Ruger PC Carbine bad- Ruger service worse

[keithdog]

My new PC Carbine doesn't work, even after being shipped in for repair. There are some who have suggested this isn't so shocking, considering the gun is new to market. I whole heartedly agree. But ever since I started learning about firearms and buying some myself, I have heard that Ruger makes a good product that they stand by. I have been told Ruger's customer service is second to none. The PCC has been stated, again and again (other than hickock 45's first review on the thing), to be utterly reliable so long as its maintained and run properly.
I can't imagine the fault lies with me- I have had ten firearms, 8 of which have been semi automatics. Of those 8, five have been Ruger products. All have performed exactly as advertised so long as I loaded the weapon properly and took care to clean and oil between range trips. The PC Carbine is the only one of my 8 semi autos to fail like this.
Naturally I sent it in for repair (it wouldn't eject casings, be they steel or brass). The thing came back, and to be fair, I was able to get through 2 of 3 magazines without failures to eject, which is significantly better than what was. However, the gun now doublefeeds frequently and fails to put rounds into battery. I'm not sure what jam that would be called- they get rammed up and to the left, kind of twisting into the side next to the chamber.
Anyway, having been told Ruger service is fantastic, I figured they will surely help again. I emailed them and got a call last Tuesday. The woman on the phone told me she would see about having the thing replaced with a new PC Carbine since mine continued to fail. She said she would arrange for UPS to pick it up from my home, and would be emailing me with the pertinent information. No email ever came (yes I checked the spam folder). So I called back on Wednesday and was directed to the same woman. She must have been busy cuz I got her voicemail. I left a message with my name and phone number asking to be called back. No call came. So Friday, two days later, I called Ruger once again and was told that the woman who was helping me was on the phone at that moment, but that she would listen to my message and call me back right away.
She didn't, though. It feels that Ruger just doesn't want to help. I have been a loyal customer to them and have been very much satisfied with all their products up till this point. I don't know what to do. Sturm-Ruger (or at least one employee) keeps giving me the run around.
At no point have I cursed or yelled or done anything aggressive when contacting them. So forgive me for venting on here. What in the hell am I supposed to do now!?

[johnwilliamson062]

Did you leave a new voicemail or dis they just say she would listen to the old one?
Maybe she accidentally erased the original without getting contact information. See if you can get her e-mail. Many times things seem to go better in writing than when playing phone tag.
As frustrating as this may seem, there were times not too long ago when it would take a few months to get this sort of thing sorted out.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Tapatalk

[keithdog]

I did leave a second voicemail. I emailed Ruger again just a moment ago. The whole thing is just frustrating. Since I got the gun everything with it has gone wrong. Cheaper than dirt lost my order on magazines and those took forever to arrive (though they sent double, which more than made up for it). Then to still fail after repair only to have to send it in again... I traded a 1200 dollar AR for the PC Carbine and the Security 9 pistol (I know, I know) since my local rifle range is an hours drive away and I never got to shoot the damn thing. I figured it would be a worthy trade, since I didn't have a double stack 9 yet and at least I would be able to practice shooting the carbine.
I feel so salty now. That AR was fantastic. I would rather have a great AR that I can never shoot than a 9mm carbine that fails to feed even quality American brass.

[mellow_c]

Sounds like it's only been a week or so this time around that you've been waiting on them. That feels like a long time, but in their world of constant and never ending customer service, you're probably viewed as the "Oh yeah, i still need to get to this guy" next in line guy. I would try calling again next Monday or Tuesday and see where they are at with things.

They will get you taken care of eventually. Just keep contacting them until you end up with a reliable firearm. I had to send one firearm back 4 times to Ruger until it finally got fixed. It didn't cost me anything, but my time and gas money to drop off the package. It was a pain in the rear, but everything worked out in the end.

Some repairs are easier than others, some work weeks are easier than others, some employees are easier than others. I can emphasize with your frustrations, but hang in there with the assurance that ultimately Ruger will make things right.

[pblanc]

I understand your frustration and would probably feel the same. The reviews for the new Ruger carbine have been overwhelmingly positive thus far, so I think it is reasonable to assume that your firearm is a lemon. I don't believe that any manufacturer is likely to test fire a weapon sent in for repair with more than a magazine worth of ammo, assuming it fires a magazine worth flawlessly.

I would simply persevere with your efforts to contact Ruger customer support. I am pretty confident that they will replace the carbine. Ruger cut a lot of employees in the last year and earnings are way down in the first quarter. They seem also to be having trouble meeting demand for some of their new offerings such as the Ruger AR 556 MPR. Ruger employees might perhaps have their hands full right at present.

[zeke]

All gun makers occasionally put out a lemon, but would be tough to diagnose without knowing what rounds/mags you were using. Not all aftermarket glock mags are reported to be working in the Ruger carbine.

[sparkyv]

Don't give up keithdog. Ruger will make it right.

[keithdog]

Thanks all for kind words. More than anything I just wanted to vent about the issue. As to what rounds/mags I have, I have the promag 32 rounders as well as Ruger factory SR9 and Security 9 magazines. The PC carbine has thus far shown no preference for any type of magazine, whether factory or after market. It did seem to like federal champion aluminum, though, which was odd. UMC and blazer brass both wouldn't run any better than steel. The issue has to be with the gun. I believe you're right, gents. I have a lemon.

[rc]

Call again, 3rd trip back they got my rifle fixed.

[Cirdan]

My Ruger experience was quite difference. The spring holding the slide takedown pin on my LCP broke. I called, got a return authorization and Fedexed them the weapon. They got back to me the day they received it, told me it was unrepairable, and immediatelly shipped me a replacement. Whole process from my sending it in to picking up the replacement at an FFL took one week.

I have the kind of feed failures you mention with my AR. I suspect it's magazines. All my metal mags are horrible, only the plastic ones work consistently. I've also had problems with ProMags, and don't buy anything but factory anymore.

[1stmar]

Call back, if she is not available any cs rep should be able to help. They will make it right.

[stagpanther]

My personal opinion about rimless straight-case pistol cartridges in a rapid fire rifle is ummm...problematic from the get-go. I took a close look at the innards of the PC at my LGS and it looked like a very good approach, at least from what I could guess from just jiggering the parts around. The barrel itself looks like it "recoils" a bit upon discharge. The major issue I see with almost all pistol cartridge carbine designs is that they are built around the concept of magazine cross-compatibility with pistol sidearms--and so the carbine's manufacture is governed by making that receiver and feed work with what was intended for a pistol slide.

[keithdog]

lol good for you cirdan. Did I mention that I'm salty? No, but in all seriousness I appreciate you guys taking the time to lend in on your experiences. I'll stay the course and I'm sure they'll get it right eventually. I'm hoping they just replace it altogether.

[riffraff]

I recently sent a rifle back to S&W, couple weeks later they are asking me to provide an FFL to ship it back to because the SN has changed (maybe a lower, maybe a new rifle, who knows will see)..

One thing on the subject is I think if I go through such again I may go to the shop I bought it first. They can conduct such repairs and even have a guarantee that if they can't get it working right they will replace it or refund your $$ (repairing it could be sending it back to the manufacturer, but in short they will handle it versus you having to sweat it as a consumer and I bet they can often do it faster)... I bet Ruger & S&W are very similar customer service wise.

A friend at about the same time as I got my rifle bought an S&W pistol, which was also wrong out of the box, he brought it to the shop who diagnosed it and had a new part in a week, fixed, he is good to go now. Regardless hopefully my rifle shows up good to go and if so I'll be perfectly happy about the experience.

Promag does seem to suck though, although you have tried other mags, not sure blazer brass is the go to thing if you are having problems either. To me reads like your rifle has a real problem but I might be trying something of better quality in the process of trouble-shooting too - if it is as people are saying and the odds are somewhat stacked against these rifles, sometimes reliability requires above average quality ammo..

No idea on this carbine but as an example my SR22 pistol, runs perfectly great on any high velocity round and like complete crap on the OK quality cheaper standard bulk stuff. On the high velocity stuff (like CCI mini mags) the tell tale sign it needs cleaning is fail to eject, sometimes is actually a fail to feed where the bullet gets nicked on it's way in (jams in the chamber somewhat but also will not seat right so will not fire) - other times it's powder grit jamming up the chamber. Can randomly happen anytime after ~80 rounds or so but usually is more like a > 200 round thing. A cleaning isn't really even required - a quick spritz of cleaner and q-tip swabbing a couple key places corrects the whole problem.

[chadio]

Originally Posted by stagpanther

...The major issue I see with almost all pistol cartridge carbine designs is that they are built around the concept of magazine cross-compatibility with pistol sidearms--and so the carbine's manufacture is governed by making that receiver and feed work with what was intended for a pistol slide.

Interesting observation...

keithdog, just watched a Ruger video on the carbine, terribly cool and I hope you can get it sorted out

[1stmar]

Dont bave a ton of rounds through it yet but mine feeds and extracts jacketed fine. It doesnt care for lead or powder coated.

[mr bolo]

Im surprised so many Ruger PC owners had to send their rifle back for repairs?

I dont feel comfortable buying one now, I use to own one of the older Ruger PC9 police carbines back in 1999 and it was flawless as long as you used factory magazines or MECGAR from Italy.

sounds like the new take down models are not as well made.

[johnwilliamson062]

New model. That is how things work now. Much better to always let the model get worked out for a year or two before buying.

[stagpanther]

Or buy it and send it to me first--if something can go wrong--it's almost certainly going to happen to me.

[Ledslnger]

I have seen like only this one person complain about this carbine. And, so very few complaints about Ruger customer service over many years. Going to lean towards some people are never happy. I work with a guy that would complain if you gave him $99. You should have given him a Hundo so it didn’t clog up his wallet.....
I have watched a few YouTube reviews.....not a ton but some and saw no complaints to speak of. I doubt I will get one because I picked up a CZ Scorpion carbine last year. But, I like Ruger’s track record.

[riffraff]

One thing I wonder about is the ammo. I have one pistol which runs terribly on blazer brass and perfectly on remington.

[Logs]

I looked at the Rugers yesterday, but ended up buying a Colt 9mm AR for $699 (preowned), but the Colt felt better to me. I thought the Ruger was kind of heavy for it's size. I hope Ruger fixes your carbine.

[keithdog]

Ledslinger, I understand your point, but I'm very pleased with Hi Point. I'm not at all hard to satisfy. A semi auto that can't make it through a single Ruger factory magazine without a double feed or failure to eject is a piece of garbage. And it's not me- I have had 8 semi autos, all of which run as advertised. I know how to seat magazines. I know how to clean and maintain a gun.
With that out of the way, let me just say that on the second return, Ruger was kind enough to replace the gun outright with a brand new model. I am deeply disappointed to tell you that the new PC Carbine I received today had 7 failures to eject and 2 double feeds in the first 150 rounds (100 American Eagle and 50 Remington UMC). I'm done with the gun.
I understand that everyone else likes the gun and has had them work perfectly. I too have read the reviews. Hickock45's first PC Carbine gave him trouble, but his second functioned well. My second is no better than the first.
I have made sure the barrel tightly attached and taken careful steps to make sure the gun is properly cleaned and lubricated. The magazines have been carefully seated with quality American brass.
I'm not bashing Ruger. My 4 other Ruger's have performed flawlessly so long as I maintained them and took care loading the magazines.
I'm not bashing the PC Carbine, either. I'm giving my terrible experience with a gun that is supposed to be stellar.

[keithdog]

Oh yeah, on the second magazine the rear sight blew off the gun...
So there was also that...

[keithdog]

I wanted to make sure to thank logs and riffraff and everyone else who took the time to put in their 2 cents. I appreciate the feedback and support, the opinions and criticism. Getting responses and constructive feedback is what makes this forum so great.