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UPDATE: SASS Ruger Vaquero Initial Disappointment


Marshal El Malo

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Afternoon pards, hope all is well with everyone.  I will preface this post by saying that through the years I have owned dozens of Ruger Single Actions.  My expectation with Rugers are that they are a good workmans gun, and I do not expect show quality.

 

However, I have never received a firearm in such poor condition as this consecutive pair I picked up from my FFL today.  I took the transfer as I had ordered from another shop out of state as brand new and they shipped it to my FFL.  The out of state shop actually had to order this from the distributor and only had possession for a few hours.

 

See the attached images.  There are actual gouges on the back strap.  Tooling marks EVERYWHERE.  Most Rugers I've received have been pretty oily from packaging.  These are almost bone dry and DIRTY.  

 

The action feels like gravel in both.  Both guns have the same gouges and tool marks.  I suppose I expected a bit better.  I will be contacting them about these isssues.  I know these guns will get dinged up as they are dedicated to the game, but is it silly that I wanted to be the one to ding them up? :-D

vaquero 2 tooling marks.jpg

vaquero dirty AF.jpg

vaquero tooling marks.jpg

in box.jpg

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At first glance I thought that they had pits in the frame castings, but after magnification it appears to be buffing compound. The polishing job is definitely very poor. I would be sending Ruger an e-mail with pics conveying my disappointment.

I would hope they will send a tag to do a better polish job with a quick turnaround and maybe a t-shirt for your inconvenience.

 

MTC

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3 minutes ago, Phantom, SASS #54973 said:

If those are new...

 

Had they come into my shop we would have sent them back to the distributor and had them send us another set.

 

PS: All SASS Vaquero set are consecutive numbered.

 

Yes, definitely new.  I have the tracking number from the distributor to the shop and from that shop to mine.

 

3 minutes ago, M.T Chambers, SASS#76185 said:

I'd bet those marks on the backstrap are from the buffers arbor

 

My thoughts at the moment, too.  There is also a raised edge on the non-loading side that is quite sharp where the pins are.

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1 hour ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Just don't understand why you didn't put your eyes on'em before the paper work was done?:huh:

As a former FFL, I would have removed the guns from the plastic bags to confirm serial numbers.

OLG

He said the transferring FFL was not the FFL that purchased them from distribution.

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1 hour ago, Marshal El Malo said:

 

Yes, definitely new.  I have the tracking number from the distributor to the shop and from that shop to mine.

 

 

My thoughts at the moment, too.  There is also a raised edge on the non-loading side that is quite sharp where the pins are.

Then just them back to Ruger.

 

Like others have said, they'll make them right. 

 

And I would say something ain't kosher with the history of the guns.

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2 minutes ago, Phantom, SASS #54973 said:

He said the transferring FFL was not the FFL that purchased them from distribution.

 

This. I didn’t want my transferring FFL to have to deal with it. 

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1 minute ago, Marshal El Malo said:

 

This. I didn’t want my transferring FFL to have to deal with it. 

Did you see these marks when you did the paperwork(4473 etc)?

Sure as heck got past final QC at Ruger. :(

OLG

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Hate to say it but it's not exclusive to the SASS Vaqueros. I bought some Talo Rugers for my son and it was virtually the same story. The good news is they cleaned up well and slicked up very nicely and have been great guns but the amount of buffing compound that was on and inside the guns was laughable. I have known two people that work/worked for Ruger and they said that the amount of temp. help they use is amazing. They also both stated that the expectations for getting guns out in "x"  amount of time was basically unrealistic while having any expectations for quality control. Still love Ruger and I am ok with dealing with some of the smaller issues. I transfer quite a few guns (actually the bulk of my business) I give zero consideration to inspection other than confirming the serial number. If you buy the gun from me directly I will bend over backwards to make sure it's right, hazards of doing business online. Clean em up and put some springs in them and shoot them. You'll forget about the dings after you put a couple dozen in them or at least it won't sting as much. 

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Thanks fellas this was therapeutic :lol:

 

I work in manufacturing so I get it. I spoke with them and they will make it right but I definitely received a beer-thirty on Friday set of pistols. 

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8 minutes ago, Phantom, SASS #54973 said:

Then just them back to Ruger.

 

Like others have said, they'll make them right. 

 

And I would say something ain't kosher with the history of the guns.

A good friend and smith I know who goes through a ton Rugers selling as match ready packages returned a pair a few years ago for some pretty major issues before starting work on them. He is very OCD and numbers stick in his head. A year later he received another batch of guns from a different distributor, The numbers stuck out to him on one pair and he confirmed in his log book that they were the very same pair and had made it way back to him a year later still with the same issues that he encountered before. He confirmed with the original distributor that they had returned them to Ruger..........now that's pretty crazy. 

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Just now, Marshal El Malo said:

Thanks fellas this was therapeutic :lol:

 

I work in manufacturing so I get it. I spoke with them and they will make it right but I definitely received a beer-thirty on Friday set of pistols. 

Hopefully they are sending you prepaid shipping labels. 

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1 hour ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

my first thought was they weren't new but don't see the ring around the cylinder so guess I was wrong (not the first time)

 

Someone in QC was asleep at a minimun on them

Look closer

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13 minutes ago, Phantom, SASS #54973 said:

Look closer

You are definitely correct. Were noticeable turn rings on both. Not overly worried if that were the only thing. With all the different things....some definite red flags with this set. 

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I've bought 3 pair of stainless Bisley Ruger NMVs.  Every one had polishing compound in all the nooks and crannies. No significant blemishes, but they all looked like they'd been through a match or two.  I declined to take possession of the first couple, thinking they had been used, but the replacements were no better, so I just gave up at that point and cleaned them all up myself.  I'm a huge Ruger fan, and none of my other Rugers arrived like this. But none of them were polished stainless either.  

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I had a similar experience with a new pair of consecutively numbered NMVs a few years back.  One was fine, but the second looked like it had been assembled by a "drunk monkey".  It had many tooling marks and other blemishes.  It also had a large casting deficit on the cylinder near the hole for the cylinder pin.

 

I sent it back to Ruger.  They sent it back quickly and it is the nicest Ruger I have ever owned.  It was cosmetically perfect, the cylinder had been replaced, and it felt like it had a top level action job.

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I can tell you the double actions are not any better.  Ruger has some serious issues with fit and finish these days.

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19 hours ago, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

my first thought was they weren't new but don't see the ring around the cylinder so guess I was wrong (not the first time)

 

Someone in QC was asleep at a minimun on them

 

19 hours ago, Phantom, SASS #54973 said:

Look closer

 

18 hours ago, Marshal El Malo said:

You are definitely correct. Were noticeable turn rings on both. Not overly worried if that were the only thing. With all the different things....some definite red flags with this set. 

 

A brand new pair from Ruger would typically have the yellow protective plastic disk between the cylinder and recoil shield.

 

image.thumb.png.fd756e1da87d4fd5056c9f52f2995d95.png

 

Definitely something odd about this pair, if advertised as new!

 

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I've concluded all new guns are just assembled kits.  I've seen a few Rugers that I would consider giving a passing grade on fit and finish and these have been ones reworked by Turnbull or some other upgrader. 

 

20160816_121501_zps1jgno8d4.jpg.2ff318a3c4caa61215e77fc7aadf7d87.jpg

 

I bought this pair.  Both were used but like new with boxes and papers at two different gun shops.  Areas were polished on one gun that were not polished on the other.  For example,  the sides of the hammer on one gun was polished and the other was left as cast. Other areas were not the same.  The grip fit was awful. 

 

The one new gun of recent years to be fine right out of the box has been the CZ-USA Hammer Coach Gun - after some breaking in cycling and shooting. 

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2 hours ago, The Rainmaker, SASS #11631 said:

Sad to see the quality from America's largest Cowboy handgun mfr. dip to these levels.

I've sold a lot of Ruger firearms... Still consider them one of the top two customer service companies out there (Leupold is still number 1). I hate to admit it, but their QC had been less than stellar for the last coupler of years.

 

:(

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I have my doubts that these were actually brand new, from the factory.  There is more to the back story on this pair than what we know. IMHO

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8 minutes ago, Dutch Wheeler said:

I have my doubts that these were actually brand new, from the factory.  There is more to the back story on this pair than what we know. IMHO

 

Confirmed from Ruger shipped Feb 2019. Brand new. 

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