Tell me about your problems with new Ruger revolvers

[DONALDG-HOG]

I bought a bearcat (birdshead, blued) that seized up with rounds in it. The cylinder was stuck and I had to use a wooden dowel to pound the pin out just to get the cylinder/rounds out to ship it back. Came back to me quick- not fixed - frozen again. They replaced it with the stainless birdhead shopkeeper I wanted at no extra charge when they determined that the original was not able to be fixed. The fit and finish on the shopkeeper is not great but it works. I was happy to get the model I wanted but not thrilled with the quality of the gun. The Tshirt they sent me with the new gun was hardly comforting but I appreciate the gesture.

 

[meh]

[...]people being hired are probably not as trained and skilled as they should be, and employees don't stay as long as they used to either.

Personally, I think that's most of it right there. And who can blame them for moving around from job to job without that tacit agreement between management and skilled labor that there used to be. Loyalty is no longer rewarded, not even with peace of mind that they'll do all they can to keep you around if times get tough. The only path many people have to higher wages is changing jobs.

 

[Retired-LEO]

I had a Ruger Single ten .22 whose cylinder wouldn't spin after 20 rds through it. A little residue over burrs, I believe. Poor QC.

Did you ever contact Ruger? They will fix it without cost to you and cover shipping. Ruger has very good customer service.

 

[ridleyman]

Did you ever contact Ruger? They will fix it without cost to you and cover shipping. Ruger has very good customer service.

I did. I sent it to them and they fixed it. I got it back about 3 weeks later, as I remember. They were quite responsive, but it still pissed me off that a new gun didn't work.

 

[meh]

I did. I sent it to them and they fixed it. I got it back about 3 weeks later, as I remember. They were quite responsive, but it still pissed me off that a new gun didn't work.

I don't know what revolver brand doesn't see a percentage of these that would make a manufacturer in any other industry blush. Korth? At their prices, I should hope so, but until something changes, I think the industry has settled on pumping out the product ASAP and forcing the customer to be involved in QC.

 

[ridleyman]

I wonder if the same percentage is true of semi autos. Maybe semis have more CNC and less hand fitting, as revolvers might?

 

[Qwikdraw45]

GP 100 Rear sight pin drifting out, I bent the pin a little, hasnt come out since. In recent years quality control has been slack, Its box em up and ship them out, same with Smith and wesson. This costs them more in the long run with so many guns being shipped back for minor repairs.

As stated by others above, probably the "new" labor force. Hard to find people; not well trained because of turn-over. Older Ruger employees were happier (the ones I've talked to near the Newport, NH area).

I've mentioned this before on nes....I have a buddy that runs an on line gun shop from the Newport, nh area. he told me, so take this as second and third hand info, that he knows a lot of locals that work in the plant. they've told him there's a big turnover of employees the last year or two. the older employees are retiring and there are a bunch of current employees that are disgruntled. hours are long, pay poor, and some people are expected to work 12 hour days to meet quotas and customer demand. training new hires is poor with training time extremely short. a big problem area was final polishing on the stainless firearms. my source told me they shut down the polishing area to retrain when bunches of the then new redhawk 45 colt/.45 acp started showing back up at the plant for refinishing from customers and even some distributors. I had mine refinished when it went back the first time. in fact the customer service rep I talked to confirmed they were swamped with returns of the new redhawk. if anyone has information to the contrary i'd be interested in reading it. it's not my style to take 2nd and 3rd hand information as gospel truth.

i'm apologizing now. didn't want to hijack the thread, just let people know it was hard to bash my redhawk but as they say, it is what it is.

I bought the 45colt/45acp red hawk in Jan of 2016. $900. WORST MISTAKE EVER. S

I bought one 4 years ago. Nicely priced from one of the shops near their factory in Newport, NH. "Unfired", so probably an employee "bought and flipped" item. The one thing I didn't care for was the long reach to the trigger. Would have preferred a smaller grip, but they'd need to put it on the GP100/SuperRedhawk frame for that. I believe mine always fired fine, but do remember worrying at first due to stories of mis-fires with .45acp. One possible cause mentioned was that the Ruger moon clips where a bit thinner (and thus more flexible) and could flex under the impact of the hammer on the case, causing light strikes.

There is not much in terms of large firearm manufacturers that gets me excited at this point. Things have been over produced from the previous 8 years that most large companies that knew how to produce a quality product have long forgotten.

Ruger doesn't make a product I want to own
S&W idea of a new product is the M&P 380
Remington is dead
Colt was dead 20 years ago
Sig had me interested with the 365, but I wonder if they have actually produced something ready to be used or just a marketing tool.

I keep my cash for a few select ideas instead of having safes full of poorly made garbage

But, sometimes, we like new ideas. As in the Redhawk above that fires both .45 Colt and .45acp.

Remington is the McDonalds of the gun manufacturer's, I think total junk most of the time. The only thing I've bought from them recently is a 1911 which was OK, when I put a new spring in it. Friends that have bought Remington have been burnt. I bought a Remlin Cowboy 1895 because it was on special at KTP, and it was satisfactory...not perfect or as good as older models made in New Haven. But better than the 2012 stuff for sure. I would not buy a new Marlin online without looking at it....too many turds in the punchbowl.

Smith, Sig, and Ruger are the Ford, Chevy, Dodge of the gun producers and try the newest things to get products sold, usually lacking in design or quality to do it. Although, I've had very little issue with Ruger or Smith 1911's, recently bought in the last few years. And no issues with Ruger or Smith plastic semi auto's either. Friends have Sigs and have had no issues. I can't comment on revolvers, have old ones. I do think a lot of issues are overblown on the internet with these makers....most of their products are good from what I've experienced.

There are makers that make a quality product though, usually you have to pay a bit more for it.

Browning, Dan Wesson, Winchester, Beretta, Glock, etc...are a step up in quality, and I think produce products just as good as the old days.

Then there's some Turkish made products like the Canik's, etc...finish quality isn't the best...but the guns run like mad, and cost half of what others do. I like what Ruger does to try and breach into this market, with their ugly but American made products.
I'm willing to try and support it.....when I need a truck gun or tackle box gun that doesn't need to be pretty or fancy, it just needs to work.

Not necessarily. I picked up a like-new Beretta 92X. From the factory, the rear sight was waaay left of center, so of course POI was waaay off. Two local shops tried with a punch and then a pusher, but neither could get if moved. I sent it back to Beretta. It's sitting in their queue (still, after several months) "waiting for evaluation." Now, to be fair, this was one of the Tennesee-made guns, which don't have a great reputation. I've also heard of issues with Sigs. Now, back to revolvers...