Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Ruger Red Label Problem

Ten years ago I bought a used Ruger Red Label 12ga 28” barrels. Factory 1-1/8 oz ammo shot fine, but my 7/8 oz reloads did not. After firing the lower barrel, the upper barrel would not fire about half the time. Sent it back to RGR twice. The third time I tried sending it back, RGR was not interested in seeing it again. So I sold it.

This year I bought a used Ruger Red Label Sporting Clays 12ga 30” barrels. I shoot it better than any other gun and it works fine with factory 1-1/8 oz loads. But not with my 7/8 oz reloads. After firing the lower barrel, the upper barrel will not fire about half the time, but will usually fire if I immediately pull the trigger a second time!

Because Ruger has mechanical triggers (not inertia), I did not expect this problem. I did discover today that (with my reloads) if I fire the upper barrel first, it always fires and the lower barrel fires on the next pull, as it should. So that is my work around for now. Has anyone had a similar experience? Thank you, Jim

Have you ever pulled the stock to clean and lube?

I did on my first one, but it did not make any difference. I will do that on this one before I shoot again. Good idea. Thank you.

Will the gun dry fire both barrels?

If you REALLY want to shoot this gun send it to Briley and have them put there mechanical triggers in it.

I have a rl 28.....it started to not fire now and again......one barrel than the other. had it cleaned, still did it...….would this fix it?...…...bob

Yep. I bet money Briley can put there triggers in and your all set. Ruger is a rifle company IMO and don’t understand shotgun
triggers. All the red labels I have shot had piss poor triggers. I’m not surprised you guys are having issues.

pass......looked at their site and did not see triggers for the ruger…...will get ahold of them, thanks for the help......bob

Your welcome Bob. If they don’t do Ruger try Kolar in Wisconsin

My gun does dry fire both barrels. (My 1st Ruger would leave a small dent in the upper barrel primer, but my current Ruger does not)
Also, after firing the lower barrel at skeet, I pull the trigger again & only feel a click. So I was really surprised that when I immediately pulled the trigger one more time, it fired!
If shooting my upper barrel first work around does not solve my problem long term, then I would be interested in a 3rd party trigger OR another brand of skeet/sporting clays gun.

Thats REALLY wrong and unsafe as hell to boot. I can’t count the different brands of O/U’s I have owned with zero trigger problems. I would go to a whole different gun but if you really want to shoot your Ruger spend the money on Briley or Kolar triggers

The Browning guns would IMO be the logical next step should you look to another mfg

I would have a gunsmith check the triggers before I spent the money for custom triggers. My Red Label has about 2,000 rounds through it, mostly 7/8 low recoil loads (it is 12 ga.) and I have had no failures yet. The only thing I changed was disconnecting the auto safety. I use it mostly for sporting clays and auto safeties are a nuisance for clay target games. Also, I usually shoot the lower barrel first.

Before tearing into the gun, I have ordered some 7/8 oz low recoil loads to see if I can isolate the problem to my wimpy reloads. I do appreciate all comments. Thank you, Jim

I got a real nice perazzi mx-3 combo my son does not use ,want do a money -trade thing ? Perazzi`s do have go triggers. Pete53

Mechanical triggers do not need recoil to reset. You should be able to snap both barrels without loading the gun. Have you called Ruger?

Both bbls do snap, but firing the upper bbl 2nd does not always fire the shell.
Ruger only supports factory ammo. The last time I called Ruger on my 1st Red Label, they said to "try other brands of ammo until you get one brand that works." They did not want to see the gun again.
I will provide an update after I fire factory 7/8 oz low recoil loads vs my 7/8 oz reloads. So far I have not experienced the problem with factory 1-1/8 oz ammo, but I prefer lighter recoil.
I am posting here to see if others have similar experiences since this is my 2nd Red Label with the same problem. Hoping to find a fix that someone has already discovered. Besides going to another manufacturer, as I do shoot the gun better than any other.
I do appreciate all comments. -Jim

I've got an early stainless receiver/blued barrels Red Label and had a few problems over the years. 1 st thing to check in my book are the firing pin recesses from the breech face. Pull off the fore end and remove the barrels. the pins are retracted, use a very fine piece of wire and insert between the pin and recess to see if you have a build up of shaved off primer cup material. Work the wire around the pin pulling it out to see if any primer cup, in little crescent shapes come out. Dang Ruger did not cut a ring around the firing pin holes to scrape high spots off the back end off the hull as the barrels lock up. Check real close ,this stuff builds up and cushion the firing pin fall resulting in mis fires. MB ( especially the lower barrel) good luck

I've heard about a lot of problems with Ruger Red Labels. Maybe that's why they stopped making them. If I were you, I'd sell it and get a Browning or something.

Sell the Red Label and get a Beretta or Browning. A Franchi would even be better. Unless you have a sentimental attatchment to it. It's the ford pinto of the shot gun world.