The end of a Speed six, and Ruger CS.

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357 Terms

357 Terms

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I have always been a fan of Rugers Six Series revolvers.
I've owned a few, always wanted a 2.75in stainless Speed Six.
Earlier this year found one locally and I jumped on it, looked to be in great condition. Smooth action, great balance, I was pleased.
I installed a night sight and took it out to check POA/POI.
Started the range session with a Service six I that I had also installed the same front night sight as the Speed six.
Shot great! Right to POA with 158grn 357's. (6.4grns Universal)
Loaded up the Speed, first shot was way low, odd, my 40 shot group with the Service was right on, and I could easily cover the group with my fist.
Second shot not even on paper, I looked at the Speed and the barrel was dangling from the ejector rod!!
Well damn!!
I own a Redhawk from 1984 and was familiar with the stories of barrels coming off of them .
Never heard of the Six series having issues. ( this Speed six was from 1982)
Shot the Service some more, packed up, went home.
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Got home and managed to get the threaded piece of the barrel out of the frame.
The threads in the frame looked good.
Ok, so maybe this old Six is salvageable!
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...continued

I find a correct barrel on Ebay, so I'm optimistic.
I am aware Ruger no longer has parts for the Six series.
I call them hoping (for a fee) that they may install a barrel that I provide.
They wont.
The CS rep asked if I could send pics, I do.
I receive an email not long after telling me to send in the Speed six, and they will replace it with a GP100!!
Now, I'm not the original owner.
I was shooting reloads. (Med/light)
I have no idea how this 357 was treated in the preceeding 39yrs.
Wow.
I ask if I can apply the value to anything in their catalog and pay the difference.
They agree.
I send it to Ruger.
So I take a week or so and decide on a SB Bisley Hunter. (Posted a thread here and received great advice, thanks)
Sent the CS rep and email with the part number and letting them know I'll pay the difference.
She called back a day later stating that if I payed the transfer fee they would waive the extra.
Again. Wow.
I cant imagine any better CS than this.
I am kinda shocked really.
So now I am the owner of a new Ruger.
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Ruger let me keep the trigger assembly, hammer, and mainspring/strut from the Speed Six.
For me this is unprecedented Customer Service!
Above and beyond really.
 
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That's amazing! I asked the about my GP100 barrel that the forcing cone face is burned up on in less than 5000 rounds and they wouldn't even talk to me about it. They said they would re-barrel it for $250.00.

I told them it hasn't seen more than 3 dozen magnum loads and they didn't care.
Glad it worked out for you the way it did but you better count yourself lucky because that doesn't happen to all of us.
 
357 Terms

That is some mighty powerful and awesome Customer Service from Ruger!

My favorite story of Ruger's great CS was with a friend of mine who bought a used stainless steel Vaquero in .44 Magnum. Now supposedly the gun shop he bought it from had thoroughly checked the gun out before taking it in on trade. However not long after he got it home my friend noticed the front sight was canted quite a bit to the right. Took it to a gunsmith who confirmed that the barrel was over torqued when it was built.

Sent it to Ruger to see what they could do about it and they came back with a problem; they no longer had any .44 Magnum barrels for the gun since this was the large frame Vaquero that had since been discontinued. However Ruger said they would make it right and indeed they did! They fabricated a new barrel from bar stock, polished it up (they also put their "Warning" label on the bottom of the barrel where it would be suitably out of sight), and then proceeded to polish the rest of the gun so everything would match in appearance. The gun looked to be like brand new when he got it back! No charge for anything!

Now that's some fantastic CS!
 
Ruger is good about customer service. It’s rather disturbing they cannot/will not service any older firearms of theirs, though.
 
Ruger is good about customer service. It’s rather disturbing they cannot/will not service any older firearms of theirs, though.
Click to expand...
Awhile back (years ago now), they dumped a huge amount of parts from older guns onto the wholesale market. Apparently they felt like they weren't getting enough goodwill from maintaining the ability to service their old guns to make the cost worthwhile.
 
I had a Ruger Redhawk barrel to come off , it was a custom.. started as a Super Redhawk barrel bobbed action job .. really slick .. got it on a low bid on GB, Was great until the barrel broke off very similar to the OP .. I sold it to a fellow at a LGS .. who had a used barrel installed by a semi- local smith .. as far as I know he still has it ..I actually made money on the revolver …..
 
I am not a fan of the New Model Ruger single action revolvers. I would have kept the Six and the eBay barrel, and found a gunsmith who would put them together.

YMMV,
Dave
 
That’s awesome that they stepped up like that!

but i think if I’d been wearing those shoes, I would’ve repaired the speed six....

and then went looking for a ruger in way worse condition to trade in
 
I'm not surprised at Ruger taking care of you. But I'd have rather had the Speed Six with another barrel on it even if I had to pay for the repair.
 
JCooperfan1911 said:
Ruger is good about customer service. It’s rather disturbing they cannot/will not service any older firearms of theirs, though.
Click to expand...

Maybe can't service something the company
no longer has parts for.

Ruger policy has always been a firearm
received for service must be returned
in spec and with all new up-to-date
featues.
 
357 Terms said:
I receive an email not long after telling me to send in the Speed six, and they will replace it with a GP100!!
Click to expand...

NIGHTLORD40K said:
Sad end for the Speed Six,
Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear Ruger is treating you well on this matter. This is something we don't see much of these days.

The following isn't meant to diminish what Ruger has done. I think it is great. But consider what Ruger gets out of the deal other than 'Good Press'. By getting it back they have gained a learning tool that can be examined for the cause of failure and maybe learn something about future fabrications. I suspect they install barrels today the same way they installed them on the old Six.
 
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