do stock layout for duplication they have some pretty inexpensive desk top CNC mills on ebird, that do aluminum, you just add the computer and coolant.
Ed

[Peregrine]

I'd just JB Weld that, i'm a real believer in that stuff. I've seen it patch a hole in a cylinder head so some firing stress should be well within limits.
Welding aluminium is well out of my reach, but I find the idea of getting a good weld on already poor quality cast aluminium dicey. Same goes for the solder.

I know it sounds like a kludge or lazy fix but that stuff plain works, and it a lot easier than trying to learn how to weld/braze or find someone who really know what they're doing locally and without spending more than the gun is worth.

[Bazoo]

The way I'd approach it is to mill a section out behind the broken piece and add a repair part made out of quality aluminum. One could probably file the part down and make the repair part with a file and a dremel provided some skill and patience. Then have it tig welded on. Trying to repair just the tab would be futile.

Or a person might could make a piece of steel and epoxy it in place and then drill and tap and put a countersunk screw on each side.