Ruger Super Blackhawk

Matt N.

Matt N.

New member
Well a while back I bought a new stainless Ruger Super Blackhawk and it shot about 2 feet high at 25 yards. Of course I sent it back to Ruger. Their cheap fix was to put a ridiculously large front sight on it. It looked like it had a sail mounted to the end of the barrel so I sent it back, 5 times. They obviously did not want to address the problem just address the symptom (cheaply) by replacing the front sight. Finally Ruger decides to send me a new one. Well I look at the "new" one and it has a lot of copper in the bore. As I clean the copper I notice a significant amount of copper build up that I am having difficulty removing at the very front of the barrel (closest to the cylinder), and the barrel is very rough. With some of the copper removed I looked down the barrel and saw a thousand copper rings around the inside of the barrel. After much cleaning there is still the copper ring at the front of the barrel and some in the barrel. I bought this to shoot cast lead. Did I get another dud?
 
How does the new one shoot? I don't get too worked up over copper fouling if a firearm shoots well.

Had my first sbh for over 15 yrs now, a few others since. Haven't had one not shoot for me:

RugerSBH_zps209712ba.jpg


EDIT: For the record, that's a limbsaver bow insulator stuck to the backstrap. With the loads I push sometimes, that slick steel backstrap sticking out of the hogue grips can be 1) slick, and 2) dam hard. The bow-grip insulator helps the backstrap stick into my palm, locks into the crease of my hand really well, and provides some extra cushion. Really helps me maintain my sight/scope picture for follow up shots if needed.
 
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Based on personal experience with another firearm manufacturer, Ruger has probably done all that they're going to do on their dime. I had a 9mm auto pistol on which first the sear broke, and then the slide cracked. The manufacturer replaced the sear and did a trigger job on the gun the first time with no hesitation. They reluctantly replaced the pistol the second time, and boy was the replacement pistol a dog! I would have been far, far ahead to have had them replace the slide.

In the OP's position, I think I'd first try to get Ruger to rebarrel the gun. If that failed, I would sell that SBH and either buy another one, or go with a different brand of gun. Or rebarrel the existing gun or my dime.

I have a totally unsubstantiated theory that the guns the manufacturers use for test firing are dogs that were rejected for whatever reason. When they are compelled to replace a gun for whatever reason, they send one of the test-firing dogs. Just MHO, and based solely on my personal experience.
 
Ya can never base what one manufacture will do based on experience from another. Never, ever.

I had to use Ruger's service dept. once, my fault. They fixed the problem, tested it, failed it and sent me a new gun that was light years better than the original one. Fixed sights properly regulated and more accurate too boot. Personally I've never seen copper fouling. Sure I've had some green patches come out but I can't imagine what ever would be wrong to actually see the copper. I've never even heard of visible copper fouling before.
 
By closest to the cylinder do you mean where the barrel screws through the frame? It is very common in Rugers that this part of the barrel gets pinched a little where the barrel threads into the frame.
I would slug the barrel, you can use a lead egg sinker they are oval with a hole running through for the line they work vary good for slugging the bore.
Start at the muzzle push it down a couple of inches then back out then slug it again and push it all the way through then mic them, when you push the second one through you will probably feel any tight spot.
Veral Smith sell a lapping kit that many people have used open this area up try doing a search on cast boolits or GrayBeard outdoors
 
I have not shot the gun yet. I actually bought the gun to shoot cast lead bullets. I was going to slug the bore when I noticed it was heavily copper fouled. I figured I should remove the copper prior to slugging it. That is when I noticed that the bore looked so rough.
 
I'm surprised to hear this.
The absolute best CS I ever received was from Ruger.
Had a 100# Lab lay on a Red Label 20ga and break the stock. I called Ruger,explained exactly what happened, and asked for a price to replace the stock. Their CS rep said "no promises but send it in and I'll see what they say". Two weeks later I got my receiver back with a brand new stock and a bill for "NC".
This was a seven year old shotgun and no way their responsibility so to say I was shocked is an understatement.
That was about ten years ago so maybe things have changed. It kinda sounds like that way but for your sake I hope not.
Luck
 
Today I removed as much of the copper as I am willing to invest effort into. Then I compared the bore of the "new" SBH to my old SRH. The SBH bore is definitely junk. The big question is now what?
 
Originally Posted By: Matt N.Today I removed as much of the copper as I am willing to invest effort into. Then I compared the bore of the "new" SBH to my old SRH. The SBH bore is definitely junk. The big question is now what?

Shoot the SOB and stop worrying....
 
Originally Posted By: Matt N.Today I removed as much of the copper as I am willing to invest effort into. Then I compared the bore of the "new" SBH to my old SRH. The SBH bore is definitely junk. The big question is now what?
Others will disagree and i'm sure i will hear about it, but i would send it back AGAIN! Make them give you what you paid for, and at the price those are, you don't and shouldn't expect a bore like that. I own a Ruger pistol and the barrel was pristine. Make sure they understand how ridiculous the situation is and that you are spending your hard earned money on them, so the least they could do is provide you with a weapon that doesn't look like that. If its observable by the naked eye, i could only imagine what it would look like through a bore scope. this is just my opinion and what action i would take.
 
How pretty a bore looks on a borescope has rarely meant anything to me beyond cleaning. Being pretty doesn't mean it'll shoot well.

I do generally agree, if you're not happy with the quality of the work, then you can gripe to Ruger, maybe they'll fix it, maybe they won't. My guess is they'll ask you "is it shooting well?", and then I'd revert to my original point... You gotta prove it doesn't shoot well before you can complain too much.
 
I bought the gun to shoot cast lead. If it collects that much copper from the factory test firing then I figure it will have a serious leading problem. The guns are guaranteed to be free from manufacturer defects. Well this is a defect.
 


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