New Ruger

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reddog

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Just got my new .375 Ruger Hawkeye in the mail.Wow pretty happy ,installed the bolt and looked over the rifle for fit and finish, not bad then tried the safety, uhg ,would not budge.Locked in the fire mode and would not move, to unload or safe.Down to the local gunsmith as I'm not going to take it apart as there could be warranty issues.He opens it up and the bottom of the safety tang is (he figures) .05 too long so it jams against the trigger instead of clearing it.Man how did this leave the factory like this, quality control,,not.To say I'm dissapointed is an understatement ,and after talking to the Quebec dealer that does the warranty work he assures me Ruger is very good about it, but I have to pay the shipping .The moral is I will get it fixed here for an additional cost and take the hit but will think twice about new through the mail.If I had bought it locally I could have handled it and picked this out or the dealer could.The other point is Ruger will be off my list for any future purchases as I'm a little gun shy ?? now with this safety problem.Lucky I wasn't leaving in a week for an out of province hunt.I have had issues with other firearms (Remington 700 recall in the early 80's)but found this quite unbeleivable so being a consumer I will write them a letter and speak with my wallet .Rant now concluded:bangHead::bangHead:
 
dam , i love rugers but lately have heard a few stories like this. hopefully these are isolated cases.
 
I'd be cussing a blue streak too. I've kind of been admiring those rifles since they came out and the 375 Ruger cartridge seems to be gaining some traction. Which kind did you get, the African or the Alaskan? (Both are beautiful) Hopefully, after the glitch is fixed, she'll serve you well. Now go tear a strip off them!!!
 
I have a new LH laminate SS .375 Hawkeye and it's a beauty. No issues at all, great fit and finish. Quite accurate to boot, under an inch so far with Hornady 270g factory. The trigger on mine is fantastic, best I've ever pulled on a Ruger.

Once I get some 260 gr accubonds loaded up, I'm sure it'll be a .75 moa rifle.

Sorry about your luck but don't give up on Ruger just yet. They seem to have the least issues with QC for factory rifles.
 
Check out the threads under 'General Firearms Discussions) about page 5 currently, titled. "Let's talk about unreliable Firearms"

I too have a new Ruger Hawkeye, as does a buddy. They have both been replaced once already by Ruger . None of the Four will feed the factory Hornady ammo. Still awaiting resolution with Ruger . This Quality control issue is a lot more prevelant than the shooting world seems to realize as far as Ruger is concerned lately.

Does make a guy leary about not being able to handle a firearm before buying .

I missed the whole fall hunting season with this rifle and my buddy was planning to use his on an African trip this coming spring. 4 Dangerous Game rifles and none of them will feed the only factory ammo available????

its been close to 5months and we still have no resolution.. Ours are the Alaskan models in .416 ruger.
 
I owned a Hawkeye in .204 ruger for about 2 days, it would not feed worth a crap.

Love the older tang safety rugers, but I will not be buying many new guns no matter what the brand.

Ruger is not the only ones with QC issues, count in Marlin...Remington and Henry....many others are cheaping out as well
 
Ruger has real quality control problems with every new handgun they have released in the last few years since the old man of Ruger died. All recalled. My four Ruger guns are older production, built to last and perform. Would not purchase their products now.
 
I understand problems occur but it would seriously piss me off if I bought a new gun and had to pay to ship it somewhere to get fixed and not replaced.

If it was me I would be returning it if I could.

Sadly I think this is happening more and more with all products.
 
Fixed

Well just got her back and she is good to go.It is a .375 African now trying to find some factory ammo.The fix was $ 60.00 so a little more than the shipping cost but I have it here.The gunsmith sells quite a few Rugers out of his store and commented on some of the feed problems, told me that "they" have the problem fixed now.??
 
I have a theory about Ruger. I believe that they design and manufacture some really excellent firearms. For the most part, their rifles are have manufacturing processes that are not cheap to produce but because of quality of their designs and the price point they are trying to hit, the quality control really suffers. I had two 77/22 family rifles and the first was horrid - it shot terrible groups and nothing I did could make it shoot but the second I recently purchase (77/17) shoots incredibly well. I think Ruger's name as a manufacturer really has suffered. While companies like Remington/Tikka have excellent re-sale value because both have excellent reputations for accuracy. Ruger suffers poor re-sale value because a lot of shooters think the poor fellow is trying to "dump" a shoddy gun which is not always the case. Just my 2 cents
 
Sometimes I find these things resemble the Ford/Chev debate to be honest. Every firearm manufacturer seems to be putting out lemons these days. I know people that won't own a Remington/Ruger/Tikka/Sako etc, based on past experience and just like cars there are some really stellar examples that stand out.

My wife owns two Ruger Hawkeyes, one in .257 Roberts and one in .338 Win Mag and they both group phenomenally well. The .257 groups under 3/8 of an inch (3@100) and the .338 groups under 3/4 of an inch (3@100) on a good shooting day. Never had a feed problem, safety problem or any other problem.

It just goes to show you that sometimes you get a good one and sometimes you get a bad one and that seems to go for all new firearms these days designed for the "blue collar worker". Affordable guns for the middle class seem to be suffering from poor quality control more and more these days. As a gunsmith I see more than the average range of problems and a lot of new production is not as good as it used to be. That said, I find the Hawkeye to be well built, of a high quality. This is not what I would call a "tupperware" gun. They have improved just about everything on the firearm compared to the Mk II, which was a huge drop in quality from the older tang safety models. That said, when purchasing a new firearm off the shelf I would not hesitate in purchasing a new Hawkeye or recommending it to someone else over most new firearms.
 
reddog said:
Just got my new .375 Ruger Hawkeye in the mail.Wow pretty happy ,installed the bolt and looked over the rifle for fit and finish, not bad then tried the safety, uhg ,would not budge.Locked in the fire mode and would not move, to unload or safe.:bangHead::bangHead:
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That's brutal, reddog. And would definitely take the shine off of any new purchase.

Don't give up on your 375 Ruger. Mine is one of my favorite rifles...

bat 44 said:
Sometimes I find these things resemble the Ford/Chev debate to be honest. Every firearm manufacturer seems to be putting out lemons these days. I know people that won't own a Remington/Ruger/Tikka/Sako etc, based on past experience and just like cars there are some really stellar examples that stand out.

It just goes to show you that sometimes you get a good one and sometimes you get a bad one and that seems to go for all new firearms these days designed for the "blue collar worker".
Click to expand...

Could not agree more. So far, I've yet to get a lemon from any of the factories..... Knock on wood.

bat 44 said:
They have improved just about everything on the firearm compared to the Mk II, which was a huge drop in quality from the older tang safety models.
Click to expand...

The changes from the MII to the HE models largely had to do with handling (stock), appearance (finishes), and probably most notably the trigger. I've owned/own both and have found the quality to be similar, but definitely do prefer the new stocks and matte finishes...

It is strange that the perception is still out there that the original M77 was better than the M77MII/M77HE. I personally find the origianal to be a bit of a strange combination of features (IE, plunger ejector w/ non-CRF 'Mauser' extractor) and think it's reputation for inconsistent accuracy due to the 'farmed out' barrels still haunts Ruger to this day. (Ruger 77's used Douglas (good to great) barrels from 1968-1973, Wilson (iffy) barrels from 1973-1991 & Ruger (good to great) barrels from 1991-present.)

Obviously, YMMV.:)
 
I have a Ruger Hawkeye SS in 25-06. It is my go to gun for general hunting. I have never had one issue with it at all. Feeds great, safety is great, and shoots great.
I have been looking for a 30-06 in the same configuration so that it could have a bigger brother.
 
1 bad 1

Thanks Bat 44 you make a lot of sense and I did do my homework and decided this is what I wanted.The Chev/Ford debate really hits home as I was a devout GMC man until my 2001 3/4 t blew its "new" allison transmission apart @ 90,000 k and GM would not do anything about it .So I now have a Ford 1 ton with a 6.0 litre sitting in the shop with the top end gone(turbo&head gaskets).Difference is Ford is fixing this one.Still like the .375 Hawkeye African and will not trash Ruger for one mistake ,yet.;);)
 
Bat: Sorry but I have to disagree with you on this one. A Remington/Tikka/Savage is a push feed action with minor work being required - they are all built on cylinder type receivers and as such are very easy to machine out. It takes very little to make them accurate and a lot has to go wrong to make them inaccurate. Their inherent design is simple and easy to mass manufacture quickly accuratley. A Ruger Hawkeye/77 series rifle is built on a square action with a control round feed bolt. There are more complicated pieces that require fitting and a lot more areas for things to go wrong. These designs are beautiful and superior to the Remington/Tikka/Savage (IMO) but have to be executed well to ensure accuracy. With Ruger wanting to compete price wise with Remington/Tikka/Savage they need to cut corners so tolerances are loosened to get more rifles out the door. It is very similiar to the pre-64 Winchesters CRF rifles and the introduction of the 700 series. Winchester couldn't compete so they went to the Model 70 push feed. If Ruger just said hell with it and built rifles in the price range of the Kimbers and tried to compete with that demographic they would be more successful.
 
Good points on Ruger here, QC has been a weak point. As mentioned above, they make some truly remarkable guns, often without comprimise in design, with costs it seems ultimately being saved in QC, and more sadly in the past, on barrels. They got the barrels problem sorted, but QC's still a menace, especially with the economic pressures currently. I tend to buy the higher end Rugers, last one I bought was a Ruger RSM .375 H&H, one of their flagships. Frankly, I've handled German guns worth $5,000 more that aren't put together as well, and the rifle drills ragged groups. It's surreal. When Rugers are good, they're phenomenal, when they're bad, they can be quite the lemons. I had a .22 Hornet with a visibly distorted bore. The good far outweighs the bad for me in the end however, I don't blindly adhere to Ruger, I just really value a "good" gun from them and believe when they're on their game there's none better for their league.
 
Interesting thread... however... I am appalled at your dealer's solution to the problem. They should have done what was needed at NO COST to you. They should have taken care of any and all shipping charges for the warranty work OR given you another identical rifle.

I am glad it ended well for you and that you are happy, but thats the most piss poor customer service i've ever seen.
 
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