GP100 .44 Special ring around the barrel

[Thumbcocker]

Just got back from the range and was giving the GP .44 special a good cleaning. I was aware of some thread choke from slugging the barrel after it came back from the factory. With a tight fitting patch the thread choke was easy to feel. After a few clean patches I looked down the bore and saw a ring clearly visible about 3/4 around the barrel about 1/2" to 3/4" up from the forcing cone. It is especially visible in the grooves.


Sooo do I call Ruger and complain again? Am I being too particular to expect a gun to be properly assembled? I REALLY like the gun. The trigger is better than my match champion and the new cylinder is spot on for diameter. The new barrel has almost no gap under the front sight but then there is that darn choke. I would be one happy camper if the gun was on speech and put together right. I waited a long time for a gun like this and bugged my pusher to get one of the first ones in the area. Just want it to be right.

[Love Life]

Have Ruger make it right.

[Beagle333]

Ruger should have to make it right. If it takes 6 tries, it just takes 6 tries. Sad, but true. Hopefully they can fix yours in two tries.

[dragon813gt]

Have Ruger make it right.

Yep, they are usually great about fixing any issues. But it royally sucks that the end user is their quality control department.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

y ...

[dubber123]

I'd just firelap it out ... everything else is right ... firelapping is easy ...

Yep, me too. Especially when the other option gives them a chance to screw up what they finally got right.

[Thumbcocker]

I understand the firelap logic but consarnit I should not have too. If I want different grips or sights or finish or whatever that would be on me but having the gun put together properly should be on them.

[dverna]

Is the gun shooting well? Groups/Leading? If the gun is shooting well, why worry about it?

If it bothers you, at least with fire lapping or even a lead lap you will have the issue resolved in less time than sending it out and hoping Ruger does not create another issue.

[scattershot]

Of course, if you lap,it and it doesn't turn out, you own it, and Ruger will have to fix it anyway, on your dime. I'd send it back, distasteful as it is.

[contender1]

How does it shoot? If the gun is shooting as it should,,, then why worry about a cosmetic issue,,, unless you wish to firelap it to see if it improves.

[Thumbcocker]

I am a bit concerned that the ring in the barrel could cause problems in the future. Weren't there some redhawks that had barrel failures?

[CHeatermk3]

Ring in barrel?

That seems to indicate a bigger problem than thread choke--like maybe they stuck a bullet in the bore and shot it out with the next round when they fired your test target?

[nicholst55]

I am a bit concerned that the ring in the barrel could cause problems in the future. Weren't there some redhawks that had barrel failures?

There was one lot of Redhawks that had a problem with barrels shearing off at the threads. This was traced to the lubricant used on the threads. That lube was immediately replaced and there hasn't been another instance of it to my knowledge. I have a love/hate relationship with Ruger. I really like their guns - when they get them right. With their emphasis on quantity rather than quality, that doesn't always happen. I would send it back, again, and ask them to replace the barrel. Hopefully the new one will be right.

[contender1]

"I am a bit concerned that the ring in the barrel could cause problems in the future. Weren't there some redhawks that had barrel failures?"

Ok,,, I guess the question is about the "ring." From your earlier posts,,, and the current craze of firelapping a slight thread choke issue,,, made me figure this was your concern.

As for bbl separation,,, I, yes,,,me,,, was the first person to have a Redhawk bbl separate from the frame. And yes,,, it took Ruger a long time to figure out what the problem was,, and it was the lube, AND allowing it to set up for a period of time before installing the bbl. It was a hard problem to track down,,, and was the reason the Super Redhawk was developed. Once they discovered the lube changed properties after it had set up & dried,,, causing an over torque issue,, they fixed things.
There has not been a bbl separation since to my knowledge.

[jonp]

I'd just firelap it out ... everything else is right ... firelapping is easy ...

I agree. If that is the only problem then I'd do this

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

s ...

[TCLouis]

As one of the gunzine writers told a friend of mine.

It seems the arms manufacturers are using the consumer as their QA/QC section.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

If a revolver was old enough for no liability to reasonably be pinned on the manufacturer, I would say lap it, and I put more trust in an ordinary lead and abrasive lap than firelapping. But Ruger are still the same company, on paper as well as in name, and the trouble dates from recent action of theirs. People are right in saying it is their responsibility. I would do a minutes-long job sooner than mess about with that, but not this one.

[Thumbcocker]

Shipping label is on it's way.

[dubber123]

Shipping label is on it's way.

Hopefully the front sight isn't on the bottom of the barrel when it comes back :) I'm sure they will make it right, enjoy it when it returns.

[54bore]

Ruger has been on a downhill spiral for MANY years, a person is better off to buy a nice OLD used gun and enjoy what they WERE!

[Leadmelter]

I have been looking at a Ruger 9mm American to add to my S&W Model 39. It sounds like Ruger is rushing too many products to market with major hiccups.
Leadmelter
MI

[contender1]

I have an American that has not given ANY problems. Shoots fine & dependable.

[Sigmanz]

It is unfortunate that you have to deal with qc issues. Not once but twice. At least lol
Hopefully they get it squared away for you this time. I was seriously considering one of these but definitely have reservations now. Very disappointing.

[gwpercle]

How does it shoot ? If it's holding nice tight groups....keep it.

I had an AMT Hardballer , shot great , spotted a flaw in the barrel , sent it back , got a new barrel and my one inch groups were now 2 1/2 inch!!!!! That was a dumb move on my part and I won't make that mistake again.
If it shoots nice groups , learn to love it !
Gary

[Thumbcocker]

It seems that the trend with several manufacturers is that the guns that require skill in assembly have the most problems. Plastic parts and stampings that require little skill vs revolvers and others that require the human touch.

[44man]

I only had one bad Ruger, a Mark II that hit the ground in front of me. They gave me a new gun that would make you slobber with the groups. Compared to other makers, I would buy Ruger first but then came the BFR's. Cast by Ruger, still the very best foundry ever.
Bill Ruger was a very hard taskmaster but the improvements they still make are hard to deny.
Other makers slide off the cliff fast.

[dragon813gt]

Ruger has been on a downhill spiral for MANY years, a person is better off to buy a nice OLD used gun and enjoy what they WERE!

Their profits and number if guns sold say the opposite. It would be interesting to know how many are sent back. The last few new ones I bought had to go back. The lone exception being a RAR. Which is surprising as there have been a lot of reports about firing pin issues.

Using your customer for R&D and quality control absolutely sucks. To many companies are doing this anymore. It's all because people don't want to pay. I guess I'm the minority because I will gladly pay more.

[curioushooter]

Yea...Ruger has always been very oriented towards price points, probably because their bean counter and marketing people say so, and they are still around...so yay.

But it is aggrivating. These things aren't cheap. The lowest price I could find for one of these Lipsey's blued 5" models was $750 not including the tax, FFL transfer, etc...I would think for that kind of money they would be built right.

[historicfirearms]

I quit buying rugers after several problems like the OP had. The customer service doesn't listen to your problems. No more rugers for me.

[megasupermagnum]

I quit buying rugers after several problems like the OP had. The customer service doesn't listen to your problems. No more rugers for me.

I've had no problems with customer service. I've had minimal problems with Ruger's, so haven't called them that many times. Once was an LCR that shot a little to the right. Most people never would have known. I called and in a couple weeks had my gun back shooting much straighter. I once had a grip work itself loose. A quick call had a brand new grip coming to me for free. The worst was an SP101 with a cylinder with a lot of runout. The cylinder gap was .001" on the worst, and .006" on the best. It did work fine though. I called, and again in 2 weeks had a brand new cylinder installed, gun test fired, returned with the target and details of the ammo they used. I never paid a dime for any of this work.

Contrast this to S&W, a 4 month drawn out back and forth on a gun with a serious problem that kept it from even working. The straw that broke the camels back was I asked for ONE thing. That was that I get a target back proving they had fired the gun and found it to at least be semi-accurate. Nope. I got the gun back eventually, and no target. Worse yet, the guy I had been contacting, Paul Remore, quit returning my calls. All that got started after sitting on hold for an hour a day, for 3 days before somebody answered.

Paul Remore and his favorite gunsmith "Howard" don't even follow simple instructions.

[historicfirearms]

You have had better luck than me then. Don't call another man bull unless you know what you are talking about. Might as well called me a liar. Your experience is different than mine, thats all. I still am not buying any more rugers. Try to remember that there is an actual person on the other end of your post and think if you would say the same thing to their face.

[megasupermagnum]

You have had better luck than me then. Don't call another man bull unless you know what you are talking about. Might as well called me a liar. Your experience is different than mine, thats all. I still am not buying any more rugers. Try to remember that there is an actual person on the other end of your post and think if you would say the same thing to their face.

I'm not saying you didn't have had a bad experience, but to say "customer service doesn't listen to your problems.". Ruger answers their phones quickly. You state you have a problem. They give you an RMA number and a free shipping label. They are people too, and you just called them lazy. I believe I was too harsh in my post about you, but I stand 100% behind what I say about Smith and Wesson.

[curioushooter]

"customer service doesn't listen to your problems."

I second that. In general I don't like anything Ruger makes. It's like they deliberately make things ugly, even though I do recognize some of their stuff is very nice. The 77/44 is one neat little rifle, for example. I had a MKII and liked it a great deal.

But I bought a EC9 from new a year ago thinking 7 rounds of 9mm was an upgrade over 5 rounds of 38+p. The thing is not only very uncomfortable to shoot, having a very thin frame that stabs the web of your hand and is difficult to control with anything but pedestrian 115 grainers (forget the full-powered 147s that I am used to shooting out of my CZ75), the slide stop locks back every other round or so because the spring is too weak and the inertia of the recoil impulse throws the slide stop up into the notch with anything but pedestrian 115 grainers. Accuracy and sight regulation were good, which is what I was expecting to be the problem. The thing now sits in my safe. I feel it wrong to sell to somebody, and it has been to Ruger and back 2x. They say there is nothing wrong with it and just swap out the parts every time with the same parts. They are not really interested in fixing the problem. It needs a STRONGER SLIDE STOP SPRING. I'd make one myself, but whatever.

Ruger is not what I consider a pro-grade manufacturer in that professionals that rely upon firearms don't generally use their stuff (Like SIG, H&K, Colt, and S&W). It's what I call consumer grade. They simply do not torture and test their stuff to know if it's good or not and use the public as their QC department.

To get back on topic this is what David Clements has to say about his GP100 conversion:
255783

Now I will say this. Because his can handle it doesn't mean Ruger's will. Lineboring and the high degree of precision of Clement's conversion probably reduces the stress placed on the forcing cone.

I have a model 19 so I am sort of conscious about forcing cones. Yet my M19 has digested about 2 thousand 30-35K PSI heavy magnums (usually the 158 Hornady XTP, the MP molds Hammer, or the Lyman 358429. I shoot 36 rounds or more per week and have for a while. There is no discernible dimensional change from when I bought the thing. I do clean it, and I don't go crazy. I suspect it is because mine is well aligned so the forcing cone is not getting battered. I also think that velocity is the enemy of forcing cones. The heavy bullets just aren't moving as fast at the cone as the lightweights. I suspect the reason why M19s had problems was due to three factors primarily. The first is those stupid 125 grain and 110 fast stepping flyweights. The are hitting the cone at a great velocity and do a lot more damage than will appropriate weight for caliber bullets. The second is gun to gun variation in alignment of the throats with the barrel. Some guns were a little more off than others and had a problem. This is the reason why some M19s seemed to be fine (like mine) and others had problems. Third is because M19s are among the few revolvers tested by millions and millions of rounds by thousands of professional individuals that didn't baby them. You don't know if something has problems unless you do large scale testing to destruction. Very few if any consumer grade revolvers ever get anywhere near that kind of testing. For example the new Kimber K6. Nobody goes "oh don't buy one of those they have a weak forcing cone" even though they have a thinner cone than a M19, are lighter than a M19, and probably not as durable. Nobody knows because they weren't issued to thousands of police officers who proceeded to pound out thousands of rounds per year with them over two decades. I'm not bagging on the K6. I really like them and may buy one of those new 4" target models. I was one of those who lobbied them for the last couple years to introduce such a model.