Red Label Doubling???

[montanaboy]

.So my nephew and I are playing with his early Christmas gift from his mom, a Red Label, 26" barrel, 12 ga choked for skeet.

We went to a public range in Canyon Country CA. to shoot some clays, I would flip he would shoot and vice versa. We went through half a dozen boxes of shells and ran out. All but one box of magnum loads. So we figured what the heck might as well shoot it all up.

As luck would have it, it was my turn with the gun and on the first shot the gun doubled!!! Boy was that a surprise. So my nephew gave it a try and nooooo problem, we shot it again and again it doubled. The dang gun would double sometimes and sometimes it would not and it didn't make any diff if we selected the over or under barrel to fire first.

We are guessing this is a simple problem that any gunsmith can fix but what do I know. Any of you guys run into this kind of problem and if so was it much of a problem to fix?

Thanks

 

[mattsbox99]

Mine hasn't ever doubled, but I've heard of it. I wouldn't pay a gunsmith though, call Ruger up and they will send a UPS call tag and repair it for free.

Is this a brand new gun?

 

[montanaboy]

Absolutely brand new... our clay shooting was the first time the barrel got warm

 

[mattsbox99]

You might take the stock off and clean out any assembly grease in the hammer area.

Remove the two screws holding the recoil pad on, then the stock bolt (7/16 socket with long extension) and it should come apart easily and use a good solvent on the parts and a light oil like Rem Oil and reassemble.

If that doesn't fix it, a call to Ruger is in order.

 

[montanaboy]

Thanks matt,

Appreciate your help... will do as suggested and let you know how it works out.

 

[gewehrfreund]

I shoot skeet with a fellow who likes to take hip shots. When he does this with his Red Label, it will often double, but I can't imagine why it would do it when fired from the shoulder. I agree with the cleaning suggestion, then contacting Ruger if that doesn't solve it.

 

[Cooperhawk]

I have two Red Labels that I have shot thousands of rounds of skeet with, and never had a double.

I have seen folks get a double when the recoil actually causes them to inadvertently pull the trigger a second time though. :shock:

Ruger is very good about repairs. Just give them a call and they will get it set up.

 

[wwb]

........I have seen folks get a double when the recoil actually causes them to inadvertently pull the trigger a second time though.......

Good possibility that this is the case here - note that it was okay with target loads, but doubled when they switched to rhino rollers.

 

[Bogatah]

Cooperhawk's suggestion sounds like a possibility to me also, I've got an All Weather 12ga. and sometimes it would do that for my son with heavier loads. Regular target loads were no problem though. Might be worth shooting again and looking into.

 

[montanaboy]

"I have seen folks get a double when the recoil actually causes them to inadvertently pull the trigger a second time though."

You might have a good point here... nonetheless no prob with the light skeet loads... heavier stuff is a prob.

 

[mattsbox99]

When it doubles do both barrels fire at the same time or is there a slight delay?

 

[Rumrunner]

I have had 3 Red Labels but only have one now, 12 ga 26" barrels. I have had no problems mechanically in any of them or my brothers for that matter. Not saying it coundn't be the gun, but since it only happened with the mag load I have to think the recoil caused a double trigger pull as mentioned.
Try this, load the first barrel with a light load and 2nd barrel with a mag. I am betting you wont get the double fire.
When S&W came out with their 500 magnum a shooter from Smith was on a hunt and thought 2 chambers fired at once, one out the barrel and one out the side. After examining the revolver it was realized he was releasing the trigger fully through recoil, but in grasping the gun tightly he was firing a second shot out the barrel.
I used to manage a gun shop in IL and one in AZ. I once had a gun returned for doubling. It was a side by side with 2 triggers. Instead of using one finger, he was putting a finger in front of each trigger and the recoil from the first shot sent the second shot off. I realize the RL is a single trigger, but again I think the magnum recoil was causing the shooter to double, not the gun.
But by all means have it checked out.
Good luck.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Not sure how the inside of a RL looks, but if they use an inertia block arrangement similar to Browning's and some others, it DOES need to be clean, burr free, and lightly lubricated to work reliably.

I'd start w/ a good cleaning. My old gunsmith boss taught me to do that w/ ALL new Rugers... he claimed Ruger's janitors didn't have trash cans, so they just emptied their dust pans into the guns! Ok, maybe that's a little over the top, but over the years, it's proven to be a good drill regardless of whose gun it is.

If it still gives trouble, then send it back. Ruger charges enough for the Red Label to put it together right the first time!

Rick C

 

[wwb]

.......Not sure how the inside of a RL looks, but if they use an inertia block arrangement similar to Browning's and some others, it DOES need to be clean, burr free, and lightly lubricated to work reliably.......

The Red Label has mechanical triggers, not inertia.

 

[Rumrunner]

The mechanical trigger is one of the many things I like about the Red Label. I had an SKB that the enertia trigger kept screwing up and wouldn't let me fire the 2nd barrel (for doubles of course, not because I would miss the first shot )
If you have a misfire, dud or whatever with the first barrel of a Red Label, you can still fire the 2nd barrel. Of course you can with enertia system if you slap the back of the stock smartly.

 

[Sugar River]

Not clear from the original story, did it double only for you? Or did it for your nephew also?

I'm inclined towards the the inadvertant second pull of the trigger theory mentioned above.


Pete

 

[Rick Courtright]

The Red Label has mechanical triggers, not inertia.

Hi,

Interesting: Ruger's website SAYS the trigger is mechanical, but I find other comments from reviewers that say otherwise. Is someone getting it wrong, or was there a change somewhere along the line?

Ruger's diagram doesn't show a legend. When I went to another site to get the legend for their diagram, I found this one. At first glance it appears to be the same as Ruger's, but w/ different reference numbers for some parts:

http://www.angelfire.com/ar/classicfirearms/images/RedLabelExplodeView.gif Notice the descriptions of parts in the range from OU51 thru OU58 where the word "inertia" shows up?

Regardless of whether it's truly a mechanical or an inertia system, that's a busy enough design to warrant attention to cleaning, possible deburring (a "fluff and buff" as benefits MANY Rugers!), and proper lubrication.

And a trip back to Ruger if the problem persists after any "operator error" IS ruled out...

A new gun should work PROPERLY right out of the box. One that lists at $2000+ should work PERFECTLY. Just my opinion.

Rick C

 

[wwb]

I had 3 Red Labels.... a 12, a 20, and a 28 (sold them all and bought an SKB 85TSS and subgauge tube set a couple years ago). I can state without reservation that the triggers were mechanical on all 3.

 

[Rumrunner]

Yep, if you dry fire an enertia trigger you would have to slap the back of the stock to fire the 2nd barrel. With the Ruger you can fire one right after the other. They were this way on their early models as well, when they had fixed chokes.

 

[Hangfire]

Are you sure you are not getting a BUMP FIRE with the heaver loads?