Ruger Red label reborn!

BigD in FL said:
Sorry Stevie ray - THAT recommendation was towards the person who wanted a US-made gun and said there weren't any. As to being wealthy - not hardly - shooting is my hobby, I do not fish, own a boat, RV or camper, nor do I drive a pickup that gets 5 miles to the gallon - I shoot targets, and a lot of them and I do without in other areas to pay for it - so get over your wealth envy in that regard.
Click to expand...
Oh? Pray tell, where in this thread was there somebody wanting a US made gun, "but there aren't any?" You must be thinking about another thread. Why you chose to answer him in THIS thread though, escapes me. And wealth envy? Well, most of us on fixed incomes would like more money, but believe me when I say, I don't envy the likes of you!
BigD in FL said:
The Ruger I owned was a POS, and it was the one they supposedly got right. I will take a well-made Japanese Browning over a poorly made US gun every time.
Click to expand...
You keep saying that and yet there are many posts here saying the Red Label is good for them. But of course, you know better, right?
BigD in FL said:
I can get a nicely-made Beretta for what the Ruger will sell for - to me, that is a no-brainer - either of the Browning or Berettas are time-proven to be well-made - the Ruger sucks and was pulled from the market because it sucked
Click to expand...
I seriously doubt it, unless of course it's a 20 or 30 year old Beretta. If I could get a new Beretta for the price of a Red Label I would've already had one. However, if Ruger got this right, and the price is even lower, I would be glad to have another American made gun. Adding another Ruger to the fleet would be fine with me. You're not doing a very good job of bailing yourself out of this-I suggest you choose your words more carefully in the future. You're using the term no-brainer a bit much.:rolleyes:
 
Try again. you can get a new Beretta for about $1500 or so which is not bad or an O/U

Yes, I know better it seems as I actually owned one - something you didn't

Take the wealth envy to your oval Obamacare site and whine, not interested
 
I don't know about what the Red Labels were in the past or any problems they may or may not have had.

I do know that I watched on TV a Ruger sponsored show. They were showcasing the new Red Label's. The gentleman from Ruger was showing some of the changes they made from the old ones. He specifically brought attention to the locking mechanism and talked about better weight distribution. So, It looks like they may be addressing some issues that people found in the past and are striving to put out a better version.
 
Take the wealth envy to your oval Obamacare site and whine, not interested
Click to expand...
:confused:WTH is that supposed to mean? I've read that twice and it still doesn't.....eh, put it off to another no-brainer I guess. Back to topic. Oh, and PM if you want to enlighten me.
 
Someone needs to take a deep breath

and that someone is not Big D.

I can see where someone would be confused, but before the attack someone they should make certain they have things correct. Going back and reading Big D's posts, it is clear that when he was speaking about $3K for a new o/u he was talking about Brownings and Berettas. His reference to a used CS RBL with a nice case for $3K was to a sxs from Connecticut Shotgun.

Where is that troll alert?
 
I bought my Red Label 12ga about 6 years ago in like new condition for less than $900. It sees a fair bit of trap and sporting clay trips and has been a great shotgun with no issues what so ever.
I like the balance, it shoots well and fits me perfectly.

I bought mine because a friend has had one for about 15 years, shooting league trap with it, with no issues at all.
Once I shot his, I started looking for one of my own.

No regrets here.
 
100 glowing testimonials on here will not make up for all the issues other owners experienced with the last batch of red Labels. People did not make up these problems. I must have sent one customer's back five times. I seem to remember Ruger's glowing sales pitch from last time, also. I hope they have solved all the problems, as I do like Rugers. But, I think I will wait and let others do the beta testing before I jump.
 
Well lets hope they've improved the wood to metal fit on the new Red Labels... The fit on the old ones was pathetic.. The way that the buttstock met up to the receiver was just plain ugly..
 
RRL New and Improved?

Sorry for the long post, but as an owner of the new ones, am going to say I am, so far, well pleased, and will propose the following reasons I had for buying it.

I first saw a RRL on a goose hunt on the Katy Prairie in Texas in 1988 (back when there was a Katy Prairie there). None of us amateurs was hitting anything, and the guide reached around his back, pulled out a plain jane O/U and dropped a big snow goose clean.
Whatever an actual guide, who does this for a living would use must be worth a damn, so I asked him what it was, and he said simply "It's a Ruger Red Label." At that moment I was hooked.
Fast forward 25 years, and I finally have the $$$ to upgrade from the 870 Express I have been shooting since then. I can buy a Browning like my brother's, a Beretta like my buddy's, or a Winchester like my son's pals. Problem with these? Though they're all beautiful and durable, not a single one of them is made by an American who otherwise wouldn't have a job.

I have a job because someone wants to pay for what I do, and I am happy to return the favor to other companies that produce here, and keep Americans employed. I will only buy American whenever at all possible. The fact that it is a gun that I saw a working guide use makes this perfect.

Now when I saw my LGS had one. I bought it immediately. I believe it was Halloween. I have shot it every weekend since, and twice on Sunday without a single malfunction (so far, about 500 rounds). It handles smoothly, the recoil is not bothersome (maybe I just got used to recoil by the 870(?)), the action is slick, and the wood is quite nice, even if not heavily grained. The wood to metal finish isn't as pretty as I'd like, but the Beretta silver pigeons to which I compared it to weren't much better, actually.

To me it's durable, subtly attractive, and American made.
 
RRL Two Weeks in ...

You all have raised some interesting questions on my earlier post. And I'll try and answer as best I can.

I see by Big D's response, he seems unimpressed by a mere two week survey. Regrettably, it's difficult to do a longer one with a gun that hasn't been out that long. I am simply providing a review from someone who is not a paid gunwriter, and has actually shot one of these guns, as I have yet to hear comments from someone who has actually tried the reissue RRL. Perhaps I should simply keep what actual experience I have to myself, but I thought you all may appreciate ... actual experience based observations.

To explain my comment on the wood to metal finish, in considering the various guns, I noted that on the new RRL the wood to metal fit on the forend and at the receiver was such that there was a little overlap ... the metal is a little deeper than the wood such that the wood extends "higher" than the metal furniture. I looked a several Brownings and Beretta silver pigeons as well, and noted that they did the same, the only thing being that their wood overfits were less pronounced than on the RRL. I ended up selecting a 28" bbl version, as I though this would be a good overall gun for all my shooting.

Finally, as to patterning, yes, I intend to do that, but at the end of the day, this is primarily a field gin for me, and at trap, skeet, and sporting clays which I have tried since getting the gun, I have used the IC and MOD chokes, as I do in the field, and seem to be hitting a consistent 80%, so I haven't felt the need to pattern the gun yet.

For the moment, the gun locks up tight, but opens easily, shoots where I point, destroys the clays, and generally cleans up nice.

I'll report again after Dove season reopens on the Texas Gulf Coast, but of course, that will be information from one hunt, and therefore, possible of little significance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top