Ruger Forum

Xman · October 15th, 2012, 06:22 PM

I just bought two of these for my daughters for Christmas. I have heard alot of good reviews so far. I also heard of some of the take down levers breaking.

Has this been fixed? Are people still having this problem? I do not want to give my daughters these guns if it could potentially hurt them. Any insight would greatly be appreciated.

kttemplar · October 15th, 2012, 06:50 PM

Don't worry about the take down lever!!! Have fun shooting the gun!!!!

I have done a lot of research on this gun. I am probably a research-aholic...at least that is what my wife says...none of the take-down lever failures that I have seen mentioned have caused any harm to a person...if the lever fails, the slide pops off and is propelled forward as it would come off when you take the gun apart for cleaning...

If it does happen, then all that has to be done is send the gun back to ruger and they will fix it....

there is also a company that makes a take-down lever that is milled from a solid block of resin instead of cast Twin Tactical ....

this is a comparison of the stock take-down lever on the left and the milled one from Twin Tactical on the right

some people have also put O-rings as a buffer between the slide and the take-down lever (most use a 3/8" OD X 1/4" ID X 1/16" thick)....

Of the numerous guns produced, some have had take-down lever failures, but I would not worry too much about it...

Many people have several thousand rounds through their SR22Ps without any problems at all with the take-down levers (I have 1080 rds through mine)....

gmsoapy · October 15th, 2012, 06:52 PM

Welcome to the forum Xman
I have two SR22's that both have about 2500 rds thru each one with no problems. There were people who have had problems with the take down levers failing. But I haven't seen any no posts lately about any more failures. I know one company has come out with a after market lever that's supposed to be alot stonger than the Ruger one. I don't now how wide spread the problem was. As when on these forums it's a small number of people compaired to how many gun were sold. I know they were very hard to find for awhile. They were going out the gun stores as fast as they came in. Ruger has a very good reputation about recalling guns with problems and there's been no talk of any recall for the SR22's. I feel very safe about shooting mine but I can undertand your concerens when it comes to your children. I'm sure you'll get more posts to your ? from others on the forum. As there's a number of us with SR22's on this forum. Hope this helped you a little. See what I mean while I was typing someone else posted and he was I lot less windy then I. But what he says is correct.

stargeezer · October 15th, 2012, 09:22 PM

Safety is certainly the first time to be concerned over with any gun, but even if the take down lever breaks while firing, I don't see how anything could come off the gun. In every case of broken take down levers I know of (just 1 I personally know) and a couple dozen we've heard of here online, I think in every case the lever broke while opening the lever.

I've got over 2500 through mine now since june without any problem.

There is a issue, if it's a flawed part, a bad design, or some one over powering the thing and snapping it off is hard to say. If Ruger has a product out that has a safety flaw, I feel certain in this day and age they'd be all over a recall - that's just not the case. Liberal Lawyers would LOVE to get this sort of case.

These great guns keep shooting and shooting and those who have a broken lever send it to Ruger for a totally free fix. The 99%+ of us who never break one just shrugg and go back to shooting.

BTW - There's no added o-ring in my SR22 either.

deadduck357 · October 24th, 2012, 05:06 PM

I would worry, I have an early model with approx. 1950 rounds through it without a problem with the take-down lever. Word of advise though, occasionally make sure the barrel bolt is tight (don't over tighten).

Ridley · October 25th, 2012, 03:48 PM

Installed mine today. The stock take down lever on the left in the photo above looks nothing like the one removed from my SR22. Mine had maybe a .003 to .005 deep half moon cutout, that could be from wear and tear. The cutout above is much deeper than mine. Maybe Twin Tactical has a early model pistol? My SR22 was test fired on 8/2012 and has close to 1000 rounds down the pipe.

weblance · October 25th, 2012, 03:58 PM

I ordered the TT takedown lever just simply as insurance. My SR22P is a very early one, with the "SR22 PISTOL" graphic. I dont want to launch that slide into the gravel at the range I shoot at. For $20+shipping, I think its worth it. To the OP. If you are really worried about the failure, get 2 TT levers and replace the stock ones. Potential problem solved.

gmsoapy · October 26th, 2012, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ridley

Installed mine today. The stock take down lever on the left in the photo above looks nothing like the one removed from my SR22. Mine had maybe a .003 to .005 deep half moon cutout, that could be from wear and tear. The cutout above is much deeper than mine. Maybe Twin Tactical has a early model pistol? My SR22 was test fired on 8/2012 and has close to 1000 rounds down the pipe.

Maybe Ruger has already changed the design of the take down lever if your's is different then the the one above.

Ridley · October 27th, 2012, 06:51 AM

gm.....that what I was thinking. Will try to post pic of old take down lever.

Ridley · October 29th, 2012, 06:58 AM

stock take down lever from my SR22

Tiger Ruger · October 29th, 2012, 10:22 AM

I just got my SR22 back for the takedown lever replacement. The pic of the one you have RIDLEY does not look like the one I have in it now it looks in between yours and the Twin Tech. The one replaced looks more like the stock one in their pic and does not have the groove I guess from the impact it has endured over time. So I may give it another chance if it fails again, I will install the Twin Tech.

weblance · October 29th, 2012, 10:27 AM

I installed my TT takedown lever today, and is was an easy install. Watch the video at TTs websight. One comment, it helps to have a brass faced hammer. I only have a plastic faced, and rawhide hammers. When reinstalling the roll pin, the plastic hammer was just burying into the roll pin, so I tried the rawhide mallet and it simply filled the center of the pin with rawhide. I had a nail set that was large enough to surround the outside of the pin, and not spread it open, and I was able to use that until the pin was close to the body of the grip. Then I used the 3/32 punch to drive it home.

eb07 · November 2nd, 2012, 01:44 PM

I had to replace mine as well. 20 bucks... I have issues upgrading factory items to a better aftermarket item, do it all the time.

AquaHull · November 3rd, 2012, 05:23 AM

$20 is what it costs me in gas to drive to the UPS Customer Care Center

Tiger Ruger · November 4th, 2012, 02:14 PM

Got my gun back from Ruger about 2 weeks now. Haven't fired it yet at the range. Today I was bored and had a friend help me out on the replacement of the lever. Relatively easy but a PIA at the same time, being that the pin that hold the frame to the chassis was a bit stubborn. Anyways the stock one is out and the Twin Tech is in . Will just have to see in the next coming weeks how it performs. Since I am back as an employed person again.