After a few months of searching, I found a Ruger American Predator .204 in
March at a gun show. Reasons for the Predator was reports of good accuracy
at an inexpensive price. I needed a walk-around predator rifle, and all my
other rifles are heavy caliber or varmint rifles weighing over ten pounds, even
my heavy barreled T/C Tac20. Got a box of loaded Hornady 40gr Vmax, then
proceeded to load up four different hand loads and went to the range.

The best of five loads only got a 1 1/4" five shot group, the worst being about three
inches. This was done using a proven scope. The factory goo had been meticulously
cleaned out of the bore. At first, I just chalked it up to a new, rough barrel. But back
home, when the cases could be inspected in different light, a couple of marks half
way around the radius had the appearance of case head separation. They were bad
enough that a finger nail could be caught on them. Looking into the chamber through
the magazine port (stock removed) I could see one of the gouge/ridges in the
chamber. It appeared something got caught on a reamer and gouged the chamber wall.

It was hard to explain that to the guy at CS who didn't even know what a reamer is
used for, but he finally said to return it, and that it would probably take around four
weeks........it came back in just two weeks.

The work order stated that the barrel had been replaced. I found that hard to
believe, so after cleaning, I shot it once before setting up with the scope. They had
indeed replaced the barrel. Before reloading brass from the first barrel, I decided
to see if they would fit in the new......NO GO! They won't even size in the Forster
full length die. Measured them at the shoulder and they average .007 more than
the spent case from the new chamber! The original chamber had more problems
than realized. I'm hoping this new barrel proves to be much more accurate than the
original. Haven't had the opportunity to get to the range yet.

But thank-you to Ruger. They did what any company should do to make things right!

I had a similar experience with an $1100 Kimber. Of course I was a little more upset because of the price. I expected an $1100 rifle to be right the first time. Kimber made it right, replaced the barrel and it's a great shooter. It's good when companies stand behind their products. I'm a big fan of Ruger as well.

quote:

Kudos to Ruger

I've owned four Rugers.....all of them fatally flawed.....sorry....no kudus from this poster.....

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Kudos to Ruger

I've owned four Rugers.....all of them fatally flawed.....sorry....no kudus from this poster.....

sad -- can't even acknowledge things CAN change --

ah well, at least there's no bolt handles falling off or profound trigger failures inherent in their design..

but, on another level - did you buy any of those rifles NEW and did you try to work with ruger on an unmodified gun?

also, since you have such a huge issue with ruger, I can only assume that you must have had NO TROUBLE AT ALL, EVER with another brand?

I think I only own 2 Rugers at the moment.

This one, I've had for 5 years or so:



Only issue was with the magazine latch not clicking in positive lock to retain the magazine. I fixed that myself.

And this one, that I've had for 40 years or so, that's never given me a moments troubles and still works flawlessly.




I've had other 3 screw and even 2 screw blackhawks and a vaquero, none have had any issues.

quote:

I've had other 3 screw and even 2 screw blackhawks and a vaquero, none have had any issues.

I've owned a Blackhawk and three vaqueros and all of them were fine working firearms.....as a matter of fact they have been the best of all the SAA style revolvers I've owned.

I have owned quit a few Rugers, they were all fine..My favorite factory gun today is the newer mark 2 African, I have owned two 9.3s and two .338s over the last couple of years, love that rifle..

Only rifle I've ever had to returned in my long lifetime was a 223 Kimber, a nice little rifle but wouldn't accept a 223 case, sent it back and it still wouldn't accept a 223 case..I talked to the smith, told him to run the damn reamer all the way in for hells sake!! they told me that wasn't the problem, I sent it back 3 or 4 times before they apoligised for not running the reamer all the way in, it finally accepted the round, fired a factory round in it and the round stuck, broke the bolt handle off getting the round out. Sent it back they fixed it again, and this time it worked fine at last..I was discouraged or rather pissed is more like it, and traded it to a friend of mine, he has had it for a number of years and loves the gun...

I own or have owned enough Ruger firearms that if I owned stock in the company, I could have retired wealthy, just on my purchases alone.

I like their handguns and rifles a lot, but own none of their shotguns.

I have only had one problem with all of the Ruger rifles I've owned, and that was an Alaskan model in 416 Ruger. It (and the three others they sent me as replacements) simply would not feed.

Some may be put off Ruger by that last comment, but I am not. That was one rifle out of many (let's just say less than a hundred). For the money, Rugers are a great buy IMHO.

I am with Ray; the Ruger African is their best effort to date. I've owned Mark Is, Mark IIs, Hawkeyes (standard, Alaskans and Africans) and I am most pleased with the African model. It's a sweet, light, trim hunting rifle. In 9.3x62 and 375 Ruger, it's my idea of a perfect medium bore for Africa.

Having said all of that, I am taking my Dakotas to Africa more these days, but just because I like them too, and they need to be taken on safari. But they weigh more and the stocks are larger. The Rugers actually fit my hands better and weigh less. And they cost a lot less.

We're all different and come in various sizes. What's good for me may be terrible for you. That's life.

I have owned a number of Ruger firearms over the years, one dating from the 1950s; bolt actions, single shots, revolvers and semi-autos. Never had a problem with any of them. Some shot better than others, but they all worked.

Might just be lucky, and I have to say that the newest that I've ever owned was from the early 80s so I can't comment about the new ones.

I believe I have 10 plus Rugers in the house at this time.

The only one I had any trouble with was a Mini 14 that wouldn't group under 8 inches out of the box.

Sent it back they put a new barrel on it now its a 2 inch rifle like the rest to my minis.

It seems I have more Ruger firearms in my safe than any other brand. Three 45 Colt Blackhawks, GP-100 Match Champion, MKII target pistol, LH African in 375R, and a 10/22.

The blackhawks all had cylinders that were undersized so I had to open them up with a reamer so the barrels would stop leading. I need to do the same thing to the Match Champion since it also gets a heavy build up of lead while my S&W 642 does not. The MKII keeps shearing the extractor. I need to send it into Ruger but I just haven't bothered. It has sat in my safe for several years.
The only complaint I have with the African is the finish on the stock could have been applied with a little less dirt added to the wet stain. Other than that it's accurate and cycles and feeds flawlessly.
It seems that I have been reading a lot of quality control issues with Ruger on various forums. Cutting corners to save a buck maybe? Not sure but I have read nothing but good about their customer service.