Weird Ruger Customer Service

[Ickisrulz]

I have a 30 Carbine Blackhawk I bought a few years ago. When I looked at it in the gun store I failed to notice the front sight was on askew. The front of the base went left and the back went to the right. There was also a cant. I shot the revolver quite a bit and tried to ignore the crooked front sight. It bugged me too much.

A few weeks ago I contacted Ruger and asked if they'd be willing to fix it for me. They said sure and paid for the gun to be returned. About 10 days later the gun came back and looked exactly the same. So I called Ruger and asked about it. They sent me another return label and back it went for a manager to look at.

Today the Blackhawk came back to me. I opened up the package and found that the front sight base was stilled crooked. Additionally, Ruger had filed a significant portion of my sight down. It looked terrible and wasn't even cold blued. I called back and asked why in the world would they file down my front sight. I was told the guy working on it said it was shooting low. I am stumped. He didn't have my loads or even a complaint from me on how it was shooting (it was shooting fine). Why file down the front sight? Not to mention Ruger has taller rear sight blades that can be used instead of the file.

Anyway, Ruger has agreed to replace the front sight (and barrel) to make this right. It is just a weird experience.

[lefty o]

not a normal experience, but rugers quality has slipped quite a bit over the last decade IMO.

[dubber123]

I have had them come back from Ruger worse than what I sent in. In GENERAL they seem to do ok in the warranty department, but don't count on 100% satisfaction. It really is best to visually inspect any purchases before paying. Sometimes this isn't possible, and it bites you in the keister. I have personally dealt with 2 that had the barrel screwed in so far the rear sight was maxed out for windage to get on target.

[Thumbcocker]

Old Rugers are looking better all the time.

[johnson1942]

where is the pride of these people who are hired to fix things? where is the quality control? sad companies are like this.

[Artful]

It ain't just Ruger but other companies as well - I wonder how many of the employee's at Colt, Remington, etc are really shooters.

[dragon813gt]

where is the pride of these people who are hired to fix things? where is the quality control? sad companies are like this.

The quality control for Ruger is the end user. In their race to produce millions of guns per year they have gotten rid of in house quality control. That burden now lies on the end user. I need to go through mine and see how many I've sent back to them. I think out of my last five purchases four had to go back because they weren't finished to the standard they should have been. How a company lets a product out the door like this is beyond me. Charge me a few more dollars and I will gladly pay. Their lack of QC is why I rarely consider buying their products anymore. And I am/was a big fan of theirs.

[contender1]

One thing ALL big companies suffer from is the lack of skilled labor. As noted above,,, in the firearm industry, many workers are NOT gun people. Just folks wanting a "good paying job with benefits" and all the gun companies hire people who can pass drug testing & a criminal background check. I had the CEO of Ruger, (Mike Fifer) tell me once; "I've hired all the honest non drug users I can in New Hampshire. I could use a bunch more folks!" So,,, when you take a young person, just out of school, or whatever,,, and he's "clean" but NOT a gun person, put him to working on a CNC machine or whatever,,, he doesn't grasp what he's doing like many of us end users.
I'm NOT making excuses for anybody,,, just stating facts.
In fact,,, my oldest son,,, a top end machinist,,, was working for a large company. He made small parts for a bigger application, and never saw the end product, nor knew much about them. He was recruited by a smaller company, where he now works hands on with a product he can see the final results, AND know what it is. He is much happier now.
But think of all the folks who work for Ruger. Approximately 1800-1900 employees. I'd bet more than a few of them are NOT gun people.
It was much different when the company was smaller, and had less employees. But it's not just Ruger,,, it's ALL big companies.

Be patient, ask for a supervisor, and be polite. You will get a properly fixed firearm.

[Ickisrulz]

I really hope this works out well and I don't lose faith in Ruger. They have come out with a lot of neat products lately and I'd hate to have to cross them off my list of possibilities.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

I had a GP100 that would light strike the primers and fail to set of the rounds 3 or 4 times out of a box of 50rds. I sent it back and it came back with a new and very heavy main spring. Still would occasionally misfire every box of ammo. I sent it back a 3rd time and they replaced either the firing pin or the transfer bar. 3rd time was the charm, the revolver function fine after that.

I understand large companies suffer from unskilled laborers, but is there nobody overseeing the final product? A crooked barrel is pretty obvious to spot if one looks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Traffer]

I had an experience with a Heritage Mfg Rough Rider. I sent in the gun because the painted aluminum frame had scratches on it, AND, more importantly the firing pin was just barley hitting the rim. This left the firing pin hitting the cylinder just outside of the base of the round, leaving a dent in the cylinder every time I fired. I am new to revolvers but that does not seem to be right to me. The representative I spoke to on the phone tried to convince me that I voided the warranty because I was shooting 36 grain bullets instead of 40 grain. Had quite an argument about that and had to escalate to even get them to take it back to look at. They sent the gun back with a beautifully painted frame. Nothing had been done about the firing pin. They attached a paper showing that they test fired it with a couple rounds but the firing pin still dents the cylinder every time it fires. I just chalked it up and did not try to return it again. I just figure if it ever starts to misfire because of this I will just fix it myself.
My brother bought a Marlin 444 in the early 80's. It shot so far off that you could not move the sights far enough to compensate at 50 yards. Unfortunately he did not even send it back, just sucked it up and put a scope on it. I wonder how many people do the same thing.

[9.3X62AL]

My "luck" with Ruger firearms seems to have been generally good, and I have a bunch of them in the safe. There have been a couple that weren't quite finished completely, but Ruger is not alone in that regard within the firearms maker community or within the manufacturing sector of our society. Ruger seems willing to make their products right, and seem willing to accept that some of their wares leave their facilities with flaws or omissions. IME this latter half of the equation has not been present with customer service wonks at a few of the European-based service pistol vendor orgs in this country, though those seem to be coming around a bit--perhaps prompted by widespread exposure online and the bad optics that such commentaries produce.

There is another factor at play here, also--that folks like us that infest sites like Cast Boolits are generally a lot more discerning and far more experienced in the firearms hobby venues than are other sectors of a gun company's customer base. We can be a very annoying lot, those of us old enough to appreciate Colts and S&Ws from both companies' heydays, or the understated elegance of a pre-1964 Winchester long arm. I'm sure gunmakers wish fervently that Luddites like me would just die off or (BLANK) off or just go fly-fishing someplace. Well, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. I do fly-fish, but not to the exclusion of other harvest methods that involve good guns. And just because I will clip this mortal coil at some point does NOT mean that my influence will die with me. HARDLY--I have nephews and daughters in good numbers, and they all have a fair idea of what is right and wrong with a firearm. We all should strive to leave such "inheritances" for the gunmakers to deal with.

[Wayne Smith]

I mildly disagree, Al. Basically it's up to us to train the next generation of customer service and repair people at the gun makers.

[9.3X62AL]

I get your point, Wayne. It's a good one. Given that our O/P had to send the item through several times to finally have the matter resolved is no testament to Ruger's skill set, but to the customer's patience and persistence. Repeat that process over "X" number of insistent customers, and perhaps reality might finally dawn on the Powers That Be. Where I am now, the best I can do is raise up as many discriminating onlookers as I can--equip them with the needed info to make assessments of this sort--provide them with warrantee/service org addresses--and keep the makers occupied.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I had to send my SBH 44 magnum back for the same thing the front sight was put on wrong now I owned this revolver for about 12 years
ya it was a safe queen sent it back at first they did not want to fix so I asked to talk to next in charge long story they did re barrel it
on there dime and re blued it too looks great and I can hit a 10" gong at 100 yards this is what my sight looked like Attachment 193045

[10or45]

I bought a used '63 3 screw Blackhawk that had an ejector tube housing rattling on the stud. AL tube was wallered out on the stud and stud was loose. Ruger said they'd fix it if I paid shipping. It came back with a new ejector rod and spring, but old aluminum housing still rattled on loose stud. I bought a steel tube, new stud, and fine bottom tap from Brownells and fixed it correctly myself with red loctite on the stud. I also replaced the base pin with a Belt Mtn. and reamed the cylinder throats with a shimmed chucking reamer. Now that gun shoots full magnum loads and stays in one piece. I have had very good experience with Springfield Armory and Smith and Wesson. (Refitted match barrel on their dime), etc. Ruger has the products on the market to meet consumer demand like no other, but their warranty dept. is lacking.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I put the Belt Mtn. base pin in too and a Bowen rear sight

[10or45]

I put the Belt Mtn. base pin in too and a Bowen rear sight

I am very satisfied with the tight fit of those base pins.

I don't mean to knock Ruger as a Company. I believe their magnum revolvers are the best value and toughest on the market. Having a few rough edges are part of that value, but some things are not acceptable. Having a warranty dept that will take care of those issues needs to be part of the package. I will continue to give them my business, and as I run into faulty assemblies or parts, I'll hold them to make it right.

[ravelode]

My worst experience with repair departments was Taurus I had steel frame 1911 with the accessory rail the gun would misfire at least 2 out of 50. Sent it in six weeks later got it back still misfired and the plate at the back of the slide fell off after 65 rounds firing pin hit me in the cheek, found parts and put it back together for another six weeks this time trying some of the new small primer .45 they mis-fired 50% firing pin was hitting on the edge of the primer. At this point I gave up and sold the gun to a guy, fully informing him of it's flaws.

[Guesser]

I've had good and bad from Ruger. The first experience was in 1979, their early stainless BH. Took 9 months and a letter from the Secretary of States office in Hawaii to get it broke loose and corrected, but it finally was resolved. Had good service from Taurus and so-so service from S&W. Best service I ever got was from Charter Arms; it took them less than 2 weeks to send me a new revolver of my choice, since the one I sent them wasn't being made any longer. Persistence pays off.......