Dud Wrangler goes back to the factory - Update July 2, post #18

[Tom K]

I bought a Wrangler from CDNN a couple of months ago. I finally got out to shoot it some weeks back and boy was it terrible! About half the rounds keyholed and at 20 yards, from a rest, it might or might not keep 12 rounds on an 11"x17" target. I tried three different types of ammo - CCI Mini Mag 36gr HP, CCI Blazer 40gr RN, and Aguila Super Extra standard velocity 40gr RN. All shot as badly as the other.

For comparison, I shot my 1979 vintage Single Six on the same day, same distance, rest, and ammo. Its groups were in the 2" range so it's not me! (I don't consider 2" groups from a rest at that distance all that great, but I'm not as good as I used to be.) I got about the same 2" results with a fixed sight 1959 vintage Single Six and a Colt Peacemaker .22. All three were better than the shotgun pattern made by the Wrangler. See the attached pictures for reference. (Although the diamonds are differerent sizes, both targets have 1" grids.)

I submitted an online form with Ruger Service describing the problem, and they sent me an email saying to call them. Tried calling on Friday May 31 and "all representatives were busy, please leave a message and they would call back". I left a message with my name and number and a description of the problem, and the ticket number from the email. Monday June 3 I tried again, left a message again. Same thing Wednesday June 5. Friday June 7 I submitted another online form describing the problem with the gun and the lack of response from the service department.

Finally got a call back Monday June 10 and spoke to Wayne, who agreed that they needed to check it out and emailed me an RMA and a shipping return label. Packed it up, took it to FedEx and dropped it off the next day. Got an email this past Friday June 14 letting me know that they had received it. I will be interested to see what they have to say about it and will post their response here when I find out.

 

[contender]

I'm sure they will fix it or replace it.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

Ruger will probably just replace the barrel, or give you a whole different gun? I had to recut the basically non existent forcing cone on my first Wrangler, which improved the accuracy substantially. Since yours is keyholing, that's most likely an issue with the barrel crown not being cut square...

 

[Uncle Howie]

I've seen posts on Forums where there was Cerakote in the bore.

Cerakote in the bore probably does nothing to help accuracy…

 

[Pál_K]

Aren't these test-fired at the factory? There ought to be some acceptance criteria.

 

[kmoore]

How about letting us know what you did to figure out what's wrong. Anything? I know what I would do and inspect. Sending it back would be my choice also but I would have an understanding or darn good idea why it was shooting like that.

 

[akmania]

Ruger will probably just replace the barrel, or give you a whole different gun? I had to recut the basically non existent forcing cone on my first Wrangler, which improved the accuracy substantially. Since yours is keyholing, that's most likely an issue with the barrel crown not being cut square...

What do you have to have the recut the forcing cone?How hard is it to do?
Thanks

 

[Gator89]

What do you have to have the recut the forcing cone?How hard is it to do?
Thanks

Requires specific tools and ability to use them.

 

[akmania]

I figured.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

What do you have to have the recut the forcing cone?How hard is it to do?
Thanks

I used my Brownell's .22-.32 chamfering kit. It's come in handy numerous times since I bought it in the early 90's.

 

[akmania]

I used my Brownell's .22-.32 chamfering kit. It's come in handy numerous times since I bought it in the early 90's.

Ok, Thanks

 

[Tom K]

Aren't these test-fired at the factory? There ought to be some acceptance criteria.

I'm pretty sure that all Rugers are test fired and the acceptance criteria is, if it goes bang it ships. I've never heard of Ruger making any guarantees of accuracy.

How about letting us know what you did to figure out what's wrong. Anything? I know what I would do and inspect. Sending it back would be my choice also but I would have an understanding or darn good idea why it was shooting like that.

Well I looked down the barrel to make sure that it had rifling. It did although it seemed rather shallow. That's about the extent of what I wanted to do. I did consider checking the chamber throats and bore with pin gages but decided that would be a waste of time. Ruger is gonna do what they're gonna do, regardless of what I think the problem might be. For what it's worth, I did also ship the targets that I posted pictures of.

 

[contender]

"Aren't these test-fired at the factory? There ought to be some acceptance criteria."

"I'm pretty sure that all Rugers are test fired and the acceptance criteria is, if it goes bang it ships. I've never heard of Ruger making any guarantees of accuracy."

Ruger uses a special machine to FUNCTION test firearms before shipping. Not accuracy testing. HOWEVER,, there have been a few models they actually did accuracy test,,AND shipped the target used with the gun.

 

[jerryp5878]

I had one of the early Wranglers. One chamber was almost impossible to eject the fired case. Other 5 were fine. I assumed that chamber was cut wider toward the front. Ruger sent me a replacement cylinder.

Jerry

 

[Mauser9]

Well think I would hold out for an older used Single Six with 22 L.R. and 22 mag cyl.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I had one of the early Wranglers. One chamber was almost impossible to eject the fired case. Other 5 were fine. I assumed that chamber was cut wider toward the front. Ruger sent me a replacement cylinder.

Jerry

Man, I've never seen that happen before! Parts usually require factory fitting.

 

[Enigma]

"Aren't these test-fired at the factory? There ought to be some acceptance criteria."

"I'm pretty sure that all Rugers are test fired and the acceptance criteria is, if it goes bang it ships. I've never heard of Ruger making any guarantees of accuracy."

Ruger uses a special machine to FUNCTION test firearms before shipping. Not accuracy testing. HOWEVER,, there have been a few models they actually did accuracy test,,AND shipped the target used with the gun.

I had one that they test fired, and shipped the target; this one on a repair ticket. The gun fired three rounds each into two separate and distinct groups at their 15-yard test range. I was not favorably impressed, as the gun was sent in for thread constriction and still had it when returned. They were considerate enough to replace my cylinder, which I had just had returned from DougGuy having the undersized exit holes honed to size. The new cylinder displayed the same undersized (and varying diameter) exit holes.

 

[Tom K]

UPDATE: As I said in my original post, I shipped the gun back to Ruger using their FedEx shipping label and it arrived there on June 14. In the notification of receipt email that they sent they said, "We will update you along the way so that you can track the process." Well I didn't get any updates but I did get a FedEx tracking notice on June 27 that they were sending the gun back, so they had it for 13 days. It arrived yesterday July 1.

Included was the packing slip and two targets, a "before" and an "after" target. The packing slip said that they replaced the cylinder. It was then fired for function, and then fired for accuracy at 10 yards using CCI Mini Mag 40gr CPRN (copper plated round nose).

The targets were fired at ten yards (which I consider rather close). The "before" target has 12 shots scattered all over it although they note that there was no keyholing. Would it still have keyholed at 20 yards? I'd bet on it. At first I thought there were only 11 holes in the target until I looked at the back, and saw that there was one very low. It's through the "L" in SERIAL.

The "after" target has six shots clustered mostly in the black, with one just outside at the 4:30 position. For reference, the black dot measures 1.75" in diameter.

Much better performance and in line with what I would expect, although I'll reserve judgement until I shoot the gun at longer distances.

 

[Uncle Howie]

MUCH better- a step in the right direction, for sure!

Hopefully it'll perform for you, from here on out.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Nice detailed response from Ruger!