Ruger Quality Control

[txray22]

Everyone likes Ruger's customer service, but I want to buy the gun and never have to contact Ruger about issues.

I have an SP101 .357 that's rough, but it's serviceable. I had a SP101 .22LR that I had to drive the cases from the chambers with a dowel rod.

Is it just the revolvers that have the issues? I really want either a GP100 3 inch or a Vaquero, but will not buy a new one.

Phil

 

[gyvel]

I had a SP101 .22LR that I had to drive the cases from the chambers with a dowel rod.

I had two S&W Model 63s with the same problem. Polishing the chambers didn't help, either.

 

[txray22]

Did you get the M63 issue taken care of?

Phil

 

[Skeets]

Ruger QC

If your having that much trouble with Ruger,here's couple suggestions that may help.ONLY after personal inspection buy the gun in person.If still having may want to consider changing brands.;

 

[txray22]

If your having that much trouble with Ruger,here's couple suggestions that may help.ONLY after personal inspection buy the gun in person.If still having may want to consider changing brands.;


True. I just always had good luck with Ruger and hate to see a good product go down hill. Not sure when this started, but the older guns I have are great.

Phil

 

[CajunBass]

The cartridge sticking in 22's is a pretty common problem, especially with higher end guns for some reason. It's a pretty easy fix for a gunsmith I understand. If you have the right tool, you can do it yourself, but I ain't that brave.

Go to the Smith & Wesson forum and you'll find several threads about the problem, and how to fix it. I had a BEAUTIFUL, 1953, 22 Combat Masterpiece, five screw "Pre 18" that I wanted to love. OH how I wanted to love that gun. Oh, how I came to hate it. I had to beat the empties out with a Swiss Army Knife. I tied dry chambers. I tried wet chambers. I cleaned them. I cleaned them again. I took a brush and stuck it in an electric drill. I used an oversized brush in an electric drill. I tried polishing the chambers with Flitz. Nothing worked. I finally sold the gun and just gave up on it. It was an easy decision really, I had a Dan Wesson 22, that ejected empties as slick as eel slime at the time.

Then I found out it was an easy fix, and apparently a common problem. Drat.

I'm not a Ruger revolver fan, but it's really I just don't care for the way they look since they did away with the Speed/Security-Six series. I've never really heard of any quality problems with them though.

 

[kcub]

I have an old K22 8 3/8" barrel, rifle accurate but talk about sticky!

So a gunsmith can fix it? How?

 

[gyvel]

Did you get the M63 issue taken care of?

Not really. Polishing the chambers didn't help much; I still had extraction problems by about the third cylinder full.

I eventually just got rid of them.

I still have a 43 which, for some puzzling reason, doesn't give me near as much extraction problems as the two 63s did. Maybe it's a characteristic of stainless .22s.

 

[buck460XVR]

We all hope to never use a manufacturer's customer service, and probably on less than 02% of our purchases are there ever any warranty problems with said products. Still nice to know that the company you're buying your product from stands behind their products, i.e. Ruger.

Many times, folks get turned off to a manufacturer because they got a lemon or had some issues. Sometimes folks never feel the same towards a product or have confidence in it again after having issues. Still, reputable manufacturers stay in business just because of that....reputation and customer service. I'd have no problem buying any new Ruger unless there were known issues with that certain model.

 

[Doyle]

I have an old K22 8 3/8" barrel, rifle accurate but talk about sticky!

So a gunsmith can fix it? How?

It could be as simple as the cylinders needing to be polished. The simplest and least aggressive is to take a wooden dowel slightly smaller than a .22 cylinder and chuck it into your drill. Wrap the end with steel wool and use that to lightly polish the inside of the cylinder (use a little oil for lube). Next step from there is with a metal polish like Flitz but then you almost getting into gunsmithing territory so I won't advise that without knowing your general level of skill.

 

[James K]

The problem is the ammo. The brass used for .22 cases has to be soft enough to dent, so it is softer than CF brass and has more tendency to stick. But not all brands are created equal, so trying other makes of ammo might help.

Jim

 

[FrankenMauser]

You've already stated that you won't buy a new Ruger revolver, so what's to gain from discussing your disdain for your opinion of their quality control?



As for my experience...
I own some Rugers. Um... [counting in my head...] Eight or nine, I think.
The only one that I've ever sent in for repair was 18 years old, purchased used at about 5 years old, and had seen a lot of use before I bought it. It was well cared-for, but also well worn.

Sending it in for an evaluation was really just me "fishing" to see if Ruger would bite on giving me one of the 'new process' cylinders (all chambers reamed with the same reamer, instead of 6 different reamers at the same time).

They went much further and completely rebuilt the revolver: replaced all hardware, replaced all springs, replaced the barrel and sights, replaced the cylinder, replaced the base pin, replaced the ejector and shroud, and refinished the entire revolver.
What I got back was a BRAND NEW Super Blackhawk built with my frames, grips, and loading gate; accompanied by a 'one ragged hole' test-fire target.
It cost me about $12 to ship it to Ruger (through an FFL). They charged me nothing for the work, and sent it back next-day-air on their dime.

 

[txray22]

"You've already stated that you won't buy a new Ruger revolver, so what's to gain from discussing your disdain for your opinion of their quality control?"

I wanted to know if I just got unlucky on two recent purchases, or if any one else was having trouble. I have heard of all the great customer service, but I have been lucky not to have needed any. I have used/shot Ruger revolvers since the 70's and like their rugged quality. Other than the one .22 all work well. I have a LCR .22 that's great. Maybe it is the stainless ones.

Phil

 

[carguychris]

The brass used for .22 cases has to be soft enough to dent... But not all brands are created equal, so trying other makes of ammo might help.

I've found that standard-velocity ammo is categorically easier to extract from my S&W M18 than high-velocity. I attribute this primarily to the fact that the chamber pressure is lower and the brass expands less. A secondary reason is that SV ammo is generally intended for target use and is made to higher QA/QC standards than cheap bulk pack.

If you must use bulk pack, I've found that Remington Golden Bullets work great in my M18, despite their ugly reputation. Federal Auto Match is pretty good, as is Federal Champion, although I'm not sure that the latter is offered anymore. OTOH Remington Thunderbolts and Winchester 333/555 and M-22 are borderline unusable.

 

[Badfinger]

Everyone likes Ruger's customer service, but I want to buy the gun and never have to contact Ruger about issues.

I have an SP101 .357 that's rough, but it's serviceable. I had a SP101 .22LR that I had to drive the cases from the chambers with a dowel rod.

Is it just the revolvers that have the issues? I really want either a GP100 3 inch or a Vaquero, but will not buy a new one.

Ruger QC has always been open to criticism, however that generally has never really applied to their revolvers, all of which possess well deserved reputations for superior durability, and build construction. The only issues I consistently encounter are heavy triggers, which either resolve through use, or a trigger job.

Its the Ruger semi-autos that carry the QC issue with them, for instance, their little 7-shot 9mm has a very troublesome issue with slides failing to lock back after the last round, an issue that Ruger is well aware of, and happy to fix. Nonetheless, I handled three of them just last week and all three refused to lock back right from the box(new), a broken, or worn portion on the magazine if I recall it correctly.

Not a very good practice, shipping guns to market, where 5/10 must come back for service right from the box!

 

[Radny97]

I had a problem with my sp101-22 spitting lead. Sent it to ruger and they replaced the frame and accurized it. Thing is a complete laser now.
As for cases sticking I had a similar problem in both my sp101-22 and my gp100. The problem was really bad in the gp100 for the first 1000 rounds then completely went away. They practically fall out now. It is also more accurate than when I first bought it. Probably have 7000 rounds through it now. Same thing with the sp101. It's closer to 11000 rounds.

 

[gyvel]

My one experience with Ruger's quality control was with an SP 101 .22 that I purchased new in the 90s. The trigger would lock up in rapid DA fire. It went back to the factory, only to be returned as "cleaned" with the problem not solved. It went back again, and was returned with the same "cleaned." It want back for the third time, and returned with the same BS "cleaned."

That soured me on the SP 101 and I have not owned one since.

I do have other Rugers that are as old as 50 years, and have been completely satisfied with them, however.

 

[tallball]

In the past couple of years I bought a new Blackhawk, a new SP101, and a fairly new LC9. None of them were defective. My FiL bought a new GP100 a few months back and it has functioned perfectly as well.

 

[Doug S]

I have 3 Ruger revolvers (2 SP101' and a GP100). All newer production (2011-2014). No problems with fit, finish, or function of any of them.

 

[txray22]

It could be I just got unlucky with these two revolvers. I had a talk with the customer service people at Lyman/Pachmayr about their grips and was told they get many returns and it seems to be a design flaw.

A LEO posted that he is on his 3rd Sig in the last 12 months and his current one has frame fit problems. So, it seems not just Ruger has had QC trouble lately.

Now, at the LGS today I saw a .357 Vaquero 4 5/8" blue lightly used. Doing a little trading I got out really good on price out the door. By serial number made in 2014.

Phil