Ruger Sp101 kaboom.

robhof

Actually Ebay sellers often sell demilled guns, pistols that have been sawed in pieces and can not be made to fire, check with local L.E. and see if they will give a document certifying the gun; as is, can not be made to fire.

robhof said:

Actually Ebay sellers often sell demilled guns, pistols that have been sawed in pieces and can not be made to fire, check with local L.E. and see if they will give a document certifying the gun; as is, can not be made to fire.

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Any further "Destruction" of the frame would not be helpful to the OP's situation with Ruger.

Ruger will want to look at and inspect the revolver in "as-Failed" condition, not in "as-failed and then cut up by someone to certify that it meets demill status".

Keep the revolver in its current condition. If Ruger wants it back, they will provide the proper documentation for you to ship it legally to them. Legally, it's still a firearm and the one you will likely receive back from Ruger will also be a firearm, but in much better shape.

Be wary of any advise to modify the failed revolver in any fashion as that would be harmful to your case and would not help Ruger determine what actually happened with your SP101.

Analogkid said:

I'm not doing anything to the gun. I am not even cleaning it

They can receive it directly from me if they want.

I will have my local fun store send it off . I told them if they wanted it after checking out the pics it would be sent through him. I don't want to leave it in a box on the doorstep for UPS to pick up since I cannot be there to hand it off..

They were absolutely fine with that if that's what I wanted and if the need arises to send it back..

+ I want tracking # in my hand.

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Good Call Sir.

If it's the ammo, that's a scary thought. I was told once that a good thing about revolvers is that the pressure of a kaboom is usually directed sideways or upward, as opposed to back toward the shooter.

RCArms.com said:

Not so certain I would send them the revolver.

1: Does Federal have a FFL to receive it?

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I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Federal has dealt with scenarios like this before and knows very well what the laws concerning shipping a handgun are.

Then why would they have asked the OP to send them the firearm so they could take a look at it with no mention of an FFL or proper shipping procedure.

federal cartridge is listed as having an FFL, so they should know better than just casually asking a consumer to ship a handgun to them to look at.

What type of FFL do they have I bet it is FFL type 06 to manufacture ammo different than a dealer FFL type 1 that is what I had.

The database I saw them listed on does not specify the FFL type. I just would hate to see the OP ship it in an unlawful fashion based on a conversation thread here or on someone in Federal Customer Services recommendation.

Furthermore, I wonder if Federal sent the OP a pick up label for the Ammo or just told him to ship it to Federal. Risk here is shipping ammo via USPS which is prohibited.

Finally, I do question Federal's request to have the destroyed revolver sent to them. That could have complicated the OP's option to have Ruger handle the replacement of the revolver unless Federal is a warranty station for Ruger.

There is nothing illegal about a non FFL shipping a firearm to a FFL. The non FFL holder must ship by FedEX or UPS overnight and declare the contents as a firearm. The OP could ship to Federal if they hold an FFL but he should be prepared to pay around $75 to do so. Federal should send him a shipping label if they want to inspect the gun.

I myself would not send them the revolver period.

Correct, nothing illegal about shipping to a FFL, as long as it's done properly.

I do question why Federal would want the revolver though unless they had offered to replace the revolver with a new on on their own.

RCArms.com said:

Then why would they have asked the OP to send them the firearm so they could take a look at it with no mention of an FFL or proper shipping procedure.

federal cartridge is listed as having an FFL, so they should know better than just casually asking a consumer to ship a handgun to them to look at.

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Again, what are the odds that Federal has had to address the concerns of a gun blown up by their ammo before? I wonder what their budget is for their legal team and what are the odds they know at least as much as the average internet poster?

We do not know exactly or all of what Federal CS said to the OP, only a synopsis. They may have told him they would like him to send them the gun and are waiting to see what he wants to do with it. It may come down to a difference of opinions as to exactly what caused the problem. They certainly don't want Ruger to blame their ammo without a chance to investigate themselves and vice versa. I would think under these premise and the liability at stake, that both companies would want to look at the gun. Ruger will not return the gun after they look at it, this is their standard policy. So would sending a prepaid shipping label. Could be why Federal wants the gun first. Either way, the OP is dealing with two legitimate companies with great CS and a reputation for doing what is right. Both have much more experience in dealing with blown up firearms than any of us here.

"Did the investment casting of the revolver have a flaw..."

Ruger's cylinders are not cast, they are machined from round bar stock. (And, IIRC, exactly the same steel source and alloy used by S&W.)

Jim

Why would Federal want to actually see and examine a firearm the owner claims their ammunition destroyed instead of just taking the owners word for it and a photograph off of the Internet?





Heck even Elmer can figure this one out.
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Just call me Elmer.

I'm sure federal and ruger have ample experience with these sorts of things, but the OP has not and he was getting a boatload of Advice, some good, some not so much.

At this point were all tilting at windmills, so I will wait to see what the OP posts regarding how this one gets resolved.

BSA1 said:

Why would Federal want to actually see and examine a firearm the owner claims their ammunition destroyed instead of just taking the owners word for it and a photograph off of the Internet?





Heck even Elmer can figure this one out.
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Just call me Elmer.

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In the same vein of thinking why would Ruger consider any kind of warranty replacement if the destroyed firearm was sent to Federa and not them first.....

Unless Federal is a warranty station for Ruger or they cooperate with the findings.

Not enough info was posted to get a handle on why federal wanted it before Ruger was even contacted.

OP Thanks for the update.

Just send the gun to Ruger for inspection and let Federal deal with Ruger ,if
they still want to inspect the weapon first hand. Easy peasy,done deal.

............................ Jack

Hairy Clipper said:

Having read all the responses I will add my 2 cents worth.



You have mentioned using 38 Special ammo. It being about 1/8 of an inch shorter than .357 Magnum ammo you can develop an 1/8 inch crust of residue in the forward portion of the chamber that, when a .357 round is loaded and fired may cause the crimp to not release and cause chamber pressures to peak well above the published normal range.



I am very glad no one was hurt during this failure. I'd rather be lucky than good or both would be better yet. Whew!

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Not happening. I've heard that theory floated before, but I don't believe it's possible.

The crimp has nothing to do with holding the bullet in the case and no crimp can possibly hold a bullet long enough for pressure to reach the levels required to blow a Ruger cylinder and frame. No way no how. The crimp does not "release the bullet".

I watched a Ruger blackhawk 44 mag come apart in my brother's hand, these guns are not as indestructible as some say.

I'm really surprised Ruger didn't provide you with an RMA when you first contacted them. And even though you sent them pictures and explained what happened, I would think they would have just provided you with the RMA, as they don't make decisions over the phone, at least that's what they told me.

My incident wasn't nearly as catastrophic as what you experienced, but it was a catastrophic failure, and was the result of Federal ammunition that failed. I actually tried to get some kind of confirmation, as to how they would handle it, and they just reiterated several times, to just ship it with a written explanation of what happened, and to include the RMA provided. They wouldn't pay shipping though, which amounted to $50, but they did pay return shipping.

GS

Good luck in determining what actually caused the Ka-Boom and possibly being compensated by the gun and/or ammo manufacturer. Just as food for thought, I'll mention a Ka-Boom incident I'm personally aware of. A colleague had a Ka-Boom with his personally owned pistol. The pistol was the product of a very well known manufacturer, not Ruger. Without the owner's permission, our rangemaster immediately sent the pistol back to the manufacturer. I advised the owner, that the manufacturer would not return the pistol, and there would be no way to determine whether the gun or ammo was at fault. He tried to get the gun back, and told me he even contacted an attorney in the effort. The manufacturer refused to return or replace the gun. I strongly suspected the incident was caused by the commercially reloaded training ammo we'd been using, but we'll never know. As the manufacturer would not return the pistol, it was not possible to determine if the gun or ammo was responsible for the Ka-Boom, thereby very effectively getting both manufacturers off the hook as to accepting any responsibility. The manufacturer allowed our employer to purchase a new pistol for him at dealer cost. My co-worker immediately sold the replacement pistol and purchased another manufacturer's more expensive pistol, having received nothing but a sore hand and added personal expense to show for his trouble. I sincerely hope your results are better than his.....