Ruger Finish question!

[thekenman]

This is the first new gun, non surplus that I have ever bought. It's a Ruger single six, stainless steel and dam it's gorgeous. One thing I have noticed however is there is a couple of small dings, or scratches.

Other than the pictured dings there like one small surface scratch. I am just wondering if this is a normal thing on new guns? Stainless steel is pretty tough so you would probably have to drop it or have some nice impact to put these in, unless they are just from manufacturing. They don't bother me too much, it is still a beautiful piece, I just want to know from you guys with lots of Ruger experience if this is generally normal when buying new Ruger's?

Yes im somewhat of a perfectionist but Im Canadian and are restricted to using our hand guns at the range, so they do get babied

under and around the base pin

 

[rugerguy]

pretty much 'normal' machine tool marks,bottom line the surface of stainless guns is rather soft and mars, scratches quite easily, the alloy for guns is NOT that of surgical stainless steel, so blood, fluids, etc can and will cause 'staining' and even rust,still have to do some maintainance and keep it oiled....nice thing at any given time any and all marks scratches ,etc can easily be buffed and polished out....take one of the Scotchbrite pads from 3M many folks use in the kitchen for pots and pans and rub on the gun in some out of the way, underneath parts ( under the grips??) or the the center pin from the cylinder and "see" how easy the surface can be "buffed out".......

 

[exlogger]

Welcome to the forum! They look like they might have been some leftover toolmarks of some kind. I wouldn't worry about. Enjoy your new gun and happy shooting.

 

[mohavesam]

Yep. The muzzle nick is dis-appointing but normal. Ruger doesn't finish the frame face on SAs so it is common to see toolmarks there.

Figure the basic burden rate for factory employees in finishing/polishing probably around $100-130 per hour. More in NH/CT where labor unions drive the manufacturing costs up annually. We complain about $1500 handguns (which is where the pricepoint might be if handfinishing were top-notch) more than minor scuffs and nicks, especially on stainless guns that merely get a couple of minutes "on the brush" tops.

get some scotchbrite and maybe a dremel with some polishing nubs and make it your own!

 

[TiteGroups]

You'll need more than scotchbrite to get the nicks out, will have to move some metal, some jewelers files will do the trick then polish the surface with SB. Be careful of the crown of the barrel and don't move anymore metal than needed. I'd just knock the high spots off and leave it.

 

[rugerguy]

another thing as to the machining of stainless alloys, they are susceptible to galling and burring AND leaving very "sharp" edges during and after some operations.............wish I had a nickel for every stanless gun we got from various makers in the shop and had to "address", remedy,these sharp edges,,,,,nature of the beast.

 

[thekenman]

Thanks for all the answers guys. It's good to have some ideas about fixing up the scuffs, in all honesty I probably won't bother with it though. At least not for awhile, I've been on a spending spree. She still looks pretty, i just wanted to make sure sure I didn't get a gun that has been tossed around. I'm strongly considering a new Vaqero now

 

[dlhredfoxx]

If you use them, even just at the range, they will get a few nicks and scratches over time. I shoot, carry and hunt with most all of my SA revolvers, and they get wear as a result, bluing wear, scratches... all add character to the weapons and provide memories of hunts past... I know I've got a lot more dings, scratches and blueing wear on me than I did 20 years ago... For SS, the scotch brits does work great for anything that's not very deep.

 

[wolfee]

kenman, I concur with all the advice given about what will remove ss surface marks, but I think you will find that over time they all kind of even out and just become a part of the finish. Especially a 22 used frequently as a plinker. All the handling, laying it down on a dirty bench, in and out of a holster, etc etc etc, will simply make it look like an older, well used, but still beautiful gun. I like your idea of "not bothering with it" the best. I suspect most of us are guilty of fretting over cosmetics of a gun too much when they are new, and not being careful enough with them after they have a few thousand rounds and several years on them.