2 Rugers, 2 problems

[pokute]

Last month I purchased a brand-new Ruger Super Blackhawk. It was ordered for me and I saw it get unpacked from the box direct from the distributor.

The frame, barrel, and cylinder were all flawless (aside from a bit of roughness in the base-pin bore of the cylinder)... Finished and fitted perfectly (0.003-0.006 cylinder gap, near perfect alignment, beautiful bore).

The internals were another story altogether. The base pin was missing the plunger. The sight was mounted so haphazardly that it appeared impossible that it was correct for the gun. The loading gate spring seemed to have been hammered into place, didn't hold the gate closed and popped out from under the gate on every shot. The trigger return spring had actually been installed with a 180 twist in the loop that engages the trigger. After putting 150 rounds through it, the sear face showed gouging and uneven contact from the hammer face that rides down the sear face. Trigger pull was terrible.

HOWEVER, since I'm a 1911 shooter, I just took it to be the revolver version of a 1911, and after ordering some parts and 4 hours of stoning I have a 44 Magnum target gun with a smooth (though slightly long) 2-1/2 pound trigger.

A few years ago, I bought a (brand new) single six that had a crazy misaligned and un-heat-treated cylinder. Half the bullet was shaved off and sprayed out up and to the right. A single dry-fire shot disturbed enough metal to prevent loading a cartridge... Two dry fires on the same chamber and the cylinder couldn't be rotated. That gun eventually went under the torch and into the trash.

I have no problem with having to work over a cheaply made gun, but the variety of factory problems I've seen on two Rugers almost defies belief. I own quite a few colt and S&W revolvers, and I know that some folks get dogs from Colt and S&W also, but I never did. I wonder what a Ruger purchaser who is not at least a half-assed pistolsmith is expected to do?

Sorry to make such a contentious first post. In fact, after changing out springs and stoning and polishing everything, the Super Blackhawk is a very fine shooter.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I have had good luck with all the Rugers I bought new except for a few with small problems that a little filing or sanding on the problem area fixed. Of course I don't hold the need to clean the gun against them. I have done some work to slick-up most of them also but I figure that was my own prerogative. Out of the box I would say Rugers are a little rough and inconsistent. From what I understand QC isn't what it used to be from any of the manufacturers.

 

[powder smoke]

I have no problem with having to work over a cheaply made gun, but the variety of factory problems I've seen on two Rugers almost defies belief. I own quite a few colt and S&W revolvers, and I know that some folks get dogs from Colt and S&W also, but I never did. I wonder what a Ruger purchaser who is not at least a half-assed pistolsmith is expected to do?

Part of this my friend is just as you stated! Dogs are produced by all manufactures try and get a NIB Colt for the same price as a NIB Ruger. I have always held the belief that Bill Ruger made the working mans guns strong dependable and maybe a dog in the bunch at some point.

Ruger is not Freedom Arms or a Colt but are a very nice piece of work for the money! If you do acquire a dog, the folks at Ruger are known for their excellent service and turnaround time so have no fear in making additional purchases.


BTW Welcome to the forum ps

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Welcome!! You must be the unluckiest Ruger purchaser I know of.
I own over 40 Ruger hand guns and most of them are revolvers. I bought all but three of them new,most in the last 6-7 years.
I have sent back for repairs exactly one of them. My SP101 had the barrel clocked wrong with the front sight canted and a damaged rear that was canted in the opesite direction. Ruger sent a brown truck to my door to get it. All I had to do is box it up. 10-11 days later it returned,right as rain,as they used to say.
You are like me in that you like to tinker on your guns. Just like a Harley Davidson owner,if they did not like to tinker ,they would own a Honda or other brand of bike.
I purchase new Rugers just to have a project gun and tear them down without ever firing a shot. Like this one.

 

[pokute]

Welcome!! You must be the unluckiest Ruger purchaser I know of.
I own over 40 Ruger hand guns and most of them are revolvers. I bought all but three of them new,most in the last 6-7 years.
I have sent back for repairs exactly one of them. ... You are like me in that you like to tinker on your guns.

40?! Godfrey Daniel! Yes, I admit that the attraction of the SBH was that the action was clearly very simple and easy to take hammer and tongs to. My next project will be to buy a spare trigger and dremel on it until I get the length of the pull down to something sensible. Just kidding about the dremel :wink:

 

[Hondo44]

I wonder what a Ruger purchaser who is not at least a half-assed pistolsmith is expected to do?

Welcome to this forum and don't worry about speaking your mind here.

To answer your question above; call Ruger, then send it back to them on their dime. It will be corrected even if it takes giving you a new gun, and promptly.

 

[pokute]

I wonder what a Ruger purchaser who is not at least a half-assed pistolsmith is expected to do?

Welcome to this forum and don't worry about speaking your mind here.

To answer your question above; call Ruger, then send it back to them on their dime. It will be corrected even if it takes giving you a new gun, and promptly.

I think Ruger could hugely improve their rep by sending me samples of every day's production to personally test. I wouldn't charge them a thin dime, and I'd save them the return postage as well.

 

[Hondo44]

Great idea! If you get too backed up, just divert some to me.

 

[trouble]

I came to the Ruger world kind of late but I can honestly say that I've never had an issue with any Ruger that I've owned. I cannot say the same for several other mfg's a few of whom were listed on this thread.

 

[Jim Puke]

Boy...this will be right up rev's alley...he loves him some Ruger bashing.

 

[Salmoneye]

A few years ago, I bought a (brand new) single six that had a crazy misaligned and un-heat-treated cylinder. Half the bullet was shaved off and sprayed out up and to the right. A single dry-fire shot disturbed enough metal to prevent loading a cartridge... Two dry fires on the same chamber and the cylinder couldn't be rotated. That gun eventually went under the torch and into the trash.

You purchased a brand new gun, and then destroyed it instead of sending it back to the Manufacturer?

OhhhKay...

:?

 

[contender]

I read this to believe the Single-Six went back to the factory & was destroyed.

I too own quite a few Ruger firearms. (More than 40 & a few less than Radical Rod!) Many are Old Models, and a fair amount of New Models. Most are SA revolvers,, but I have my fair share of DA's, Semi's, and long guns.
I can only say I've had exactly ONE that had to make a trip back to Ruger. Although I do have another one that needs to be looked at for an issue Ruger already identified. To get two out of two as bad is a big surprise. However, the SBH was easily tuned & running fine.
Mass mgf, equals the occasional "oops!" The way Ruger handles it is the difference we all appreciate.

 

[RoninPA]

I guess I'm supremely lucky. I have not yet had a Ruger that needed to be returned to the factory. I also own quite a few Ruger handguns and all but 7 are revolvers. I am also hopeing what Ty theorized is what happened (went back to Ruger and was not returned). I hope the OP didn't destroy it.

Ty, I don't think anyone has as many Rugers as Rod does (except maybe Ruger )

 

[pokute]

You purchased a brand new gun, and then destroyed it instead of sending it back to the Manufacturer?

OhhhKay...

:?

On the theory that it's better to be thought a fool than a liar, I admit that I destroyed it after failing to be able to make it better myself. I'm not fool enough to 'smith on other folks guns, if that's any consolation. I thank the generous minded folks who embarrassed me into admitting this.

Consider that until somebody comes to this forum and reads enough threads to realize that Ruger is prepared to "make good" in spite of whatever you find in the chocolate box, taking a brand new gun to the range and having it spit half a bullet into the hands of the next shooter down the line is not calculated to make one trust Ruger. The gun did not ship with a supply of Band-Aids. Since then, I approach the line with a new gun assuming it's going to blow to pieces on the first shot.

To avoid being accused of Ruger bashing, I will mention that I got *my* hands sprayed by another shooter's 29-2 that had been shot out of time by a couple of hundred moderate loads - Another reason for buying an SBH, which appears to me to be nearly impossible to shoot loose with any reasonable load.

 

[RSIno1]

Seems like Ruger is expecting the first buyer to be their quality control.

 

[pokute]

Seems like Ruger is expecting the first buyer to be their quality control.

As do other manufacturers. The problem is that not every gun buyer knows enough to be a QC expert. Ruger is famous for making strong big-bore guns. Inexperienced gun owners can't be expected to be safe. There's plenty of videos online of people getting into trouble the first time they touch off a full power magnum round. I only saw it happen once myself, when some guy fired some full-house from an Automag III (30 Carbine) and got brained by the slide as it came flying off.

 

[RoninPA]

Seems like Ruger is expecting the first buyer to be their quality control.

How did you come to this conclusion?

Ruger is no different than any major manufacturer, I doubt anyone can cite an example of a firm that mass produces something and has never had anything go wrong. Without knowing the exact Quality Control (actually it is now called Quality Assurance in most circles) steps that Ruger does, I for one, will not comment on their process. Production line workers, CNC operators, QC/QA inspectors and even Administrative workers are human, and humans make mistakes and sometimes items that shouldn't have made it to the consumers are shipped. Ruger for one, as far as my limited knowledge goes, bends over backwards to fix what isn't right.

What you see on forums is a concentrated amount of items that didn't work correctly, be it first time or years after. You don't hear about the thousands of like items that weren't bad. Forum posts can/will/do skew the overall view of a company because they haven't been taken in the context with the total items sold and delivered. The OP had 2 Rugers that didn't work right from the factory. That is not good for him and I would be a bit upset also if it were me. However, in the same time period that the OP purchased his, how many were bought that worked perfectly. Until you can tell me that, no one has the facts to make comments about the quality of Rugers. Do you have any idea what Ruger considers an acceptable return (failure) rate? How about GM, S&W, John Deere, Apple, or even Campbell Soup? I don't, but every manufacturer of anything has it in their operating procedures. Oh, and by the way, there is NO manufacturer that has a 0% return/failure rate on their books. They would like it to be 0% but they are smart enough to know that this will never happen so they set what they consider an acceptable failure rate. If failures/returns/complaints exceeds that number then the management takes steps to find out the who, what, where, when, why, and how it happened and then takes steps to correct it.

I read the comments from forum members that have had something go wrong with their Ruger to see what it was and what the final outcome was. I take interest in the failure as it is possible in the future I might see one of those models for sale and it might make me take a closer look and ask the seller some questions before I decide if I want to buy it. I recently bought both a SR1911 and SR1911CMD, then I saw the postings about the problems several people had with the frames. Well, I did what probably many others did, I went home that night and pulled the grips off mine to inspect them (mine look fine, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary). So these types of posts help inform people. But I really don't see any need to call names and point fingers, just tell us what happened and what the final outcome was.

If the OP would have sent the Single Six back to Ruger they would have fixed it or replaced it. If you buy something from anyone, and it doesn't work correctly, give the maker a chance to make it right. If they absolutely won't make it right then tell that to everyone because that is not the way you keep customers coming back.

 

[pokute]

However, in the same time period that the OP purchased his, how many were bought that worked perfectly. Until you can tell me that, no one has the facts to make comments about the quality of Rugers.

Well, then I guess there's no need for forums at all. If there's anything that anybody needs to know, a statistician will come flying down from heaven and tell us all about it. I, for one, am relieved to hear it.

 

[Hondo44]

However, in the same time period that the OP purchased his, how many were bought that worked perfectly. Until you can tell me that, no one has the facts to make comments about the quality of Rugers.

Well, then I guess there's no need for forums at all. If there's anything that anybody needs to know, a statistician will come flying down from heaven and tell us all about it. I, for one, am relieved to hear it.

No, you either missed Ron's point, didn't read to the end, didn't recognize his concluding point, or more likely, just 'cherry picked' his comments:

......So these types of posts help inform people. But I really don't see any need to call names and point fingers, just tell us what happened and what the final outcome was.......

Besides, he was responding to this:

Seems like Ruger is expecting the first buyer to be their quality control.

 

[Jim Puke]

I think that maybe the Williams and perhaps other distributor guns had a spat of poor QC. I bought a Williams in July that had problems and GA Cracker bought a Lipsey in July that had problems, also.

 

[contender]

If you think Ruger is expecting a customer is supposed to be quality control,,, there are a BUNCH of us who have had so few issues that we could do exactly that.

Ok, so the OP is the one who destroyed his own gun. He manned up & admitted he did it after he tried to fix it. Some of the folks around here have the skills & equipment to fix most gun related issues,, but most do not. I'm sure that if he had sent the gun to Ruger with details he would have gotten a new gun or that one would have been repaired if it was possible.
Ruger manufacturers a LOT of firearms annually. (Remember last year the goal was 1 million and they exceeded that by 200,000?) 1.2 million guns,,, and I'm sure ANY product made by ANY company in such quantity is going to have a small percentage of bad ones that slip by the QC.
As I stated,, it's all in how they handle any issues that arise.
Ruger has done a good job of that.

PS; Ron,, I know RR has a serious number of beautiful Rugers,,, and when I grow up, I wanna be just like him,,, when it comes to Rugers! I'm working on the numbers myself. Heck, I've bought over 20 this year!

 

[jimd441]

Let me first state that I'm a big Ruger fan, after all I'm here on the forum. The subject of quality is near and dear to me as it has been my profession for the past 36 years, not in the area of guns, but in pharmaceuticals and sterile medical devices. Manufacturers of such things as sterile drugs injected directly to the bloodstream and pacemakers make millions of units without failures. The quality assurance technology to do so exists and is not solely dependent upon human inspection. Is there a cost for assuring this lack of failure? Yes, and I have no idea how it would translate to gun manufacturing. My point is simply that preventing a few defects from slipping by can be done, but for a product like guns, the good old price elasticity of demand equation comes into play and I have no doubt that the good folks at Ruger have incorporated this into their process. My guess is that one big challenge they face today is balancing the increased demand for their products and shareholder expectations.

Jim

 

[pokute]

Just had to bring an old thread back from the dead to say that I recently purchased a 44sp Blackhawk, and that the trigger came from Ruger with the darnedest factory trigger job ever. The bearing bosses were ground completely off AT AN ANGLE, and the sear engagement face had a secondary angle ground on it. The result was a wobbly trigger with two-stage creep.

Yes, of course, it IS possible that the distributor swapped parts, but I have no way of differentiating between what the factory did and what the distributor did.

 

[RoninPA]

Well, please don't destroy it . You seem to be snake bit on the Rugers you've bought. Call Ruger, explain the problem. They will probably send you the shipping label to return the gun to the factory where it will receive their utmost attention. They don't like having guns out there that people complain about, just one "this gun is crap" comment will wipe out 1000 "great job" comments and they know that. Give them a chance to work with you, they WILL make it right and if they can't they will send a new replacement gun.

 

[rugerguy]

to those who have bought and had "X" number of Rugers (what was it 40?) and not ever have an issue, is remarkable...I've bought ,sold traded and had MORE than my fair share of Rugers in the past now 59 years, and having owned 3 different gun shops in that time, and we sold AND serviced as well as refinished and restored MORE than I can even start to think about, and may have seen it all, and that would be a 'lie', because we still "see" at the local gun shows and trips to various shops across the area, I come across some real "crap" and I for one have often said I can never figure out 'why' they are in such a hurry to get something out, on the market, no matter what the consequences as to having 'recalls' and oh yeah they have had MORE than their fair share of 'recalls" but so has every other maker.....nature of the beast called manufacturing, people making stuff for other people....they do not have enough time to make it right the first time, but can, and do , try to "make it right" in the warranty process....seems like these days , the "new' gun owners (buyers) are the "test" department, get it out in the field and see what happens.................oh yes, I've had some we sent back, the factory was unable, cannot ,would NOT repair them, but offered to take a set dollar amount for another "like, current' model...in BOTH cases I asked for and got the guns back, made good on them ourselves in time using other guns and parts we could find and use to make them good.....for you that wonder what they were , one was a Mini 14 180 prefix gun, and the other a 2 3/4 inch stainless Security Six..............
Sorry you decided to "scrap" yours out, your decision, and I respect that, you are NOT the first we know that thought to just put it out of its misery...but all of the companies "try" to make good, do they succeed ? not every time, you will NEVER ,EVER make everyone "happy" content or satisfied..............bottom line is Ruger has to be doing SOMETHING 'right' they are about the most successful American gun today, and yes, there are others that will bend over backwards, for example Henry Rifle Co.......to name just ONE 'other' company..........
bottom lone is ANY buyer has to be a 'selective' or 'smart' shopper, look it well over before you buy, sad part is at times the issues do not come into play until using, firing and cleaning them, then its almost too late........and there are the LUCKY , fortunate ones who claim to NEVER have had an issue..............my guess they just donlt SEE it or do not want to SEE nor believe it, accept it for the way it is...I was lucky as I always got to look at and SEE "other" peoples guns, and could usually make the proper repair, or adjustment, thank goodness we are now 'retired' some of this stuff would drive me to go bonkers !!!

 

[woodman39]

I know that some folks get dogs from Colt and S&W also, but I never did..

The worst shooting handgun I ever owned was a S&W 617 that I bought back in the 80's. It shaved bullets so bad That I could feel the lead hitting my left hand and after about 50 rounds the top strap was coated in lead. Needless to say the accuracy was terrible. I sent it back to S&W explaining the problem and the returned it saying it was repaired. I took it to the range and there was a slight improvement in the amount of lead being shaved off the bullets but no improvement in accuracy. I sent it back again saying the problem was not resolved and would like it repaired properly. A couple weeks later I got it back with a note saying my revolver was "within factory specs and nothing more could be done". Took it to the range and shot it, there was no improvement so it got traded off at the next gun show. Lost money on the gun.
I still like S&W revolvers, that one was just a dog.