Poor QC on a stainless Hawkeye

[gregs45auto]

Poor as in WTF. I bought a stainless Hawkeye and had issues when I inserted the bolt (at home). Felt gritty and a speed bump effect. My tang safety rifle is smooth, this was terrible. Cycled bolt to pinpoint the problem. There was a lump of metal on the top rail of the extractor. Looked like a small wart. :shock: Carefully stoned it level. Another wart of metal, to the left of safety on the receiver bed where the bolt rides over. Again, small file and slowly get down to rest of the receiver. Bolt travel is now just "acceptable". Sent a registered letter to Michael Fifer at Ruger to express my disappointment with their QC. I put it away in safe and am not in any hurry to shoot it. Rant over, greg

 

[96/44]

I'm sure Ruger would have made it right, and paid shipping for you to send it in. Sorry you got a bad one out of the box, but it can happen from time to time. Never hear of many QC issues on the 77's, all of them I have handled have been flawless.

 

[rugerjunkie]

Thats one reason I won't buy a new Ruger rifle right now. I have plenty of stainless MkII's but think the matte stainless is garbage. They use the sand blaster to finish and try to hide imperfections instead of doing it the right way.

 

[DGW1949]

Thats one reason I won't buy a new Ruger rifle right now. I have plenty of stainless MkII's but think the matte stainless is garbage. They use the sand blaster to finish and try to hide imperfections instead of doing it the right way.

It aint just the stainless guns, and it aint just the Hawkeyes......
It's what I call, "the process". Or maybe I should say, it's what's getting lost in the process.

Fancy new CNC machinery, "red lean manufacturing", and stepped-up production numbers don't go but so far. Somewhere in the equation, ya still need a certain amount of skilled handwork if the goal is to build a proper rifle. Either that, or your gonna need a bigger warranty dept. :roll: .

DGW

 

[dfletcher]

I read a few years back that Taco Bell was trying to create a taco that could be made and served without being touched by human hands. Perhaps someone from Ruger read the same article ..... :wink:

I've no doubt trying to make a gun that requires less skill to manufacture, and then hiring to that level, can cause issues. Look at what Smith & Wesson has done to their internals - all geometric drop in, no real skilled fitting required.

And Ruger having to manufacture so many guns is an additional challenge. What concerns me most is the planned economization of the Ruger product - the spray on/matte blasted stainless finish is an excellent example. So is the matte blue on Hawkeye rifles. Even the bolts have a dull finish.

I think Ruger makes terrific guns overall, but will admit I often look elsewhere if I want a "pur'dy rifle" that shoots well.