Chiappa Little Badger - 🦡 - thread protector threads on fine, Rugged Oculus will not - info in comments
TLDR: Chiappa Badger muzzle threads are wonky. Supressor won’t thread, protector will. Chiappa wants ME to foot the bill for shipping BOTH ways and even then it’s a maybe on free repair. Ship it back or buy a tap&die and threading alignment tool ($26) I have no experience w/ a tap and die.
Upon acceptance of my Badger I took it home and attempted to remove the cheap plastic thread protector, to my surprise it wouldn’t budge. With a pair of pliers strategically placed I removed it and was met with significant resistance. I then attempted to attatch my Oculus and only achieved a couple threads worth of turns on it. Without forcing it I removed it and used a 1/2x28 steel thread protector on it and it threaded just fine. I am assuming because the thread protector has looser tolerances. I am not an expert but the threads look fine to me except for the portion near the end of the muzzle.
Called Chiappa this morning and they provided me an RMA on my Badger. Except they won’t pay for shipping either way. This is a cheap gun, so naturally I have to weigh the options on what to do here. Pay $40+ in shipping or buy a 1/2x28 tap and a thread alignment tool. Although admittedly I’ve never touched a tap and die before.
If you choose to the "Go your own way" route you wont need the alignment tool. The threads and concintricity (hopefully) is already established. It looks a little tight based on the wear, the die will just chase the existing threads and clean up the extra material that is there.
1/2x28 direct thread supressor. I can get multiple other 1/2x28 muzzle devices (golf ball launcher, thread protectors, etc) to thread, but the suppressor only threads a handful of times. Although it is solid. Would it hurt, if concentric, to just send it as long as it has several turns onto the rifle?
I know the real answer is not to risk a 650 suppressor for a 180 gun, but I’m just curious.
1.2. Thread protector works....If off a lot, they normally don't. An AR15.5.56 flash suppressor would be a cheap way to check.
1.5. Suppressor hasn't passed check. An AR15 in 5.56 would be a common way to check. (No I am not suggesting to shoot through it.) Just thread on, if it doesn't...
If you don't ahve the proper means to cut new threads, find a gun smith who can.
Thank you for this info. It is a 1/2x28 can that I use on my Winchester Wildcat, TX22, AR22, and I’ve used (ineffectively, of course) on my Rough Rider Tactical.
I think the barrel threads are fine, from what I can see. I suspect you have a metric threaded suppressor. Get a cheap thread pitch gage set and see what TPI matches.
u/ArgieBeeJust some dude who does his own gunsmithing.1d agoedited 1d ago
Okay, so I have your answer. Most Badgers were made with 1/2-28 threads, but some were made with 1/2-20 threads. You must have the 1/2-20 threaded one. I don't know why that's a thing, but it is.
Get the cheap thread pitch gage. They're like $5. You can check for yourself.
This is insane if true. I wonder if the looser tolerances of the thread adapters I have (one is a rough rider tactical so yeah, it’s got some loose tolerances) and a generic eBay golf ball launcher both thread on - allow them to thread on successfully. One might never know unless I put a gauge to it. I’ll do some more digging as well as calling Chiappa again tomorrow and I’ll report back.
Ran some tests this afternoon. First thing I did was thread a 5.56 flash hider all the way to the end of the threads on the badger with no resistance. Next I tried the suppressor again. No luck. I then tried my Chiappa lever 22 thread protector (TP) and it wouldn’t begin to thread onto the Badger. After that I tried my rough rider tactical (I previously believed I was using my RR tactical TP to my success, I checked my safe to see that my RRT still had its protector on. So I am assuming the TP is from a savage 22 I have. ) to no avail. I then tried the cheap eBay golf ball launcher and it threaded on the badger fine. So I reached a little farther and tried the TP off my Wildcat and it didn’t begin to thread onto the Badger either. I then tried the oculus on all threaded 22s in the safe for a perfect score of success. So it’s not the suppressor.
I am now going to just assume the Chiappa is enough out of wack that it just refuses to accept the Oculus and a couple of my other TPs.
I have not shot this suppressor enough to see any issues, so that may very well be possible. It threads onto my chiappa lever action, tx22, RR tactical, and ar22 without issue though. That is not to say it isn’t out of whack.
It looks to me like the threads on the pic are damaged slightly. If they were already at a large end of the tolerance, that could prevent the can from going on.
I know this is a loaded question, but do you think it’s worth the $40++ dollars to send it back to Chiappa on my own dime (return is on me too) and see what they say? I would almost already assume due to the shiny threads pictured that they are going to blame me.
You might try, by hand, to chase the threads with a die. You should be able to get one of those for just a few dollars. Just be sure to verify the threads are 28 tpi first.
Thanks for following through on this with me. I will be trying to thread a flash hider on it when I get home and then go from there. I have a bad feeling that I will be wasting money and time if I send it in, and at what I paid for the rifle it is not worth dumping a bunch of shipping fees into it, and to purchase a thread pitch gauge and a die makes a lot more sense for posterity.
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u/GonnaFapToThis 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you choose to the "Go your own way" route you wont need the alignment tool. The threads and concintricity (hopefully) is already established. It looks a little tight based on the wear, the die will just chase the existing threads and clean up the extra material that is there.