Okay, I will disclose in advance that I am the loser who bought two brand-new Ruger pistols, both of which had major factory problems... But does this mean I deserve to get kicked around for the rest of my life?
I went on 'the net' looking for a pair of composition ivory grips (I know, they're called "stocks", but that's not the point here) for my NM SBH 7.5. There were clearly a number of places selling Chinese made grip panels for prices ranging from $40-$80. I finally settled on this guy on EBay because he had many, many sales and very few negative reviews. So I ordered the grips, $55 including shipping.
The first little red warning sign came when the seller immediately warned me that he had a lot of trouble with dishonest buyers trying to return grips claiming that they were damaged in shipping. Sure enough, when the grips arrived, one of the panels had a tiny bit of the bottom rear corner chipped off (they were shipped in a bubble envelope, not a box). So, I polished the damage out and proceeded to fit the grips...
Stop right there. Did you catch my fatal mistake? I 'modified' the grips. I continue...
Amusingly, the Chinese made grip panels were stamped "made in USA" and signed by the seller. The same guy who would later tell me that the grips were made entirely on CNC machinery, untouched by human hands, and that they were all exactly the correct size for the gun they were made for.
The grip panels turned out to be significantly undersize (see the first pic. I aligned the grip panel as well as I could with the factory panel). Now, those of you who shoot 44 magnum regularly know what it means if the grip panels do not fit properly. For those of you who don't, it means that the exposed edges of the grip frame and your hand engage in an epic battle to see who will give out first. The frame rarely loses this battle. Undersized grip panels that might be perfectly fine to use on a 38 special will not cut it on a 44 magnum.
So I sent the seller the two pictures shown below. I began to receive a flood of long and increasingly accusing emails telling me that I should have returned the grips immediately when I noted the shipping damage. Since I had already "modified" the grips, I deserved nothing except an endless stream of overwrought email abuse. Among the more telling bits of chaff in the barrage was "if the grips were really damaged in shipping, you would have mentioned the chips in the bag"... Wow, he is psychic! At this point I began to wonder whether the whole thing wasn't a setup.
To stop the flood of email, I filed a complaint with PayPal/EBay.
Anyway, pics below, and a warning about doing business with anyone without an unconditional money back return policy. First pic shows the poor sizing, second shows my modification. A less honest man than I would have simply polished the corner of the other grip panel to match.
I went on 'the net' looking for a pair of composition ivory grips (I know, they're called "stocks", but that's not the point here) for my NM SBH 7.5. There were clearly a number of places selling Chinese made grip panels for prices ranging from $40-$80. I finally settled on this guy on EBay because he had many, many sales and very few negative reviews. So I ordered the grips, $55 including shipping.
The first little red warning sign came when the seller immediately warned me that he had a lot of trouble with dishonest buyers trying to return grips claiming that they were damaged in shipping. Sure enough, when the grips arrived, one of the panels had a tiny bit of the bottom rear corner chipped off (they were shipped in a bubble envelope, not a box). So, I polished the damage out and proceeded to fit the grips...
Stop right there. Did you catch my fatal mistake? I 'modified' the grips. I continue...
Amusingly, the Chinese made grip panels were stamped "made in USA" and signed by the seller. The same guy who would later tell me that the grips were made entirely on CNC machinery, untouched by human hands, and that they were all exactly the correct size for the gun they were made for.
The grip panels turned out to be significantly undersize (see the first pic. I aligned the grip panel as well as I could with the factory panel). Now, those of you who shoot 44 magnum regularly know what it means if the grip panels do not fit properly. For those of you who don't, it means that the exposed edges of the grip frame and your hand engage in an epic battle to see who will give out first. The frame rarely loses this battle. Undersized grip panels that might be perfectly fine to use on a 38 special will not cut it on a 44 magnum.
So I sent the seller the two pictures shown below. I began to receive a flood of long and increasingly accusing emails telling me that I should have returned the grips immediately when I noted the shipping damage. Since I had already "modified" the grips, I deserved nothing except an endless stream of overwrought email abuse. Among the more telling bits of chaff in the barrage was "if the grips were really damaged in shipping, you would have mentioned the chips in the bag"... Wow, he is psychic! At this point I began to wonder whether the whole thing wasn't a setup.
To stop the flood of email, I filed a complaint with PayPal/EBay.
Anyway, pics below, and a warning about doing business with anyone without an unconditional money back return policy. First pic shows the poor sizing, second shows my modification. A less honest man than I would have simply polished the corner of the other grip panel to match.
