Tale of 2 new Rugers: marred blue finish & rusted stainless

[DHart]

I bought two new fixed sighted, 3" barrel GP-100's recently, one a stainless (KGPF-331) and the other blue (GPF-331)...

the stainless one had a number of very tiny rust spots on the surface and some rust internally. I did a little clean up with steel wool and FP-10 and I'm cool with the gun... it's a great revolver. Though the rust presence bugged me a little.

Now this last weekend I picked up my blued GP-100 3" (which came from Davidsons) and found it quite yucky (some sort of preservative I suppose). After a really good clean up I found several areas of blemished blue finish in the form of irregular spots of perhaps 3/8 to 5/8" (sort of a milky appearance where there should have been deep blue). There is no way I can correct this issue, so tomorrow I call Davidsons for a direct replacement (which, from experience, I'm sure they will happily and quickly do). Hopefully my second sample will be blemish free.

My 4" adj. sight GP-100 and 3" SP-101 were fine when I bought them - though they both had been on display in a gun shop, whereas these other two guns had been sitting in distributor warehouses until I ordered them.

These are fantastic revolvers and I'm otherwise thrilled with them, but these QC issues are a bit troubling. Anyone else find either rust or blemished blue finishes on brand new Rugers or Smiths or Tauri?

 

[Jim Watson]

I had a Springfield come in with rust stains on "stainless." Like you, I polished them out and went shooting. I have read of other cases.

A mottled blue finish is due to incomplete degreasing of the steel.

 

[steveno]

a stainless steel gun will rust it just takes longer and more abuse to do it

 

[blfuller]

Beware cleaning rust off a stainless firearm with steel wool. Doing this will embed microscopic steel particles into the stainless. These particles are a excellent place for rust freckles to start. Try Flitz or a scotchbrite pad instead.

 

[DHart]

blf... thanks... someone else also brought this excellent point to my attention. The steel wool is going out of the gunroom and Scotchbrite pads are coming in!

P.S. Is there such a thing as stainless steel wool?

 

[fulloflead]

Yes. In fact, there's a nice product by Birchwood Casey called Rust Ridder which is blister pack containing a bottle of rust disolver and a ball of stainless steel wool. You should be able to find stainless steel wool at hardware stores and maybe autobody repair supply stores.

 

[P. Plainsman]

Browsing at a large local sporting goods store, I found some bits of rust on the back of the cylinder of a new stainless .44 Mag Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter.

Admittedly, this gun may have been sitting in the cabinet for a long time. I was still irked. The SBH Bisley Hunter is a very impressive revolver, and I was starting to think irresponsible thoughts about taking it home. But not with that rust.

Sales guy didn't really have any good response when I pointed out the brown spots to him. Indeed, what is there to say?

 

[DHart]

full... sounds good, I'll check that out!

Plainsman... we certainly seem to care a heck of a lot more about the condition of guns than the people who distribute and sell them.

 

[DHart]

A quick call to Davidsons today and they told me that if my dealer calls them today requesting a replacement of the blue steel GP with finish spots, they'll have one in my hands tomorrow... no questions asked! So I called my dealer (Sportsman's Warehouse) and they said they'll call immediately.

This is the third firearm I have asked Davidsons to replace (the first two were lever rifles made by Rossi, different reason for each) and they have done so immediately and cheerfully. So from my experience, the Davidson's guarantee has been there in spades!

It would suck to be told: "Well, now it's your gun so you have to return it to the manufacturer for repair." And then have to wait weeks for your "new" gun to be made right. Which is what most wholesalers and dealers tell customers with problem guns.

So far, I can give a very positive endorsement for buying guns from Davidsons. (In this case, they are the only wholesaler who even has a stock of 3" fixed sight GP-100's in blue).

I expect that I'll have my new replacement GP tomorrow! Here's hoping the bluing on it is like that of my 4" GP-100.

 

[Gary A]

I am getting one of the 3 inch blued heavy barrelled GPs from Davidson's. It just came in to my dealer and I gave it the once over. Looks good, bluing seems real nice. One small flaw is that is seems to have a "nick" or a tool mark right at the edge of the fluting on one cylinder. No, that kind of irritates me...BUT, the gun locks up light the proverbial bank vault and I'm not sure how many of these now discontinued guns Davidson's even has. I might get one without a nick but with a loosey-goosey cylinder. I love GP100s and have a number of them but I have learned that Ruger's manufacturing process occasionally allows some things to pass by that I would prefer didn't, mostly cosmetically. It pays to look them over. Since I didn't buy this gun to be the most beautiful gun I have, I'll just consider that that little "nick" adds character. No one is gonna see it but me and it is probably the first blemish of others added by me. Also, I just don't want to go through the trouble of replacing it since it seems otherwise sound (although something might turn up on the next looksee. Now if the cylinder wobbled a bunch...I would be singing a different tune. Still, I agree with you DHart...you paid good money and should get something that pleases you. I really suspect that since these revolvers are "closeouts" that they may have been sitting in warehouse somewhere for some time prior to being put on sale by Davidson's. It will be interesting to check the serial numbers and see when they were manufactured.

 

[JohnKSa]

a stock of 3" fixed sight GP-100's in blue

Ok, maybe this is a stupid question, but why would you want a carry/kit type gun in a blued finish?

 

[DHart]

John... since you asked... here's the reason - if I were buying my one and only carry piece, the considerations of blued vs. stainless might play a little greater importance as stainless is so much easier to clean up, buff, refinish, etc. and blue shows wear more quickly. On the other hand, blue conceals better than stainless, adding points to the other side.

But in my current situation, I have quite a number of handguns, including a number of stainless guns and a number of blued guns. Among these guns are probably 8 or 9 which would make great carry guns. What it comes down to is that I have a real affection for blued guns... I think they're gorgeous! And since I already have a stainless SP-101 with 3" tube and a GP-100 with fixed sights and 3" barrel, which I really love... I wanted to have a blue steel version of the GP-100 with fixed sights and 3" tube as well... just because I like 'em, that's all. I tend to carry the stainless guns more, but I do occasionally carry a blued gun just for fun and variety.

Here's my stainless

Ruger GP-100 3" Barrel, Fixed sights, .357 magnum (KGPF-331)

I'm the same way with Smiths. I have a stainless 3 inch Model 65, a 2 1/2" Model 66, a blued, bobbed-hammer Model 13 and a blued stock 13. Some I carry more than others, but I love them all!

Smith & Wesson Model 13-3 .357 Magnum 3" barrel

---------------------------------------------------------------
Smith & Wesson Model 65-5 .357 Magnum 3" barrel - Signature Pic

 

[zeke]

DHart-Very nice looking revolvers. If i ever get a digital camera, will ya teach me how to take gun pictures?

 

[Majic]

I don't know about others, but if I were looking to buy something new and it has obvious flaws that I have found then I'm looking for a discount on the sales price Would you buy a new car or truck that has a obvious scratch or dent for the listed price? If people stop accepting the flaws the factory are letting slip thru then maybe the QC departments will go back to work.
I only accept very small flaws in used guns. I certainly won't accept a flawed new gun.

 

[DHart]

zeke... you betcha!

Majic... I'm totally with you on that! I was told my gun shipped yesterday (Wednesday) and will be available for p/u later today (Thursday). Unfortunately, I won't have a chance to go get it until Sunday! My dealer and Davidsons are nothing but a pleasure to work with... they didn't hesitate (finish blems sight unseen) for a second about getting another gun for me via overnight shipping. Can't get better service than that.

 

[mete]

Stainless steel should have a 'passivation ' treatment . This is done with acids and it builds up the protective oxide surface coating and it also removed foreign particles from the surfac. If the stainless has been machined, ground, polished with tooling that has been used on carbon steel it will pick up bits of carbon steel on the surface. These particles will rust and the rust continue into the stainless....QC did you say ??

 

[Majic]

I wonder has anyone toured the factory and know if they have just one line or 2 totally seperate lines for handling the different alloys?

 

[DHart]

mete... well, if Ruger put any kind of treatment on the exterior of my GP-100, it's gone now! I've Scotch-brited it off!

Guess I'd better make sure there's a nice coat of FP-10 on the gun most of the time.

The color of the gun is definitely different now... not sure if that's from removing a finish or just from having a different texture on the metal. It looks quite a bit "whiter" now... like the look of hard chrome. Very beautiful, really.

 

[JNewell]

I've noticed the same. My "brushed" finish SBH has a white tone, whereas the "gloss" or highly polished Vaq has a more yellow tone. Same steel, presumably, but interesting how the surface polish brings up a different color tone. Maybe someone here knows why; I'd be interested to learn.