Changes in Rugers

[ButlerFord45]

It had been 12-15 years since I have bought a new Ruger but I traded for a new New Model Blackhawk yesterday.  I was pleased that Ruger has been able to keep their prices down in this economy but I think I've found a few of the ways that they've used to save money/cut corners.  The finish reminds me of a coat of bake on paint.  Uberti made on in this flat finish sometime ago, ??Mellinium?? or something like that comes to mind or the USFA Rodeo.  They at least rotated the "letter" to the bottom of the barrel but now the totally empty barrel looks like something's missing, like the Manufacturer and Caliber .  The Maryland internal safety, asanine, to hell with Maryland and California laws.  When NO ONE can buy a firearm in those states, the "silent(indifferent) majority" might get off their ass and repeal both the lawmakers and the laws, but that's a rant and this post isn't ment to be.
Fit is a far cry from being old Ruger.  With just the transfer bar, trigger, trigger pin and base pin installed the trigger pull is 4+oz., folks that's 11 158 grain bullets plus the weight of the pan and anything BUT smooth!  When just hammer, hammer pin, pawl and pawl spring installed, finger pressure on spring and enough on the hand to hold it in the appx. apropriate position when the hump on the back of pawl tries to pass the pawl spring pin it hangs up and you have to apply significant pressure to the hammer to get it to cross.   Loading gate and spring had to have been cut with a hacksaw. The inner contour of the front sight looks like it is different than the outer contour of the barrel. This is about as far as I've gotten and I'm sure there will be more as we progress through the rest of the pistol.  OH! Wait!  PLASTIC GRIPS!  Believe it of not, this is NOT a rant, just objective observations.

[hillbill]

BF, i just picked up my brand new blackhawk today and ill have to agree with ya somewhat.the finish is more of a black than the deep blue of my early 80's blackhawk[that my brother now owns and wont sell back to me for sum reason]. the metal to metal fit is not as good for sure.but still not bad, the trigger is fine for what ill do with it but may invest in some parts later on.the rear sight blade seems thinner but will work.the ejector doesnt work as smooth but prob could be polished up and yea the PLASTIC GRIPS!overall it seems accurate so far and im not sure what other gun id buy that wud be better?its a 45 and so far im thinking the cylinder throats are pretty close on.i didnt have a lot of choice on this gun as it was sent from ruger as a replacement for a gun they couldnt fix and ive only got about 225$ in it.im thinkin it will be fun to tinker with and its my first big bore handgun.

[ButlerFord45]

hillbill, most of the mechanical issues can be taken care of yourself, a lot of patience and a little honeing and polishing I'm sure will help, in fact it already has but much more to go.  I just remembered that I still have the only grips that I made, I think I'll go see if they fit.

[BlkHawk73]

  Sounds like somebody wants Freedom Arms level at Ruger prices.

[ButlerFord45]

They did fit, an improvement over the black plastic I think:

[tacklebury]

Couple cool sources to check out also, if you want wood etc.  Private will also make special order materials if you discuss them with him.  I'm planning on purchasing a set or two later after hunting seasons are over. 

http://www.privatescustomgrips.com/Order_XR3Red_Grips.html

I really love some of the artistry at Esmeralda's too though.  Especially the Celtic knots. 

http://www.esmeralda.cc/rugergrips.htm

[ButlerFord45]

  Sounds like somebody wants Freedom Arms level at Ruger prices.

Nope, not at all.  No complaint, just an observation in the difference in the quality of the finished product that just a few years makes.  Ruger had a choice to make:  Charge considerably more, use lesser quality materials or reduce the amount/quality of finish work.  I'm glad they made the choice they did.  As far as I'm concerned you can keep the Freedom Arms, I have no use for that level quality. All I would wish for would be the quality of an Old Model Ruger without having to pay Freedom Arms prices.

[hillbill]

  Sounds like somebody wants Freedom Arms level at Ruger prices.

Nope, not at all.  No complaint, just an observation in the difference in the quality of the finished product that just a few years makes.  Ruger had a choice to make:  Charge considerably more, use lesser quality materials or reduce the amount/quality of finish work.  I'm glad they made the choice they did.  As far as I'm concerned you can keep the Freedom Arms, I have no use for that level quality. All I would wish for would be the quality of an Old Model Ruger without having to pay Freedom Arms prices.

im exactly with BF here, when yu get older yu remember what things used to be like, like quality of manufacture.i realize what ruger had to do to stay competitive with other gunmakers. if your going to have a hand finished product now, yull have to charge what freedom arms does.all i ask is it go bang, shoot where the sites say it will, be reliable and be somewhat pleaseing to the eye, or my eye anyway.there are still plenty of older rugers on the market and thats where id go if thats what i needed.

[hillbill]

BF, any chance yu could give us a little insight on those grips?ive always wanted to make some but im more of a welder/fabricator type guy. ive worked with wood but im not that precise.what wood did yu start with and what tools did yu use?

[ButlerFord45]

I'm like hillbill, except my welding experience is on old wornout farm equipment that had to be made to work.  I got to where I could weld rust with my old Lincoln buzz box or "write" poetry with the mig.  However, an employe was a part time wood worker and had the tools; plane, scroll saw, belt sander, ect.  There was, at one time, a post on the SASS Wire that was a step-by-step instruction to make your own grips.  I tried two sets for matched Vaqueros, drilled the screw hole in the wrong place on the other set so they never got used.  This set is what's left.  It's Birdseye Maple, the only set like them I ever saw until a couple of years ago.

[flintlock]

Here's a set of Private's Burl Maple grips, on my 50 Anniversary .44 mag...Yep, it's a sorry looking kinda firearm...

[BlkHawk73]

  Sounds like somebody wants Freedom Arms level at Ruger prices.

Nope, not at all.  No complaint, just an observation in the difference in the quality of the finished product that just a few years makes.  Ruger had a choice to make:  Charge considerably more, use lesser quality materials or reduce the amount/quality of finish work.  I'm glad they made the choice they did.  As far as I'm concerned you can keep the Freedom Arms, I have no use for that level quality. All I would wish for would be the quality of an Old Model Ruger without having to pay Freedom Arms prices.

  Very true!  Glad someone understands the business side of it.    Like most everything though, quality and attention to detail has lessened over the years.  With the ease the Ruger's are worked on, such complaints are so easily remedied.   While people would like the quality of old, they simply won't pay what prices would be for that level.  Not everyone that buys a firearm needs, wants or cares if it's Freedom Arms quality so having the extra attention to details would exclude many customers from the purchase.  Those that want those higher levels have many options to do as they wish to attain that higher level.  One side is happy for an affordable, strong firearm, the other side has the same gun available with options.     
  Look at everything else that's gone the same path.

[painted horse]

I have a new 5 1/2in stainless Bisley Blackhawk and I think it's put together very well.  Have not seen a new regular Blackhawk for a few years though.... I think your reasoning makes a lot of sense as to quality issues. I still think you get a lot of handgun for your money with Rugers.

[Autorim]

You can send your factory Ruger to Alan Harton for trigger work -  and cylinder reaming if necessary and you will be very happy with the trigger and action. I also like his custom patridge front sights. You will spend a lot less money than you will for a more finely finished revolver. Finish is cosmetic. I see some difference in the finishing of the chambers in the cylinder, but none in the barrels. .357, .41 mag, .44 Special, .45 LC - Mine all shoot just fine.

[nicholst55]

I recently saw where Ruger handguns were described as 'the best price you can get on a semi-finished kit-gun.'  I realize that mostly what we hear about on Internet forums like this one are people who are dissatisfied with a product, but I am kind of inclined to agree.

One of my last 'new-to-me' handguns that I acquired before I came overseas was a Ruger Redhawk 5.5" stainless .45 Colt.  The internal parts of that gun are downright crude, IMHO.  The SA trigger pull was 7.5 pounds, but it functions every time I pull the trigger.  I broke down and bought a Power Custom sear jig so I could do a (reasonably) professional trigger job on it, since nobody wants to work on Redhawks (as opposed to Super Redhawks).

I didn't get it done before I had to pack everything up to move to Korea, and I couldn't bring it with me.  The final outcome on that one will have to wait until I get back to the States in a couple more years.

My point is that for the price, Ruger handguns are pretty darn good; not in the same league as even a BFR, but nowhere near the same price, either.

[irold]

Might as well throw my 2-cents worth in.......Over the past couple years , I've purchased 4 "new" Rugers.  A SRH in 454 , a SS Bisley Hunter in 44 , a 4" Redhawk in 44 and lets not leave out the P-345 in 45 ACP.  All go bang , and do what they are intended to do.  However , it seems a "luck of the draw" on what type of quality ya get.  The Bisley Blackhawk is a fine looking firearm , fit and finish is super.  Shoots well......trigger pull and action is fair.  Personallty , I am verrry pleased with that handgun.  The 4" Redhawk is another good one.....fit and finish is great.  Trigger pull is awfull !  Seems smooth , its just verrry heavy.  It needs action work to be a good weapon , I just haven't had the extra cash to spend on it yet.  Now we get to the 454 SRH , I had to send it back , it quit going bang !  After getting it back , it has worked great....however it does not have the fit or finish of the other revolvers.  The cylinder and crank seem sloppy upon opening.....The P-345 is a great shooter.  And considering the price of the weapon , I guess fit and finish is as good as I should expect.  But it has a lot of sharp edges , grips are not fitted very well.  But I wouldn't trade it....it shoots 2 and 3 inch grps at 25 yards with my handloads.  After the first mag , it hasn't hiccupped.  Feeds everything I've shuved into it.  Maybe these firearms are manufactured in different plants ??   Maybe a weapon put together on a Wensday is better than one put together on a Monday ?   Who knows ?  I have learned , though , when buying from a gunshop.....sometimes they have more than one to choose from ?  Take a look at several , ya may find the quality varies from box to box.

regards , irold

[gcrank1]

I just traded into a NMBH .357, 50th (just the barrel gold lettering), my first Ruger in 15(?) yrs. or so.
Had A SBH, then 7 1/2 RH when they first came out, and a P-45(?). They never had the eye candy look to me then, or now, except for the case colored frame now, whch for the life of me I cant understand why they didnt use it on the 'premier' 50th. models. Also, the roll stamp used on my 'wonderful lettering' (HA) left a ridge on the off side that they didnt flatten out before bluing.
But, it shoots beautifully, has a nice trigger out of the box, and I do like the steel 'properly sized' grip frame and ejector rod tube.
Oh yeah, and it will last a couple of lifetimes with the cast bullet loads I use.
The foreign made SA revolvers were enticing, lots of pretty guns out there (is this the Golden years?) and all, but they are priced for those features too. Are the Rugers a bargain, I dont know, but they are still made here and Im getting tired of imports that have little or no accountability to our market(s).