Ruger SP101 .327 Magnum Barrel Problem

[donmega334]

Hey all. Had a great day at the range yesterday at Gilbert Small Arms Range in Lorton, VA until I came home to clean my guns.

I put 18 rounds through my Ruger SP101 .327 Federal Magnum and after that my buddy fired off about 24 or so. He put the gun back in my case and after firing the rest of the guns we brought we went home. While cleaning it today i noticed the barrel turned about 1/16 of an inch counter clockwise. Has anyone seen this? It was suggested to me by a relative the barrel got hot and the bullets going through turned it. Looking for some advice, whether or not it needs to go to Ruger or is it a simple fix? Thanks guys.

Oh yeah it's only 2 months old it has only had about 150 of the Federal .327 Federal Magnum Factory rounds through it and about 50 of .32 S&W long.

 

[joppaj]

Personally, and I am no expert, I would contact Ruger customer service in the morning. I've run boxes of .357 through my SP and never seen anything like that.

 

[moaboesboom]

Hey all. Had a great day at the range yesterday at Gilbert Small Arms Range in Lorton, VA until I came home to clean my guns.

Your problem is becoming more common with the Ruger SPs. Here's a link that others were having with their SPs to better explain and some advice about what to do. Generally, it looks like you'll have to send it back.

Good luck with your Ruger. I have the 101 .357 with a 2 1/4" barrel and I love it. Plus... the barrel is straight.

 

[AKbythebay]

What the hell. I've never seen that before. I have the same gun for like 15 years and have had zero problem. Call Ruger immediately and send them these pictures. This is not acceptable for a quality gun like this.

 

[mikec]

The other day I was in a shop and a customer had brought in their GP100 and someone noticed that the barrel was just slightly off, not as bad as yours. (the gun had another issue, that is why the owner brought it in.) Since the gun was rather new, the shop and the gun owner agreed that the gun should go back to Ruger. The shop logged the gun in and was going to ship the gun for the customer.

Let's hope that Ruger's QC has not slipped and that this gun and the one I saw were just aberrations and not the norm.

 

[smokering]

If you go to Ruger forums and read you will see that there have been more reported QC issues as of late. I believe I was the customer mikec was referring to above and I was having a issus with the cylinder binding on a 3 week old GP 100 with less than 100 rounds through it. It was noticed that the barrel was twisted a few mm to the right (not noticable by eye unless trained), but also the cylinder headspace was almost non-existant as well as a couple other things.

 

[joppaj]

As a resident Ruger fanboy, I'll be interested to see how this turns out.

 

[donmega334]

Thanks for the advice. I'll be giving Ruger a call today and will be sure to post and keep yall updated.

 

[3rdRcn]

I think Ruger might be stepping up production too much for the current demand at the sacrifice of QA. I have been extremely cautious lately as many gun manufacturers are very backordered and they are going to try to make hay while the sun shines so to speak. Current economy dictates that they need to take advantage of the situation and just send them out, let the warranty folks handle the ones that come back seems to be the thought process.

Who woulda thought that a Ruger revolver would be hard to get, yet they are. I heard they are backordered by the tens of thousands and when that happens something has to give and I think in most cases it will be QA. I have heard good things about Rugers customer service though so I think you guys will be good to go.

 

[donmega334]

Just got off the phone with Ruger service department. They said this should not have happened, of course. it shouldn't have, lol. They will arrange a Fedex Pickup to fix my gun. Only downside is 4 - 6 weeks to repair.

 

[mikec]

Just got off the phone with Ruger service department. They said this should not have happened, of course. it shouldn't have, lol. They will arrange a Fedex Pickup to fix my gun. Only downside is 4 - 6 weeks to repair.

One thing, if there is any aftermarket parts on the gun, new grips for example, remove them and install the factory parts. Ruger will uninstall any non factory items and from what I have heard, not return them.

They will return a stock factory gun to you.

 

[ArmyDV]

Just got off the phone with Ruger service department. They said this should not have happened, of course. it shouldn't have, lol. They will arrange a Fedex Pickup to fix my gun. Only downside is 4 - 6 weeks to repair.

Does this have to go thru an FFL? or can Fedex pickup and deliver straight to you since this is your handgun?

 

[mikec]

For a repair, or if you want to send a gun for customizing as well, you can ship and receive the gun without a FFL being involved. You can't use the Post Office, just FedEx or UPS. Only FFL's, after they fill out a form, can send gun via USPS.

 

[Dst]

Just got off the phone with Ruger service department. They said this should not have happened, of course. it shouldn't have, lol. They will arrange a Fedex Pickup to fix my gun. Only downside is 4 - 6 weeks to repair.

But you aren't footing the bill? If so, to Ruger for doing the right thing. You should never have to send a gun back to the factory, but when it happens it's a good feeling when the company takes responsibility for it.

 

[donmega334]

Thats right, this will not be costing me any money. People/Companies will make mistakes and its all about how they handle them. I'll post when I find out what they do to fix it.

 

[joppaj]

Thats right, this will not be costing me any money. People/Companies will make mistakes and its all about how they handle them. I'll post when I find out what they do to fix it.

They handled some surface rust on my stainless Super Blackhawk. Top notch customer service in my experience. Keep us posted how it goes.

 

[smores]

That sucks, hopefully the 4-6 week time frame is an "underpromise" and you'll have it back sooner. Maybe you'll get a hat or t-shirt out of it too!

 

[donmega334]

That sucks, hopefully the 4-6 week time frame is an "underpromise" and you'll have it back sooner. Maybe you'll get a hat or t-shirt out of it too!

I hope to have it back sooner than a month and a half too. With the price of .327 I should ask for a couple of boxes of ammo. Might be pressing it though, haha

 

[smokering]

I hope to have it back sooner than a month and a half too. With the price of .327 I should ask for a couple of boxes of ammo. Might be pressing it though, haha

Does Ruger make ammo?

 

[donmega334]

Does Ruger make ammo?

Nope, i was just hoping they had cases of it laying around the factory, ready to send off to customers as goodwill for their defective products.