Ruger Revolvers Quality Control Issues?

R

Radny97

New member
To start I'm kind of a Ruger revolver guy. I have bought a lot of Ruger double-action revolvers. Over the last 2 years I've had some real problems with revolvers that I have purchased from Ruger. And to be fair Ruger has completely fixed every problem with zero cost to me every time. But at some point I would like to just buy a gun from them and have it work right the first time. My complaint is related only to their double-action revolvers. The purchases below are all new guns, not used.
In 2012 I bought a GP 100 stainless 6-inch. Wonderful gun. Never a problem and super accurate.
In 2014 I bought an SP 101 in 22LR. Within a month I had to send it back to the factory. It was spitting lead out of the cylinder gap and not accurate. Ruger replaced the gun for free. The new gun had some scratches on the barrel and the stamping on the barrel was not perfectly level. But I took it anyway and it shoots fine.
Also in 2014 I bought an LCR in 357 mag. It was fine and was very accurate but it was unsafe. There was a safety recall on it because you could pull the trigger without the cylinder completely latched which could cause a misfire or a kaboom. Ruger fixed that problem in its recall.
In early 2015 I purchased an LCRx 3 inch. I couldn't group 8 inches at 15 yards with the thing. I sent it in to Ruger and they replaced the cylinder and the cylinder star for free. Now it shoots great and is very accurate 2 inch groups at 15 yards.) I genuinely love that gun.
In early 2016 I bought two new Ruger revolvers. A GP100 match Champion with adjustable sights and the new GP 100 in 22 LR. On my third trip to the range the GP100 in 22LR completely locked up. Couldn't pull the trigger at all. Luckily I could open the cylinder and unload it. I sent it in to Ruger and they replaced the gun for free. The new gun is excellent and works great.
For the past 3 months I've been having little problems with the GP100 match champion. (And to be fair the GP100 match Champion has been super accurate. I shot my tightest groups ever at 25 yards with it.) Recently the problems with the GP100 match Champion have gotten bigger. The cylinder binds and you would have to do a Superman crush of the trigger to get it to rotate. And then it would be super smooth again. This happens every 25 shots or so. That's a real problem when you're shooting an IDPA match :-) . At first I thought it was carbon build up in the cylinder gap that was binding. But that wasn't it. Tonight I figured out that it's a timing issue between the cylinder star and the pawl. So I guess it goes back too Ruger for warranty work.

So out of six revolvers that is 5 that have to go back to the factory for warranty work. I'm feeling pretty let down. The guns I have received back from Ruger on warranty have all been excellent. But I ought to be able to purchase a gun and have it work correctly the first time. One or two guns and I would have thought that it's just a coincidence. 5 out of 6 suggests to me that this is a quality control issue.
Feeling frustrated.
 
I think you have just been unlucky. I currently own nine Ruger firearms and have had no trouble with any of them. Or maybe I have just been very lucky?
 
Without a doubt, that's either a bad run of luck, or possibly some recent quality control issues at the factory. The last Ruger DA revolver that I purchased was about three years ago. I do have five other Ruger DA revolvers purchased previously and all have been fine with no issues.
 
It's unfortunately real, and not recent.
QC issues increasing over the past 5 years or so.
I say this from personal experience and reports across several gun forums.

Ruger needs to get a handle on it.

Seems to be largely revolvers, rifles are not showing many problems.
In my case, the most QC problems have been with stainless revolvers.
Denis
 
I'm hearing the same thing on QC issues....but its more a sign of the times than anything in my view ..( production guns, like Rugers, etc ...are not being built today by old world craftsmen or gunsmiths )....and when issues show up, they fix them under warranty.

Its not like you're buying a Korth or Freedom Arms revolver.../ at those prices there is a different level of craftmanship...but not for guns from Ruger ..or most any other production mfg...
 
It's not JUST Ruger, S&W has their own situation. :)
But- Ruger DOES need to up their game, and I base that statement on 40 years of owning & shooting Ruger products.
Denis
 
Last five years I have bought four Ruger double action revolvers. Two GP100 and two SP-101s. One SP-101 was a 22LR and one was a 357 magnum. One GP100 had a action problem where the gun would lockup sometimes firing double action. Also, the trigger was very gritty. After trips to Ruger and a gunsmith the problem was never fixed. I should of pressed for a replacement from Ruger but never did. I sold the revolver for a loss. The SP-101 22LR had without a doubt the worse trigger I have ever experienced. Gritty and very heavy. I talked to Ruger twice about the issue. The answer I got, was its a rim-fire revolver and will have a heavier trigger than a center-fire revolver. Ruger suggested that in time and usage, the trigger will get better. After dry firing the revolver at least 1000 times and putting close to 500 rounds at the range I concluded that I was wasting my time. The trigger was still horrible. A customer that spends over $600 on a new revolver should not have to immediately send the revolver back to fix the trigger or other problems. This happened twice to me.
The other two revolvers I bought were acceptable.

Over 45 years, I have bought a ton of revolvers. Most of them were Rugers. The earlier single sixes, Blackhawks and Security Sixes I owned I never had to call Ruger to fix a issue.
This is why I bought Rugers over S&W revolvers. I did not buy a S&W revolver until 2008. Mostly pre-locks.
My advice to anyone considering buying a new revolver of any manufacturer. Don't! There are plenty of used older Rugers, S&W and Colts that are seldom used and are better investments.
That's my take.
 
3 seperate times I've had cash in hand to buy an LCR but each time I was able to find a major defect after spending less than a minute with the gun in my hand.
First one had a trigger that felt like it was dragging through gravel.
Second one had a cylinder that would hit the frame when opening.
Third one had an ejector star that wouldn't reset without manually adjusting it.
I ended up finding a nice early 1990's S&W model 60.
 
Radny,
I too have had issues with my DA Rugers. Out of the three, GP 100 4.2", SP 101 2.25" and LCR 357 mag. both the SP and the LCR had to go back to Ruger within 2 to 3 days after receiving them via Buds. I do not have any issue with Buds.
These Rugers were all purchased last year and the beginning of this year.
When I read your post, I knew that I had to agree with you because I don't think that these are isolated issues.
 
One would think with Ruger's big production expansion these past few years (trying to top 2,000,000 this year) they would have anticipated a potential drop off in QC and prepared better.
Obviously they did not, and as a result they have generated a large increase in problems that have to be fixed - which no doubt is costing bukus of $$$.

But I am glad to report that the New Vaquero I ordered a year ago was flawless in fit & finish and functioned just fine from the getgo. :)
 
My new .357 LCR only has about 100 rounds of .38 and 10 .357 through it, as well as a couple hundred dry fires. So far it's been perfect, so fingers crossed that I got a good one.

I have 500 rounds of .38 on the way, and I just put a smaller Hogue no finger grove grip on, so I plan on shooting a lot more soon.
 
Ran into same type of issue with mini-14. issued a new one after 3rd trip back. still has same problem. this is a design problem though, I believe. I won't bore you, as this is a revolver thread.

Sent OM/3S SBH back for spitting lead. They called and had no parts to fix it, so I got a NM SBH of my choice for free. I wasn't upset as I am NOT an OM fan-boy, but I was a little sad that something with the history [1972 production] had to be scrapped for something made in 2015.

The point? Ruger does have some issues, yet their customer service has worked to resolve them each/every time.
 
It seems to me that with their increased production Ruger is cashing in a little on the goodwill they have built over the years. And hoping their excellent customer service will make up the difference. If that's Ruger's calculation, I don't agree. It bugs to drop the cash for a new gun and then be deprived of its enjoyment soon afterwards because it has to go in for warranty work.
There's enough others here that I think I'm not an exception.
I'm seriously thinking of selling the Match Champion and replacing it with a S&W 627. I do like Rugers but there has to be a financial consequence for this problem or it might not get fixed. If this keeps up Ruger will lose their reputation of being almost as good as S&W in high quality DA revolvers at a reasonable price.
Maybe Dan Wesson can up production and fill the void. :0
 
It's beginning to sound like even brand new ones, fresh out of the shipping box, needs to be treated as if they are used.
A thorough check might be in order, whether it's a new gun from the store or one from the guy at the range.
 
G.
Yes. You are absolutely correct. But, some of us(me) don't have enough expertise
to see past a obvious defect of any revolver from any Arms Co.
So with that in mind, that's why I now only buy NIB.
 
Fortunately, for revolvers, it's easy to do a checkout without even shooting one.
See the sticky at the top of this very page for how to.
 
I have owned 3 Ruger revolvers. 1 good one, still have it. Then 2 bad ones in a row. Traded them off about 20 years ago.
 
I'm batting .500. I've bought four Ruger single action revolvers in the last eight years; had to send two of them back for repairs. One was a 50th Anniversary .44 mag Blackhawk with a malfunctioning reverse index pawl. The other was a Single Seven with a litany of problems: base pin jump, deep primer strike on one chamber (chamber not reamed deep enough), and the loading recess issue.

I guess I keep buying them because once sorted out they are really nice, accurate revolvers. The S7 in particular is a joy to shoot.
 
Sounds like you had some lousy luck there...but Ruger took care of it...a very big plus, I'd say. Too, I'll bet you got a good trigger job as part of their warranty work as well. What say you? Rod
 
I had one problem last year with aRuger SR-22 semi auto .22. They sent a shipping label and fixed it in two days. Never another issue.
 
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