Ruger Quality a thing of the past?

[JohnKSa]

I used to swear by Ruger, but two out of the last three guns I've purchased from them have been defective from the factory.

One was a Mark II target that physically deformed the cartridges during the feeding process to the point that it grouped like a shotgun at 15 yards.

The other was their polymer frame .45 Auto. It wouldn't fire about 75% of the time due to a defective firing pin block lever.

It seems like maybe their quality control is slipping a bit lately.

 

[C.R.Sam]

I have contact with a few who work in the AZ plant (autoloaders) and seems that you are right.

From what I have seen of the recent offerings, S&W quality has become pretty spotty too. Some good and some horrible making it to the dealers.

Sam

 

[PreserveFreedom]

But these are the same people that will complain they are going out of business when we are forced to buy a dependable imported pistol.

 

[contender4040]

quality

The most recent ruger I acquired was a bisley single six. Everything about this gun was good except for the fit of the grips. They were a bit sloppy but I took care of it myself. Have heard of complaints from other owners of blackhawks about improper grip fit.
Know of two other people that had functional problems with rugers. One was a m77mkII in 260 rem that had a rough chamber. The other was a 10/22 mag that had firing pin problems. Both guns were shipped back to ruger and repaired quickly and returned.
The most amazing thing that I am aware ruger has done concerns a P91 that was severely damaged by handloads. Seems that this guy took upon himself to do some reloading for that gun and could not find any .40 cal bullets so he bought some .41 bullets and loaded them instead.
I saw the results. The safety was blown completely out of the gun as well as the extractor. The ejector was damaged also. It was shipped in to ruger with a note by him stating that handloads had caused the damage. Ruger repaired the gun---no charge---and returned it to him in roughly three weeks.
I believe that the quality of a lot of gun makers is slipping. Local examples that I know of are a new taurus ti that would seize up on the first outing, a taurus 92 that had the safety break off in 100 rounds, and a new s&w 317 that would not extract fired hulls unless the ejector was struck with a hammer.

 

[Rebeldon]

Do you think that two out of every three Ruger's manufactured are defective? I doubt it. It has to be a strange abberation that any one person would get two defective Rugers out of three purchases.

Share your complaint on the Ruger Forum at http://www.rugerforum.com . The fellers there are honest and would appreciate hearing about your experience.

The more they sell, the more you will hear about defective products. Whenever a manufacturer increases production without increasing it's labor force or without enlarging or upgrading it's facilities, expect defects to increase.

 

[JohnKSa]

I don't mean to imply that 66% of their guns come out of the factory defective.

If it had been just one, I wouldn't have given it a second thought--in fact, I didn't. I went right out and bought another Ruger which worked fine. Then, I purchased another which was defective. THAT'S when I started wondering. And with good reason IMO. Both guns should have been caught by even rudimentary quality control. The fact that they weren't doesn't bode well.

BTW, although I didn't mention it in the first post, Ruger remedied the problem rapidly and at their cost.

However, that is NOT the same thing as producing a quality product. Sure, it's nice to know that if you DO have a problem they're going to fix it for free, but that's not as nice as being sure that the gun you just bought isn't going to have a problem in the first place.

 

[Jim March]

In handguns, I've always considered their wheelguns better than their slideguns, with the possible exception of the rimfires. I don't think their centerfire autos ever achieved the reliability of, say, a Glock.

 

[Point Blank]

The front sight placement on the P series is so inconsistent that Meprolights front sight does not come pre-drilled. Still like my P95 though, never had one hiccup.

 

[DEC]

I truly believe that most guns manufactured today are not as good as the ones in the past. I think that quality control is overlooked with the use of CNC machinery and other computer controlled processes. They assume that the machines are doing things perfectly and that there isn't a need to inspect each piece. Cost cutting is a rule of thumb in any industry and unfortunately quality control is probably something that is skimped on. I have heard that Ruger has excellent service, but it wouldn't be needed as much if they made sure things were right before it left the plant in the first place. Ruger is not the only company guilty of this. I have seen SIGarms putting out poorly finished products compared to 10 years ago.

 

[WIL TERRY]

RUGER QUALITY

MY LAST TWO NEW GUN RUGERS HAVE BEEN A NEW BEARCAT 22 AND A NEW SS BISLEY 45COLT.
THE BEARCAT IS WITHOUT A DOUBT ONE OF FINEST 22 SIXGUNS I'VE EVER FIRED. TO PUT THAT IN PERSPECTIVE THOUGH, I HAD THE PICK OF THREE, AND THE OTHER TWO THE DEALER COULDN'T HAVE PAID ME TO CARRY HOME.
THE NEW SS BISLEY 45 SHOOTS GREAT, LOOKS GREAT, AND HANDLES GREAT. IT HAS A BEAUTIFUL BRUSHED FINISH, A DECENT TRIGGER, AND A REALLY NICE BARREL. IT ALSO HAS A LOOSE FRONT SIGHT THAT'LL PIVOT ON ITS PIN AS IT WAS NOT DOWN TIGHT ON THE SIGHT BOSS WHEN THE PINHOLE WAS DRILLED, [ THAT ASSUMES THEY DO IT THAT WAY, NOT A GOOD BET ] AND THE CYLINDER IS VERY LOOSE ON THE CYLINDER PIN; THAT IS TO SAY THE DAMN HOLE THROUGH THE CYLINDER IS TOO BIG. STILL, THE GUN SHOOTS VERY WELL INDEED AND I CAN POP THE SNOT OUT OF TARGETS AT 100 YARDS SHOOTING OFFHAND.
BUT IT STILL CANNOT COMPARE WITH MY TWO 3-SCREW RUGER BLACKHAWKS FROM 1971. NOW THERE ARE TWO GREAT SIXGUNS!!!

 

[JAMES L.SMITH]

This must be rant night for me.If you buy anything and it turns out to be crap.COMPLAIN&BITCH!TO ANY ONE WHO WILL LISTEN!It seems that more and more companys don't care what they make anymore because they know we will keep buying their junk.Thanks JLS

 

[Brian Busch]

Uh, past? Ruger? Quality? I musta missed something.

 

[22Shooter]

I had to send a new SP101 back 3 times recently. The barrel was screwed in too far, and, obvious as it was, I didn't notice it when I purchased it.

Return 1: Ruger "repaired" the barrel. The SP101 came back with a 12 mil barrel cylinder gap because it was repaired by screwing the barrel out. End shake was 6 mils on the cylinder to boot-not exactly sterling fit up.

Return 2: Ruger replaced the cylinder to correct the barrel cylinder gap and end-shake. Problem is, it was sent back to me with the same gap and the same end shake. The "new" cylinder was a peice of work too (roughly enlarged/ovaled on the breach end in an attempt to match a bad ejection star). When I called customer service, I was told it was shipped back with a 6 mil gap and 3 mils of end shake, perfect cylinder, etc. so....

Return 3: I shipped the gun back with my feeler guage between the cylinder and forcing cone in the case. Told em to fix it or keep it, because I couldn't in good conscience sell the POS used, and it would be irresponsible to toss it in the trash.

Well, I have it back again with a new barrel. At least the barrel cylinder gap is down to a loose 6 mils. End shake is the same, cylinder is the same-but at least the chambers are reasonably tight at the exit end of the cylinder if not everywhere. Ruger also smoothed out a lip in the hammer well that the falling hammer could catch on (I think somone "slipped" cutting the hammer well out, because mine was much wider than any other SP101's I compared it too).

I've owned quality Ruger's in the past, but I concurr that they've gone down hill. Personally, I think the quality decline might have something to do with the S&W boycott taking some competitive pressure off Ruger-less incentive now to turn out a quality product.

 

[johnbt]

This is a new problem for Ruger? I don't think so, and I like Ruger products.

I bought a 22/45 when they first came out and it split every other bullet on the lip of the ramp. I took it back to the dealer and after some discussion they exchanged it for another one. It was almost as bad as the first one. Called Ruger and sent it back. They fixed it!

John

 

[jtduncan]

From my Ruger 22/45 to my Redhawk, I've only been impressed and delighted with my Rugers.

Maybe you got a Monday ruger.

 

[ZeusOne]

I've never had any QC or reliability issues with any of my Ruger wheel guns or autos, although I'm not saying that it can't and doesn't happen.

I have, however, had initial QC problems with some of the more expensive popular brands (don't feel like drawing flames today) and THAT always pisses me off because beyond a certain price point you should not be subjected to shoddy workmanship.

Have to say that I'm pretty happy with my overall Ruger experience.

 

[RazorsEdge]

Over time, ALL of the major manufacturers have put out shoddy runs. (I except H & K, having had no experience with them).


Back when the Swish & Wipebutt 645 came out, the reviewer tried hard to say something nice about a gun that shot EIGHT INCHES HIGH at 25 yards, with no way to adjust a fixed sight!


Of the first three Colt .45's I owned, ALL had functioning problems right out of box.

Once functioning problems with Rugers were rare, but are now more common. But they WILL fix them.


I once saw a shipment of five Colt Huntsman .22 pistols. EVERY ONE had the front sight bent at a 45 degree angle! Musta been a disgruntled employee.


I have sees Sig 232 jam right out of box.

But still, I think that there are some great deals out there, with more "diversity of choice" than ever.

 

[Drakejake]

My Rugers Work Great

I have been a gun enthusiast for less than a year and a half. In that time I have bought four of their autos new and one use revolver. The only problem I had was witht he first pistol, a KP-89, on which the safety got stuck and the gun could not be fired. My dealer took it apart and told me he guessed that there was a small bit of metal somewhere. I elected not to to force the safety lever, because I don't think forcing is a good idea. Other than this initial problem, all of my handguns have worked great and are accurate and fun to shoot.

On the KP-90 and the 9 MM SP-101, there are some very minor defects or asymetries in the finish, but only a crazy person like me would even notice.

Last week I bought a KP-95 and a KP-97, in part because of the rebate offer. I took those guns out to the range today. They fired beautifully and accurately. The 95 in particular has a very soft recoil. The steel slides looked pretty perfect, but the polymer frame of the 94 has two slight imperfections (slight depressions on the surface).

In conclusion, I think the Rugers are one of the best values in firearms and among the most reliable firearms made. I KNEW that my new pistols would work fine. But the grips are pretty tacky and the finish on some guns may contain slight imperfections not found in Taurus guns and other brands.

Drakejake

 

[FScott]

Just received my MK II 512

Ran 150 rounds out of the box of Remington mohawk that was stored in my fathers garage for probably 10 years. Two FTE, which was probably ammo related.

No complaints yet!

 

[jimmy]

FWIW, I asked my dealer if in his experience Rugers are being made as good as ever. He said that in the last year or so he's definitely had to send more new Rugers back with problems than he ever has before. However, he emphasized that this is just his experience--he doesn't know if it's a general trend.