A little over a month ago I bought a new 7 1/2" BFR .500 that had gone unsold for TWO YEARS at a local gunshop. I already have a Smith and didn't NEED(?) this gun but the price was right and........well, you guys know how it goes.

The only problem was that it was made before Jan '04 and wasn't drilled or tapped and also it was dinged up some by careless store clerks transfering it to the store safe at the end of the business day. I called MR and they said send it in.

It came back yesterday (4 weeks) drilled and tapped with a weaver style base, new sights front and rear to replace the ones that were scuffed up, and the gun was buffed and polished, all for.............NO CHARGE!

Now, when I'm unhappy I'll complain long and loud so it seemed only right to sound off now too. This is my third BFR and my experience with them has been nothing but favorable. There is already a 2X Leupold mounted in Leupold quick release rings and some 370 gr. CP gas checks loaded up in the 1200 to 1300 fps range. It's just too hot to go shootin'....92 and humid.

It's nice to hear that some companies still stand by their product and take care of their customers. Gives me some faith in the industry.

about the opposite of the way they treated me. Maybe there wizing up and standing behind there products finaly.

I have a BFR in 500 Mag also and have had no problems with the function of the gun. I did however have a set of Hogue grips that I bought them split and they replaced them at no charge to me.

Sounds like a nice gun and good service. Don't really understand the weather stoppin ya though. 92 and humid. Good springtime weather. Sounds like 6am cloudy and cool weather here.

quote:

Originally posted by Lloyd Smale:
about the opposite of the way they treated me. Maybe there wizing up and standing behind there products finaly.

Lloyd

I'm curious as to when your problems with MR happened. Was it before the JT serial number change? Was the gun in question a DM series?

I tried my S&W load in this BFR (36.5 gr H4227 under a 350 gr. XTP for 1600 fps) and it wanted to put 'em in one hole at 25 yds. off the bags but I was a getting recoil shy (flinching after 50 rounds. Unique powder makes a fine 1000 fps practice load for both of my .500's. I was thinking about ordering some 375 gr. PB Keith bullets from Montana Bullet Works and loading up some with 14 gr. of Unique for a 1000 fps practice load. A 410 gr. WLN GC over about 32 gr. of H4227 should give about 1250 fps (guestimate) and have enough horsepower to handle any deer around here. A little juggling of the above charges might give the same POI. Sound like a plan, Lloyd?

Randy

P.S. When ordering cast bullets for the BFR I'll go with .501" because that's the throat dia. My Smith is .500".

I picked up a 480 when they first came out with intentions of having it chambered to 475. I wasnt impressed with the gun right from the git go. It was hudge and blocky. The grips sucked and fit and finish were poor. The grip frame didnt fit the frame right. All that held it on were the two allen screws. It didnt have the dog ears that a ruger has. There was no spring loaded base pin retention just a screw. Lots of sharp edges. The grips didnt fit properly. But the main problem was two fold. First they advertised this gun as a 6.5 inch gun and it was a 7.5 I contacted bfr about it and they said that they measure there barrels from the end of the frame not the forcing cone as EVERYONE ELSE IN THE INDUSTRY does! Second was that they advertised the gun with a black front sight with a colared insert and mine came with a plain stainless sight that washed out in any light. I contacted them about this and they said that they could change specs on a gun without any warning. I asked about having the barrel shortened and the sight replaced and they acted like i was insulting there gun and didnt know what i was talking about. Alot of people on these fourms know me and know that the last thing i would do is get rude with anyone. All my talking was done in a nice tone of voice and i never critisized anything. I just wanted the gun straightend out. They about told me that they knew more about what a gun should be then i did and did it rudely! They said if i wanted the barrel shortened and the sight replaced that id be better off using a custom gunsmith and that it would void my warantee. They said if they did it it would cost 200 bucks and they were to busy to get to it for quite a while. I didnt want to spend 200 bucks to put a 650 dollar gun (that i paid almost 900 for because i bought it directly from them) to the specs it should have came with right from the factory. I dumped it and bought my first gun a 475 from John Linebaugh and swore id never buy another thing from those +++holes again. Personaly i cant see buying a gun for 650+ dollars that has no better fit and finish then a ruger i can buy for 400. YOu want my opionion buy a superblackhawk, send it to Dave Clements for a tuneup a good trigger job put a belt mountain pin in it and you will have a better gun for a couple hundred less. I know this ruffles feathers with guys that like them but i think there overrated and overpriced. Theres to many good people in the gun industry to deal with rude people.

Lloyd Smale tell us how you really feel.

Lloyd

I can understand your frustration with rude people but you didn't answer my question. Was the gun in question a DM series serial number? I wouldn't buy one of those either. The JT series as produced in the last five years is a changed animal.

I've got a couple good Rugers but the last one was a .41 Mag Bisley Hunter that was on clearance at Gander Mt. and I bought it on impulse without looking it over very close. The thing wouldn't shoot any better than 2 1/2 to 3" at 25 yards scoped and off the bags. The chambers were so rough that factory loads gave sticky extraction. The throats were rough as a cob and not the same dia. B/C gap was .009 to .010" and the trigger stunk (fixable).

When I talked to the very TERSE gal at Ruger she informed me that it was within THEIR accuracy standards and not to send it in.
It's long gone now. It would have made the foundation for a nice (and expensive) custom but all I wanted was to get rid of it.

My BFR"s have decent triggers, tight and uniform B/C gaps, smooth and uniform chambers and throats, free wheeling cylinders and all will hold 2" or less at 50 yards. I'd rather pay a couple hundred dollars more on the initial purchase price and have sometrhing fit to take home! And that's how I really feel!

Randy

I would guess it was one of the newer ones as i dont think theyve chambered 480s for a while. As far as your .41 went all the problems you mentioned could have been fixed for under 200 bucks and it was an extreemly bad example of a ruger. Youd still have a couple hundred less into it then a bfr and wouldnt have needed a wheelbarrow to haul it around.

Lloyd

I used to live and work in Iron Mt. and know better than to try to change a "yoopers" mind! I'm happy with the BFR's I've got and also have a few good Rugers in the safe. I've had three dealings with Ruger Customer svc over the years and one was favorable and two weren't but I'm not about to launch an anti-Ruger crusade. In fact, I'll probably even buy another one before long but this one will get looked over real good.

As long as we're on factory customer service, here goes with my 2 cents.

I bought a Taurus Raging bull 454 around 2000. The first factory rounds that I fired in it had the cases get stuck in the chambers. The chambers flared out slightly about 1/4" in from the base, so the brass would expand into it, then be too big to pushed out. The gunshop I bought it at sent it back. I had it back in 3 weeks. they didn't tell me what they did to it, but it must have had a new cylinder or the base of the chambers would have had lots of slop in them. The action was all slicked up and the trigger pull is very crisp and wonderful. It is a very accurate gun, I have many targets that at 50 yds, I can put 3 bullets into the same hole or cloverleaf, but the other 2 open the groups up to around 1.5"
Taurus gets a thumbs up from me.

I bought a EAA Bounty Hunter single action revolver in 357. It shot about 2-3 feet off at 100 yards(I don't remember if it was right or left, I haven't shot it since). I emailed their customer service and told them that I was an experienced shooter and could regularly hit clay pidgeons at 100yds with a Ruger 45 colt.( How do you let the person on the other end know that your not just some Yahoo who thinks that you can just jerk the trigger and it's supposed to hit everything?)
Anyway, they emailed back saying that the gun was not intended to be a target pistol, but only a short range gun for cowboy shooters to play with, and asked if the clay pidgeons were flying.
What kind of piece of s876 answer is that??
I emailed them back letting them know what I thought of their answer and that my initial email was meant to be serious. I included a picture of my safe with handguns lineing the doors and told them that I bought guns on a regular basis, not one in a lifetime, and that would probably be the last one of theirs. Also that I would tell everybody else that I knew about their sh87587y attitude towards the customer.
Anyway, European American Armoury gets 2 thumbs down in my book.

I guess we are a little set in out ways. Im not saying by any means that there junk. Just that there management is!

quote:

Originally posted by doghawg:
Lloyd

I used to live and work in Iron Mt. and know better than to try to change a "yoopers" mind! I'm happy with the BFR's I've got and also have a few good Rugers in the safe. I've had three dealings with Ruger Customer svc over the years and one was favorable and two weren't but I'm not about to launch an anti-Ruger crusade. In fact, I'll probably even buy another one before long but this one will get looked over real good.