I spoke with my local/retired gunsmith and he went over the various basic things to check. He is unfamiliar with the new Hawkeye, but seems to think that I may have gotten a mismatched follower. Can anyone please give min and max width, length? Thanks


Anyone have recent experience getting Ruger to repair/replace rifles which have been modified?

l just picked up a new African in 375 Ruger. Love it except for the fact that it won't feed factory Hornady and it is gouging the s**t out of the brass. I was going to send it to John Farner for some bedding and an extra crossbolt before I discovered this. I judiciously polished the ramp, and undersurface of the rails by hand with 600 paper being super careful to not change the geometry-wanted to see if it helped the brass scoring. Nothing and I don't think it is just one component either, rather the entire mag box, rail, follower geometry looks iffy.
I don't know whether to send to John or back to Ruger. Will they fix this now that the ramp is polished even though it was a mess to start with? I really want to like this rifle as it is so trim and quick. There is no way this ever should have left the factory.
Thanks for any input,
Bill

Return it to Ruger......you modification with 600 grit paper is nothing.....you didn't remove more than an angstrom of metal.

Let us know how it turns out.

+1 send it to Ruger.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
Return it to Ruger......you modification with 600 grit paper is nothing.....you didn't remove more than an angstrom of metal.

Yeah, I certainly know my limitations and essentially just took the blueing off hoping there were some burrs. The bolt head is only catching about a 1/16th" of the case head, frequently popping over the round if the bolt is cycled quickly. When it does pick up a cartridge off the right, it seems to jam it in the 10 o'clock position of the chamber. The round will chamber but there is an audible grating noise as it shears copper and brass off the side. Cycling the bolt it will eject fine. The second round coming off the left doesn't snap into place under the extractor as reliably. It seems as if the left hand rail is too narrow-if I apply gentle pressure to the round (particularly from the shoulder to bullet) it will pop up. I imagine it would do the same with a hard jarring of the stock. Ditto for the second and third rounds not wanting to chamber smoothly (although those from the right seem to have the most trouble. Before I polished the feed ramp, there was a lot of copper ground into the ramp. The brass looks horrible-after a few cycles there are deep vertical scratches running the full length of the bullet and brass--there are so many I can't pinpoint a culprit. [Picture shaving with a pen knife and hard pressure]. The chamber and breech are dirty with the shavings. Under light and the feel of my finger I couldn't appreciate any rough spots in the chamber.

I just hope I get someone with some common sense that will honor a replacement or miraculous repair. Have read in the last couple hours as many stories of people having to go through long uphill battles with Ruger's customer service as good outcomes. . . .

vagrouser:
Several years ago I had one of the first RSM's in 416 Rigby. Would not feed worth a damn. I had put a recoil pad on it and put an exotic wood forend tip on it. The rep at Ruger who I talked to told me that was the cause of the feeding problems and that they would work on it only after I bought a new stock..approx. $400 or so if I remember correctly. I asked if I just sent the barreled action in and her reply was that was fine, but they would still put a new stock on it and charge me for it.
That was several years ago and they may have changed in present time, but I would sure call before I did anything. Good luck.

Had, have, RSM's and the 458Lott developed a crack in the web of stock front of trigger and upon speaking with Ruger, was told to return for replacement. Person in service department told me not to repair myself for if any mods were done to the rifle by owner, warranty was voided, period. I followed the advise and it took about 3 weeks, but stock was replaced with a much nicer one than original. Price for stock was then some 700.00 if I had to buy one.
As to your feed problem, by you polishing ramp, etc., you are most likely going to be rejected by the first level of the Service Dep't, but if that is the case, ask for opportunity to speak with higher authority and may well get some consideration.

I won't be able to call Ruger until Monday but I am beginning to understand why people are so vocal in their dislike of this company.
Will update as I learn more.
Bill

vagrouser,did you check the magazine box to see if it is not out of place? Did you tighten the action screw passed 65lbs and check if it does not unscrew? All of my Rugers where tight in the very begining making feeding rough.They smooth out very well after dry firing or shooting.The cast action may be a good thing in that it does not wear down.I don't understand why it would not feed since the actions should not vary in tolerances.The front action screw is very important.Once it is set really tight and locked in place,the rifle works extremely well.Tightening this screw with an ordinary screw driver can be the cause of the issue.

most of the jerkwad replies from ruger are pre-ruger corp management-- that is, under bill and family ...

now, they have a stated policy of returning guns to stock, if sent with modified parts.

if it doesn't feed, take it apart, make certain mag and spring are in correctly, and try again. then send to ruger ...

I just returned that same rifle to Ruger although mine is a 223. I had a gap with the floorplate that was excessive. First time I did the email thing and got parts that did not correct the problem. I then talked to someone in service who was courteous, arranged a pickup at my dealer, fixed it and had it back in two weeks. I thought they did a great job!

LJS (and others)
Do you happen to have the name and contact info for that person (or someone else helpful)?
Thanks

I just called the customer service number and waited till I got a human. I only had his first name which I can't remember. He got my dealer info and sent the dealer a box with UPS payment on it. A work order number is assigned to it and everything works from that.

Thanks LJS,
Anyone able to pull the dimensions off the follower from a Ruger 375 Hawkeye (that feeds)?
Thanks

Mine are:
front (narrowest part): 0.660"
rear (widest): 0.838"
length: 3.223"

I sent my Ruger 416 back to the service department as the rifle would not eject the spent rounds when working the bolt as one usually would.

I had purchased the rifle in 1998 and had replaced the trigger with a Timeney Kit and replaced the rubber butt pad with a Kick Eze pad. Oh, I also jeweled the bolt.

Upon receipt of my rifle, I got a call from Ruger that they would not repair my rifle with the non stock Ruger trigger. The lady said that they would have to replace the non stock parts and they would return them to me. No mention was made about replacing the recoil pad or the jeweling on the bolt.

Hell, I was pissed at my self for sending the rifle to them with the Timeney trigger as I still had the stock trigger. I began to think that I would have a 200.00 replacement trigger, but I was stuck with the deal.

I got the rifle back in a couple of weeks with my trigger parts and a new trigger from Ruger, but no invoice. I waited a couple of days and still no invoice. I called and gave them my repair number and they told me that there was no charge for the replacement parts to fix the rifle or the stock trigger. By the way, the replacement trigger has the same pull weight as the Timeney that I had on it and no creep and over travel. I cannot say enough good words about my experience with Ruger Repair/Warranty.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by vapodog:
Return it to Ruger......you modification with 600 grit paper is nothing.....you didn't remove more than an angstrom of metal.

Vapo: How much is an angstrom?

Jim

1 angstrom = 3.93700787 × 10-9 inch

I think that he took a little more than an angstrom off myself, but who knows

To update everyone, Ruger paid for shipping from my local shop and after having it in their possession for about 3 weeks informed me that they were going to be replacing the rifle. Unfortunately the matte finish (which I preferred) is not being manufactured any longer so I will be receiving the same rifle in their "satin blue" by the end of this month. I asked if I could have them send me the new 9.3x62 in lieu of the 375 Ruger which they agreed to do, but after a day changed my mind and told them I'd stick with the 375. Should have it by the end of this month and couldn't have asked for better customer service from their New Hampshire facility.

Awesome to hear about great customer service. I have heard good things about ruger in the past, glad to see it holds true still.

Red

I will add my 2 cents worth.
About 20 years ago, I bought a used #1 45-70 that looked unfired. I took it to the range and it consistently put 3 of 5 rounds on a Leupold sight in target with the factory iron sights.
I would suspect that it was shooting 24" groups.
After the second trip like that I pushed a soft lead slug through the bore and found a tight spot at the sling band and at the front sight band.
I sent it back and Ruger replaced the barrel free of charge and sent it back with a nice test target.