Eagerly bought this revolver last year from a local gunshop. Am getting older with arthritis in my hands and the 327 Federal cartridge is just the ticket over the bigger boomers. Shot this revolver a couple hundred rounds and found it to be quite accurate with most every load I put thru it. Unfortunately, it started to develop problems. Two chambers started to refuse to index and had to be helped by hand. Thoroughly cleaned the revolver, but no cigar. Then, on two occasions, the trigger refused to reset and the revolver jammed. The only way to free the mechanism is to press firmly on the cylinder release button. On one of these occasions (with the revolver pointed down range), while trying to reset the trigger, I had an accidental discharge. This scared the yugo out of me and reminded me to be thankful of my rigid adherence to range safety. I have contacted Ruger and hope they can do something for this gun. Also, I am really aggravated with Ruger as I have bought 3 GP100s and one SP101 in the last year and a half. The first GP100, a 3" stainless 44spl, had to be sent back to Ruger because of cases sticking in the chambers. The SP101 in 327 Federal has an aggravating hitch in the double action and probably should be sent back but haven't done so. So far, the Lipsey's 5" 44 spl has performed well and is one of the most accurate revolvers I have ever owned. It seems that much of these problems stem from the MIM parts in my opinion. I know it is the "NEW THING" in manufacturing to save time and money. However, the new MIM revolver's small parts just don't seem to be as smooth and trouble free as the earlier machined parts. This is born out by the experiences that I have had with the newer revolvers. I own a number of the earlier double action GP100s and SP101s and they are ALL smooth as glass. Just wish that Ruger could get their poop in a group and have better quality control. Am waiting, at this point, for a reply from Ruger about what they plan to do about the Lipsey's 327. Will update.
Lipsey's GP100 5" 327 Federal
- Thread starter bearmn56
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contender
Ruger Guru
Welcome to the Forum!
Bill Ruger started his company on alternative methods of manufacturing in 1949 with stamped & welded steel halves to make a frame for a .22 semi-auto. Many people poo-pooed his ideas. He was able to build guns at a much cheaper cost & sell them for much less than the competition because of this. Sturm, Ruger & Co. has a long & storied history of finding cost saving measures in manufacturing. MIM parts, if they are being used in your gun,, they are also in many other guns. And not all are problematic. I just bought a GP-100 in 10mm. I'm sure it's newer than your gun. I have fired over 300 rounds so far now,, and nary a hitch. (Not bad for only owning it for about a week or so.)
Yes,,, occasionally a gun can have an issue. Bill Ruger stopped offering a warranty because by offering one,, it implied liability,,, and that cost MORE than just fixing something when an issue came up. Ruger does take care of issues when they arise. Heck,, I had a barrel separate from the frame of a Redhawk many years ago. Nobody hurt, and all I wanted was (hopefully) an explanation as to why it happened. Well, it took the engineers a few years to discover the reason. Was I discouraged? No. Did I stop buying Rugers? No. Did they contact me to tell me what happened? No. (I did find out later on when I asked the questions, and got put through to a gentleman who knew & he did explain it to me.)
Next,,, find me 1500 or so skilled machinists with an interest in being a true gunsmith, AND have them be willing to work for a wage of an assembler. My oldest son is a skilled machinist, and he's making about $70,000 a year, plus benefits. An assembler,, will make about half that locally. It COSTS to have skilled labor,,, and that cost is passed along to consumers. Ruger keeps up on cutting edge manufacturing processes,, and ways to keep costs down,, just like Bill did. MIM is fully accepted across the industry,, and is here to stay.
If you want a slick, smooth, gun, without any issues,,, Spend the $2500-$3000 for a Freedom Arms hand built gun. It COSTS for that work. (Oh, and just to clarify, my FA is so tight,, any slight imperfection in my reloads & they won't chamber. The gun is almost too tight.)
You feel it is MIM parts causing problems,,, but unless you are a qualified gunsmith, a machinist, and a metallurgist,, I'd like to know why you claim it to be the root of your issues. (You mentioned sticky chambers in one,, and I know the cylinders are not MIM.)
But rejoice!
Ruger can & will fix your gun.
Ruger is still able to build & sell,, in huge quantities firearms we all want.
And while you are having an issue,,, know that there are hundreds of thousands of Ruger firearms out there w/o any issues.
Now,,, I've said a lot here,, and I do hope it is not taken as an insult to you. That was NOT my intention.
See,, we often have folks complain about a gun doing this or that,,, yet,, they often fail to understand the big picture. With Ruger building a MILLION guns annually,,, YES,, a small percentage will have issues. Even 1% of that is still 10,000 guns,, and Ruger can & will fix these issues. But,,, to any manufacturer in any business,, making a mass produced item,, you will have defects here & there. Overall,,, Ruger has a defect rate of around 4% according to my faded memory during discussions with a Ruger executive. With 1 million guns,, that's 40,000 with some kind of issue. When put into numbers like that,,, 40,000 sounds like a lot. Some models,, have an almost ZERO defect rate,, while others suffer a higher rate. When problems arise,, and in any kind of numbers,, they can & do research as to WHY it happens.
I have personally been to a Ruger plant,, and observed the manufacturing process. I have studied the QC they use, and how the guns are built from start to finish. They do an amazing job to be turning out the numbers they do.
So, relax,, let Ruger address your issues,,, and rejoice in the fact we are enjoying plentiful Rugers in a day & age where many would like to abolish firearms all together!
Bill Ruger started his company on alternative methods of manufacturing in 1949 with stamped & welded steel halves to make a frame for a .22 semi-auto. Many people poo-pooed his ideas. He was able to build guns at a much cheaper cost & sell them for much less than the competition because of this. Sturm, Ruger & Co. has a long & storied history of finding cost saving measures in manufacturing. MIM parts, if they are being used in your gun,, they are also in many other guns. And not all are problematic. I just bought a GP-100 in 10mm. I'm sure it's newer than your gun. I have fired over 300 rounds so far now,, and nary a hitch. (Not bad for only owning it for about a week or so.)
Yes,,, occasionally a gun can have an issue. Bill Ruger stopped offering a warranty because by offering one,, it implied liability,,, and that cost MORE than just fixing something when an issue came up. Ruger does take care of issues when they arise. Heck,, I had a barrel separate from the frame of a Redhawk many years ago. Nobody hurt, and all I wanted was (hopefully) an explanation as to why it happened. Well, it took the engineers a few years to discover the reason. Was I discouraged? No. Did I stop buying Rugers? No. Did they contact me to tell me what happened? No. (I did find out later on when I asked the questions, and got put through to a gentleman who knew & he did explain it to me.)
Next,,, find me 1500 or so skilled machinists with an interest in being a true gunsmith, AND have them be willing to work for a wage of an assembler. My oldest son is a skilled machinist, and he's making about $70,000 a year, plus benefits. An assembler,, will make about half that locally. It COSTS to have skilled labor,,, and that cost is passed along to consumers. Ruger keeps up on cutting edge manufacturing processes,, and ways to keep costs down,, just like Bill did. MIM is fully accepted across the industry,, and is here to stay.
If you want a slick, smooth, gun, without any issues,,, Spend the $2500-$3000 for a Freedom Arms hand built gun. It COSTS for that work. (Oh, and just to clarify, my FA is so tight,, any slight imperfection in my reloads & they won't chamber. The gun is almost too tight.)
You feel it is MIM parts causing problems,,, but unless you are a qualified gunsmith, a machinist, and a metallurgist,, I'd like to know why you claim it to be the root of your issues. (You mentioned sticky chambers in one,, and I know the cylinders are not MIM.)
But rejoice!
Ruger can & will fix your gun.
Ruger is still able to build & sell,, in huge quantities firearms we all want.
And while you are having an issue,,, know that there are hundreds of thousands of Ruger firearms out there w/o any issues.
Now,,, I've said a lot here,, and I do hope it is not taken as an insult to you. That was NOT my intention.
See,, we often have folks complain about a gun doing this or that,,, yet,, they often fail to understand the big picture. With Ruger building a MILLION guns annually,,, YES,, a small percentage will have issues. Even 1% of that is still 10,000 guns,, and Ruger can & will fix these issues. But,,, to any manufacturer in any business,, making a mass produced item,, you will have defects here & there. Overall,,, Ruger has a defect rate of around 4% according to my faded memory during discussions with a Ruger executive. With 1 million guns,, that's 40,000 with some kind of issue. When put into numbers like that,,, 40,000 sounds like a lot. Some models,, have an almost ZERO defect rate,, while others suffer a higher rate. When problems arise,, and in any kind of numbers,, they can & do research as to WHY it happens.
I have personally been to a Ruger plant,, and observed the manufacturing process. I have studied the QC they use, and how the guns are built from start to finish. They do an amazing job to be turning out the numbers they do.
So, relax,, let Ruger address your issues,,, and rejoice in the fact we are enjoying plentiful Rugers in a day & age where many would like to abolish firearms all together!
clintsfolly
Single-Sixer
Contender great post!
Thank you for your comment. I am aware of the points that you have made. However, I was just detailing MY experience with the last 4 Ruger revolvers (MIM) that I have purchased. Three out of four have problems. That is 75% with problems. That certainly qualifies as a quality control problem. (Regardless of whether Ruger will make things right). I bought my first Ruger sometime in the early 60's and have probably owned over 3 dozen over the years. These last three MIM problem revolvers are the ONLY Rugers that I have had problems with. My father was a gunsmith and I have continued the family tradition as a hobby gunsmith. I have been shooting since I was 5 years old. Some 67 years. I have owned many, many handguns of all makes over the years. I was an armorer in the Army and worked on virtually every small arm in the inventory at that time, including Colt and S&W revolvers. Based on my experience, I would rate the current revolvers coming from Ruger on a par with Taurus. Sad but true. Not trying to start a urinating contest here.....just venting my frustration at what appears to have happened to a fine firearms manufacturer. Oh yeah....... Ruger DOES cast some of their revolver cylinders. One more thing....when I got the stainless GP100 44 spl back from Ruger, the repair tech had virtually replaced everything but the frame. As in barrel, cylinder, hammer pawl...etc, etc. Incidentally, before I sent the revolver back, the cylinder chambers were so rough that they left circular lines on the fired cases. I must say that the revolver now works perfectly and is actually as smooth as some of my Smiths. Again, why couldn't this have been done the FIRST time around????
contender
Ruger Guru
As I mentioned,,, I was NOT trying to insult you nor upset you. I knew nothing about you or your experience. I was basing my response off your post.
I have well over your 3 dozen Rugers,,, of which many include later production examples. I shoot a lot, teach shooting, use my Rugers as instruction guns, etc. In just the SP & GP line we currently have 11 of them. None have exhibited any issues. And as I mentioned,, I have actually visited a plant & seen their work. I agree that things are different now than when Bill was alive & doing things "his" way. And as I mentioned,, sadly,,, the workers in the plants are not gun folks like many who used to work in the gun business. This is true all across the industry,, including S&W, Remington, Colt, etc. Mostly,,, they are assemblers,,, and as long as the parts work, and function properly when they install them,,, the gun moves to the next station for it's next step. This continues until it is finished,,, inspected, test fired, and packaged. If it passes there,,, it gets shipped. But,, they can not test fire every gun a few hundred rounds to see if an issue occurs. But,, they do,, in fact,,, take one out of the production if it fails anything during it's assembly process. If they get several malfunctions,, they stop, and evaluate WHY so many are failing at that point. They back up & start checking parts & such.
And yes,, I'm aware that Ruger casts their cylinders,, but it's a different process of casting and final finishing that cylinders get over some of the small parts. But Ruger is not the only company using MIM parts and they are working just fine in hundreds of thousands of guns. S&W is also using them,,, and many Smiff lovers are doing the same thing,, complaining of the lost quality & lack of the QC there as well.
It's a business.
They are in business to make money. (Even old Bill had a picture in his office depicting barrels full of money.) The gun is the product. There is competition. There are stockholders, and all who want them to make a profit. If a profit isn't realized,,,, they fail & go away.
As such,, manufacturing methods have always changed & been tried to keep expenses down, and outsell the competition. Look at what poly guns & parts have done. Cast a poly frame for guns & it's much cheaper than metal.
My MAIN point is that yes,, you have an issue. Politely contact Ruger & let them know what is going on. Nobody is perfect,,, but it's how they handle issues that makes the difference.
Remember,, a 4% return rate is considered excellent by modern manufacturing standards.
And when discussing older Rugers,,, or such. Remember the Flattop 44 mags? Many got blown up due to failures. Welcome the Super Blackhawk. Or how about the 357 Maxi? Topstrap flame cutting caused it's demise. (But it was reloaders using light bullets and hot, fast powders causing the issues.) Ever hear of the XGI rifle? Never put into production because of issues. Or how about a simple issue like the discoloration of the frames & cylinders of the SA guns. We call them "Plum" colors now. It was a result of the metal mix & silica in the castings. Caused a lot of guns to be sent back for rebluing. How about guns with what we call "lightning streaks" due to the same reasons? Both plum & lightning guns are now collector items. Or even as I mentioned,, a barrel separating from the frame? It caused the creation of the Super Redhawk.
Issues???? ALL companies have them,,, and all companies strive to reduce them. If your issues are reported to Ruger,, and they have to fix them,,, it will get noticed,,, if it is a major issue. But they have to know about the issue to address it.
Again,, I am NOT,,, repeat NOT,,, trying to upset you. I wanted to try & explain the WHY'S of things. I hope my post comes across that way & not insulting or anything. PLEASE take it as such!
I have well over your 3 dozen Rugers,,, of which many include later production examples. I shoot a lot, teach shooting, use my Rugers as instruction guns, etc. In just the SP & GP line we currently have 11 of them. None have exhibited any issues. And as I mentioned,, I have actually visited a plant & seen their work. I agree that things are different now than when Bill was alive & doing things "his" way. And as I mentioned,, sadly,,, the workers in the plants are not gun folks like many who used to work in the gun business. This is true all across the industry,, including S&W, Remington, Colt, etc. Mostly,,, they are assemblers,,, and as long as the parts work, and function properly when they install them,,, the gun moves to the next station for it's next step. This continues until it is finished,,, inspected, test fired, and packaged. If it passes there,,, it gets shipped. But,, they can not test fire every gun a few hundred rounds to see if an issue occurs. But,, they do,, in fact,,, take one out of the production if it fails anything during it's assembly process. If they get several malfunctions,, they stop, and evaluate WHY so many are failing at that point. They back up & start checking parts & such.
And yes,, I'm aware that Ruger casts their cylinders,, but it's a different process of casting and final finishing that cylinders get over some of the small parts. But Ruger is not the only company using MIM parts and they are working just fine in hundreds of thousands of guns. S&W is also using them,,, and many Smiff lovers are doing the same thing,, complaining of the lost quality & lack of the QC there as well.
It's a business.
They are in business to make money. (Even old Bill had a picture in his office depicting barrels full of money.) The gun is the product. There is competition. There are stockholders, and all who want them to make a profit. If a profit isn't realized,,,, they fail & go away.
As such,, manufacturing methods have always changed & been tried to keep expenses down, and outsell the competition. Look at what poly guns & parts have done. Cast a poly frame for guns & it's much cheaper than metal.
My MAIN point is that yes,, you have an issue. Politely contact Ruger & let them know what is going on. Nobody is perfect,,, but it's how they handle issues that makes the difference.
Remember,, a 4% return rate is considered excellent by modern manufacturing standards.
And when discussing older Rugers,,, or such. Remember the Flattop 44 mags? Many got blown up due to failures. Welcome the Super Blackhawk. Or how about the 357 Maxi? Topstrap flame cutting caused it's demise. (But it was reloaders using light bullets and hot, fast powders causing the issues.) Ever hear of the XGI rifle? Never put into production because of issues. Or how about a simple issue like the discoloration of the frames & cylinders of the SA guns. We call them "Plum" colors now. It was a result of the metal mix & silica in the castings. Caused a lot of guns to be sent back for rebluing. How about guns with what we call "lightning streaks" due to the same reasons? Both plum & lightning guns are now collector items. Or even as I mentioned,, a barrel separating from the frame? It caused the creation of the Super Redhawk.
Issues???? ALL companies have them,,, and all companies strive to reduce them. If your issues are reported to Ruger,, and they have to fix them,,, it will get noticed,,, if it is a major issue. But they have to know about the issue to address it.
Again,, I am NOT,,, repeat NOT,,, trying to upset you. I wanted to try & explain the WHY'S of things. I hope my post comes across that way & not insulting or anything. PLEASE take it as such!
contender
Ruger Guru
Excellent!
Update time!! Received the Lipsey's 327 back from Ruger. Rather quick turn around. The repair slip showed that the cylinder and star were replaced along with a number of other internal parts. I carefully went over the revolver. The repair was, by all appearances, a very thorough one. Timing is excellent now...virtually identical to my pre-MIM stainless GP100 in 327 made in the early '90s. The double action is quite smooth at about 9-10lbs. In most of my shooting, I don't require a light smooth double action. I checked the single action trigger pull and it is an almost perfect 3 lbs. The repair technician indicated that he replaced the main spring. I checked, and it appears to be a lighter main spring than the original and of a slightly smaller diameter. In any case, I am completely satisfied with the single action pull. The repair tech also said that the revolver was reproofed (probably because the cylinder was replaced). It was also test fired at 15 yards with Federal 100gr 327 ammo. The test fired 7 round group was around 1". I received a photo copy of the test target. I also received a flyer with the revolver concerning the proper cleaning of the "star". More to the point, cleaning under the star and frequently removing any lead/fouling build up to "prevent cylinder binding". I keep my revolvers very clean. However, this is good info and I will give extra attention to the back of the cylinder in all future cleanings. One last thing. This is concerning the MIM issue. After reading dozens of posts, I have concluded that there is a major misunderstanding on this issue. There are really two topics rather than one. The first is the strength of the MIM parts. With modern steels and modern casting methods, there is probably no difference in strength of machined vs MIM parts. The second issue is a little more complex. This is the issue of tolerance of parts. That is to say how much each part deviates in dimension from the blue print drawing specified dimension. In modern manufacturing plants, CNC machining can achieve very close tolerances...with dimensional deviation limited to a couple of ten thousanths. (.0001"). If tolerances are much more than that, one can get a phenomenon called "stacking". This is a condition where the deviances of parts are all in the same direction causing an "out of tolerance" situation when everything is assembled. I cannot find any reference material on how exact MIM parts can be made. The ones I have looked at in my Ruger and a couple of S&Ws appear to have mostly a bead blasted like finish and not a brighter finish like machined parts. They also appear more rounded on the edges. In any case, if tolerances are not as tight on MIM parts, then problems can occur in the assembled end product. In summary.....Ruger did right on my Lipsey's revolver. However, as I have said in previous posts...why can't Ruger turn out a revolver like the repaired one that I received back THE FIRST TIME! It cost a considerable amount to send a revolver both ways and pay the tech to do it right the SECOND TIME!! Respectfully yours, Bearmn56, Montana Territory
Another followup....have put about 300 rounds thru the revolver since receiving it back from Ruger. It seems to be holding up well. Very accurate with the right loads, but more finicky than my .44 spl Lipseys (which digests everything with excellent accuracy). However, I find that working out good loads part of the fun. Now have a 6 steel plate target setup in the backyard that should speed my load development up a good bit. Happy shooting. Respectfully yours, Bearmn56, Montana Territory
"why can't Ruger turn out a revolver like the repaired one that I received back THE FIRST TIME! It cost a considerable amount to send a revolver both ways and pay the tech to do it right the SECOND TIME!! Respectfully yours, Bearmn56, Montana Territory"
They could but then the cost would be comparable to a Freedom Arms. You just simply can not buy a Cadillac at a Yugo price. I understand your frustration with 3 of 4 with problems. That is not the norm. I have probably 30 Ruger handguns with no issues other than some tight throats in a 45c Vaquero.
It's more cost effective to repair the 4% than to clean house and hire all true skilled gunsmiths to do an assemblers job. I hope they keep doing things as they are. As it is now I can afford a new release from Ruger if I desire and if I receive one with an issue Ruger will make it right with a very quick turn around. Heck they will do the same if the firearm in question is new or a 30 year old used gun I picked up at a flea market.
They could but then the cost would be comparable to a Freedom Arms. You just simply can not buy a Cadillac at a Yugo price. I understand your frustration with 3 of 4 with problems. That is not the norm. I have probably 30 Ruger handguns with no issues other than some tight throats in a 45c Vaquero.
It's more cost effective to repair the 4% than to clean house and hire all true skilled gunsmiths to do an assemblers job. I hope they keep doing things as they are. As it is now I can afford a new release from Ruger if I desire and if I receive one with an issue Ruger will make it right with a very quick turn around. Heck they will do the same if the firearm in question is new or a 30 year old used gun I picked up at a flea market.
NikA
Buckeye
I'd like to hear more about this "pre-MIM stainless GP100 in 327 made in the early '90s". I don't know exactly when Ruger started using MIM in GPs, but it's been a while: I know SPs were at least as early as 2010 and Redhawks were around 2016. Tolerance on properly done MIM should be nearly as good as machining, with critical tolerances brought in with machining. It sounds to me like you got a bad example and Ruger made it right; I doubt the incidence of problems with Ruger's relatively mature MIM technology is any higher than it was pre-MIM. As a bonus, the MIM triggers aren't sharp on the edges, which was a major complaint with pre-MIM guns.
48flyer
Single-Sixer
No such gun in existence, since the 327 Fed Magnum round wasn't developed until 2007 and not available to the public until 2008. :roll:
:roll:
:roll:
NikA said:
NikA
Buckeye
That was my point. My thought is that there may be MIM parts in both .327 GP samples the OP is talking about, making their presence more or less irrelevant to the problems observed.
Sometimes people have a mistaken nostalgia for the old ways of doing things and forget things like how sharp unpolished machined edges were when everything was machined.
Sometimes people have a mistaken nostalgia for the old ways of doing things and forget things like how sharp unpolished machined edges were when everything was machined.
Ok men. I did some research on my Ruger revolvers that are smooth as silk and, upon internal inspection, do not appear to have any of the newer MIM parts. It turns out that I was talking about my 4" SP101 in 32 H&R when I was referencing the year of manufacture of my GP100. I got the year from the seller and never researched it. The 4" SP101 in 32 H&R was manufactured in 2002. The GP100 4" in 327 Federal was manufactured in 2013. I bought the GP100 on Gunbroker from an older gentleman who said he had had it for quite some time. It was very dirty and required extensive cleaning especially the cylinder chambers. Once cleaned it was as smooth as any S&W. So, my bad on the years of manufacture. However, I still stand by my interpretation of the problems that I have had with the last 4 newer MIM Ruger revolvers. SOMETHING has changed. The response that I have received on this issue could lead me to believe that some of the responders could be working for Ruger! I was just passing on and discussing my experiences in my posts. In light of my experiences, I will probably not buy any of the MIM Rugers again, if possible. AND, I do like the pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters with the claw extractor....rather than the newer XTR's. The later M70s, by returning to the claw extractor, made a step in the right direction....and THAT IS nostalgia speaking! ;o) Bearmn56 Montana Territory
First off, I am not a Ruger employee, nor is Contender, whose responses were very well written.
I do hope you understand that MIM parts are normally the small parts of a revolver that, if not MIM, must be machined individually, thus increasing the price of the firearm. MIM parts are in no way inferior to machined parts, this has been proven time and time again. In fact the MIM market today is an over 2 billion dollar per year business. If MIM parts were in any way inferior to the way it was being done in the past, their market would not be what it is today.
As for tolerance stacking, it can happen with MIM parts or machined parts. ALL manufactured goods have tolerances, there is none that I know of that are absolute. Even the reference standards used in the US, controlled by the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology - the old NBS - National Bureau of Standards) have tolerances (they are very, very, VERY small, but they are there). I have a bit of experience in this area as I was a USAF Metrologist for 26 years. Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. - not predicting the weather, that is meteorology
Yes, you had a 75% failure rate and you were concerned, as anyone of us would be. BUT, those three failures very well could have been within what Ruger considers an acceptable failure rate, you just had the bad luck of the draw. You did find though that Ruger, at no cost to you (other than a little lost time with you firearm), repaired it so that it would work correctly. Ruger routinely will, with a faulty revolver or pistol, replace all the internals just to make sure that the gun operates correctly. They may not tell you why that particular gun failed, but I guarantee it is in a database somewhere in the factory.
Your decision to not buy any Rugers with MIM parts is yours. But if it is because of the MIM parts, you better do a lot of homework as MIM parts are used in a whole lot of day to day use items, including automobiles and airplanes.
Oh, and yes, I have had to send a Ruger back for malfunctioning, it was a SR45, I was getting light primer strikes. I'll be testing the repaired pistol next weekend at Contenders place during the East Coast Gathering (of Ruger fans).
I do hope you understand that MIM parts are normally the small parts of a revolver that, if not MIM, must be machined individually, thus increasing the price of the firearm. MIM parts are in no way inferior to machined parts, this has been proven time and time again. In fact the MIM market today is an over 2 billion dollar per year business. If MIM parts were in any way inferior to the way it was being done in the past, their market would not be what it is today.
As for tolerance stacking, it can happen with MIM parts or machined parts. ALL manufactured goods have tolerances, there is none that I know of that are absolute. Even the reference standards used in the US, controlled by the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology - the old NBS - National Bureau of Standards) have tolerances (they are very, very, VERY small, but they are there). I have a bit of experience in this area as I was a USAF Metrologist for 26 years. Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. - not predicting the weather, that is meteorology
Yes, you had a 75% failure rate and you were concerned, as anyone of us would be. BUT, those three failures very well could have been within what Ruger considers an acceptable failure rate, you just had the bad luck of the draw. You did find though that Ruger, at no cost to you (other than a little lost time with you firearm), repaired it so that it would work correctly. Ruger routinely will, with a faulty revolver or pistol, replace all the internals just to make sure that the gun operates correctly. They may not tell you why that particular gun failed, but I guarantee it is in a database somewhere in the factory.
Your decision to not buy any Rugers with MIM parts is yours. But if it is because of the MIM parts, you better do a lot of homework as MIM parts are used in a whole lot of day to day use items, including automobiles and airplanes.
Oh, and yes, I have had to send a Ruger back for malfunctioning, it was a SR45, I was getting light primer strikes. I'll be testing the repaired pistol next weekend at Contenders place during the East Coast Gathering (of Ruger fans).
Hunter....FYI, I was a Calibration Technician with the Montana Army National Guard for 15+ years. I certified/calibrated all sorts of Army test equipment (mechanical measuring, hydraulic gauges, electronic test equipment, radiation monitoring equipment, just to name some)...ALL of our test equipment was traceable to the National Bureau of Standards. Precision test equipment was my bread and butter. Am fully aware of tolerances. ALL of my posts here are just to relay my experiences....I AM grateful to Ruger for repairing the problem firearms. As I have lamented all along...things ARE a changing as the inevitably do. Just am not particularly fond of what is happening. Respectfully yours, William Smith
"Don't confuse motion with progress"
"Don't confuse motion with progress"
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