TyeKolb

Bought a used, but great condition red label at a gumshow just a couple of months ago. Got to take it out Saturday for opening day of dove season here in west Texas. Was pretty exieted to get out there and try my shotgun out. I figured that it being a ruger, would work perfectly like my bolt action m77's, but boy was I wrong.

First dove flys over for the morning, boom! boom!....both barrels fired with one trigger pull. I go to eject the fired shells, they are jammed in the barrel and won't pop out. I got a arrow out of the truck and knocked them out.

Try it again, gun does the same thing. Again, and again, both barrels fire, and shells won't eject.

Next day I take the gun out again and try different ammo. Winchesters, Estates, Remington heavy dove loads, brass and aluminum shells, they all still stick in chamber. I cleaned the gun real good and it still happens.


It just sucks because this is the first time I ever spent a good chunk of change on a shotgun ($900) and I'm dealing with this crap. Gun was made in the early 90's and I guess the reason it's still in perfect cosmetic shape is because the previous owner couldn't get it to work right either.

It's labor day today and opening weekend and I'm stuck using my trusty 870 wingmaster while my red label is out of commission. Money is tight an I probably can't afford a high gunsmithing fee at the moment.


Any chance ruger will make good on this? How do I ship the firearm back to them? Do I send it off from a FFL gunshop? Or can I just simply drop it off at post office after I contact Ruger? Thanks in advance for any advice or help.

terry_p

I'm sure you eliminated the obvious on the tight chambers like a good cleaning and ironically with me it is the 870 supermag that has the tight chambers. It will cycle brass headed shells but the steel case heads don't contract enough to cycle easily (I'm talking hitting the butt on the ground while holding the slide). If you are using brass head shells (like a win AA) then the chambers will have to be opened up some.

As to double firing they have a touchy trigger and the recoil can cause you to pull the trigger the second time if you aren't paying attention. I have had that happen to me 3 times in about 6,000 shells of claybird shooting. With a little hotter load that is a distinct possibility. It also could be the previous owner was an amature gunsmith and decided to lighten the trigger in which case it may require some work to get it back to acceptable standards.

See if Ruger will send you a shipping label so they can evaluate it.

heymatthew

While I don't know how to tell you to fix your specific problem, I can relay some good thoughts about Ruger and the Red Label. A fellow club member at the place I shoot has a Ruger Red Label. About 3 months ago he was shooting it and the stock of the gun split laterally (parallel to the direction of the barrels, along the woodgrain). He sent it to Ruger and, on their dime, they removed the split stock and also the fore end (although it wasn't messed up) and rebuilt his gun with new wood so that both parts would match.

I'm sure Ruger will take good care of your Red Label. Definitely give them a call tomorrow.

bwinters

The gun doubling is why all my double barrel guns are also double trigger guns.

Smithy

I've owned a number of Red Label's over the years including their short run'd All Stainless Model with every piece being made of stainless barrels included and a synthetic stock. I've never had doubling as you describe or difficult extraction with a number of factory and reloaded shells.

My first question (or suspect) is did the former owner do some home brew smithing? He might have tried to polish the chambers and only scored them with an incorrect tool? Also if enough coils were cut from the trigger spring, the recoil of the first shot (of course with your finger still on the trigger) would be enough to cap off the second barrel. I've seen this before in single triggered guns and light springs. To you it would sound as if both barrels were going off at the same time with only one pull of the trigger when in actuality it's two successive shots extremely close together caused by a light trigger and recoil.

The only way to deal with this is to send it to Ruger describing you findings and have them put it straight. Ruger would NOT want any of their shotguns to double, so YES they will put it right. Then if you want the chambers polished take it to a pro and have it done right. Of all of my Red Label's I've owned the only thing I ever did was to pigeon port the all stainless one. And the rest included worked great for me out of the box. Smithy.

TyeKolb

The gun does not appear to be modified in any way. When the shells wouldn't extract the first thing I assumed was a dirty chamber. I cleaned it well and it still happens.

The gun double fires, I'm positive I'm not pulling the trigger twice. There is something internally wrong with this shotgun.

But back to the chambers. I tried sticking a fired shell casing back into the chamber and it still sticks even with the ejectors pushing back on it.

Could this mean the extractors are too weak? They don't feel weak when I press them down with my thumb. Or if the chamber is too tight, is that something Ruger will fix?

Either way, with the red label being discontinued I am worried Ruger will not be able to fix the gun since on their website it says that parts are limited.

Hans13

Just to be sure, remove all of the powder and shot from two shells and just see if she fires both of the primers.

terry_p

The best way to find out is give them a call. If they can I'm sure they will fix it.

As I said my doubling was operator error as I was shooting doubles in skeet. I broke both birds when it happened to me (at least 2 of the 3 times) so I just opened it up and reloaded for the next 2. Guys had their mouth open and I just said hey I didn't want to waste time.

Smithy

Just another pitch on this thought as I've owned guns like this and have seen other's in the skeet field that had guns with this condition and that is too light a trigger causing it to double. You really can't tell if you're pulling the trigger a second time or not as it happens too quickly. Think about it, in say a semi auto pistol: You don't just lightly pull the trigger until it discharges and immediately remove pressure off the trigger. No, you pull the trigger all the way back. After the shot fires, then you take pressure off the trigger to allow a reapplication of pressure to fire the next round. This is the idea behind and reason that those slam fire stocks work and for all intents and purposes look like a full auto.



Here was an example for you. To be Federally legal only one round can be expelled for each pull of the trigger. Do you think that you could pull a trigger that fast? Of course not. It's the recoil of the gun doing the work for you. Too light a trigger and it'll double on you every time. Smithy.

TyeKolb

It's possible I guess, but either way it's getting sent back to Ruger. Hopefully tomorrow.

I really like this gun and I hope it's fixable. We will see I guess. I'll report back afterwards.

Waveform

I expect Ruger will not hesitate to make this right for you. I know it's disappointing to have a problem with a new-to-you gun but my experience with Ruger CS has been great. Your Red Label is around 20 years old and O/U shotguns with selective single triggers are pretty complex inside. I have several Red Labels and one is a used one made in the 80s I picked up earlier this year for the right price. I used 2 snap cap/dummy loads to check the ejector and extractor action at the gun shop prior to purchase since problems do exist and it's pretty hard to tell if things are working correctly or not without dummy loads or being allowed to shoot it first. I realize that advice comes too late for you now but I mention it to make the point that these issues, though not common, do happen. The reason O/U shotguns are so expensive is in part due to the complication of the action. Give Ruger a call when they open up and I'm sure they'll take good care of you and your Red Label. And let us know how things turn out.

blbolin

Send it back to Ruger...end of problem. If there is a charge it will probably be less than neighborhood gunsmith and they will get it fixed much faster. I know its stinks but mechanical things sometimes break and its like going to the dentist, things hurt worse before they are fixed.

TyeKolb

Well I got it shipped. Called today and spoke with CS and they said a tech was currently looking at it. We'll see. Will keep y'all informed.

Crusty Deary Old Coot

Looking forward to hearing what has happened. Hope they tell you so you can pass it on.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

TyeKolb

Ruger called today and informed me that the gun has been repaired. They also informed me that they are reblueing the barrel also, which is great. They said the gun will be shipped back to me after the reblueing process is done.

So all is good so far. Will report back after the shotgun gets here.