Ruger sp101 blew up

[Guntoter]

Congrats, Savageman. Outside of Ruger just giving you a replacement, this is about the best outcome that could be hoped for. Though in pretty deep, at least you have a nice gun to shoot and all your important parts still intact.


Buck, I took your post as the first to actually take a realistic look at what was happening and I understood what you were saying. My post was directed at those trying to confer Sainthood on Ruger for their actions as if they had taken a bullet in the belly for the OP. I should have been clearer. Ruger DID do a good thing but as we pointed out, this is a win-win for Ruger. Great PR that just can't be bought and was DEFINITELY a good business decision. I like to give credit where credit is due and kudos to Ruger for what they did but it was getting seriously over effusive in here.
I agree with you totally, the OP came out better than he could have hoped for but this WASN'T "above and beyond". Just good business/marketing.

 

[JohnKSa]

...the OP came out better than he could have hoped for but this WASN'T "above and beyond". Just good business/marketing.

It may very well have been good business and marketing, but unless most of the gun companies out there would have made the same decision in the interest of good business and marketing, it is also certainly accurate to say that Ruger went above and beyond.

 

[Stevel]

On the scale of "Do business with Ruger because what they showed in this incident" or "Don't do business with Ruger because what they showed in this incident", I would be on the "Do business with..." side of the line. They made a reasonable offer to help the guy out and added a nice little bonus with the grips. Good on them.

 

[TennJed]

Anyone who doesn't think ruger went above and beyond has zero business sense. Should Ruger set a precedent that you can be careless and do whatever you want to a gun and get a free replacement? Anything more than what they did would be letting the customer base know that misusing their product is fine, we will give you another one

 

[kcofohio]

Ruger may or maynot have any knowledge of this thread. They saw fit to offer a new one, my guess, at their cost. I'd call that neighborly like. By no rights did they have too. And I doubt they'll trumpet it up for the world to hear how good they are. Just some thoughts.

 

[walkg]

Yes kudos to Ruger. Their CS is very good IMHO the best. Several years ago when I first started to reload, (in CO) was shopping for all of the components, on the wall behind the counter was a (was) Python, stop strap gone, cylinder in pieces.How well that remains with me each time I reload.

 

[Savageman25]

Your Father in law, owes you a new gun. Do you get along with the wife, "just kidding". That gun is done. I don't think Ruger is going to help you. They may give you something off a new gun.

You sir, would do well to read through the thread. Ruger already helped me out. Whoever loaded those rounds needs punched in the mouth for poor reloading practice. Other than that its all on me for shooting them.

I took some apart and found one with no powder. Many rounds are incredibly hard to pull, and I just cant get the bullet out of the casing. The collet slides up the lead bullet not gripping tight enough. If I get a collet that's smaller, I may get them out.

 

[gym]

Absolutely you should never fire ammo when you don't know from where it came or anything about it. Honestly I don't have time to read through 157 posts, as I am sure no one else did, just tried to give you an honest answer, appears I was correct.

 

[Fred Defender]

Savageman: I'm new to the forum and this is the first that I came across your thread. Echoing the sentiment of others, I am glad that it didn't run out any worse than it did. And I think that Ruger's resolution speaks volumes for the company.

I noticed from your photo that you had Hogue grips on it. I just purchased Hogues from Amazon for my wife's SP101 and I can't get it to fit right at all. I have a gap of about 3/16" behind the trigger guard. I can rotate the grip to get it more or less flush at the trigger guard but a gap opens up on the back. I've e-mailed Hogue and sent them photos, but I have not heard back from them.

I'm just not happy with the fit at all. Hogue's instructions warn you not to overtighten the screw. Any suggestions?

 

[Savageman25]

My first guess would be that the bracing that your bottom screw goes into is not in the groove right. It may be off just a touch therefor wedging and making impossible to make up that gap. I'd try to take it off and get that brace lined in that groove better. Try that first. You might even try to shine a flashlight down into the bottom of the grip to se if it looks like there is something not right with the plastic molding.

It very well could be a defective grip.

 

[gym]

It appears that some fitting is necessary. Are you used to working on rubber? More than likely an xacto knife and a few minutes should clear that up. Otherwise someone in your local gun establishment can do it for you.

 

[Fred Defender]

My first guess would be that the bracing that your bottom screw goes into is not in the groove right. It may be off just a touch therefor wedging and making impossible to make up that gap. I'd try to take it off and get that brace lined in that groove better. Try that first. You might even try to shine a flashlight down into the bottom of the grip to se if it looks like there is something not right with the plastic molding.

It very well could be a defective grip.

Thanks. The Hogue is going into the trash. Chalking it up as a $16 mistake. I've made worse.

 

[HoosierQ]

Wow, a gun defect would never fail in that manner. You might see a split cylinder or bad timing after a gun defect fail, but this screams mucho pressure!!!, also if someone put loaded factory rounds in a tumbler/vibrator for a while this might happen as the powder might be powdered and radically change the burn rate.

Correct. A defect in the gun might have cause the cylinder to break...maybe. But to break the cylinder AND blow the topstrap up like that? That ammo must have been hot to the point of craziness. You should send Ruger a thank you note that their overbuilt product held together as well as it did, hanging on to that much of its metal and leaving it for you to drop...rather than leaving some place a surgeon would have to dig it out of.

Glad you and all are ok there. The gun is just a piece of metal.

I totalled a car I loved. I was so angry...my fault. Then I went back and saw the thing. I saw all the glass and wondered how it was that not a single piece of that glass got in my eye (the airbag blew my glasses clean off and into the back seat). After that, I cease feeling angry and felt glad and lucky.

 

[Legionnaire]

Just read through your thread again; hadn't read it since before your update. Glad you were not hurt. Good for you being straight up with Ruger about what happened. And good for Ruger to offer a deeply discounted replacement.

I have been and remain a Ruger fan. Love my SPs and GPs. Your experience just reaffirms my appreciation for both their products and their service. Thanks for sharing the whole story.