Barrel Installation Notes
Barrel installation is simple so long as some basic criteria are followed.
- All threads and mating surfaces (faces of recoil lug, shoulder, receiver face, etc) are to be coated with a high contact pressure grease. Acceptable greases are nickel or copper based anti-seize, Lubriplate L130-A (M1 A grease), and regular wheel bearing grease. We use M1-A grease in our shop because it causes less mess with errant dabs of grease like anti-seize is known for.
- Barrel nuts should be installed at 35-50 ftlb torque, Ruger Precision Nuts to be 45-55 ftlb
- Shouldered barrels should be 70-75ftlb for 380, 473 and 532 case heads with 589 case heads being increased to 100ftlb maximum. Carbon barrels are no different.
- All of our prefits are cut to 3A class threads for imperial patterns and 6g class for metric threads. They do not need high torque values to account for 'crush' like was recommended in decades passed. Exceedence of the torque values recommended here may cause damage to the barrels in certain cases.
We suggest wrapping barrel shanks in kraft paper (paper bag material) for 1-2 layers before securing in a barrel vise to minimize potential damage to cerakote on the barrel shank.
Again, be sure to use grease on the threads and shoulders. More is better, wipe off the excess if needed!
Rev 09/2021