Ruger QC Opinion

In my experience a simple call to Ruger will get you screws, springs, etc., for no charge, whether their fault or not. They will ask for the model and serial numbers. If you can, have the part number (from the owner's manual) to speed things up. That screw does look bad, cosmetically. From whom did you purchase the revolver?

Yup, Ruger will make it right.

If its got other cosmetic issues in addition to the screw, Id send it back.

Have not bought a Ruger in a very, very long time. I have 11 of them, all older and 9 revolvers. I can say there older stuff is the best. But they will make it right for ya.

I had to send a P94 back years ago, they put a whole new slide on it, no charge- maybe shipping, dont remember.

All my Ruger revolvers are older, and some have imperfections, but I dont obsess over them as much as my vintage S&Ws, I guess I just think of the Rugers as more utilitarian tools and the Smiths as functional artwork.

That screw would definitely bug me, though!

Those screw heads can be cleaned up in a minute with a drill and some wet-dry paper. As far as the small smudge on the barrel and the "circle" where the recoil plate retaining pin is... that is more or less Ruger's way. Almost every Ruger handgun or long gun I've ever gotten had a little rub mark or such. I wouldn't sweat those. Order a set of screws, but seriously, those originals can be made pretty with almost no effort at all.

I bought a ruger redhawk in .45 Colt/ACP that would not chamber Colt ammo in one charging hole. I sent it in and had it back in a week. I was a little more ticked off over the phone to some nice lady at their center than I should've and I am ashamed of that. Ruger not only fixed my gun but sent me 5 additional moon clips to it to. I've had similar experiences when sending in a couple of LCPs. In general their CS is the pinnacle to meet in the gun business.

As I discovered buying a rifle sight unseen from a MO outfit, it's not unusual to get a 'second' or not first quality item. At least that's what happened to me. BUT, I'll bet Ruger will make it right regradless..

Buddy of mine bought a used stainless Vaquero in .44 Magnum and it wasn't til he got it home that he noticed the front sight was canted slightly to the right. The gun shop who sold it to him sent the gun back to Ruger for repair at no cost to my friend. Only problem was Ruger no longer had a barrel for the older Vaquero so the they made one from bar stock, fitted it to the frame, then polished the whole gun so the new barrel would match the rest of the gun. No charge for all that work. Now that's what I call real customer service!

Unfortunately, this is the kind of defect that you can expect on a new Ruger handgun sometimes these days.
I had problems on a New Vaquero, Single Six, SR-1911, and a stainless Super Blackhawk.
1) New Vaquero had slow timing.
2) Single Six had tiny spring sticking out of adjustable rear sight.
3) SR1911 had an unfinished barrel crown that burred after a few shots, too-long grip panel medallions that stopped magazine from dropping, and burrs inside slide/receiver hindering disassembly.
4) Stainless Super Blackhawk had sharp edges on loading gate and hammer.
Apart from the Vaquero these were all minor stupid QC problems.

Man, I must be a lottery winner when I buy a gun, used or new off of GB. I’ve only had one issue with any new Ruger ever, the front screw that holds the cap on my new stainless 10-22 International wouldn’t unscrew to allow the stock to come apart. One used Mk II Govt Target I bought had a loose grip-upper fit. That was fixed in two days.

All my others have been spot-on since day one. Ruger even sent me a whole spring kit gratis for a Standard .22 auto that I bought off GB for 80 bucks after it had been soaked and was a rusty mess inside. Marlin charged me 7 bucks a screw plus shipping for replacement scope rail filler screws when I took the rail off my 1895G and went to a Lyman peep.

I have sent three older S&W revolvers back for issues with cylinder rotation and release long after they were bought, a 686+, a 66-2 and a 48-3 (That is still in Mass.) My other various and sundry guns haven’t had to go a ‘smith for repairs.

Now if I could just get the winning lottery numbers... before the draw!

Good luck with your gun, I’m sure Ruger will make it right.

Stay safe.

Howdy

Get new screws, don't try to clean up the damaged ones.

That screw head has been badly buggered up. If you try to remove the burr there may still be a slanted surface on the screw slot. When you apply torque to the screw the tip of the screw driver will try to climb up the slanted surface and bugger up the screw all over again. If you grind away enough of the screw head to remove the slanted surface the slot may have been reduced in depth enough to make it easy for the tip of the screw driver to climb out of the slot and bugger up the screw again.

Chances are the screw was buggered up because a normal hardware style screw driver was used to install it. Regular screw drivers have wedge shaped tips, and they like to try to climb out of screw slots. Buy yourself some 'gunsmith' screwdrivers that have hollow ground tips. The part of the tip that inserts into the slot will have parallel sides and it will not try to climb out of the slot. Always use enough downward pressure on the screw driver when installing or removing screws so the tip does not try to climb out of the slot, even with hollow ground tips.

I have not bought a brand new Ruger in a long time, I have bought plenty used. I have never seen a grip screw that badly buggered up.

I have bought 1 new ruger DA revolver and 1 new ruger SA revolver. Never again for the DA. I know it was a bad batch in a tough time when Ruger outsourced barrels, but visible chatter is not acceptable. Swapped out the gun at the shop I got it from and they dealt with Ruger on it. Next gun had the same problem, and I got a refund. I don’t trust their DA guns anymore. My single six is flawless though. I recently got a used AR556 and the barrel nut was torqued on at easily upwards of 200 ft-lbs. I broke an armorers wrench trying to loosen the barrel nut before going after it with a pipe wrench and using a large adjustable wrench to help support the upper vice blocks.

My .45 Original Vaquero bought in the late 90's had the same problem with the grip frame screws. One call to Ruger and replacement screws were in the mail at no cost.

At this point all factory new revolvers not made by Freedom Arms, Magnum Research, and Korth are suspect.

You get what you pay for.

With that being said, I have two older Redhawks in very nice condition that I obtained second-hand that have had some spring work only and are buttery smooth and no issues.

I purchase new a 1911SR and that too is detailed nicely with fine quality and functions perfectly as well.

Blue1 said:

I purchase new a 1911SR and that too is detailed nicely with fine quality and functions perfectly as well.

Click to expand...

The fit and finish and quality on mine was great as well, apart from the aforementioned minor QC issues that were missed, but easily fixed. The pistol was very reliable and accurate.
- I refinished the crown myself using the brass ball technique, clover compound, 600 grit emery paper, and my wood lathe / spigot chuck. Shot great afterward.
- The medallion tails were easy to grind down once the grips were removed and taped up. These were probably surplus Blackhawk wooden grip medallions.
- Once field stripped the internal slide burr was located and smoothed down with a needle file, small stones,
and 600 grit emery paper.

Seems like QC is a problem across the board..
I have had some WC issues with a couple of SP101’s , crane /frame fit was awful and a canted barrel

Having said that .. I have a Security Six and two LCR’s .. honestly, couldn’t ask for better quality

I only buy them used. I've had zero problems with the dozen or so used Rugers I've bought sight unseen from Gunbroker. Most of them are older revolvers.

Maybe demand is so high now that the manufacturers are just pumping them out as fast as they can.

In 2008 I bought a Ruger Redhawk .44 mag with scope mounts included. The trigger was awful 15 lb da, and 8lbs sa. So I changed the spring for a wolf reduced power, did some polishing on the parts and frame. I was not able to make the gun shoot reliably in DA without the full power springs. I sold it for $600. A $150 loss. A couple years ago I came across a 1984 vintage Redhawk with a nice custom wood grip for 399 on consignment at a local store.
It has a great trigger, and shoots very accurately, no problem with misfires.
I also have a .45 Blackhawk made in 2008. And it is a fantastic gun. Extremely accurate with the.45acp cylinder.

I think the older Ruger guns can be better, but every Era has its lemons and its gems.

Riomouse911 said:

I’ve only had one issue with any new Ruger ever, the front screw that holds the cap on my new stainless 10-22 International wouldn’t unscrew to allow the stock to come apart.

Click to expand...

How did you get it to unscrew? Did you have to send the rifle back to Ruger?