When is a "new" Ruger American not a "new" Ruger American

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

stormspotter

Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2004
Messages
423
Location
Missouri
I purchased a "new" Ruger American 243 Win on Jan 13th of this year. It came from a local dealer and when I went to zero in my scope, I found that some factory rounds would not completely chamber.

Long story short, after Ruger supplied me with new mags, which did not solve the problem, they had me return the rifle to them. A couple days later I received a call from them saying they were going to replace the rifle with new one. Great customer service, but since my rifle was not new, it was made in 2013 and was over one year old, they were not going to pay any dealer transfer fees for having the new rifle to my dealer.

Even though the rifle was brand new, it had set at some distributors and then dealers place of business for over a year. If I want to challenge their policy, I can send in the transfer funds receipt and their supervisor will make a decision to reimburse me or not.

I was also going to buy a Ruger American rimfire, but have changed my mind and have since found a like new, walnut stocked Marlin 880. The 880 will go well with my Marlin 880SQ.
 
For one, Ruger can ship the new rifle directly to you. If they do insist on sending it to your dealer, aren't you using the same shop you bought the gun from? I can't believe they would charge you a transfer fee on a replacement for a defective gun they sold you.
 
^^^^^
YEP!


Buying a new gun that has sat on a shelf isn't unusual, I bought a Ruger MkI new in 1974 that I discovered 40 years later turned out to be 3 years old when I bought it, at least according to Ruger's date chart!
It was my first handgun that I will never part with.
 
rule303 said:
For one, Ruger can ship the new rifle directly to you. If they do insist on sending it to your dealer, aren't you using the same shop you bought the gun from? I can't believe they would charge you a transfer fee on a replacement for a defective gun they sold you.
Click to expand...
Ruger is sending an entirely different rifle serial number and all than the used one that was sent to them for repair. The one being sent back has to go through a FFL so that the government can attempt to trace the gun, or am I wrong?

Op, just like a car, the moment you "walk off the lot" with the transferred/registered firearm, it's considered used in my experience. Is it Ruger's policy to never pay for transfers fees because they typically send repaired guns back to their owner? Are use assuming that they called your gun "used" because it was manufactured in 2013 when in fact they're calling it used because it was previously transferred to you from a FFL?

[edit]

ATF said:
Q: A firearm is delivered to a licensee by an unlicensed individual for the purpose of repair. Is the return of the repaired firearm subject to the requirements of the Brady law? Would the transfer of a replacement firearm from the licensee to the owner of the damaged firearm be subject to the requirements of the Brady law?

Neither the transfer of a repaired firearm nor the transfer of a replacement firearm would be subject to the requirements of the Brady law. Furthermore, the regulations provide that a Form 4473 is not required to cover these transactions. However, the licensee’s permanent acquisition and disposition records should reflect the return of the firearm or the transfer of a replacement firearm.
Click to expand...

OP, Ruger can ship it directly back to you.
 
Last edited:
Who shipped the rifle to Ruger? Was it you or the dealer? If the dealer, then why are they charging you a transfer fee?
 
How do you know whether a gun has been fired outside the factory or not?
 
Ruger CAN ship a replacement directly to you, the owner, if you shipped a defective gun to them yourself. NO FFL needed, unless there's some sort of local requirement.

Their policy, however, is to use an FFL, regardless of legality.
Denis
 
A few months ago I shipped a defective new firearm to Ruger directly, and they shipped it back directly to me no charge. But it was the same firearm. I also returned an upper to Midway for replacement and they shipped the replacement to me, but it did not include the lower. I would guess it has to be transferred by a dealer and new paperwork done.
 
Unless things have changed Ruger can ship you a brand new gun straight to your door in this case. S&W did that for me when they replaced a defective pistol I owned
 
It is a different gun, not the same one that I sent them.

As for the transfer fee, I bought the gun from another dealer, who will still charge a transfer fee, so I am having it transferred to my local dealer.

If I have to pay a fee, it might as well go to my local dealer. He didn't have a 243 in stock , so that is why I got it elsewhere.
 
Just ask Ruger for a refund so that you can buy a Savage or Remington or anything but a Ruger. Tell them your experience buying a new Ruger has been most unpleasant and you no longer have faith in their company.
 
Jackal said:
A lot of times you cant. If there are no signs of use, how can one call it used?;)
Click to expand...
Exactly which is why to FFLs, pawn shops, manufacturers, and a lot of others, once it's been transfered, it's considered used mint condition.

I'm sure Ruger will remedy the problem if the OP explains the situation.
 
Ug what a pain, sorry for the trouble with it. Hope the replacement shoots well.
 
Last edited:
Storm,
Ruger CAN ship you a totally different gun as a replacement for a defective one, straight to your door, if you were the one that shipped your defective gun to them in the first place.

No FFL is required federally, no paperwork needs to be filled out by you, no FFL required, no transfer forms, no transfer fees.

Ruger WILL NOT do this, per company policy, and in so not-doing generates additional costs for you in transfer fees that they won't pay.

I like Ruger quite a bit, own several, recommend a bunch, bet my life on some of their products over the years & currently, but this is one area I'm not too supportive of. :)

They create additional costs for the customer by their policy that other makers don't in the same situations. I would sorta expect them to pay that transfer fee, since it's doubly their fault for letting a defective gun get out to begin with, and then charging you money for an unnecessary transfer that they caused to correct the problem.
Denis
 
The iron sights on my Marlin XT 22MR were unusable without some machine work. Marlin sent a new rifle to my doorstep. Gun manufacturers have the full power of an FFL and can send a replacement rifle to your home.
 
As posted above I have already given up on a Ruger American rimfire and bought an earlier JM made 880.

When I receive my new American and send transfer fee copy I will let them know about above purchase. It will probable make no difference to them but a least it will make me feel better.
 
Johnny_B_Goode said:
The iron sights on my Marlin XT 22MR were unusable without some machine work. Marlin sent a new rifle to my doorstep. Gun manufacturers have the full power of an FFL and can send a replacement rifle to your home.
Click to expand...
Was the serial # the same or different?

The reason I ask is, doesn't the background check form have to have the correct #? Or does a replacement gun fall under a different rule?
 
Different serials, replacement falls under different rules.

If sent direct, no background check.
If sent to FFL, you have to go through the whole process all over again as you would getting any gun from a dealer.
Denis
 
I had something similar happen to me, new old stock. I sent a copy of the sales receipt to Ruger and they were very helpful and sent the handgun directly back to me. I had the EXACT same thing happen to me as with you with an SR762 I bought a little over a year ago (granted they had just barely released them) And they replaced the gun with a different one and sent it directly to me. As said before, you have to know how to talk to them, there is company policy, and then there is the company policy for pissed off customers. That being said, Their customer service has been better than ANY of the other firearm manufacturers I have dealt with. but yeah your ffl should not be charging you for the ffl fee if you bought it from them in the first place regardless of Rugers policies. Raise hell, one of the two will give. if not, you need a new FFL dealer.
 
Last edited:
DPris said:
Different serials, replacement falls under different rules.

If sent direct, no background check.
If sent to FFL, you have to go through the whole process all over again as you would getting any gun from a dealer.
Denis
Click to expand...
Thanks Denis! Wasn't sure of the process. :)
 
Cap,
They must love the bejabbers outa you. :)
First I've heard in recent years about Ruger replacing direct.
Denis
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

VoodooMountain
  • Locked
Ruger American - Stock and CS
Replies
12
Views
1K
792mauser
792mauser
MidRoad
  • Locked
Boyd's stocks for Ruger american
Replies
10
Views
2K
MidRoad
MidRoad
KsSkaEnthusiast
  • Locked
Ruger American Owners
2
Replies
47
Views
2K
someguy2800
someguy2800
A
  • Locked
Why no .300 Blackout Ruger American Ranch Rifles in stock?
Replies
4
Views
393
LoonWulf
LoonWulf
Vartarg
  • Locked
Question About Ruger American Bore Guide
Replies
2
Views
1K
Vartarg
Vartarg
Back
Top