[pjcyr8]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the board (this is my first post) and I was curious to hear some others' opinions. I am a BIG fan of the my Rugers. I currently own a SR22p, SR9c, SR40c, 10/22, and a Mark III Competition. Love these guns and the way they shoot. I am a bit of a perfectionist though and this is where my question comes in. My question involves the service I have requested on my SR40c.

We are all aware that the boxes Ruger provides with their guns are not the best to protect the gun. Well, the trigger guard was damaged by the longer magazine in the box. Ruger replaced the entire frame of my gun and sent it back. More recently this gun was failing to extract the empty casing from the chamber so I sent the gun in for repair (completely legit reason to send the gun in) and they replaced the slide, barrel and extractor... WOW! That is a lot of replaced parts on a gun that I thought only had an extractor problem. I got the gun back yesterday and upon inspection, I noticed the the polymer on the back of the slide rail was chipped off. Though this does not effect the shoot-ability of the gun, I was a bit irked to see my gun come back for repair with something damaged that was not damaged before.

My question to all of you is, do you feel that sending it in for repair is an abuse of customer service? Am I being too anal? I feel that I wouldn't be bothered by it if it wasn't staring me in the face when I aim the gun. Thank you for your input!

 

[jwh321]

My experience is that Ruger wants to see the gun and uses what they see in the repair shop to influence design and production improvements. Unfortunately, they seem to have a young workforce in Arizona. It appears that they are often in a hurry to move things out and give too little thought to perceived quality for firearms that are being returned to their owners.

It also often seems that they replace entire assemblies rather than to disassemble one and replace only certain parts. There can be no question that it is much quicker to simply pull a slide off, and put a new, fully-assembled one on in its place than it would be to pull the slide apart once its stripped off.

But the management team in Arizona seems to be addressing these issues. They have always been willing to go the "extra mile" with me. You should give them a call and explain all you've been through. Be sure to let them know that this firearm has had multiple trips to their facility. They will arrange priority treatment for your issue and may well surprise you with how well they handle things once someone in the management chain becomes aware. I'm sure its helpful in allowing them to see where they may have problems that need to be addressed.

Give them a chance.

 

[pjcyr8]

Thanks for your input! I never really thought of it from a learning experience perspective. I'm sure they would rather know that they have a "design flaw" rather than millions of guns out there with upset owners about the quality of the polymer frame. Maybe I should consider talking to management rather than continuing to send online requests for repair. I enjoy the Ruger guns I own and helping a company improve is a good thing.

My fear was running up the cost of their guns due to the "petty" service I am requesting. But I think overall build quality should be something they are concerned about.

 

[bwinters]

Welcome to the forum. I am a 35 plus year 20 plus item ruger owner and they always treat me well with customer service.

 

[Screwdriver]

I have a Super Redhawk and 10/22 that I have owned since the mid 80's that were functionally and cosmetically flawless when purchased. I just bought a Super Blackhawk in Stainless, that has machining flaws that in no way would affect function or reliability. But if I was Ruger, I would not allow these to pass QC.

 

[pjcyr8]

Did you know about the machining flaws when you purchased the Blackhawk or were they internal? I have been very pleased with all of my Ruger firearms but this gun seems to be giving me trouble, mechanically and cosmetically. Ironically this is my favorite of the 5 Rugers I own.

Since the polymer was actually chipped, I know they will have to make a duplicate serial number and a new frame for this gun to repair it. I should realize that there are millions of Ruger guns out there and 1 gun being sent back to the shop is not going to drive prices up but I guilt myself with the idea.

 

[Screwdriver]

Did you know about the machining flaws when you purchased the Blackhawk or were they internal? I have been very pleased with all of my Ruger firearms but this gun seems to be giving me trouble, mechanically and cosmetically. Ironically this is my favorite of the 5 Rugers I own.

Since the polymer was actually chipped, I know they will have to make a duplicate serial number and a new frame for this gun to repair it. I should realize that there are millions of Ruger guns out there and 1 gun being sent back to the shop is not going to drive prices up but I guilt myself with the idea.

Unfortunately, here in LA no gun shop had them in stock. So I ordered from Gallery of Guns. When the gun came in I didn't notice any issues, but when you sit for hours admiring you new gun, things pop up. In reality, it's more my OCD then anything else. The flaws are on the grip/trigger guard unit and really hardly noticeable.....so much so, that my wife thinks I am nuts and that I need meds. I could send it back to Ruger to have that part replace.....but I have no plans to since she shoots so damn well.

On another note......I was looking at a new S&W Custom Shop M29 in nickle last week. It had a huge machining blemish under the from site that there is no way a QC person would miss. Looked like someone hit that area with a rasp and plated right over it.....about 1/2" long and 1/8" wide. I pointed it out to the clerk and he called the manager and they were going to send it back to S&W.

I am not even sure there is such a thing as perfection anymore.

 

[James6591]

Welcome from Australia mate.
Glad to have you on board, nice folk here and lots of good info.
Phone their CS and let them know about it.

 

[pjcyr8]

Thanks for the welcome! I have a feeling I am going to really like posting on here since guns are more than an obsession for me! I think you are right about calling customer service.

 

[pjcyr8]

I just gave customer support a call and before I could even suggest talking to one of the supervisors, the woman on the phone gave me his email address and told me that it would be best to talk to him. I'm glad (and not surprised given their great reputation) that they are concerned about the quality of the product they are sending back to their customer after repair. I will be sure to let everyone know how it turns out. By the end of this, I have a feeling that there isn't going to be a single original part in this gun.

 

[pjcyr8]

Looks like I was right. I talked to their supervisor and he informed me that they will have no choice but it replace the gun in its entirety due to the nature of the damage. Not sure if they will be giving me a duplicate serial number or not. Regardless, this gun is being shipped back to Prescott, AZ tonight.