UPDATE: Ruger Quality, or Lack Of??

[MIshooter]

I've lost track of how many Ruger products I've purchased over the years. Up until the last few years they have performed as expected with no issues. The last few years though I've seemed to have a rash of bad products. Some I fixed myself (burrs, mis-assembled parts, scratches on stainless guns etc) but the last several guns have needed to have replacement parts, which Ruger has supplied without returning the gun, but the last few needed to be sent back. I'm guessing that the labor market for skilled people is shrinking and they are taking what they can find and let the customer be the final QC and make returning the gun for repair as easy as possible. Here are the last few examples:

American Rimfire Long Range Target : Front bedding screw too short to tighten in the stock and stripped the first couple of threads in the receiver. Sent back and returned within 10 days.

1894 SBL: Butt stock wood broken out at tang. Ruger sent me a new butt stock

No. 1 KIA: Rib missing scope ring notches on one side of the rib. Sent back and returned within 10 days

Current rifle in transit is a 77/22 African Hornet. Was shipped with a black pad where it was supposed to be a red pad, trigger pull in excess of 6 lbs, magazine will only easily take two rounds, chamber in the shoulder area is best described as "threaded" causing hard case extraction, fired cases show primers backed out of the case 0.010-0.020". We'll see how this turns out.

When having to send the guns back, Ruger has sent a shipping label but recently only to an FFL. For some reason, they seem to no longer send shipping from an individual. I've had this on the last two. Before that I sent them directly to and from Ruger.

So, they are good at making things right, but I think it would be a lot better to find these kinds of issues at the factory.

 

[Mobuck]

'Pride in workmanship'
It seems that this is a failing concept. Some of this is due to factories paying on 'piece work' (pay based on how many parts a worker produces). Several decades back, I toured the John Deere engine works in Waterloo(?) Iowa. Watching the worker install rings on pistons as he told us how his paycheck was based on how many pistons he completed was enlightening because he didn't seem to give a damn about 'how well' he did the job--just that he turned out xxxx pistons per day---and some of the piston rings were really wanked out of shape.
I have no idea how Ruger pays their assembly workers but if it's anything like what I saw in the JD plant, there's no wonder at how many guns come off the line wanked up. The wonder comes in the number that aren't.

 

[Cofaler]

I'm not a gunsmith or an 'expert' by any means, but to me Rugers have 'good bones', and respond to trigger jobs, spring swaps etc better than their competition because they are so rough from the factory. Ruger nuts know that and tend to be tinkerers, so they buy them knowing they will need to be gone over, and don't mind doing it. It helps that they are relatively simple and fun to work on compared to others.

The above mainly applies to revolvers, as that is what I have the most experience in. I think the only Ruger semi auto pistols I've ever owned is a couple .22 MK guns, of which I currently own a very worn MK1. I've owned a couple 10-22s and a .44 mag carbine that had a cracked stock when I bought it.

I think certain design philosophies and ways of doing things mechanically appeal to different people who like to tinker on stuff. Car wise, I've been a MOPAR nut my entire life. It could be argued that MOPAR had some peculiar ways of addressing mechanical and engineering challengers, (Many Obsolete Parts Arranged Ridiculously), but if you're a MOPAR guy you know that going in, accept it, and love them anyway, maybe more so. And no one can change your mind. No one.

 

[MIshooter]

And I forgot the 1895SBL that the two piece firing pin was misfit so it never disconnected, a Marlin design feature since forever. How does someone overlook a firing pin always protruding from the bolt breechface? Again, Ruger made it right in sort order but still annoys me.

 

[rugerguy]

....mass produced items ,made by people ,who are just that, 'people' and all depends on what day of the week it is,,,,as often said, never enough time to get it right the first time but always time to send it in and make it right, sometimes repeatedly....

 

[krw]

The Ruger issue didn't happen overnight. I collect OM Ruger's by choice, Mine. But break out some Ol FT's and compare them to same era S&W' Colt revolvers. Were not in same class. Now IMO, Ruger's were always a working ckass Man's firearm but were always below quality of aforementioned firearms

 

[MIshooter]

Update:

I got the African back and they refused to put a red pad on, "polished" the chamber, set trigger to 4# and replaced the magazine. Unfortunately they also gouged up the bolt handle, so I sent it back a second time. Got it back pretty quick but all they did was knock off the high spots and repaint (?) the handle. Gouges still there, just without the high snagging burrs. Not sure what the finish is but it's not blued. Looks like I need to find another favorite gun maker.

 

[wproct]

I've been a gun enthusiast for over 60 years and I used to think how much fun it would be to work at a gun factory. I figured everyone who worked there was a gun enthusiast also and all of their work was like it was their own gun they were working on, and I think for the most part that was probably true. However, times change and the available work pool changes also.

A number of years ago I worked for a major appliance manufacturer and I was in payroll and my job was to log and report factory employee's work, hours output etc. It was interesting, for those that worked on the assembly line their output was pre-determined by the speed of the line. However, others were doing piece work and they were working on their own. Work standards would determine how many pieces they should do in a shift. Some workers were very quick and could easily make their standard and more and they were compensated for it. However, if they went much over the standard, like more than 20%, they would be warned by the union not to do it because they knew that the standard would be raised to a level that some workers couldn't achieve. So, some workers would do their standard plus 20% and then would get lost and have coffee for up to an hour or so.

It was actually one of my favorite jobs because if I was gone on vacation and came back to work there was no catch up period, someone had to do your job and when you came back to work it was like you never left. Sorry I digressed, old guys tend to do that ya know.

 

[turd]

^^^Maytag? Thread drift, I know, but I used to live in Urbandale, hunted crows south of Newton, was happy Rusty Wallace designed the Iowa track near there.

 

[wproct]

^^^Maytag? Thread drift, I know, but I used to live in Urbandale, hunted crows south of Newton, was happy Rusty Wallace designed the Iowa track near there.

That's a very good guess. Yes, it was Maytag, and I had often hunted crows at that very place you are talking about. There was a guy who called himself "The Crow King". I knew him and hunted with him several times, his son was the same age as my son and we would hunt together. I don't know how long you have been gone but something happened a number of years ago that wiped the crows out in that area. I currently live about 5-6 miles west of there and about an hour before dusk crows would gather in fields around me literally by the thousands before going in to roost. It's hard to believe but today you rarely even see a crow and never more than 3 or so. Back in the day I lived in town before I moved to the country and sometimes just for fun I would get my crow call out and turn it on and I would have dozens of crows around my house instantly sassing me. Of course I turned the call off immediately, I would have had neighbors wanting to kill me!

 

[wproct]

I know it is a thread drift but I'm glad you drifted.

 

[turd]

We left Des Moines in 2012 after nearly 20 years. Moved back here to be with my wife's mother and my parents as they aged out. Got used to this again and will likely stay here. My brother was more into shooting crows than I was, he would get off work at 6 or so and head for Newton. Changed out of his suit along the road somewhere and hunted 'till dark. We used to go to a place with a big white barn and a pasture just south of a huge area of pine trees that they liked to roost in.

I knew I80 pretty well, used to travel between Des Moines and Chicago for work a LOT.

 

[wproct]

You have described it well. My son graduated from highschool in 1991, he played varsity football and Urbandale was a big rival!!

 

[Crockett12]

I found crows to be exceptionally smart – and have questioned that they might be smarter than me!
While eating breakfast before the school bus arrived to take me to school (it was as the sun was coming up but barely) I'd sit at the kitchen table and watch the crows across the road in the pasture by the stream, There would always be one crow sitting high in the tree on the edge of the patch of woods that was overlooking that pasture, while the rest landed in the pasture to eat whatever morsels they found there!
After watching this every day for a month or so, I decided I'd get me some crow! One Saturday morning found me sitting behind some bushes but near that tree well before sunup! When it was light enough to see, sure enough there was a crow sitting high up in that tree! My Mossberg .22 rimfire brought that crow down and crows flew everywhere scolding me! However, I never saw any crow use that tree or even that field -- ever again! Once is all it took for them the learn some kid might be sitting under that tree at sunup with his trusty .22 rifle! I'm almost 79 now and wish I'd been as smart as those crows -- to be able to learn some of life's lessons only after one bad experience!

 

[Bullthrower338]

I've lost track of how many Ruger products I've purchased over the years. Up until the last few years they have performed as expected with no issues. The last few years though I've seemed to have a rash of bad products. Some I fixed myself (burrs, mis-assembled parts, scratches on stainless guns etc) but the last several guns have needed to have replacement parts, which Ruger has supplied without returning the gun, but the last few needed to be sent back. I'm guessing that the labor market for skilled people is shrinking and they are taking what they can find and let the customer be the final QC and make returning the gun for repair as easy as possible. Here are the last few examples:

I feel your pain, I called them when my new African Hornet arrived with a cracked stock. Sent pictures and serial number to Ruger. No problem new stock on the way! Well it arrived today standard 77/22 Hornet stock! No ebony forend tip, front sling stud and black pad. I'm over them and their lack of quality control and competence! The email says African, the serial number is African and even if you can't read the pictures show African!

 

[hittman]

Gun people don’t work in the gun industry….. stock / schmock

 

[MIshooter]

I feel your pain, I called them when my new African Hornet arrived with a cracked stock. Sent pictures and serial number to Ruger. No problem new stock on the way! Well it arrived today standard 77/22 Hornet stock! No ebony forend tip, front sling stud and black pad. I'm over them and their lack of quality control and competence! The email says African, the serial number is African and even if you can't read the pictures show African!

Don't let them get away with this crap. I hope you called them again and told them they screwed up and you want the correct stock ASAP.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Don't let them get away with this crap. I hope you called them again and told them they screwed up and you want the correct stock ASAP.

It is on order and I shipped the standard back today after they sent a return label!

 

[wproct]

I found crows to be exceptionally smart – and have questioned that they might be smarter than me!
While eating breakfast before the school bus arrived to take me to school (it was as the sun was coming up but barely) I'd sit at the kitchen table and watch the crows across the road in the pasture by the stream, There would always be one crow sitting high in the tree on the edge of the patch of woods that was overlooking that pasture, while the rest landed in the pasture to eat whatever morsels they found there!
After watching this every day for a month or so, I decided I'd get me some crow! One Saturday morning found me sitting behind some

When we hunted near the large crow roost I've been talking about we had an owl decoy we would sit an owl decoy up to pull them in. Then when we had a kill we would lay him in front of the owl and then turn our crow call on. That would draw them in. What was fun was sometimes if you missed a crow they would circle back around to give you some sass. Bad mistake on mr. crow's part. Had a lot of kills that way.

 

[RugerForMe]

The last 3 Rugers I have purchased have had issues.

My SP101 3" .357 had burrs so sharp where the extractor drops in on the barrel I cut my finger and had blood all over the place before I realized what happened. And doesn't always work the hammer in double action. I have not opened it up to look at what might be causing that, probably will have to go back.

Next was my Redhawk in .45auto/.45Colt. The relief for the moon clips was cut at an angle you couldn't even close the cylinder with a loaded moon clip in place. How did that make it past QC? Then the tracking showed it making it back to Ruger but somehow got lost in there shipping receiving department. But yes there customer service has been great they replaced the Redhawk all at there cost. Their customer service has been great, they even tossed in a set of fiber optic sights.

Now I have a Bearcat shopkeeper that the cylinder stop notches are so shallow needs to go back, been waiting to do so after the last fiasco.

 

[Hvymax]

Seems like the Remlins have taken over. My Max9 finally seems to be working as intended but I never expected to have to deal with the issues I did and eventually had to send back! I honestly don't see Ruger coming up with anything I would spend money on at this point. I am looking at some Smiths though. CSX-E, 10mm performance center and 10mm foldy.

 

[MIshooter]

Ruger just hired a new "Customer Experience" big wig. Boy, can I tell him my experiences of late. He's got his hands full. Good luck....

 

[gunzo]

Ruger just hired a new "Customer Experience" big wig. Boy, can I tell him my experiences of late. He's got his hands full. Good luck....

Oh, My, Gosh !!?

Where I come from that's like hiring a therapist to make the farmer feel better after his horse done went & run off, instead of fixing the latch on the barn door before the fact.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Shout out to Jason at Ruger customer service, the correct stock for my 77/22 Hornet showed up Friday.