Freeloader Reloader
New member
I bought a Ruger LC9 as my first EDC right before I applied for my Concealed Handgun Permit. I purchased it from a friend of mine who absolutely hated the extremely long DA trigger pull (yada, yada, yada). My friend made me a good deal including 100 rounds of factory ammo and two spare Ruger Magazines. The gun came from the factory with a Ruger mag "Made in Italy". The two Ruger magazines my friend bought from Ruger.com were "Made in USA". Being the patriotic USAF Veteran that I am, I put the two USA magazines in my mag pouch and saved those for when I really needed them. Made in USA, right? Didn't shoot my EDC gun at the range nearly as much as I should have, and was told by another friend that I should shoot it every time I went to the range. I agreed. Next range visit, I unloaded all the Speer JKTD-HP rounds from all three mags and started practicing. I do not like to use the extended mag base as it lessens the conceal-ability of the gun. Every now and then (quite often, actually) I would experience a problem with the magazine dropping about 1/2" and failure to feed. I blamed it on myself, of course, I must have hit the mag release since it didn't happen every time. It wasn't until I was checking out the gun in the comfort of my reloading shed that I noticed the mag would drop down when I would draw the gun from the holster. Then I noticed that sometimes just squeezing the grip (mindful of the release button) the mag would drop down. I finally realized that it was only the "Made in USA" magazines that did this, I never could get the "Made in Italy" mag to do it...never! I googled the problem and found out that I was not hardly the only person to experience this problem and it was always a "Made in USA" magazine.
I sent Ruger an email with my dilemma and received a very quick and courteous reply from Customer Service. After getting my serial number, they shipped me two Ruger magazines, "Made in Italy" absolutely free of charge. I was elated! I never experienced the "magazine drop" with the Italian magazines ever, to this day.
Speaking of "this day". I was so excited hearing about the LC9s that I immediately sold my LC9 and bought a LC9s the next day. Opening the box revealed that the new gun came with a (you guessed it) "Made in USA" magazine. Well, I figured since they repaired the horrible trigger (fantastic, by the way!) they probably found the problem with the magazine as well. Nope! Afraid not!
Checking out the gun, it functioned normally with the dummy mag, and I was blown away by the pull and reset of the new trigger. Exchanging the unloaded mag for the dummy, again, functioned correctly. Locking open just like it should. "They must have fixed the problem" I assumed. After loading the magazine, reinserting it into the gun and cycling the slide... it locked open again...and would not close. When I hit the mag release button, the slide slammed forward and put a round in the chamber befoire the mag dropped out. Now, that ain't right! So I figured maybe I was riding the slide a little or taking it too easy. Put the loaded mag in and cycled the slide....the mag dropped down. Awww, Man! Tried it a few more times and it worked correctly once. I sent an email to Ruger Customer Service and then decided to give them a call. Explained "all of the above" to the rep and he said he did not know of anyone having trouble with the "Made in USA" mags. I told him of my Google Investigation and he said something like "Well, you can't believe everything you see on the computer "......Fuse lit.......smell of gunpowder! I proceeded to tell him a few more choice words (trying to remain as calm as possible) and he finally asked "What would you like me to do?". I said, "Send me a new magazine and make sure it is "Made in Italy"...that's all. He said he would send me a new magazine but there was no way he could guarantee it would be a "Made in Italy" magazine. Then I had to return the original magazine to Ruger, as well. Like I am trying to get a free magazine out of the deal. I do not want this "Made in USA" magazine and surely do not want another one. Just wondering (if any of you are still reading this novella) if any other guys on the forum have experienced this same problem with these magazines? I'm waiting for the new one to get here and I'll try it out but...if it fails, it sails. Then you think this rant was long? Wait until I send a typwritten letter to Ruger and see if that does the trick. Whew....that did feel better.
I sent Ruger an email with my dilemma and received a very quick and courteous reply from Customer Service. After getting my serial number, they shipped me two Ruger magazines, "Made in Italy" absolutely free of charge. I was elated! I never experienced the "magazine drop" with the Italian magazines ever, to this day.
Speaking of "this day". I was so excited hearing about the LC9s that I immediately sold my LC9 and bought a LC9s the next day. Opening the box revealed that the new gun came with a (you guessed it) "Made in USA" magazine. Well, I figured since they repaired the horrible trigger (fantastic, by the way!) they probably found the problem with the magazine as well. Nope! Afraid not!
Checking out the gun, it functioned normally with the dummy mag, and I was blown away by the pull and reset of the new trigger. Exchanging the unloaded mag for the dummy, again, functioned correctly. Locking open just like it should. "They must have fixed the problem" I assumed. After loading the magazine, reinserting it into the gun and cycling the slide... it locked open again...and would not close. When I hit the mag release button, the slide slammed forward and put a round in the chamber befoire the mag dropped out. Now, that ain't right! So I figured maybe I was riding the slide a little or taking it too easy. Put the loaded mag in and cycled the slide....the mag dropped down. Awww, Man! Tried it a few more times and it worked correctly once. I sent an email to Ruger Customer Service and then decided to give them a call. Explained "all of the above" to the rep and he said he did not know of anyone having trouble with the "Made in USA" mags. I told him of my Google Investigation and he said something like "Well, you can't believe everything you see on the computer "......Fuse lit.......smell of gunpowder! I proceeded to tell him a few more choice words (trying to remain as calm as possible) and he finally asked "What would you like me to do?". I said, "Send me a new magazine and make sure it is "Made in Italy"...that's all. He said he would send me a new magazine but there was no way he could guarantee it would be a "Made in Italy" magazine. Then I had to return the original magazine to Ruger, as well. Like I am trying to get a free magazine out of the deal. I do not want this "Made in USA" magazine and surely do not want another one. Just wondering (if any of you are still reading this novella) if any other guys on the forum have experienced this same problem with these magazines? I'm waiting for the new one to get here and I'll try it out but...if it fails, it sails. Then you think this rant was long? Wait until I send a typwritten letter to Ruger and see if that does the trick. Whew....that did feel better.
