The Ruger 416 Hawkeye Alaskan 'Revisited'

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585 Nyati

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
7
Location
British Columbia, Canada
:evil: Has anyone on here bought, owned, fired on of these things using the companion Factory Hornady ammo?

Some of these rifles finally found their way to Canada where upon a buddy and I both thought they looked like a short handy package with 'thump. Iintended to use mine for bear and Moose in the thick stuff, while my buddy planned to use his on an upcoming african trip for Buffalo. We bought two rifles..then tried to locate ammo. Not an easy task in the current ammo shortage scenario. Finally locating some, both solid and softpoint Hornady DGX, imagine our dismay when a trip to the range showed that neither rifle would feed the only factory ammo available for it!! Rounds would jam on nearly every occasion while cycling the bolt.

Discussions were held with the retailer and we were put in touch with the sole Ruger warranty centre in Canada..at opposite side of the continent.
We were advised to forward the rifle to their location and did so at our own cost! We were later contacted by the repair centre and told that Ruger had opted to replace these rifles rather than repair them. (Note: we were previously told that Ruger had already identified this problem and that a 'kit' was available to fix same? We were further told that a few rifles with the problem had got out onto the market before they were corrected??!!) In any event approx 4 months passed..missing the hunting season) and we each received a new rifle from Ruger. Off to the range again..New rifles have the same problem as the old. They constantly Jam using Hornady 400 gr DGX ammo. These rifles are a joint venture between Hornady and Ruger, and yet will not reliably feed the only factory ammo available for them. They bill this as a Dangerous Game Rifle. I think Not!!! Four out of Four guns exhibited this problem. Any confidence to face a Buffalo or Grizzly with one of these has evaporated.
This is obviously a design issue at play here. Any comments from anyone with similar experience with these 416s is welcomed as we have yet to resolve this issue with Ruger/hornady.
 

Canazes9

Bearcat
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
48
Location
SouthEast Texas
I am sorry to hear of your problems w/ these rifles - I agree that's completely unacceptable in a dangerous game rifle. I hope that Ruger quickly addresses your concerns to your satisfaction. Please keep us posted.

David
 

Welding Rod

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 1, 2009
Messages
16
I have a 416 Ruger Alaskan. I bought it within the last month or so.

I have only shot 400 Grain Hornady DGS ammo in it.

No problems with this rifle at all... though I have only shot about a box through it to zero the sights.

However I did reject the first 416 I ordered as the barrel was misclocked. The sights leaned significantly to the left when looking down the barrel. Plus the safety was not fitted to the trigger. The movement of the safety lever was rediculously stiff.

I handled a 375 Ruger Alaskan that had a safety that was likewise not fitted and took a serious effort and release of the shooting grip in order to move.

I also handled a new 458 M77 Magnum the other day that had a bolt that could hit a edge inside the reciever about halfway forward when pushing the bolt home with a down and out force on the bolt handle. The bolt would then come to a dead stop - metal blocked by metal. I pointed it out to the dealer who said he was going to send it back. About a month later I looked at the same gun. The dealer claimed Ruger returned it unchanged saying it met with their specs.

I would say Ruger is experiencing some just plain stupid QC issues.
 

martyj

Blackhawk
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
643
Location
Nebraska
Quarterbore":3skrvrdj said:
I just hope you can run faster then the guys you hunt with :wink:

Seriously, sorry to hear of your problems. Good Luck!

I liked that alternative and will have to remember it. (thanks for the laugh)
 

585 Nyati

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
7
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Hi guys,
thanks for all the comments so far. Just an update, as of yesterday, my Buddy has spoken directly to a senior manager at Ruger. He was told that the individual has never heard of this problem and will be 'discussing it' with 'production'!

We are still optimistic of a resolution of some kind. Will advise on here of when and whatever that may be. I have had a few provate messages wherein others with this rifle, upon checking, are also finding intermitent difficulty with this feeding issue.

thanks again for the responses!!
 

4Sixteen

Bearcat
Joined
Jan 7, 2010
Messages
84
Location
Up North
No feeding problems with my handloads using the 400gr 416 caliber DGX bullet, shown here beside a cartridge with a 300gr X bullet. :D

416DGX.jpg

416UL1.jpg
 

585 Nyati

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
7
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Still nothing heard from Ruger over our rifle issues. I will be attending the SHOT SHOW in vegas next week so will 'discuss' it personaly at the Ruger booth. Bought this in June of 09..still haven't fired a round, been through two guns, and don't currently have one as the second one was returned to Ruger in November!!
 

585 Nyati

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
7
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Yes, if hand fed one round at a time, the round will chamber and the bolt closes. The problem arises when you fill the magazine and then close the bolt (with or without a round chambered) When you then cycle the bolt the chambered round will extract, but the bolt face will not pickup the round on top of the magazine..it just pushes it forward and it pops up out of alignment with the feed ramp/chamber and jams the nose of the bullet into the side of the barrel. If the bullet in the mag rises to the left side of the mag follower it jams on the left side of the barrel...the next round indexes to the right side of the follower and jams on the right side of the barrel face. In short there is no bolt face control of the round as it pushes the round forward.. Being 4 brand new rifles have exhibited this behaviour i am disinclined to fiddle with the workings to solve this problem.
 

4Sixteen

Bearcat
Joined
Jan 7, 2010
Messages
84
Location
Up North
Sounds like there's some problem with the extractor, maybe there's a burr, something is preventing the cartridge from sliding into the extractor.

I would take it to my gunsmith, I'm too impatient to wait that long.

Mine works slicker than eel sweat. :p
 

Ltdshooter

Single-Sixer
Joined
Nov 6, 2005
Messages
149
Location
Michigan
Please keep us informed of your dealings with Ruger on this. I've been thinking about ordering one of these but will hold off for a bit till we see what happens here.
 

Con

Bearcat
Joined
Jun 17, 2008
Messages
72
x10 Ruger stainless 350RemMags came into Australia on the first shipment ... x6 wouldn't feed. Good to see Ruger keeping up their standards!

In all cases it was a very simple fix, done at home by most.

Sounds like yours is being released too late by the rails, not many Rugers will be perfectly timed from the factory. Mind you the left jam, right jam tendency seems odd.
Cheers...
Con
 

585 Nyati

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
7
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Just returned from shot show in Vegas where I broached this issue with one of Ruger's VPs+..who not surprisingly was unaware of the issues I identified but assured me he would 'look into it'?

In the interim, my buddy with the other rifle received an email from the head armourer, who referred him to someone in the service dept, and Dave actually had a phone conversation in which this person stated that he had tested my second returned rifle (the one given me by Ruger as a replacement for the first one) and low and behold when loaded with factory hornady ammo it will NOT FEED THEM!! No yugo! I told them that in July 09.

This individual has now fwded the issue to 'engineering' ???

stay tuned..will provide any update when I get same...
 

Stump Buster

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 6, 2008
Messages
216
Location
N. California
I have one and after a couple boxes of ammo, I started to experience erratic failures to eject spent casings, some of them jamming against the top of of the barrel, some just coming to rest on top of the live cartridges in the magazine. I wrote it off as a bad batch of ammo, but I just went to the range on Sunday with another new box of ammo and the problems continued. I work the bolt with authority as I would in a dangerous encounter and have not babied this rifle in any way. I just got off the phone with Ruger CS and Don said, "We don't want that, send it in." That's what I hoped to hear!!!

I'm not too worried about sending it back to the factory for repair work as I've heard Ruger's CS has been getting better and I actually spoke to a person today after about 3 minutes of my dialing the number, rather than having to leave a message after waiting on hold for 3 hours. I'm sure it will be handled well and come back fine. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

All the best,

Stump
 

WiFowler

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
8
All interesting info. Myself, I do not currently own a 416 in the Hawkeye, but have been contemplating one. My issue is that I'd like the 416 Ruger in the African configuration - matte blue, 23" barrel, and walnut stock. But alas, it's not available. I did leave a note expressing my concern and dissatisfaction on the Ruger web site, under the "Ask the CEO" heading.

Meanwhile, a custom CZ is getting consideration as is rebarreling a M70 classic.
 

nhlever

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 18, 2008
Messages
33
As one other poster stated, this does sound like a feed rail machining issue. The other thing that really affects this is the shape of the magazine box. As the rounds get "fatter" they stack at different angles, looking at them from the rear, in the box, and that changes the way they feed. Paul Mauser had a formula that really needs to be followed pretty closely. The "fat" cartridges of today need to be looked at closely. My guess is that some guns got out with magazine boxes, and feed rail machining that was appropriate for the .300 /.338 RCM's, and someone just assumed that since the basic case is the same, the same magazine/ feed rails would work, but doesn't like the fatter bullets of the .416. They had the same problems way back with the .458 Win. Mag, but those were push feed guns. The computer software they have there today should be able to resolve that to a failure free condition!
 

585 Nyati

Bearcat
Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
7
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Just re.d a call today from Ruger. I was advised that my rifle has been 'gone over' extensively, the magazine box has been changed, the guide rails reground, the feed ramp polished etc, etc. Supposedly the rifle has been exhaustively tested after being reworked and now feeds flawlessly.

Rifle is currently in their shipping department for ultimate return to me.

Time will tell if it is indeed servicable and reliable now!! :?: :?
 

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