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Joined: Jan 2001
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but Ruger quality control really is in the toilet, at least for their SP-101 revolvers.

Just took possession of my third one this year and it has some of the same problems as the other two.

In June I bought a NIB SP-101 4" with adjustable sights, serial number indicated a DOM of 2017. The barrel was pointed visibly to the right so I had to adjust the rear sight way way left - hanging out of the slide left - to get windage centered, plus the cylinder would slide off of the crane which it's not supposed to do.

Called Ruger and sent it back. They said it was beyond repair and would be scrapped so they sent me another new one which was made in 2020. Same thing - the barrel pointed visibly to the right. I immediately sent it back without firing it and they "fixed' it by twisting the barrel to move the front sight to the left. Sold that unfired with full disclosure to a fellow locally.

Hope springs eternal (or I'm a glutton for punishment) so just this morning I received one of the new Lipsey's 3" adjustable half lug versions. The barrel points to the right - third one in a row. It's not quite as bad as the first two but still noticeable, and the cylinder also slides off of the crane.

That's three in a row across four years of production with barrels not straight with the frame and 2 out of 3 with the cylinder not attached properly.


So I give up. I'm not going to bother sending it back. I bought one in June, it's now October and I just want to shoot it, not wait 2 weeks for a non-fix or 6 weeks for another one with the same problems. If it shoots and hits POA without having to move the rear sight out of its housing then I'll call it good. The chamber throats are very undersized, a .3565" jacketed bullet won't pass through any of them but I can fix that myself.

As the title says, it really pains me to say this since I've been a loyal fan of Ruger revolvers since 1969, but like Smith & Wessons, it looks like any future purchases are going to be older ones from the used market.



P.S. They quit adding the little disassembly pin in the grip although the manual still references it and the slot holder in the grip is still there. They do still have some available and one is on its way so that's a pinpoint of brightness.


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We had a couple of SP-101 2005 or so, a 2 1/4" and 3". Both those barrels were on straight. Both shot POA/POI at 25 yards and that short one was dead on the money. The biggest aggravation with those revolvers was sharp edges on the trigger guards and/or trigger, as well as that damn plastic insert that goes in the grip. Once those things were corrected, they were great little revolvers.

I have to wonder if Ruger figured perfect barrel index wasn't quite so important with the adjustable sight model.


Direct Impingement is the Fart Joke of military rifle operating systems. ⓒ
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Ditto here. Had a 3" fixed sight version back in the late 90's. It was a great little shooter and POI was right on top of the front sight with 158 grain loads. Couldn't really use a lot of different loads however since they would shoot to other points of aim which was why it eventually went down the road - but it was a well put together firearm, zero complaints about that.

Lots more I could say about obviously cutting corners in production and materials since then but I've bashed them enough for one day.


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Only SP101 I have ever owned is a 4" .32 H&R with the windage adjustable only rear sight. Don't know how old it is, as I've never checked. It came (used) with a set of aftermarket grips that are sufficiently hand-filling to be pleasant to grip and shoot (I don't like sticky grips or those too short for all 4 fingers). Never had a problem with it.

During the 50+year course of owning handguns of various kinds, I've owned at least 9 Ruger revolvers (two .41 Mag Bisleys, two Security Sixes, a .32 H&R Single Six, a .32 H&R Bisley, a .22 Bisley, a .44 Special Bisley and the SP101. The only problem I ever had with any of them was the rear sight retaining pin on a .41 Bisley backing out when the pistol was fired, which was fixed by sliding it partway out, bending it slightly to put it under a bit of spring tension and reinserting it. Worked like a charm and never gave a lick of trouble after that.

Sorry to hear you're having problems.

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I had a fixed sighted version about 8 years ago and it was a great gun.

I had no reason to sell it other than I knew a guy that had to have it.


Originally Posted by Geno67
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual.
Originally Posted by Judman
Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
Originally Posted by KSMITH
My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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A normal Ruger is about the same quality as a Taurus.

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Originally Posted by EthanEdwards
A normal Ruger is about the same quality as a Taurus.


Being a little hard on Taurus there, aren't you?


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Originally Posted by SargeMO
Originally Posted by EthanEdwards
A normal Ruger is about the same quality as a Taurus.


Being a little hard on Taurus there, aren't you?



Come on guys. I’ve had a Ruger rifle or two that wouldn’t shoot like I wanted, and a Redhawk that the finish left a little to be desired, but every manufacturer has problems at some time or another. I’ve still got probably a dozen Rugers and they ain’t going anywhere. I have had guns from a lot of manufacturers that suffered from lack of good quality control, but I won’t trample on them here. Ruger is a good “Made in America” company that we need to support. I’m sure that Ruger doesn’t follow what is said on the internet, but a lot of their potential customers do.


If we live long enough, we all have regrets. But the ones that nag at us the most are the ones in which we know we had a choice.

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I own a chit pile of Ruger revolvers from Flat Tops, three screws, to early SP's, 32 H&R's, OM Single Six's and a few semi-autos with zero issues. That said, none are of recent manufacture. Sad state it seems these days. All of my Smith's are without hole without issue.


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EdM,
I will have to confess that most of mine are not new guns either. I do have a three or four year old GP100 44 Special (a really nice gun) but the rest are of older manufacture. I sure hope that Ruger has not allowed itself to slip into a position of poor quality.


If we live long enough, we all have regrets. But the ones that nag at us the most are the ones in which we know we had a choice.

Doug
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I can see why it's happening, demand is outpacing supply and they're just playing a numbers game. Some recent posts on the subject talked about how most people either don't know what a well made firearm is or don't care. So they can produce X,000 units for Y cost per unit, or 1.5 * X,000 units for Y-10% cost per unit by cutting corners. They know only a small percentage will be returned.

Problem is, people have long memories. It takes decades to build a reputation and a very short time to ruin it.

Saying that, I understand I'm guilty of two of the things mentioned here. "Don't care" - I did, twice, but they plumb wore me out, now I just want something that shoots. Used to be their CS was top of the line but it seems even there they just want to get'em in and out the door as fast as possible. And posts like this contribute to tarnishing a reputation but on that point I will choose uncomfortable truths over comforting lies every day and twice on Sunday. You have to call'em as you see'em.


Taking this one out tomorrow morning to try a proven "load that works" for .357's and four different .38 Spl loads that have proven to be accurate in other revolvers. If this thing shoots straight I'll definitely be back here to report that.


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Originally Posted by SargeMO
Originally Posted by EthanEdwards
A normal Ruger is about the same quality as a Taurus.


Being a little hard on Taurus there, aren't you?


Tongue in cheek remark here. Ruger has moderately better customer service.


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I've got five Ruger firearms, but none purchased very recently. I've got two Mini-14s, a (First Gen) Vaquero .44 Magnum, a Speed Six .357 Magnum, and a 77-22. All well made and reliable. It's sad that they are letting their quality control deteriorate.

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The problem with Ruger, and the other full-line manufacturers is the change in the workforce. Guns used to be assembled by trained people who were machinists and fitters, because they had to be. Now, makers are going to the Glock/AR anyone-can-slap-the-parts-together guns. Yet, the old style guns still need some fitting and personal work. The problem is, the people who used to do that are either retiring or decided not to move when the company moved production 600 miles away. So, the "fitting" is now being done by a promoted "parts slapper" and they really don't know what they're doing.
As others have said, many people don't care about quality anymore, just the warranty. I know someone who leases (stupid right there) Chrysler trucks. He's had to get major transmission work done three times, even though he never tows anything. He traded it in on another Chrysler. When asked why, he replied it was all covered under the warranty, so he didn't care. I guess quality is a lost art.

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I thought, hoped, Ruger was getting better at QC than they were 4-5 years ago. It doesn't sound like they are.

I've got approx. 10 personal stories of their BS, ones I had to send back, or fix myself, not to mention others I've seen. I'm not buying near as many guns as I used to but Ruger has been gradually falling off my radar for a few years now.

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Maybe I'm just lucky but the GP100 in .44 Special that I have is one of the best DA revolvers I've ever owned.

Other newer production guns include the Flattop in .44 Special and a 9.5" Convertible. Simply great revolvers including fit and finish.

Not handguns but any newer production American, 10/22, and 77/22 that I have used, have been lights out shooters.


Originally Posted by Geno67
Trump being classless,tasteless and clueless as usual.
Originally Posted by Judman
Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
Originally Posted by KSMITH
My young wife decided to play the field and had moved several dudes into my house
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I've had a number of sorry ones too Gunzo, including a new, thoroughly hosed 45 Blackhawk I sent back only to have it returned with a note saying it was 'in spec'. After three phone calls I got them to agree to take another look at it. I sent it back with a copy of receipt and a note of my own requesting a refund and stating I would refuse any returned parcel from them. They finally mailed a check. That was my last new Ruger in 1998. I'll buy a used one occasionally, always cheap enough I can come out if it necessary.

In all fairness, you can get a dud from any of the Joe Sixpack gun pushers. We have two Mossberg 930s made four years apart. The first was a Security/Field Combo that will go 600-700 flawless field loads between cleanings. The stock was too long for my wife to shoot well so I shortened the stock and gave it to her. I bought another, supposedly better 22" JM Pro last year that was a QC train wreck. I sorted that one out myself and sent Mossberg the laundry list of crap I fixed. To say they were ambivalent would be an understatement.

I'm tired of paying full price for 80% kits with serial numbers.


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Several years ago I bought a Bisley .45LC/.45 ACP convertible. Changing cylinders was difficult. It was like the base pin was bent or something. You really had to jiggle the cylinder around before the base pin would full insert, otherwise it would bind and stick while partially inserted. Getting it unstuck was a pain.

I contacted Ruger, and they gave me no grief whatsoever. They fixed it the first time and paid shipping both ways.

I'm not criticizing Ruger or sticking up for them--just sharing my experience.

Since the repair, the gun has functioned perfectly.


Wade

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Originally Posted by The_Real_Hawkeye
I've got five Ruger firearms, but none purchased very recently. I've got two Mini-14s, a (First Gen) Vaquero .44 Magnum, a Speed Six .357 Magnum, and a 77-22. All well made and reliable. It's sad that they are letting their quality control deteriorate.


Your post caused me to count mine, only three here, 10/22 suppressed, 10.5" tapered barrel 44 mag I bought from my 'Smith, he set it up for hunting with a Bisely grip frame and 'very' light trigger, and an RSM that was a 416 Rigby, I torched the throat, it's now a 505 Gibbs, nothing of new/newer manufacture here.


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have owned many Ruger revolvers. Maybe 6 101's over the years. Only one i have now is the 4" sp101 in 22LR Probably from about the same time frame. Its about the most accurate revolver I have seen. Several others that have shot it say the same thing. The edges are a little sharp in a few spots, but being an very well made stainless revolver that is very easily remedied.

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