Truly, I do understand the thoughts here. And while it SEEMS to be something they can do easily,, it's not as easy as you'd think. With the way they actually build the guns, which is NOT the old timey conventional methods, it would slow down production to do the things you describe. Again, if the assemblers put them together,, AND they fall within specs, out it goes.
As for the costs.
A new SA handgun may have a MSRP of $1000.00 yet that's NOT what Ruger makes on the gun. Often, they might get $600 or so approximately for that gun. They sell to distributors, who sell to gun shops, who sell to us. Each level has to make a profit. And even Ruger has a tier level of pricing to it's distributors.
So, to add TIME to an assembly,, it costs money. And it may cost Ruger an additional $25 to do a step, by the time it gets to retail it'll add $100 to the MSRP. DISCLAIMER!!!!!!!!THESE NUMBERS ARE JUST PULLED FROM SUPPOSITION. NOT ACTUAL NUMBERS . I JUST USED THIS TO EXPLAIN THE POINT.
RClark has it right with this statement; "Rugers are 'good enough' for most people though. It's no wonder they have been called the working man's gun (affordable and shoot adequately in most cases)."
So, while it may seem simple, again, until you see how the guns are actually built, you may not understand why your thought process doesn't fit the "lean manufacturing" methods used in Ruger plants.
I have been to a Ruger plant. I have seen how they approach building guns. It's an assembly process. They start at one point, with a worker, some parts, and that worker does ONE or maybe TWO operations of assembly. Then they pass their parts to the next station, to another worker, who does another single assy of something. This continues all down the line, until the gun is finished at the end of the assembly line. It may be handled by 20 (or more) different workers. At each station, they have jigs to check for the "go-nogo" portion of their assembly. If it passes their jig, the partially assembled gun goes to the next station. So, each gun is not assembled by a single worker, or even just a couple of workers. It's an assembly line of workers & stations.
And if a part doesn't pass the test jig at a station, it's pulled. If a few more fail, then it shuts down that line at that point & things are re-set & re-calibrated etc.
And to meet production, sometimes a part may be just barely in spec, and it gets passed on,, instead of correcting a little something. Remember,, these workers are hired to assemble parts & meet production. Many of them are not real "gun people." They hope to keep meeting production, and not cause a shut down of a line. And just like in any job anywhere in any workplace,, you will have employees who think; "It's close enough, nobody will notice it" attitude.
So, as mentioned, most of them are good enough for most people.
Heck, go to a gun range & watch the average shooter. Most of the time,, the guns shoot better than the casual trigger jerker.
And finding a mass produced gun w/o any flaws is dern near impossible. Slow, careful proper perfection building takes time & money. That's why we have places like FA & the custom builders.
FA currently has an 18 month backlog, and many custom makers 1-3 years.
At a cost much higher than the mass produced Rugers.
So, yes,, I do understand your thought process. But until you see HOW they are built, and understand the fact that bean counters who demand production numbers for the bottom line, the "simple" things you think should be done are not as simple to implement.