Ruger quality control is at the mercy of management demands for higher production and willingly accepts the obvious tradeoffs.
New GP100 Issues
- Thread starter justinvance892
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Lots more info needed before a determination can be made about how good or bad Rugers QC is.
Mistakes and accidents are gonna happen. Sad, but true. We're not perfect.
Some questions come to mind.
~ Was that GP plunked in the box and shipped looking like that?
~ Was something spilled on it and not wiped off before packaging?
~ Somebody in transit open and damage it before it hit the retail store?
And maybe most important:
~ What's Ruger's return rate on these?
~ 1 in 50? 500? 5,000?
Mistakes and accidents are gonna happen. Sad, but true. We're not perfect.
Some questions come to mind.
~ Was that GP plunked in the box and shipped looking like that?
~ Was something spilled on it and not wiped off before packaging?
~ Somebody in transit open and damage it before it hit the retail store?
And maybe most important:
~ What's Ruger's return rate on these?
~ 1 in 50? 500? 5,000?
contender
Ruger Guru
I have asked some of the Ruger management about the return/repair rates. They go from about .004% to a little over 3%. And that includes some of the recalls they have done.
Their return rate is actually much lower than many would believe.
I asked which model had the lowest return rate & got the answer; "The American Rifle." That one was the .004% one.
Management does NOT willingly accept obvious tradeoffs. They actually work hard at trying to both meet production numbers AND make the product top quality.
Read it again,, many of the gun assemblers are not gun people & are human. They make mistakes & miss stuff.
Their return rate is actually much lower than many would believe.
I asked which model had the lowest return rate & got the answer; "The American Rifle." That one was the .004% one.
Management does NOT willingly accept obvious tradeoffs. They actually work hard at trying to both meet production numbers AND make the product top quality.
Read it again,, many of the gun assemblers are not gun people & are human. They make mistakes & miss stuff.
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I would believe it. The same with most manufactures. I remember years ago when a article was written about a Beretta pistol. The writer also went to the plant and the had a extremely low return rate and the one's returned for the most part never actually had anything wrong with them. User error, limp wristing, etc. Most guns with user issues could easily be resolved by the user. Seen it so many times. Yes, there are some blunders, but that is with just another anything mass produced.
Yes, a Ruger may have a issue, but my gosh so many forum members are so QUICK to say. "Just send it back. Ruger will take care of you". So many guns sent back for some stupid reasons, like the gun shoots too low or what ever. There is a cost built into returns for all their guns. And so many frivolous returns just add to the cost of the gun.
Yes, a Ruger may have a issue, but my gosh so many forum members are so QUICK to say. "Just send it back. Ruger will take care of you". So many guns sent back for some stupid reasons, like the gun shoots too low or what ever. There is a cost built into returns for all their guns. And so many frivolous returns just add to the cost of the gun.
I certainly hope your statement that Ruger has no QC inspectors was wrong. I worked in industry for a half century and every plant I worked in that did not have QC people put out a high number of products that never should have left the factory.
And I must state that not all of the problems were the workers either. In fact most of the problems were management shoving product out the door even when they knew it was not perfect as it should be in order to meet production line quota's.
Now I am not accusing Ruger of doing any of this, only making a generalization from my own industry wide experience which spanned a half century and I think that counts for something.
We have had in the past several years an unprecedented demand for arms and ammunition and I personally have seen the quality of .22 rimfire ammo go down the tubes in an effort to make as much a possible as fast as possible by ignoring their own standards of quality control. Even one of the most prestigious brands that was used by most competitors put out for awhile ammo that was so bad that even their hired professional competitors that competed in major European matches had to start using their competitors ammo to win. The firearms industry has been no different.
I examined at our range some "prestigious" brands of AR15 rifles that were in the past couple of years being made so crude that it was worse than offshore made Kalashnikov rifles. Again it was the rush to keep up with the demand for the product by sacrificing quality control.
In closing I would have to say nothing about this is new as I have seen this happen many times in the past 50 years during times of high demand for any product, not just arms and ammunition.
It may be tempting to buy "online" but when buying newly made firearm's of any brand today, skip the money you might save by buying online and personally handle a weapon at the "gun store" before buying it. I recently bought a Ruger 75th Anniversary .22 pistol and paid $50 more for it because I had to personally inspect it before buying it at a gun store and not buy it sight unseen online.
"Caveat Emptor" is as relevant today as it was in the city of Rome some 2,000 years ago.
contender
Ruger Guru
Please re-read this; "At each station, the assembler is performing a specific job, AND checking it to see if it fits their QC requirement."
Each assembler works as a QC person. I said; "There is not a separate person who is an actual QC inspector at the end of the assy line."
That may be a little misleading. The final person that does the live fire test does give each gun a QUICK look over to see if it all APPEARS good. But their main job is to test fire & package the gun. But a dedicated person to take the gun from live fire testing to a detailed examination doesn't happen.
Each & every person on the assy line is also a QC person. But,, AGAIN,, as noted,, some are assemblers & not gun people & human.
You are not alone! My just purchased new blued GP100 manufactured 9 months ago has surface corrosion as well. My plastic case and paperwork/accessories were pristine so I thought the gun store got the pistol wet or something. Like something was allowed to drip on two sides for a bit. This is my only New Hampshire built Ruger and the only Ruger that I received in such a condition. Maybe there's an overhead leak somewhere in that plant.
I just looked at your pics again and inspected my GP's corrosion. Although mine isn't as bad, the corrosion is similar and in the same places as yours. I was wrong about my date of manufacture, it was late August! So somehow, these GP's are getting stained before they are packed in my opinion. 2 months old!
justinvance892
Bearcat
I'm sorry to hear that but that is extremely interesting that yours is so similar. The box mine came in was also in perfect condition. Do you have pictures of it by chance?
Also did you return yours and have Ruger replace it?
justinvance892
Bearcat
Just a little update, the GP100 should get to Ruger on the 14th-15th and the rep said they would "make it right" with a 4-6 week turnaround time. But my dealer said the last Ruger he sent in only took 10 days for the replacement to come in.
justinvance892
Bearcat
Final Update: Ruger repaired and returned the revolver as of yesterday. The note says they "torqued the barrel to center, replaced front sight, polished and refinished, fired 24 rounds black hills ammo." They also sent the target and it definitely appears to be shooting straight. I haven't got the chance to shoot it yet but I'm hoping to be able to sometime this coming week! They originally told me 4-6 weeks and it was only 2 weeks from when I dropped it off at my FFL to when I got it back. Ruger had it for less than a week. Their quality control may be rough now but their customer service is still top notch.
contender
Ruger Guru
Excellent!
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Glad things worked out. I am wondering about the rust. Could rust have happened while shipping? Some kind of water damage? If a gun comes into the dealer, there is no requirement to accept it. I had one gun sent it that looked like crap and the LGS said, just do not sign for it and I will send it back. The company reinbursed me the money.
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Wow. That was an ordeal and I'm glad you were taken care of.
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