Dawgface

Very true BlkHawk, unfortunately. Let me rephrase what I said, "If there is a choice I only buy American".

We do have a choice in firearms thank goodness.

(PS. I drive a '95 Ford Ranger, I'll have to do some serious research when it's time to buy a newer vehicle)

WyoShooter

I would like to pass something on that may work in most gun stores but not all. Before I purchase a gun I ask to field strip it right there in the store and inspect it. I carry my own bore light with me.
I have done this for years and just did it with my new SR 1911 that I bought last Monday and did the same with the new Kimber I bought yesterday. I have never had a store refuse my request. If they do, then I will kindly thank them for their time and walk away.
Some gun stores may say that the gun should be good because it passed a QC at the manufacturer. But of course this thread has proved that wrong more than once and with the same gun.
I was an armorer in the Army so this is just a habit I got into years ago constantly inspecting guns for breaks, blockages and loose parts. It is something everybody should do when buying a new gun and performing maintenance on the guns you already have.
I have never had to send a single gun back to the factory for any issue...ever. Luck? Maybe, but I feel that an initial inspection before I buy any gun has attributed to my luck.

Lee D

and i thought i was the only one who did this
very good advice

GunBlue

Two problems. That's an NFA gun you're holding, if it is registered as a pistol.

Call me a skeptical old detective, but something doesn't pass the sniff test here with this story. A new frame dictates a new serial number, thereby a new firearm. There's a critical step missing here, perhaps several. Ruger must lawfully require your written permission to destroy a serial numbered gun found to be beyond repair, because it is yours, not theirs. You didn't say you authorized such a procedure before the UPS driver pulled up. Secondly, no other gun may ever possess that same issued serial number (it is a unique identifyer), and Ruger cannot send a new firearm without the appropriate FFL transfer. Ruger is a licensed manufacturer; not a licensed dealer, in any case. I know this process, because I've been directly involved in it.

Ruger is extremely sensitive to customer satisfaction in my broad experience with them, and they go all-out to go the extra mile with dissatisfied customers.

Ruger's manufacturing process goes through too many intricate steps involving too many trained eyes to miss a smoothbore barrel. As a factory trained police Ruger armorer, I've witnessed how many people take part in the manufacturing and every person QCs the person before him/her in the assembly/fitting.

If that barrel mics to the groove diameter, and the lands are missing, there are some serious questions as to who did it, as Ruger certainly didn't.

I'm having a hard time swallowing this one and if the intent is to do some muscle flexing with this talk to make Ruger cry uncle and it turns out to be bogus, there are criminal penalties attached to false statements regarding illegal firearms. Even if your story is true, your language amounts to unlawful coercion in most if not all jurisdictions. We're not talking about a bad can of soup. At the very least, possession of that barrel is an ATF violation, and must be reported to the nearest agent and to Ruger at once for full investigation.

My professional police observation is that everyone in this thread is satisfying the requirements needed to be subpoenaed as a witness if this is a reportable matter, and I strongly suggest everyone maintain a copy of all transcripts that they penned, for their protection later, as they could be called to testify with them. My obvious suggestion is that everyone clear the scene and go home, as anything they say at this point could make them part of a conspiracy to falsely accuse Ruger, with both civil and criminal implications.

john16443

@GunBlue:

Hopefully you took a look at the referenced thread I posted at the beginning of this discussion. Different Kind of Barrel Peening??
This is what caused me to send my SR9 to Ruger for service.

I can't fault you for your skepticism regarding a replacement frame, trust me, I was just as skeptical that this could be done when I had multiple telephone and email conversations with Susan Maxwell, supervisor of Ruger customer service in Prescott. I have full and complete documentation dating back to July of 2010 when I first contacted Ruger about the frame chips. This documentation trail continued in early 2012 when my SR9 was sent to ruger for repair, returned with a smooth barrel, and immediately returned to Ruger for barrel replacement (twice).

I am NOT in possession of an illegal handgun at this time, however, during the 2 day period that the smooth barreled SR9 was in my possession (time from receipt to return to Ruger) I'd agree that the SR9 was in an illegal configuration. That is why it was immediately returned for correction.

A replacement frame does not require a new serial number. As a matter of fact, when Ruger told me they would have to replace the frame in 2010, I asked if it could be replaced with a black frame instead of the original OD green frame that I purchased, and with a new D shaped mag release. Ruger said that it would not be legal to change the frame color, as the configuration of the gun by model number registered to me in CA specifies it as a particular frame and barrel style, and that the replacement would have to be provided in that same configuration. If you look at the SR9 information on Ruger.com you will see that each has a different model number, and only certain model numbers are legal in CA. What I got back was an OD green SR9 that was completely new inside and out, and it had the D shaped mag release button. The serial number of the returned SR9 remained the same just as they said it would.

Trust me, Ruger has apologized profusely to me over this situation, I called them on the carpet regarding this in March/April of this year. I agree that their manufacturing processes go through many intricate steps and checks, but repairs don't go through these same processes and checks because the repairs are under the sole control of the technicain assigned to the repair work order. The repairs are totally separate from new production. I called it a comedy of errors in my correspndance, and Ruger agreed.

Both barrels that I photographed in post #1 and post #101 are in the 'as received from Ruger' condition. I didn't mic the smooth barrel because I wanted it out of my hands as quickly as possible because I knew it wasn't legal. There's been no muscle flexing, boasting, bragging or anything else like that on my part in this thread. My posts and all my information in them reflects the actual conditions of my SR9 earlier this year. It is what it is and speaks for itself. I have fully and completely documented this string of events from July 2010 to the present and am confident it would sustain the scrutiny in a court of law.

That said, I remain completely satisfied with my SR9 and continue to shoot it weekly. I've been evaluating replacements for it, but every contender I've tried at the range (SIG 226, Springfield XD9 5", SIG SP2022, Berreta 92fs) has fallen short of my SR9 in the areas important to me. Only my recently purchased used CZ75B appears to be able to outperform the SR9.