Pine Tree Castings is one of the nation's leading producers of precision steel investment castings. Located in Newport, New Hampshire between Lake Sunapee and Dartmouth College we offer alloy steel, stainless steel, and austempered ductile iron investment castings.
We serve a growing need for top quality investment castings and to satisfy customers who demand precision cast components and who value industry-leading technical expertise. Bill Ruger, recognized the advantages offered through the use of the investment casting process. Specifically, investment casting provides cost advantages by achieving close tolerance, near net shape components. Investment casting also offers design flexibility by producing features that are too costly or complex to achieve by other methods.
We have expanded over the years by offering high quality steel castings to meet the exacting specifications of a wide range of industries. Pine Tree uses modern equipment and continuously refined processes to ensure that all customers receive the best value investment castings. Customers work directly with experienced foundry engineers who develop the optimum cast components and machined features. The result is a combination of facilities, capabilities and service that you can count on for the life of your program.
Some common comparisons of similar products might include their cast M77 receivers versus pre-64 milled from bar stock M70's versus a modern forged M70. Another one could be their GP-100 versus the forged L-frame - that horse is pretty well beaten isn't it? How about a comparison one of their semi-automatic slides versus something comparable machined from billet?
I think the reason they don't branch out more is strictly volume for a specific market. Ruger doesn't create markets, they take over and dominate them. And assembly line builds are a lot cheaper than stocking ten million little unique per model parts. Ruger does a great job with innovation for a company the size they are. In fact 7 of my top 10 most desirable new guns to purchase are Rugers, and that isn't because I am a fan, just because they offer the features I want.One thing I will say has been a persistent observation of mine is that their casting process should allow them greater flexibility in their design offerings. S&W offered two or three revolver frame sizes for nearly a century, and have only in recent decades introduced a fourth and fifth. The forging process they use is costly to tool-up. Ruger, on the other hand, can introduce a new casting as easily as creating a wax plug. They ought to have a lot more flexibility in their designs that what they have been showing. It ought to be easy for them to shrink the No. 1 for smaller cartridges or grow it for a .700 NE. I can't think of why they haven't cast a mini bolt-action receiver for intermediate cartridges like .223, 7.62x39, .300, 6.5G, etc. like the Howa and CZ527. And their M77 for the magnum handguns has an excessively long two-piece bolt kludge and strangely adapted large receiver. Why couldn't they cast a more appropriate frame size for handgun cartridges? Where is the versatility that casting should be giving them?
I guess what I’d like to see is a comparison of S&W machined frame vs a Ruger cast frame? Does Ruger need to add steel to their frame to compensate for the cast frame? Are cast frames more prone to failures?
Any metallurgist out there ?
I guess what I’d like to see is a comparison of S&W machined frame vs a Ruger cast frame? Does Ruger need to add steel to their frame to compensate for the cast frame? Are cast frames more prone to failures?
Any metallurgist out there ?
Years ago Ruger began advertising that their lost wax cast revolvers were superior to S&W's forged frame revolvers.
S&W struck back with what may be the most devastating media ad ever done with the infamous "Hamburger" ad.
Ruger dropped their ads and slunk off.
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It's accepted that in order to have the same strength of a forged part a cast part needs to be slightly larger due to the more porous nature of cast metal.
For the average pistol, that slightly more massive part is not enough to make much difference.