Scota,
I have posted about this before and it might be worth exploring. In the aerospace industry (and in the modern gun industry) cast parts are routinely "HIPPED". HIP stands for Hot Isostatic Pressing. The cast parts are placed in a furnace, heated to near the melting point and subjected to about 15 thousand pounds per square inch of pressure with argon gas. The result is the cast parts come out of the process with the density and nearly the same mechanical properties as forged parts. Some of the houses that do this will offer to n"piggyback" you parts with another customers parts and you pay only by the pound, etc.
Here is some information from another forum:
"HIP stands for "Hot Isostatic Pressing", and it is essentially the simultaneous application of heat and high pressure to the cast part. In the HIP process, a high temperature furnace is enclosed within a pressure vessel. The work pieces are heated and an inert gas, generally argon, applies uniform pressure. The temperature, pressure, and process time are all controlled to achieve the optimum material properties desired. HIP is widely used in the casting industry to remove the internal porosity generated during the casting process. This results in improved strength, ductility and fatigue life of the casting. The rejection rate of the finished castings is reduced and the mechanical properties of the parts are more consistent. Further, HIP parameters can be established to minimize subsequent heat treatment requirements."
Pine Tree Castings does all the modern gun investment castings for Ruger (they may even be a subsidiary). At any rate, most, if not all, of Ruger's gun castings go through a HIPing cycle to improve the material properties of the castings.
At any rate, if you are looking for better parts without the trouble of making them all from bar stock, I would suggest looking into HIPing a set of good castings. Here is a link that will explain a little more..............
http://kittyhawkinc.com
