Joys of a New Rifle

[GRB]

Went out today and completed my BAG day purchase. Yeah I was late, I had put a downpayment on it before BAG day but could not get it until today. Well anyway the important thing was the look on my son's face when he got it. Not as big a smile as his first tackle box, I guess cause that came as more of a surprise but still a nice smile. He went to the gun shop with me and I guess he figured out what I was going to buy before we got there since I had promised him a new Ruger 10/22 almost a year ago for good grades. One thing or another and it kept getting put off, mostly because he was away from home all last summer. Maybe a scope for it this year in June if the grades stay good.

Well now it is his (actually legally mine, but will be his when he turns 18) for him to shoot whenever we get a chance to hit the range. He got to choose from among about 4 or 5 different 10/22 models. He chose the All Weather, black composite stock with stainless barrel and aluminum colored receiver. Should be lots of fun if it is made aywhere near as good as my first 10/22.

One thing about quality, we got it home and I immediately returned it to the store as the edge of the ejection port had small chuks missing off of it. Looked like poor tooling. The gun shop owner was happy to replace it with another one. This one looks OK, but an examination of the inside of the receiver shows lots of tooling marks. Something Rugers never used to show. Oh well, I guess quality is not the priority it once was, but nonetheless the 10/22 should be lots of fun. I am pretty sure it will work alright.

I cannot wait till our first range day with it, maybe tomorrow evening at the indoor range.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[P95Carry]

Good stuff Glenn - I fear tho yes - these days Ruger's tooling marks are more obvious than was once the case.

Hopefully tho - you have a fully functional gun and much pleasure to come. Enjoy!

 

[GRB]

It took a while but, Brendan and I finally got out to the range last night to shoot the new Ruger 10/22 All Weather. All I can say is what a bitter disappointment. The groups were horrendous. We are both familiar with Ruger 10/22s and have shot another we own extensively. I could not figure why we were getting 4 to 5 inch groups at 15 yards. After a bit of inspection I may have found the problem. The stock is loose at the back of the receiver. If you take the pistol grip in one hand, and then the trigger guard in the other and you shake the trigger guard from left to right there is a definite low but audible clunking sound because the stock is a loose fit at this point. I tried to tighten the takedown screw and the barrel band screw (they were already tight); then I tried shaking it again, same thing. Oh joy...

So now I have the replacement gun, the one exchanged for the one that had chips out of the receiver and, it too is a clunker. This one literally is literally a clunker as it really goes clunk when you shake it. I already called Ruger and left a message with their service department. I imagine they will get it right sooner or later but: Why on earth does their quality control stink so badly! Too bad I did not shoot it the day I picked it up - then the gun shop would have again made yet another exchange.

Hopefully this will not be to painful.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[P95Carry]

Not good at all! I know there are countless 10/22 fans out there but - I remain a Marlin 60 advocate!!! Two 10/22's at one club I frequent - regularly have feed probs!!

Do hope you eventually get what you seek!

 

[Ridge]

Not to sound like a jerk...

But you probably would have had a problem if you would have went with a savage,Marlin,or Remington,but I guess there are bad rifles that just slip through the cracks no matter what.

 

[C96]

My son works at a local gun store and they have been having a lot of serious
problems with 10/22's this last year or so. These are serious, send the sucker
back problems like wobbly trigger group (1/8 inch sideplay), major bolt problems,
extremely poor stock fits. The owner of the shop has talked about not having
any more of them in the store.

They have seen some problems with the new MK III as well but nothing like the
10/22 problems. If you get a new one, check it thoroughly asap.

Maybe Ruger has outsourced 10/22 assembly to Century Arms.

allan

 

[GRB]

Ridge,

My last two new pistols were Berettas, no problems at all. My last shotgun was a remington 870, never been a problem. My last two rifles were Marlins, no problems at all. Even most of the used guns I have bought have never been problems. I also own another Ruger 10/22 that never gave me any problems and it has got to be about 25 years old (when they were still made well I guess).

Even by today's standards, I do not think there should be a problem with anything that you buy new. Sure some do fall through the cracks, and sure maybe some people are so picky as to see everything as a problem (and I certainly can be very picky) but there is no denying that these issues are quality control problems. A rifle should not fit loosely into the stock as far as I am aware, so that the parts can change position from shot to shot. Nor should a rifle with tooling marks that amount to chips missing from the receiver be allowed to leave the factory to be sold. To get two brand new Rugers in the same day with different easily seen problems is, in my opinion, a sign of piss poor quality control period (and a sign of my not being as picky as I should have been when in the shop)! The gents in the gun store agreed immediately that on the first one, there should have been no chips out of the receiver and, they said it had been tooled very poorly. A fellow at the range took a look, last night, at the one I received in exchage and he too was amazed how it clunked and moved when shaken. When I bring it back to the gun shop for their opinion, my bet is they will feel the same way. I can only hope Ruger agrees and decides to make it right.

I remember once upon a time when virtually every decent firearm made for the commercial market in the US was inspected and, many manufacturers also test fred theirs. I guess those days are long gone.

All the best,
Glenn B