My last Ruger

[GeauxTide]

I've owned 15 Ruger revolvers over the past 40 years, with 5 currently. The only issue I ever had was the base pin coming loose with heavy loads. Belt Mountain Base pins fixed that. They have all been reliable, accurate, and durable. I've only used their service one time and it was stellar. Sorry you've had problems.

[rodfac]

Over 12 Rugers in this family, no problems with them...maybe it's the Winchester ammunition you're trying to feed it. Are they in spec.? Did Ruger test fire it, before sending it back?..I can't imagine that they would not have performed a back in service reliability check, and with what ammo? Too, I find it hard to believe Ruger's usual sterling customer service people would say, "FU".

Rod

[L_Killkenny]

I chalk this kinda thread starter into the same group as the "I've had five 10/22's and each was a jamomatic" posts. Either these buyers have the worst luck ever or they expect a Caddy for Chevy prices or they're full of BS. Take your pick.

Every maker puts out a lemon once in awhile, every maker has glitches in customer service too, but if there's better guns and service available for the price point I'll eat my hat.

[Dragline45]

I own 3 Ruger's and would not hesitate to buy another. Maybe I am just lucky with mine or you are terribly unlucky.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

As I said before, the only note in the box said that the cylinder was replaced and test fired.

I have no idea what ammo they were using but now a days you have to shoot what you can find. I have a 550 box of Winchesters that wont' fit, a few boxes of Winchester Wildcat ammo, some Federal match and 100 CCI Mini Mags that I like to save for my Bobcat which I carry for SD.

No they didn't say FU, but that's how I feel when they send a gun back that doesn't function properly.

This revolver wasn't cheap I expect it to function the way it's supposed to. I don't have a mic to measure it properly yet. They do.

My Vaquero was so tight that when I would shoot lead rounds I'd get a blue wad of lube on my target next to the hole the bullet made. The cylinder would swage a .452 bullet down so tight that the lube would be completely stripped then it gets flung out in a wad behind the bullet.

According to them, that's functioning properly. I had to spend money to ream it myself, like so many other people do. That's why the Cylindersmith is never short of new business.

I'm just upset that I have to buy another reamer to get this new revolver to function the way it should.

My old S&W M63 fires all the above ammo all day long like a champ. I wanted this Bearcat to make for a fun plinker, but it's not fun when you break your fingernails trying to pluck out stuck cases.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

Here's a pic.

[Cowboy_mo]

As someone suggested earlier, use a caliper to check the outside diameter of the PROBLEM ammo against the size of bullets that will load.

Since it is only the Winchester ammo giving you a problem, my guess is that your cylinder is within specs but the problem ammo is not.

My next question is, why did you buy a 2nd Ruger after having problems with the first?

Personally, I own 2 Ruger pistols right now and have owned/shot many other over the last 40 years. Never had any problems with them.

[Nakanokalronin]

Sorry to hear you're having problems. I've owned 7 different Ruger revolvers in 45 Colt, .357 and 38spl and none of them have had a problem with any ammo.

[44 AMP]

My Super Single Six has always been rather "tight" with most ammo, rounds needing to be pushed home the last 1/4 inch or so, sometimes rather forcefully. Never had any issues ejecting the fired brass.

There are min/max specs for everything, chambers and ammo included. IF a cylinder chamber is on the min end of the spec and your ammo on the max end, then you are going to have issues. AND, issues or no, a min spec chamber is still "in spec", and wouldn't be replaced/modified by the factory.

Here's an expiriment to try, get a couple of sturdy flat plates of some dense material and carefully roll a few of the bullets between them under some pressure (JUST THE BULLETS, NOT THE WHOLE ROUND - especially NOT THE RIMS). The idea is to squeeze the bullets just a bit, .0005-.001? and see if they will chamber easier. Done right it should not make them grossly out of round. Might not work, but if it does, it should allow you to make use of that ammo, in that gun. With soft lead bullets it works sometimes....might work with the plated bullets, I don't know for sure, if it doesn't work, you're no worse off that I can see.

If it wasn't for the current shortage, I'd say just get some differnt ammo for that gun. I can see why you are so frustrated, but I don't think Ruger is at fault. IF your Ruger wouldn't chamber any common ammo, then I would say Ruger is at fault.

Good Luck.

[lcpiper]

I got the same gun and the exact same problem. Now in my case I can get Winchester to go in on 5 of six chambers but the last has a small burr at the mouth which leaves a gouge down the entire length of the cartridge if I can get one to squeeze in at all.

I spotted this problem as soon as I got the gun home and wanted to go to the range with a selection of ammo so I could see what works well and what doesn't. But after 2 months I still haven't managed to get a single box of .22LR out of 7 stores in my area. I have burned more gas looking then it's worth to look anymore.

Additionally the Moon Shaped ejector knob is so sharp I have cut myself on it twice already so this little guy has truely drawn blood and ain't never been fired. Maybe that's it's excuse for not taking on ammo

[comn-cents]

So don't buy anymore Rugers

Leaves more for me, I need to add a few to the dozen I already have. Never had a problem with the 12 I own or the 10 others that I have sold. I guess you could just use other Ammo, Maybe you should send the ammo back to Winchester because it is out of spec...

[lcpiper]

Sneaky Steve, have you noticed any gouges down the length of the brass after ejection?
For me I was ejecting unfired rounds.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

My next question is, why did you buy a 2nd Ruger after having problems with the first?

This isn't my second. I own:

Vaquero 5.5" .357
Vaquero 4" .45 Colt
Blackhawk Bisley 7.5" .45 Colt
SP101 3"
GP100 6" (most favorite gun ever)
77/357 18"
P345
And now a Bearcat.

I love the idea of rugged affordable firearms. So when I say I'm mad at Ruger it's like saying your favorite band has mad a bad album. I'm a huge fan just disappointed.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try maybe getting some sandpaper in there. Even though some ammo does chamber and fire I still have to pull the clyinder and punch out the spent carts with the basepin for at least half the rounds so what's the point. It's not fun to shoot.

Jeff from Gunblast.com had a problem with extraction too but somehow his "broke in".

[pete2]

Over the years I've had better quality from Ruger than others inc. Browning, S&W, Kimber, Taurus. I don't like Rugers as well as some of the others but quality isn't the issue. I just don't care much for some of their designs. Nothing beats a good S&W revolver(hint, buy an older one). If you get a new S&W it will probably work but may require tuning to smooth things up and a trip back to S&W. I have a rather new 625 JM and after a trip back to S&W for repairs and some tuning it may become my favorite revolver. Even my LC9 works as advertised, pull the trigger and it fires every time so far.

[Sarge]

What gets me isn't that they made a revolver with a defect, it's that I sent it back, with a letter telling them what's wrong, and they still say FU and send it back knowing the problem is still there.

It's just crappy service.

Looks like I can get a reamer for $45 from Brownells.

Ruger .45 cylinder dimensions could serve as the model for "How wrong can we engineer it and still get it to work?" I had two .45 Blackhawks over the years, one about '95 which would plunk 6 Sierras, either 240 or 300 grain, into 4 inches at 100 yards. I sold that one to a friend who begged until I gave in.

The next one, bought new in '98, wouldn't stay on a good-sized hubcap at the same distance. I mic'ed my way around the cylinder and found three chambers bored .004 off their 60 degree centers and two which were nearly that far off-axis. It also had .450 throats and was utterly hopeless for ever getting any accuracy from it. My efforts to get Ruger to fix it are another story but suffice it to say that they got it back for keeps.

Anymore, if I'm buying a used Ruger 45 I shove a micrometer case in my back pocket when I go to look at it. The chamber reamer you mentioned is the fastest, easiest and cheapest solution to THAT problem.

[-Xero-]

I've owned a lot of Rugers -- since the ol' three screw days before they installed the hammer bar or whatever it is. I own a couple now (SBH, Security Six.)

ONE issue I had was with an early Mod. 94, semi-auto in 40 S&W. The retainer clip on the captured recoil spring/rod came loose -- and flew into the boonie void. Not only did they replace the part, Ruger replaced it with an improved design.

SAAMI spec. for ammo, chambers, cylinders, etc. are pretty stringent. Factory ammo typically is a couple ten-thousandths under spec for chamber diameter. I've never heard of any gun that wouldn't chamber factory ammo.

I'm thinking corroded brass, dirty chamber, lack of lube.

I owned a COLT AR-15, 16" floated front guard. Something amiss w/ the barrel mounting, all over the place on groups, because the front sight is on the barrel, rear sight on the receiver. Instead of returning it to COLT -- like I should have -- I traded it in. Then I got a Bushmaster, then I decided that I really prefer an AK-47 . . . funky Romanian perfection, accurate, reliable, looks like the furniture was painted with a mop.

[oldgunsmith]

I have 11 old mod. SA's. Never a problem, and a couple of them have taken quite a beating over the years. Used as stage props at Frontier City, USA for several years where they were dropped off buildings, bounced off walls, dropped in horse troughs, fanned, and abused in many other ways. The old Rugers always stood up to all this better than anything else we tried, including Colts. Never got used to the feel of the new mod. action and don't own one, but they hold up under some pretty adverse conditions, too.

[lcpiper]

I'm thinking corroded brass, dirty chamber, lack of lube.

Two brand new single action revolvers, .22LR, stainless steel cylinders both having trouble with factory Winchester loads.

[treg]

Be glad they are too small and can be reamed to size.

And check all the other possibilities before ordering that reamer.

[PT-92]

I feel the OP pain. No defense of Ruger here because the lack of Quality Control is unacceptable absent any doubt. However and unfortunately, it's far from a "Ruger Specific" issue--I hear many people complain about chamber issues with revolvers across the vendor board to be sure. Moreover, I wish it pertained to handguns only but it doesn't. Just a few years back I purchased a pair of Remington $$$1187's$$$ and they both (during our first Trap session) locked up with the incorrect chamber tolerances not allowing for the ejector to pull out the spent hulls. Here again it was a "known issue" of Remington allowing shotguns to leave the factory absent the proper mandatory QC. I had to polish both of the 1187's respective chambers with a drill and steel wool after which (and ever since) they were 100%.

The old proverbial expression of "they don't make things like they used to" is so true ...

[j3ffr0]

My experience with Winchester .22 ammo is not good. The crap is dirty and unreliable.

But then again both of my .22s are Rugers.

[thedudeabides]

As "awesome" Ruger's customer service is, I'd rather have no interaction with CS because the gun works out of the box.

I had a bad LCP and LC9.

I also had a Super Redhawk that was also super tight. I had a gunsmith ream it for me.

Not all to happy with Ruger's QC.

[Winchester_73]

Well I agree that Ruger should have done something, at least tested the cylinder in reference to your complaints and made sure it worked.

Now with that said, I have many 22 handguns. For me, I use federal almost exclusively. CCIs are great too, but federal, out of the cheaper ammo, is the most consistant IMO. I don't like Winchesters, and thunderbolts, and most other Remington 22s are also crappy. Eleys are good, but they're not for plinking either.

I would at least try another brand of 22 ammo before damning Ruger and the gun, but I can understand your stance on their CS. Sometimes when you talk to a CS guy with a gun company, you get the feeling that he talked to 10 brand new gun people in a row, and so he assumes you know nothing. I find that annoying but I also know that they don't know me, so it doesn't matter really.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

OK, more news to report.

First time firing the new cylinder. After the second shot it locked up. I couldn't rotate or remove the clinder and only a fragment hit the paper.

What happend was the bullet hit the side of the barrel creating enough lead splatter to lock it up.

It's now very out of time. Back to Ruger it goes.

[Spats McGee]

Awww, crud! Sorry to hear that, SSS.