Ruger "distributor exclusives"

Help Support Ruger Forum:

sailmotion

Bearcat
Joined
Jul 30, 2013
Messages
1
Before anyone dismisses this post as merely a disgruntled customer trying to bad-mouth Ruger - be advised, I am not. I love Ruger's product. I have a 10/22, SR9c, LCP and SR1911. I had an SP101 and will be getting shortly a GP100. However, anyone considering purchasing a "distributor exclusive" should be aware how warranty issues will be treated. As a little background: I purchased a "distributor exclusive" SR1911. It was marketed as a "limited edition", 1 of 300. I was not wild about the manner in which all guns were engraved "1 of 300". They were NOT consecutively numbered. Indeed, when my FFL received my gun he immediately called me to declare, "Holy s**t, you have the first gun in a series." I had to burst his bubble and tell him all 300 were similarly marked. I digress. Within a few months and less than a 1000 rounds into using the gun, one of the unique grips cracked in three (3) pieces. In addition to the engraving, I believe the grips are what gives the gun character. To make a long story short, when I contacted Ruger to get replacement grips, here is the reply I received:

This SR1911 left our factory looking like every other SR1911 model # 06700. We the manufacture send firearm to what are called distributors. Once we give them ownership of the firearm they can do whatever they would like to do it at their own will. What they like to do sometimes is make what are Distributor Exclusive firearms. They will take one of our firearms and make modifications to it to make it more one of a kind than others. This happens to be one of those firearm. What I am trying to get at is we don't carry these parts or have replacement parts for them. You will have to get ahold of the dealer you bought the firearm from and see what Distributor he got that SR1911 from. I wish I could give more information, but all our records show that it left out factory as a standard SR1911. Please let me know if there is anything else I can answer.

Thank You,
Joshua Dillenbeck

Joshua Dillenbeck
928-541-8892, Ext: 88800
Customer Service Rep - Prescott
Sturm Ruger & Company, Inc.
200 Ruger Road
Prescott, AZ 86301


You have been cautioned!
 
Not at all surprised, as this isn't the first time such guns have been offered. Many distributors and even some big retail stores have done similar offerings with different makes/models.

So... did you talk to the distributor?
 
Yes, the distributor supplied the "special" grip panels, so they should be able to provide replacements.

"Should" does not guarantee "will" of course.

Let us know how this comes out, please.

:)
 
Guessing I've missed what there is to be "cautioned" about. Isn't this common knowledge?
 
I think that this is a good warning for those folks that might not know.

If a feller was not savvy about Rugers, and the special offerings of its distributors, he just might see a fancy new Ruger sitting in his FFL's display case, and have no idea that this was a special run, commissioned by TALO, Davidsons, Williams, and a bunch of others. He'd see the Ruger product, in a standard Ruger box, and just figure Ruger would be responsible for any defects, bumper to bumper.

WAYNO.
 
How come some of the exclusives are listed and shown on Rugers web site? Seems to imply they built those guns to the customers specs and were not modified later.

Are there two types of exclusives? Ed
 
eveled said:
How come some of the exclusives are listed and shown on Rugers web site? Seems to imply they built those guns to the customers specs and were not modified later.

Are there two types of exclusives? Ed

Probably more than two...
 
There are two kinds of "distributor exclusives". Most are guns spec'd out by the distributor and made at the factory. The other type are those that are regular production guns that are then sent off to someone like Baron Technology to be engraved, embellished or whatever. It sounds like you have one of the latter and if that's the case then Ruger really can't do much to help you. In my experience of doing this, if Ruger builds it at the factory they go out of their way to correct any issues. Obviously there are some instances where they can't, because sometimes parts are just not available anymore. The distributor who did these should be able to tell you where they sourced the grips and you could contact that company for a possible replacement set.
 
HAWKEYE#28 said:
THANKS, ONCE AGAIN, JASON, FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO ALL OF US HERE ON THE RUGER FORUM. WE APPRECIATE THE INFORMATION AND OBSERVATIONS YOU SHARE AND LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUED LIPSEY OFFERINGS. 8) MIKE

plus 1
 
Yes, there have been a couple of limited edition SR1911's that weren't done by the factory. Unfortunately, a person must do his homework before considering these as an investment. Generally, factory made exclusives will always have a better chance of being worth better $ down the road, but anybody can customize any firearm and call it "limited". In this case, just depends on what the value is of the extra work done on the gun.
Chet15
 

Latest posts

Top