I'm not talking about the quality control people or even the assembly people, I'm talking about the people making the gun parts that matter to accuracy. Quality control people are told what to look for and the overall quality of a Wrangler is nothing like a Redhawk so what makes you think that same quality control person is going to expect them to be the same? Besides they are inspecting for the guns function, safety, fit and finish, etc. not how well it shoots or groups. The quality control of the making barrels, chambering, timing etc makes a difference how well one shoots but still passes a final quality control inspection just the same as long as it's safe and doesn't have something obviously botched up.
I am not aware what Ruger's quality criteria is for ammo groups across different models, but what might be considered "in spec" will probably be some generous limits of like 4 inches at 10 yards. I say that as I had issues with a Marlin bolt action .22 and after sending it back was told 2 inch groups at 50 yards was in spec. I did not like that considering I was getting half inch groups at 50y with a Ruger Charger and I have no idea what Ruger's in spec limit is for that, but my theory is that generous groups is common among manufacturers.
The speculation that those who make the barrels and chambers (same people) and the parts for the timing (cylinders, hands) are different between the Wrangler and higher priced firearms like the Blackhawk or Redhawk is silly because the reality is even if the parts are suspect, production management still sends them along and makes it someone else's problem. Sometimes production issues have nothing to do with the skill of the machine operators, but with machines themselves or tooling.
That's where the cost reduction comes into play; it's very possible that Ruger is using older, more worn machines to make the parts for the Wrangler, but those are machines that have been paid off and still decently functional, but have less repeatability and accuracy than newer machines.
In fact, looking at some videos of Ruger factory production, I see the fixtures being used in the mostly Haas CNC machines that aren't the most rigid and Haas machines I have a love/hate relationship with. They can be decent machines and in my career I've found the smaller the Haas machine, the better they are, but they are low cost machines and the longevity isn't there. I also get the sense watching these videos that when it comes to production, speed is more a factor, not precision.
This past week at work I was running a 22 year Robodrill and found that if it wasn't making chips that the Z axis would elevate by .0005" even when it was running a warm up cycle, however a few years ago I remember running a nearly 20 year old Haas mill that was so worn out it couldn't hold tools in the machine and
When it comes to modern manufacturing the operators have a role in quality checking as they are the first line in that process and what I see in videos and what I know from people who've worked at Ruger and my own experiences in machining, I do not think there is an issue at the operator level between product lines. Where I see issues is what machines are being used to make the parts that go on the Wrangler? What is the steel used to make the cylinders and barrels?
I'm not trying to toot the horn for Heritage because they're a lower priced revolver that actually works, but what I've seen from videos of their production versus Ruger is that Heritage is a smaller company that is better focused given they have been making their Rough Riders for decades compared to Ruger for the Wrangler and where the Rough Rider is the company's flagship product while the Wrangler is some marketing executive's attempt to grab market share to make some other higher up happy.
Bottom line: The Wrangler has always been a half hearted attempt by Ruger so they can add something to their catalogue and grab more potential customers, not really make something that people were asking for as nobody was asking for another sub $200 .22 single action.
I think that's where a lot of the problems with the Wrangler stem from.