Guys,
Wanted to share my experiences with the Ruger SR45 I purchased in late 2013 and just sold this past month. I hope my experience with this gun is a helpful addition to the general knowledge base on this firearm, and at the same time will generate questions for the manufacturer on the direction of their product development.
Everyone here buys firearms for lots of different reasons. I buy my guns to shoot, and to use for personal protection in either a home setting or concealed carry mode, so reliability is a major factor for me in determining the usefulness of the gun.
The SR45 is a beautiful gun to look at, shoots accurately, and dampens recoil effectively-the pros.
In my experience, the SR45 is completely unreliable, and is not a gun I would "trust my life with".
Here' s the history-
1) Purchased late 2013 (Nov), and in the first 200 rounds of factory hardball ammo had multiple instances of stovepipe feed problems and the additional problem of the magazine not staying open after the final round was fired.
2) Contacted Ruger Customer Service-who were extremely responsive-returned the gun for repair.
3) Ruger replaced the entire slide assembly, and returned the gun in about 2 weeks.
4) Going forward-put about another 500 rounds through the gun, and again experienced the problem of the slide not staying open after the last round. Examined the magazines and found that one of them had slightly malformed lips.
5) Reported the magazine issue to Ruger and they promptly exchanged the bad magazine for a new one.
6) From that point on (mid-2014) for the next 2 years, I used the gun as a range gun only, since it would not feed anything but hardball ammo. Tried multiple brands of high quality HP (Federal, Speer, etc.) and nothing would properly feed past the first round (i.e. stovepipes).
7) Starting in mid-2016, after having put about 2000 rounds through the gun, FTE and stovepipe feeds occurred with about every other magazine.
8) Contacted Ruger, who asked me to send in the gun for repairs and include a detailed description of the problems, and a list of HP ammo that wouldn't feed.
9) Ruger replaced the following components-trigger bar lift spring, ejector, trigger assembly, magazine disconnect, trigger bar reset, striker blocker and assembly, slide stop assembly. Ruger also repaired the barrel (not sure what was done to it). Again the customer service was very responsive, and turnaround of the "repaired" gun was within 2-3weeks.
10) Took the gun back out onto the range and it now fed both hardball and HP ammo-a plus.
11) Had a friend use it at the range, and the magazine release kept failing-i.e. when a new magazine was inserted into the gun, the slide automatically released and slammed a new round into the chamber. My friend had this happen 3 times and told me he didn't want to shoot the gun anymore since he considered it "unsafe"
I agreed, and the gun recently-sharing with the buyer all the Ruger paperwork showing the repairs done to the gun so he knew what he was getting. From my perspective, I had reached a point where the gun no longer had any value to me because I couldn't "trust my life to it".
My handgun collection contains products from Ruger, Colt, Beretta, Glock, and others, All have had thousands of rounds put through them at the range, and all have been repaired only once after years or decades of use (from wear). This is the only gun I've owned that has had significant and ongoing problems since purchase. It is also the newest model gun in my current collection, which raises the following questions in my mind-
-Does Ruger, in its constant rush to market of new products, ever test these products? Or does it expect the new gun owner to troubleshoot the design for them?
-My experience with Ruger gives their customer service the highest marks, but what does it say about their QA in manufacturing?
-And, most importantly, how many other manufacturers out there are chasing the same rapidly expanding concealed carry market by rushing new models of guns to a potential customer base who assume they can "trust their lives" to these products that haven't been fully and thoroughly tested. I constantly read gun forums and watch Youtube videos showing the problems owners of new handgun designs have with the quality, accuracy, and reliability of products recently purchased. (I've found the SR45 has a significant number of Youtube videos on its issues.)
I'm rapidly reaching a point where the next gun I purchase for self-defense will only be one that's widely used by law enforcement and/or military, since those firearms seem to be the only products that have to met certain reliability standards before they're adapted for use.
Guys,thanks for reviewing my post, and would certainly appreciate your thoughts on these issues.
Good shooting.
Gerry
Wanted to share my experiences with the Ruger SR45 I purchased in late 2013 and just sold this past month. I hope my experience with this gun is a helpful addition to the general knowledge base on this firearm, and at the same time will generate questions for the manufacturer on the direction of their product development.
Everyone here buys firearms for lots of different reasons. I buy my guns to shoot, and to use for personal protection in either a home setting or concealed carry mode, so reliability is a major factor for me in determining the usefulness of the gun.
The SR45 is a beautiful gun to look at, shoots accurately, and dampens recoil effectively-the pros.
In my experience, the SR45 is completely unreliable, and is not a gun I would "trust my life with".
Here' s the history-
1) Purchased late 2013 (Nov), and in the first 200 rounds of factory hardball ammo had multiple instances of stovepipe feed problems and the additional problem of the magazine not staying open after the final round was fired.
2) Contacted Ruger Customer Service-who were extremely responsive-returned the gun for repair.
3) Ruger replaced the entire slide assembly, and returned the gun in about 2 weeks.
4) Going forward-put about another 500 rounds through the gun, and again experienced the problem of the slide not staying open after the last round. Examined the magazines and found that one of them had slightly malformed lips.
5) Reported the magazine issue to Ruger and they promptly exchanged the bad magazine for a new one.
6) From that point on (mid-2014) for the next 2 years, I used the gun as a range gun only, since it would not feed anything but hardball ammo. Tried multiple brands of high quality HP (Federal, Speer, etc.) and nothing would properly feed past the first round (i.e. stovepipes).
7) Starting in mid-2016, after having put about 2000 rounds through the gun, FTE and stovepipe feeds occurred with about every other magazine.
8) Contacted Ruger, who asked me to send in the gun for repairs and include a detailed description of the problems, and a list of HP ammo that wouldn't feed.
9) Ruger replaced the following components-trigger bar lift spring, ejector, trigger assembly, magazine disconnect, trigger bar reset, striker blocker and assembly, slide stop assembly. Ruger also repaired the barrel (not sure what was done to it). Again the customer service was very responsive, and turnaround of the "repaired" gun was within 2-3weeks.
10) Took the gun back out onto the range and it now fed both hardball and HP ammo-a plus.
11) Had a friend use it at the range, and the magazine release kept failing-i.e. when a new magazine was inserted into the gun, the slide automatically released and slammed a new round into the chamber. My friend had this happen 3 times and told me he didn't want to shoot the gun anymore since he considered it "unsafe"
I agreed, and the gun recently-sharing with the buyer all the Ruger paperwork showing the repairs done to the gun so he knew what he was getting. From my perspective, I had reached a point where the gun no longer had any value to me because I couldn't "trust my life to it".
My handgun collection contains products from Ruger, Colt, Beretta, Glock, and others, All have had thousands of rounds put through them at the range, and all have been repaired only once after years or decades of use (from wear). This is the only gun I've owned that has had significant and ongoing problems since purchase. It is also the newest model gun in my current collection, which raises the following questions in my mind-
-Does Ruger, in its constant rush to market of new products, ever test these products? Or does it expect the new gun owner to troubleshoot the design for them?
-My experience with Ruger gives their customer service the highest marks, but what does it say about their QA in manufacturing?
-And, most importantly, how many other manufacturers out there are chasing the same rapidly expanding concealed carry market by rushing new models of guns to a potential customer base who assume they can "trust their lives" to these products that haven't been fully and thoroughly tested. I constantly read gun forums and watch Youtube videos showing the problems owners of new handgun designs have with the quality, accuracy, and reliability of products recently purchased. (I've found the SR45 has a significant number of Youtube videos on its issues.)
I'm rapidly reaching a point where the next gun I purchase for self-defense will only be one that's widely used by law enforcement and/or military, since those firearms seem to be the only products that have to met certain reliability standards before they're adapted for use.
Guys,thanks for reviewing my post, and would certainly appreciate your thoughts on these issues.
Good shooting.
Gerry
