More Displeasure with Ruger

[Professor Gun]

I organize and conduct two NRA Basic Pistol classes per year for women in my area. Many of the women in the class are considering purchase of their first handgun. I have found that the students like to have catalogs from companies that produce handguns so they can consider their options after trying a variety of handguns on range day.

I have found that almost all handgun manufacturers are happy to send me catalogs to give to the students in the classes.

Last year I sent an e-mail to Ruger asking for catalogs. They sent me some brochures about gun safety.

For this year, I decided to call them since last year someone obviously misunderstood my request. I explained to the woman who answered the phone what I wanted. She replied: "We don't do catalogs. We can send you some gun safety brochures".
Me: "That is already covered extensively in the book and in class, we just need some of your catalogs to give to students considering purchase of a handgun."
Her: "We don't do catalogs.":banghead:
Me: "Goodbye"

This year in our classes we won't have any Ruger products present for range day for the students to try out.

 

[Dienekes]

Quit fooling around with the hired help and write to the president of the company. And mention the initial response you got.

I am a stockholder and I think that was pretty dumb.

The company is reinventing itself to some extent--it was overdue. The present management is, at least in some ways, trying to do it better.

I don't have any name and address for the guy right at hand, but if you want it PM me I can find it pretty fast and zip it back to you.

 

[gunman42782]

Ruger has always sent me catalogs when I requested them. And when did Ruger get an email address? To my knowledge, they do not have one, I have always had to write them or call them.

 

[mekender]

ruger email addresses are in this format: first initial, last [email protected]

 

[LAK]

Does Ruger still not ship parts to gunsmiths for repair work? I seem to recall at least at one time action parts, trigger parts etc were not available outside the factory repair shops.

 

[Old Fuff]

Does Ruger still not ship parts to gunsmiths for repair work? I seem to recall at least at one time action parts, trigger parts etc were not available outside the factory repair shops.

Ruger, as well as many outher firearms manufacturers restrict the sale of certain parts - and for good reasons.

If they sell the parts to someone - anyone in fact - and an incident occurs where that person or some other individual(s) suffer injury, some hot-shot lawyer will not only sue the person that was supposedly responsible but also the company. The company they'll claim, should share in the blame because they sold the parts.

The reason is simple. Companies have money, or at least their liability insurance carrier does, and the attorney is only interested in getting some of it.

When this happens (and it frequently does) the company may, or may not win the suit, but regardless of what happens they'll be out big bucks for legal fees and costs.

So in self defense they've learned to resrtict the sale of parts, and as much as possible keep gunsmithing work under their control. Of course there a lot of folks that don't like this, and I suspect you might be one of them. But if you are upset put the blame where it deserves to be.

Concerning the catalog issue. What they seem to be doing is stupid. Not working with CCW instructors is an excellent way to kill sales. I suspect that if the word goes high enough that "no catalogs" policy will be quickly changed.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I bought a Ruger Mark II .22 caliber pistol on sale. If I'd had any idea what a sorry excuse for a gun it would turn out to be, I'd have thrown the purchase price into the nearest trash can and walked away.

I'll never buy anything from that company.

 

[kludge]

I just picked up a Ruger catalog at my LGS, maybe you can try there.

 

[armoredman]

Don't forget to get a CZ catalog!

 

[Professor Gun]

I had forgotten about CZ. Thanks for the reminder, I will contact them.

One of our students showed up for range day with a CZ that she had purchased just before the class. The students who tried it like the fit. Function was excellent.

Going to the higher ups is something I thought about but wasn't going to waste time doing because after three years in a row of asking for Ruger catalogs to distribute to the women in these pistol classes and getting no catalogs it seemed this was not going to happen and I was planning on recommending against purchase of Ruger firearms. Dienkes, I will PM you, thanks for the help.

 

[ImARugerFan]

Standing Wolf: I'll give you $100 for it.

 

[gggman]

I have owned several Ruger firearms over the years, and my experience is that they are inconsistent. I love my SP101, and my old Security Six, but I had two MKII's, and they were jammomatics. I tried lots of different kinds of ammo, with varying results, but the guns continued to jam. However, I do think they make good revolvers, and I will continue to own them. Ruger has always had catalogs, and they need to educate their CS people better.

 

[BozemanMT]

Ruger has always been great


about shooting themselves in the foot.

I'm sure they have tons of "marketing' people on their payroll when they can't even figure out how to send a marketing catalog.
Forget them, I guess other gun companies will get their business.

 

[Old Fuff]

I presume that if you are a CCW instructor you have some sort of state-issued credentials. I propose that you submit a written request to the various handgun companies with a photocopy of the credential. I suspect that catalogs will be forthcoming, and quickly - especially if you point out that the products from each particular company won't be featured and/or mentioned in your classes unless the instructor has catalogs and other product hand-outs.

Usually dealers have no trouble getting literature if they submit a copy of their FFL.

 

[Dienekes]

Sir:

The alleged movers and shakers can be found at:

http://www.ruger.com/Corporate/S-BoardOfDirectors.html

The company's performance in recent years has not been as good as it should have been. I have been a stockholder for over 25 years. They have done a lot of things right, and too many wrong of late.

They need to reinvent themselves, and become Toyota instead of Ford. I think they are trying. I hope they succeed because I miss the dividends that used to pay my property taxes.

They should have not only sent you the catalogues but an engraved certificate of thanks and a free hat.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I do think they make good revolvers, and I will continue to own them

Solid and reliable, yes. Accuracy is also acceptable. However, the triggers suck. And fit & finish and overall action smoothness suffer horribly compared to Colt, S&W or even Uberti. Especially the SRH-when you manually cock the hammer, it just feels crappy-the cylinder free spins a bit and then slams into the stop. It also feels different depending on the angle of the gun when you draw the hammer back. I really wish S&W made a .454; I'd sell the SRH in a heartbeat. And comparing my Vaquero to my Beretta Stampede (made by Uberti), there is no question which company has better gunsmiths doing their fitting and assembly.

And while tough, they are not bombproof. My Security-Six stainless cracked the forcing cone (which actually rendered the gun inop, as it bound up the cylinder).

The larger cylinder gap on Rugers also seems to subject them to more flame cutting than other guns. It it hasn't caused a problem with any of mine yet, but there is a noticeable gouge on the top strap of every single Ruger revolver I own. Much deeper than on the S&W and Colt guns.

 

[ZeSpectre]

When dealing with any company it's important to find out of the person you are speaking with is authorized to say "yes".

If they are not authorized to say "yes" then you need to speak to someone else. Even someone authorized may, in the end, say "no" but at least they have the option.

 

[Gunnerpalace]

All this over a catalog? my gun store just has them sitting out free.

 

[Dienekes]

Actually, it's about listening to your customers and staying in business for the long haul; making a living, some money, and even having a little fun with it. All the things Dilbert doesn't get to do...Win-win, and all that.

In the interest of two-way communication, such as is appropriate in a free, free-enterprise society, I offer the following:


Management
Michael O. Fifer > Chief Executive Officer, Director

Officer Since: 09/25/2006
Age: 49
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
Trading Activity - Yahoo Finance
Stephen L. Sanetti > Vice Chairman of the Board, President, General Counsel

Officer Since: 03/11/1993
Age: 57
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
Thomas A. Dineen > Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, Treasurer

Officer Since: 05/24/2006
Age: 38
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
Trading Activity - Yahoo Finance
Thomas P. Sullivan > Vice President - Newport Operations

Officer Since: 08/14/2006
Age: 46
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
Christopher J. Killoy > Vice President - Sales and Marketing

Officer Since: 11/27/2006
Age: 48
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
Mark T. Lang > Group Vice President

Officer Since: 02/18/2008
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
Leslie M. Gasper > Secretary

Officer Since: 1994
Age: 53
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
Trading Activity - Yahoo Finance
James E. Service > Non-Executive Chairman of the Board

Officer Since: 07/1992
Age: 76
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
John M. Kingsley Jr. > Director

Officer Since: 04/1972
Age: 75
Bio & Compensation - Reuters
Richard T. Cunniff >

The e-mail addresses using first initial and last name@ ruger.com may work.

(Tell them I need those dividends as I just ordered a new ACOG.)

 

[goon]

There isn't any excuse for this one.
I have no idea why they wouldn't want people to see their products - that is the first step to actually buying one of their guns.
This is a bonehead move.

 

[lucky_fool]

I know that if I say that this is a single anecdotal incident in the generally good record Ruger has for service somebody will throw out a "part of a growing trend" comment. I agree to an extent, but it isn't a problem exclusive to Ruger, or even firearms companies. Customer service in America has seemingly gone downhill all over the place.

That said,

http://ruger.com/Firearms/OLS-OrderCatalog-US.html

 

[MAKster]

I'm surprised that gun companies even print paper catalogues anymore. Company websites provide far more information, can be updated endlessly, and reach far more people for less cost.

 

[strat81]

I'm surprised that gun companies even print paper catalogues anymore. Company websites provide far more information, can be updated endlessly, and reach far more people for less cost.

Not everyone owns a computer. Not everyone who owns one wants to use it. You can't surf the web sitting on the john (wireless laptops excluded).

Some companies have lousy websites.

 

[Professor Gun]

Other companies (S & W, Glock, Kimber, Springfield Armory) have consistently sent product catalogs to me for the women's classes I run on the basis of a simple phone call or e-mail. If they requested a copy of my credentials, I would have no problem providing that, but no one has ever asked.

In addition to 50 catalogs last year Springfield Armory sent me some women's Springfield Armory t-shirts, other logo items like mouse pads, patches, hats, etc. In our classes we had free drawings for all of these items and gave them out to the students. On range day it looked like a Springfield Armory stockholder convention because all those who got the apparel items wore them to the range. It was really a nice plus for the students in the class and got some of them more interested in the XD series of pistols because we told them Springfield donated all of that stuff; one of them commented that it would probably be a company that would be easy to deal with if something went wrong with one of their products.

 

[BigO01]

How odd to be told "We don't do catalogs" when their website has a link to request a catalog .

Go here http://ruger.com/index.html and then to the drop down menu under Online Store and there it is 1 from the bottom .

Once there you can also dload and print out exactly what you want without what you don't .

You can dload just pistol or revolver "one for Single actions and a seperate one for Double action" , Shotguns , autoloading rifles and then all other rifles , one on the new SR9 handgun and one for the Charger pistol and a seprate one for all the clothing etc .

Why not save yourself the hassel and just print a few of the semiauto and DA revolver catalogs and take them to your classes for the students to look at .

In defense of Ruger they do have an extensive line of products , more so than many of their compeditors and full color complete catalogs get expensive to just mail out by the dozens when your catalog is 120+ pages long .